The concept of aggressive marketing is hard to define, but it is easy to recognize. This is because it is the kind of marketing that knowingly exceeds certain limits and it goes as far as using obvious discrimination based on race, sex and religion. The final purpose seems to be more important than the actual message for many companies that resort to such strategies. However, studies have shown that this particular marketing strategy does not bring a significant increase in sales.
A beautiful woman who appears in a commercial for male products attracts their attention immediately. This is definitely an advantage for the product in question, but the problems appear when the woman from the commercial is presented in a degrading position. Usually, women are characterized as completely useless when it comes to technical issues and more often, their image is reduced to pleasing the man. Such marketing campaigns end up promoting women as handmaiden of men. However, those who come up with this kind of ideas ignore the fact that women are the ones who often buy products for their partners. On the other hand, men are also presented in a negative light when it comes to promoting products for women. There are many advertisements where men appear as terrible cooks or as terrible parents who can not take care of their children. In addition, the aggressive marketing strategies extend to certain ethnic groups and religions. Scorning such minority groups can be taken as a direct offense.
This type of marketing might manage to attract the attention of the public, but this does not necessarily mean it leads to higher sales. A study undertaken in the U.S. on consumer behavior has shown that a commercial that creates negative emotions, such as disgust, fear or anger, will most probably push away the consumers. This happens because every person wants to avoid the sources of negative emotions. It is a perfectly normal way of self protection. The same study has shown that people are much more receptive to an advertising message when it is sent in the context of a happy family, a mother with her children or a group of friends. The consumer’s availability for receiving commercial messages is increased when the messages contain positive emotions. Moreover, people seem to be responsive to new products. The human brain is eager to learn new things whenever it gets the chance. The learning process produces a special substance called dopamine. This substance is also produced when the human brain is stimulated with images of food or images with sexual content.
In conclusion, the usage of aggressive marketing strategies might not get you when you want to go. There are so many aspects of life that can make people feel good, so why would anyone take the risk of making them feel bad? You can address directly and successfully to your target customers without having to compare and highlight someone else’s flaws. At the end of the day, this aggressive promotion does not worth the effort.
