Starbucks is known nationally for making a delicious cup of joe. Whether it be iced, hot, vanilla or blended you can find a Starbucks in almost every city across the nation.
When you see someone holding that Starbucks up, doesn’t it make you want some coffee as well?
“People around the world spent over $10 billion on beverages at Starbucks” in 2015, stated Saleem Khatri.
It’s popular reputation and amazing marketing team was able to influence consumers to continue buying their products and even start the latest trends.
Remember the Starbucks’ famous “unicorn frappucino?” Remember how all of a sudden everything became “unicorn?” Unicorn themed eye shadow pallettes were being launched by the top make-up brands. Bright colors that consists of pink, blue, and purple became aesthetically pleasing desserts. Even more popular, was being a unicorn on Halloween.
Did you really need that delicious concoction that Starbucks invented? Probably not, but, because of the fast growing world of technology, media has tricked Americans to thinking this is what you need.
“Most Americans are exposed to around 4,000 to 10,000 advertisements each day,” according to Ron Marshall. While 4,000 ads a day sounds like a lot, it does vary on the person on a day to day basis.
These ads that are being seen, influence our lifestyle from the way we dress, to the foods we eat.
Famous teas that are “key to weight loss” are seen all over the internet. Celebrities and internet socialites are seen using these teas or healthy drinks and because they use them, buyers believe the product will also work for them.
Another main factor that goes into marketing is happiness. The main point of advertising a product is not only to sell, but for the consumer to buy them to make them feel good about themselves.
Seeing at least 4,000 ads a day, makes it easier for consumers to decide on what they will spend their money on.
“In a small study (most brain studies are small by necessity—medical imaging is expensive), neurologist Brian Knutson from Stanford University and his colleagues found that there is a region of the brain that activates when a person anticipates gaining a monetary reward ($0.20-$5.00),” according to Dr. Paul Harrison.
It’s true when they say “more money, more problems.” In the past year, employment and wages have declined for many young adults. Many young adults want to buy into the latest fashion trends, or fad diets but that leads to more of them living at home.
“As of 2016, 15 percent of 25 to 35-year-old Millennials were living in their parents’ home,” states Richard Fry. When the generation of the baby boomers were in their mid twenties most of them were able to move out, have a family, and have one parent living at home while the other was the bread winner. Now we see Millennials living at home and would rather buy clothes and shoes than invest in a house.
So, are advertisements healthy or unhealthy for the brain? Of course an overload of just about anything is unhealthy, but it doesn’t help when there are thousands of ads for material items are all around us.
