How airlines company use Propaganda technique in Advertising Research Paper

How airlines company use Propaganda technique in Advertising - Research Paper Example McGarry sees propaganda as undermining the will; Lopez & Thompson see it in the context of engagement. Others go further to equate propaganda with marketing dictatorship (Brady, 15). By clarifying and redefining the nature of propaganda in the modern context of advertising, it is possible to conceive of the ethical use of propaganda by a firm to market its product. Businesses that produce intangibles such as services would benefit most by the creative use of propaganda. Context/Problem The global market for air passenger transport has grown exponentially, averaging 5% growth each year for the past 30 years. There are more than 2,000 airlines that operate more than 23,000 aircraft, serving over 3,700 airports, making 28 million scheduled flights and transporting over 2 billion passengers (IMAP, 2011). At the same time, demand for passenger flight has significantly decreased as a result of the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks in September 11, 2001, involving the hijacking and cr ash of three commercial aircraft, although the market has somewhat recovered since then. The increase in capacity for flights and fluctuations in demand due to political concerns has constricted the market for airlines and heightened competition among the industry players. At the same time, the cost of aviation fuel has been rising, putting further pressure on airline companies’ already narrow profit margins. Already, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has predicted a â€Å"gloomy picture† for the global aviation industry from 2012 and beyond, due to the weak global economy and high jet fuel prices (Ciuci Consulting 16). In order to attract customers, airline companies, would resort to a number of solutions to increase sales, such a low-cost air travel and no-frills flight (Lyth 1). Among the solutions any business would explore is creative advertising, which includes propaganda. The difference between propaganda and the regular advertising is that prop aganda tends to be more persuasive and others say more invasive, making use of imagery to aggressively forward a specific message, and playing more to human emotion rather than intellectual reasoning in delivering that message. In the course of striking an emotional chord, it is implied by many that the message delivered stretches the truth and takes advantage of the psychological soft spot in potential customers. The problem therefore that this dissertation seeks to resolve is to determine how airline companies use propaganda techniques in advertising, the effectiveness of propaganda in enhancing enplanement, and whether such practices are perceived as being within or outside the boundaries of business ethics. The study’s contribution to academic literature is its determination of where the demarcation lies between ethical and unethical advertising practice with regard to propaganda techniques, as applied to the airline industry. Key Terms Propaganda – The term propag anda used in its generic sense refers to â€Å"ideas, facts or allegations spread to further one’s cause or damage an opposing cause† (Merriam-Webster). On the negative extreme propaganda is taken to mean â€Å"ideas or statements that are often false or exaggerated and that are spread in order to help a cause, a political leader, a government, etc.†