The word “communicate” comes from the ancient Greek – specifically, from the word “to inform.” On the basis of this one main goal, communicating to others as man’s basic necessity for existence has evolved, taking on diverse forms to serve more functions. One form of communication – and perhaps the most popular and most used today – is advertising, which aims to persuade. Advertising, in all forms and media, comprises a major part of the people’s daily information intake and dominates the nation’s culture at large. This is why advertisements are carefully planned and creatively done, usually having the most striking and catchy words and reverberating, easy-to-remember jingles to capture the promising audiences. Patterson and Wilkins (48) believe that the media business has a function that its management knows well – that is, to deliver an audience to advertisers. Advertising is also designed to reach out to specific cultures, and because it is so, its impact on people’s habits with credit cards is considerably significant. It has the power to sway decisions, change lifestyles and habits, and alter points of view.
Over the years, people have viewed countless printed and audio-visual images of commercials on television and publications. These promotional have altered people’s way of life. How many people own a credit card today? According to a recent Consumer Reports survey, only one-third of Americans do not own a credit card and statistics from the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau projected an increase in the total number of credit card holders and an increase in
credit card purchase volume (cited in Hoffman, Brinker and Roberts). This popular trend of a cashless system has changed the way people spend.
The promises of no or low annual fees, sparkling rebates, easy installment plans, and the superficial assurance that the credit card has the perfect solution for one’s financial concerns have lured the general public into getting credit cards. As the gist of almost all credit card advertisements goes, the convenience of a cashless spending and pay-later method has captured the preferences of both rich and poor, young and old.
Mentally, the idea of purchasing today with zero interest and paying it at a later time, plus getting more and more rebates when using the card, creates a financially relaxed state. It seems to put the customers in a win-win situation – making them think that after spending for something they are getting some money back to spend for another thing.
For everything – from buying groceries to reloading mobile phones to paying bills through purchasing items online – credit card ads show that the card is the best and easiest option to pay. This has been the central theme of each commercial shown by various credit card companies. But there have been some changes in styles and appearances of printed advertisements – changes that were applied to make the ads more appealing and friendly to the reader’s eyes and mind.
Notice how Standard Chartered and HSBC presented their ads. The Standard Chartered advertisement (see fig. 1) published in 2007 is too wordy, giving some effort to explain to its consumers the guidelines of using the card. While the use of bullets does separate the text into important points, the most that the vast majority of consumers will read is the smaller green text, beginning with “Introducing Platinum Access.” The use of the term “Platinum Access” in the upper left gives the reader a sense of the privilege that can come with this application. The black card, on the right, gives a sense of formality; setting it on one corner gives the viewer a sense of the fun and whimsy that applying for this card can give. This card can make the average person’s existence more fun and exciting, because the card appears to be dancing – or at least standing one foot. Much of the emotional affect that credit card ads seek to create has to do with ways that having credit will reduce the number of limits that consumers have on their lives – this subtle detail in the card makes the viewer believe that applying for this new credit will allow him or her to escape boredom – on an unconscious level. The green and blue boxes summarize the main benefits that the card can provide (cash rebate, doubled reward points, and a free companion cards). The use of the large, white font in those boxes make the chief benefits stand out to the reader, but the most important information is lost in the small text above those boxes. Only a handful of readers will take the time to look at the bullets, and almost no one will bother to look at the tiny “Terms and Conditions” down at the bottom. The irony is that many viewers won’t even make it down the ad to the green and blue bullets, because the text is such a distraction. As a result, many viewers will not even see the primary offers that are available to them.
Fig. 1. Standard Chartered Platinum Access Visa Credit Card Advertisement
Source: Standard Chartered Bank, Squarecirclez.com, 12 Jun. 2007; Web; 1 Mar. 2012.
