mind molding media messages

The media and their use of behaviorism is, in my opinion, spectacular. It exploits basic human processes in simplest way in order to achieve the best results. It is actually a win win situation for both the consumer and the company. The company wins obviously by way of selling their product, but the consumer wins by gaining a sense of desire, or fulfillment, or whatever else might be warranted from the attainment of that product. By pairing the product with safety, happiness, sexual attractiveness, or healthiness in the commercials, the consumers begin to associate the product with the paired attribute. This then compels a sense of desire for the merchandise being marketed, but only if the consumer wants the paired attribute. In this sense, behavioral conditioning in marketing acts as a form of placebo effect that placates those who desire whatever their product offers; of course being a discerning consumer is a necessary safeguard for those companies who unscrupulously advertise. This marketing technique does however provide satisfaction to many of those who they market to, and even though it may seem that they are satisfying a need they themselves created through their advertising, I would argue that this is not true on the basis that they did not create a need for their product, but rather coupled their product with a need that the consumer already held. In this way companies are satisfying a previously unmet need.