Do companies make what we want or do we want what companies make?
 

Are markets really driven by what people tend to go for or do markets lead people and convince them to want what they want us to buy?

In other words, does advertising make us or do we make advertising?

Advertising tells us what to do.
Example: Wearing a frog on your head .. who would do that? But if all of a sudden every ad had a frog on the actors heads, and celebs started doing it, everyone would do it.

We want what companies make.

Brad I do whatever you do

No, we don't absolutely need electric can openers. But it's handy.

we make advertising...think of all the time you spend trying to figure out what the people want.

in the end we sell them what we think they want..so in a sense..wait is this the chicken egg thing?...ugh..lol

Heh, it's not so easy to figure it in my opinion. I mean, people tend to buy only what they want... but do they even know what they want? Would people really buy the new vw beetle if there were tons of commercials for it when it first was re-released?

I am sure you could take a look around you and see if you really NEED all the things you have. Figure out why you bought those things. Was it because of advertising (TV, Radio, Print, or because someone else had one) or did you just pass by the item and decide you wanted it or had a need for it?
When you do go shopping do you go for a specific item and that is the only thing you buy?
Product researchers and developers are driven by the wants and needs of people.
Marketing people have a product and they must sell it any way possible.

Just my :2 cents:

thats true for most people

its a two way street, I have tons of shit I dont need that I bought because they marketed it to me in the right way, but I also have shit I do need that I bought because I needed it.. but I bought it over competition because it was marketed to me in a way that it was more appealing, or it was a better product.

Marketing and PR are grey areas that are simply meant to appeal to peoples wants *or* needs. Porn is the same way, we don't really need it do we, but we sure want it (or they make it look appealing so we want it!). If they showed nekked pics of BradM all over the place, we certainly don't want it, we need it!

Companies want us to want what they make :)

People will buy things that they need and/or things that they want. For instance men will never need or want tampons so they won't buy them. You can advertise until you're blue in the face but if the consumer doesn't need or want your product they won't buy it.

Advertising to specific markets will drive your sales and that's what's called marketing. :2 cents: