Paper Example: Impact of Technology on Advertising and Communication

Communication is among the most vital aspects of human life. Any point in time calls for the need for people to constantly generate, organize, and pass information from party to another. However, recent advancements in technology have drastically impacted how individuals communicate. It has become an essential part of how people communicate with each other, increasingly taking the place of face-to-face communication. In recent times, all the communicating parties employ technology to complete their communicating needs (Petric et al., 2011). Technology has, therefore, come in handy to facilitate smooth communication among individuals while providing efficient alternatives for effective communication. The paper analyses how technology impacts advertising and communication amongst both parties.

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Existing Research on the Topic

Various researchers have been conducted on the impact of technology on interpersonal communication. According to Alhadlaq (2016), technology has altered the methods that humans use to communicate. The telegraph led to the internet cellphones and emails that have become the most preferred communication methods in the current era. This has led to the emergence and use of cell phones, blogs, emails, social networking sites, online chats, and video calls as alternatives to enhance interpersonal communication. Technology aids advertising and interpersonal communication by increasing the speed and reducing the cost of passing a message; improving the quality of communication due to the availability of accessible knowledge platforms; increasing the accessibility of information through democratizing of the communication systems; improving the nature of communication by providing room for altering the topics; and changing the communication style through the use of simplified communication devices such as the cellphones (Alhadlaq, 2016).

Another research by Bibi et al. (2018) analyzed the effect of technology and social media on interpersonal communication. The study used a sample population of the youth of Balochistan. According to Bibi et al. (2018), technology negatively affects face-to-face interaction among today’s people. The study used a quantitative research method and found that with the emergence of technology, people reduce their interest in interacting with others of similar or different ages. Others hide their nervousness behind social media. moreover, 93 percent of the communication is non-verbal and the absence of such cues would make it cumbersome to decipher the message being transmitted. In the end, people will find it difficult to interpret what they are told (Bibi et al., 2018). Technology has led to people substituting the time with relatives and close friends to weak connections on the internet.

The findings of Bibi et al. (2018) were echoed by Drago (2015) when he conducted a study on field observations and a survey of 100 Elon students. Drago (2015) found the rapid expansion of technology to negatively impact face-to-face communication. According to Drago, people become more reliant on communicating with family and friends via technology resulting in a neglect of personal engagements. The study found the majority of the individuals felt that the quality of their conversations had degraded with the emergence of technology. Moreover, approximately half of the respondents in the survey communicated more frequently with family and friends via technology than in person. This was a strong indication of the significant reduction in the quality and quantity of face-to-face interactions among the population.

Role in Advertising

Technology enhances advertisement by increasing the business’ unprecedented ability to communicate with their target customers. This results in a dramatic evolution in the manner in which marketers craft their advertising strategies (Petric et al., 2011). They improve interpersonal communication between businesses and their customers by establishing new advertising channels that enable companies to target individuals and small groups, with personalized advertising messages and increased ability to collect feedback.

The application of technology in communication enables businesses to grow and prosper by enhancing relationships, strengthening the effectiveness of organizations, and allowing the producers to learn more about the consumers (Jain & Yadav, 2017). The internet, social media, mobile phones, and customer relationship management systems contribute greatly to how companies communicate with their prospective customers. The advanced forms of communication change the media landscape and the types of messaging strategies used (Jain & Yadav, 2017). With access to various sources of information and the existence of interactive media, consumers can collect more information on products on their own.

Results of the Research

Analysis of the various research conducted on the role of technology on interpersonal communication shows that technology improves how people communicate with each other. It has improved how messages are passed from the sender to the receiver by using cell phones, Emails, blogs, social networking sites, video calls, and online chats among others. it has led to an increase in the speed and reduction in the cost of communicating, improved the quality of communication, increased accessibility of information, and improved the nature of communication. These changes brought by technology to communication would also be beneficial to businesses hence their increased use in advertising.

Technology enhances advertising by increasing the ability of businesses to communicate with their target customers on an individual and group basis. it provides new advertising channels for the companies to target their customers, personalize the advertising messages, and collect feedback. It also provides various sources of information through interactive media. consumers can obtain information via mobile phones, the Internet, social media, and customer relationship management systems.

Despite the benefits of technology on advertising, studies show that technology negatively affects interpersonal communication. It reduces the interest for people to interact with one another on a one-on-one basis. Moreover, technology does not incorporate non-verbal cues during communication which makes it cumbersome for the recipient to efficiently decipher the message. The preference for weak connections over the internet to physical face-to-face communication leads to a degradation in the quality and quantity of conversations and face-to-face interactions.

Conclusion

To conclude, technology influences communication by improving its quality, reducing its cost, and altering the style and nature of communication. It has improved the ways of communicating by including emails, video calls, blogs, online chats, and cellular phones. Communication technologies are an essential part of the daily landscape of our interpersonal communication. However, the boundaries between them fade gradually concerning their uses and to the functions that they are required to accomplish. Therefore, technology positively impacts advertising by increasing the companies’ ability to communicate with their potential and existing customers on an individual or group basis. However, it negatively affects interpersonal communication by failing to include non-verbal cues in its communication strategies and reducing the interest in interpersonal communication among people. Therefore, technology intensively supplements and even substitutes the prototypical functions of face-to-face communication.

References

Alhadlaq, I. (2016). How technology influences communication. International Journal of Scientific Research. 7(1). https://www.ijser.org/researchpaper/How-Technology-Influences-Communication.pdf

Bibi, A. et al. (2018). Effect of the latest technology and social media on interpersonal communication on Youth of Balochistan. Researchgate.net. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326826844_Effect_of_Latest_Technology_and_Social_Media_on_Interpersonal_Communication_on_Youth_of_Balochistan

Drago, E. (2015). The effect of technology on face-to-face communication. The Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications. 6(1). http://www.elon.edu/docs/e-web/academics/communications/research/vol6no1/02dragoejspring15.pdf

Jain, E., and Yadav, A. (2017). Marketing and technology: Role of technology in modern marketing. Researchgate.net. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317308663_Marketing_and_Technology_Role_of_Technology_in_Modern_Marketing

Petric, G. et al. (2011). Social uses of interpersonal communication technologies in a complex media environment. European Journal of Communication. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.1004.4806&rep=rep1&type=pdf