Literary Review Thomai Ilias, Cindy Lee

Teenagers who value name brands tend to have a lower self esteem due to the impact of advertising and media. Adolescents are likely to buy overly expensive name brands because of their lack of confidence and urge to fit in with their peers. For some teens, the pressure of buying the latest trends of clothing and the newest technology has become an obsession and is hard to resist. Whether they buy these name brands to fit in with the popular kids or just to make themselves happy with all these money-orientated things it still remains a problem. In Western society, there is no escaping the brainwashed teenagers who have engrossed themselves in these high end brands to only them feel special. This has only led to increasingly dissatisfaction in teenagers self esteem. Adolescents are only worshiping these brands of clothing, technology and other products because of the influential advertisements that make them believe they need these products. This topic is very important because of the many researchers who study the constant fixation of teenagers thinking they need certain materialistic items to give them happiness. The significance of valuing high end products is affecting teenagers in society due to the new generation of young consumers who have singled out the most brand conscious ever by virtue of their preferences of expensive merchandise.
Jane Collingwood. 2014. “How brand names trigger our emotions.” Journal of Psych Central. Article from a magazine Thomai Ilias
This article discusses the thousands of name brands that have become highly familiar to teenagers thanks to widespread marketing and advertising. Some may attempt to ignore or at least remain uninfluenced by them, but research has now confirmed that brand names affect us differently than other words, connecting with the emotional right side of the brain. The processing involvement in name brands was recognized in 1977 by Herbert E. Krugman. He theorized that the mere repetition of product bran names sticks in our subconscious due to the right brain locking in on an advertising image. By 2004, Richard Woods wrote in the journal of Consumer Behaviour, “It has become a truism that brand marketing is in the business of selling emotional connections rather than product benefits.” Advertisements often are specifically designed to appeal to the right brain by using words and symbols that are meaningful, familiar, and attractive to people. This approach attempts to create a brand that appeals to the emotions. Market researchers at Executive Solutions, New York, investigated what matters most to consumers, and found that emotions related to feeling acceptable, competent, and responsible are very strong emotional drivers towards purchase. I learned that some advertisers try to reach deeper motivations and deliberately avoid the conscious mind. The article also makes reference to the full blown industry of image-making, and a new economy based on mass marketing and promotion, so doubtless a great deal of further effort will go into discovering more about the way the right brain determines consumer choice. This information is very useful because of the new research shows an even stronger neurological tie to brand names, with potential ethical implications of such a direct link to emotions and self-esteem. This article gives much detail about the understanding of teenagers being drawn to brand names because of subliminal messages from advertising companies. The article not only gives a general outline of the results proven of the neurological tie to name brands but as well as the attempt to create a name brand that appeal to the emotions and feelings of the buyers.
Luciana Gil. 2012. “Impacts of self on attitudes toward luxury brands among teens.” Journal of Business Research. Elsevier Inc. Article from a journal Thomai