Differences between advertising and propaganda

Since ancient times, human beings have sought ways to influence others to obtain their own benefits.

Over the years, societies have advanced and the methods used to persuade have changed, since the used the word until modern times after the industrial revolution when advertising and propaganda.

The advertising and propaganda They are communication models that use different means of communication as support to reach a specific audience. These two terms are commonly used interchangeably, but in reality they represent two very different, with different objectives, so it is good to be clear about what each one is and even more so when using the one or the other. Learn about the main differences between advertising and propaganda.

Definition

• Advertising: It is all that set of actions aimed at the dissemination of a product or service in order to persuade and attract buyers or users.
• Propaganda: Are those actions aimed at spreading moral, social, religious ideas, etc., with the purpose of influencing the attitude of people or attracting followers to a certain group or belief.

objective

• Advertising: Advertising actions are aimed at achieving a sale, direct to consumption or a good or contracting a service, that is, it has profit purposes so it encourages the consumption of a product.
• Propaganda: The propaganda actions are aimed at achieving a change in attitude or achieving adherence to a certain ideology. It is not tied to any type of monetary exchange.

Atmosphere

• Advertising: It is emerging and belongs to the commercial field. Advertising is primarily business focused and is developed or used by businesses.
• Propaganda: It emerges and belongs exclusively to the ideological, political and religious sphere. Propaganda focuses on criteria and ideas, it is mostly developed by social and political groups.

Bases

• Advertising: In order to attract attention and persuade the consumer, it uses creativity, fashion, beauty, etc. It displays the positive characteristics of a product, it needs to be brief, persuasive, attractive, original and appropriate to the target audience.
• Propaganda: In order to persuade people, it uses the use of feelings, beliefs and reason. It displays only part of the information, selecting that which is positive for the purposes sought and omitting the one that is not. He frequently makes use of persuasive speech, he does not inform with the truth, he only seeks to incline his opinion.

Applications

• Advertising: Fundamentally its use is commercial, it sells products, services, modifies tastes and preferences.
• Propaganda: Fundamentally its use is: ideological, doctrinal, political, educational, religious, of awareness. For example, sex education, environmental protection, awareness against alcohol and drug consumption, rejection of racial or sexual discrimination, gender abuse, electoral campaigns, etc.

Results

• Advertising: Generally the results are as expected, attracting the attention of consumers, tilting their preferences and achieving higher sales. Sometimes the advertising impact is so high that it generates new needs for people.
• Propaganda: It can have positive and negative effects, achieve support or rejection of an ideology or philosophy.

Types

• Advertising: There may be several types of advertising, especially if it is classified according to whom it is directed, for example:
• Business advertising: It is advertising aimed at the business union, reaches them through newspapers and specialized magazines.
• Advertising of Goods and Consumption: It is the advertising that makes known, promotes the consumption of a certain product, is aimed at the consumer.
• Institutional advertising: It is advertising that is intended to create prestige and promote respect for certain activities and institutions.
• Propaganda: There are also several types of propaganda, it is directed at companies, ethnic groups, religious groups, etc., But it is classified according to its purpose. for example:
• Religious propaganda: Seeks to influence people about certain religious ideas or beliefs.
• Political propaganda: It is divided in two, an influence on people with the intention that they create a favorable opinion about a specific group. The other one tries to foment the restlessness, fear, distrust, with respect to other entities.
• Ideological propaganda: It is generally used by NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations), associations without profit, in order to seek sympathizers and support for noble causes, help and awareness.

About advertising and propaganda

Advertising and propaganda may differ in terms of their purposes and therefore in various aspects, but the gap that separates one from the other is very thin, so much so that sometimes they can work hand.

When advertising some companies use a certain ideology to attract more buyers, creating a reason and motivation in the mind of the consumer.

Likewise, numerous advertisements are adjusted with advertising messages, in order to achieve greater success in their purpose.

They are different, but they are intertwined at times, both seek to reach the emotions, desires, beliefs and needs of the people that they have as an audience in order to achieve their purposes.