The recent ad of HSBC credit cards (see fig. 2) is too simple yet very attractive. The shopping bag is an inviting beginning – many ad spots in a variety of industries use the shopping bag to grab interest. Office Depot, for example, even puts a paper shopping bag into the set of ads that you find included with your Sunday newspaper, and you can take that bag to the store and get a discount off the items that you can fit into that bag. With regard to credit cards, notice that the items that the advertisement promises that one can buy bulge out of the bag – suggesting that you can buy so much with your credit card that you don’t have to be bound by the limits of a bag. Again, as with the prior ad, the idea that the ad is trying to sell the viewer is that credit cards help consumers transcend the limits that face them. This ad came out five years later than the first one; one of the trends that has changed is a reduction in the number of words that appear in the spot. Although there are only two items inside the bag, in addition to the gold credit card, the implication is that you can buy just about anything. The gold card implies a sense of prestige and privilege. The airplane suggests the idea of travel, and the lamp suggests the idea of furnishing one’s home with what one can buy with the card. The “sale” does not really apply to a discount on purchases but instead refers to the fact that, for a limited time, the credit card comes with no annual fee. The lack of wording in the ad, while more friendly to the eyes of the viewer, actually does a disservice, though. It is true that the viewer is likely to understand everything in the ad, which consists of a statement of the time period in which the annual fee is waived, but other items, such as the interest rate and other fees, are not present. This means that the viewer may sign up for a card that ends up costing the consumer so much in fees that any “sale” gained by the waiving of the annual fee is canceled out. The blank open space makes the ad feel incomplete; a primary color background would have filled the space more vibrantly; as it is, ther is a definite sense of lack. The intriguing element is the asterisk – which suggests limitations to the offer, but does not explain them. The implication is that the waiving of annual fees would make those limitations insignificant.
Fig. 2. HSBC Credit Cards Advertisement
Source: HSBC Bank, Hsbc.jo, Jan. 2012; Web; 1 Mar. 2012.
A speck of truth in lieu of helpful information is what comprises the current advertising trend. Patterson and Wilkins (48) also notice that the nature of advertising message itself is short, highly visual, and intentionally vague. Each text and image on the print ad is well thought-out to make it appealing and easily understood by the layman. Every print ad is specifically designed to be strong enough to influence purchasing behavior. In fact, the influence of an ad luring consumers to use credit cards has transformed a nation of people to become spendthrifts. The Federal Reserve Bank noted that 40% of American families spend more than they earn (cited in Hoffman, Brinker and Roberts). Worst, the trend has caused an unnoticeable malady that inflicted millions of people.
The documentary “Lives of our Days” called this disease “affluenza” and defined it as a contagious and catastrophic non-physical illness characterized by discontentment. The trend triggers the habit of unreasonable overspending without giving spenders real satisfaction. With the proliferation of internet shops alongside the convenience of swipe-and-shop cards, spending has never been so lavish and handy than today.
Advertising, in different forms, oftentimes creates huge impact to the general public – which is why its main goal is to promote and persuade. Once the society is persuaded, it entails a course of action, thus, changes in lifestyles, habits, decisions, and judgments occur. The greater effect, however, is on the society as a whole when most people in a community or country agreed to accept into its culture a trend brought by one advertisement.
Advertising for credit cards has significantly affected the financial habits of many consumers in the United States. Because the wide range of messages about the ease of credit has reached the American consumer, credit cards are still a popular way for Americans to pay for items – or to consolidate existing debt elsewhere. More recent trends in advertising that make spots less wordy and more visual do not give many viewers the information that they need to make the best decision about applying for more credit.
Works Cited
“Credit Card Debt Statistics.” Hoffmanbrinker. Hoffman, Brinker & Roberts, n.d. Web. 1 Mar.
2012.
Patterson, Philip and Lee Wilkins. Media Ethics: Issues and Cases. 4th ed. New York: McGraw-
Hill Companies, Inc., 2002. Print
The Pew Charitable Trusts. Lives of our Days. KCTS Television and Oregon Public
Broadcasting, 1997. Documentary.
