Some critics of advertising have assumed that the creation of false ne

Some critics of advertising have assumed that the
creation of false needs in consumers is the principal
mechanism underlying what these critics regard as its
manipulative and hegemonic power. Central to this
(5) type of critique are the writings of political theorist
Herbert Marcuse, who maintained that modern people
succumb to oppression by believing themselves
satisfied in spite of their living in an objectively
unsatisfying world. This process occurs because in
(10) mass market culture the powerful psychological
techniques of advertising create “needs” that are false
and whose satisfaction thus contributes, not to the
genuine well-being of consumers, but rather to the
profit—and thereby the disproportionate power—
(15) of corporations.

Marcuse supposed that we all have certain real
needs, both physical and psychological. Advertising
appropriates these needs for its own purposes, forging
psychological associations between them and
(20) consumer items, e.g., between sex and perfume,
thereby creating a false “need” for these items.
Since the quest for fulfillment is thus displaced from
its true objects to consumer items, the implicit
promises of advertisements are never really fulfilled
(25) and the consumer remains at some level unsatisfied.

Unfortunately, the distinction between real and
false needs upon which this critique depends is
extremely problematic. If Marcusians are right, we
cannot, with any assurance, separate our real needs
(30) from the alleged false needs we feel as a result of the
manipulation of advertisers. For, in order to do so, it
would be necessary to eliminate forces of persuasion
that are so prevalent in society that they have come to
inform our instinctive judgments about things.

(35) But, in fact, Marcusians make a major mistake in
assuming that the majority of consumers who respond
to advertising do not do so autonomously. Advertising
techniques are unable to induce unwilling behavior in
rational, informed adults, and regulations prohibit
(40) misinformation in advertising claims. Moreover,
evidence suggests that most adults understand and
recognize the techniques used and are not merely
passive instruments. If there is a real need for
emotional fulfillment, and if we can freely and
(45) authentically choose our means of obtaining it, then
free, informed individuals may choose to obtain it
through the purchase of commodities or even through
the enjoyment occasionally provided by advertisements
themselves. It is no doubt true that in many—perhaps
(50) even most—cases the use of an advertised product
does not yield the precise sort of emotional dividend
that advertisements seem to promise. This does not
mean, however, that consumers do not freely and
intentionally use the product as a means to another sort
(55) of fulfillment, or even that its genuine fulfillment of
needs must be less than the advertisement suggests.

1. Which one of the following most accurately expresses the main point of the passage?

(A) Advertising has greater social value than Marcusians have supposed, because it is both an effective means of informing consumers and often an intrinsically entertaining medium of mass communication.
(B) Even if, as Marcusians have argued, there is a theoretical difference between real and false needs, that difference is obscured in practice by the relationship of consumers to the forces of persuasion in profit-motivated, consumeroriented societies.
(C) Marcusian arguments regarding advertisers’ creation of false needs are mistaken, because individuals are able to make autonomous decisions regarding their needs and are even able to use the elements of mass market culture to achieve genuine fulfillment.
(D) Critics of advertising typically focus on the development of false needs in the consumer and do not fully consider the ability of people to make independent choices by distinguishing their own real needs from the apparent needs that advertising induces.
(E) The problematic distinction that Marcusians have drawn between real and false needs provides an inadequate basis for their attacks on advertising, because the distinction overlooks consumers’ physical and psychological needs.


2. The author states that Marcuse believed that advertisers

(A) base many of their manipulative strategies on psychological research findings
(B) appeal to people’s real needs in order to create false needs
(C) are restricted to a degree by regulations prohibiting misinformation
(D) exaggerate the consumer’s need for independent decision-making
(E) deny that the needs they create in people are less real than other needs


3. The main function of the first paragraph is to

(A) summarize the political and economic context from which Marcusian critiques of advertising arise
(B) outline the mechanisms by which false needs originate in mass market culture
(C) evaluate the psychological processes by which the manipulative techniques of mass market advertising influence individuals
(D) describe the prevailing views among contemporary critics of advertising and categorize Marcuse’s theories in relation to those views
(E) describe Marcusian views regarding mass market manipulation and indicate their role in certain criticisms of advertising


4. Which one of the following is a claim that the author attributes to Marcuse?

(A) In modern society, advertising helps lead people to think that they are satisfied.
(B) Modern societies differ from earlier societies in that they fail to satisfy basic physical needs.
(C) It is impossible to draw any meaningful distinction between real and false psychological needs in modern society.
(D) Advertising in modern society has sometimes become a tool of oppression working to the benefit of totalitarian political systems.
(E) Advertising exploits basic human needs by deriving from them certain secondary needs which, though they become real needs, subtly work to the detriment of consumers.


5. By the term “forces of persuasion” (line 32), the author most probably refers to

(A) intentionally dishonest claims that some theorists argue are common in advertising
(B) innate, instinctual drives that some theorists say are fundamental to human behavior
(C) emotional pressures that some theorists claim are exerted over individuals by society as a whole
(D) subtle practices of social indoctrination that some theorists say are sponsored by the state
(E) manipulative influences that some theorists say go unrecognized by those affected by them


6. Which one of the following sentences would most logically complete the passage?

(A) Therefore, while in principle there might be grounds for holding that advertising is detrimental to society, the Marcusian critique does not provide such grounds.
(B) Therefore, although Marcusian claims about advertising are rationally justified, the mistake of many recent critics of advertising is in their use of these claims for political gain.
(C) Therefore, any shift in basic assumptions required to correct the abuses of advertising will require a change in the perception of human nature held by corporate leaders.
(D) Therefore, while emphasizing only detrimental social aspects of advertising, Marcusians have failed to consider that such aspects are clearly outweighed by numerous social benefits.
(E) Therefore, the Marcusian critique of advertising is mistaken except in its claim that advertisers exert economic power over those few people who are unable or unwilling to distinguish real from false needs.