The Marketplace and How Information is Transmitted
The market place is the institution of commerce and trade. In its sphere, it embraces sellers, buyers, products, and the different modes of advertising. Before its advent, a few years back, other forms existed. In the agrarian-based society, for instance, family, religion, community, and ethnicity dominated in the creation of cultural forms. Soon afterward, however, the industrial society rose to dominance, but not for long. The consumer society supplanted the industrial society (327).
How then is information transmitted in the marketplace? Over the years, and in various forms, information has been transmitted via advertising. In the recent past, for example, text communication was the mode of dissemination information. This mode, however, did not last. Shortly after, color illustrations were developed—which were later superseded by television and radio advertising (328). In sum, then, advertising is the means of information transmission.
Four Areas Influenced by Advertising
In Sut Jhally’s article, gender identity, electoral politics, children’s play, and the mind are most influenced by advertising. In gender identity, unreal images of men and women are used to construct experiences that pertain to both groups. In electoral politics, preying on the “feel good or feel bad” method of deciding suitable candidates, advertising has changed politics from being issue-based to feeling-based. In children’s play, by using television shows as advertisements for selling toys, marketers have significantly limited the imagination of kids. And finally, in the mind, especially in the music industry, to increase sales, most music videos have used representations filled with sexuality (330-331).
The Effects of Advertising
In this world, where personal identities are lacking, most people have rushed to the media to obtain meaning for their lives. Women, not content with their appearances, have destroyed their lives in pursuit of fantasies. And even at this instant, unfortunately, some are still looking to television to define their experiences. This sad state of affairs has led to a world filled with sorrow and suffering. If things do not change (which is unlikely), this will continue to be the order of things.