Television audiences’ expectations regarding advertising (1997)

Advertising is now an impressive phenomenon in terms of volume and its ability to propose and influence behaviour models with significant social and cultural reach. As a complex instrument of commercial communication, it tends to influence opinions, attitudes and behaviour regarding the needs, the consumer attitude and the use of services. However, the structural shift recorded in recent years shows the prevalence of an increasingly oriented advertising system to forms of persuasion and conditioning and less and less careful to convey elements of critical thinking to the public.

Instead, the message is weakened in informing and encouraging rational purchasing behaviour and is built on symbolic references that promote consumerism as a reference value, a place of belonging, and a moment of collective identity. The survey was carried out through a sample survey of 1,845 Italian households.