Digital Technology in Marketing

The main advantage that digital technology is giving customers is the contribution in overcoming the information asymmetry. Internet has played a vital role in this revolution because it facilitates the flow of information among people about products and brands. When people see a product from a TV commercial that interested them yet a quick decision cannot be made, they can turn to the internet for basic product knowledge, read the comments from previous users, and even compare similar products of different brands. In this way, today’s advertising is required to be more credible and to evoke emotions from customers rather than simply telling them what their products are.

Digital technology helps to increase credibility of commercials. Unlike the old days, if there is an ad giving false information about a product, customers can make their cases known to the public through media or internet, which could spread at an amazing speed and width, thus prevent a lot more others from buying the product. Therefore, companies will take greater risk when making untrue ads. For example, in China, there was a time when ads about medicines and health supplements were very popular. But with the more and more people began to use internet, most of those ads died away because the fact that their products had little or no or event severe side effects can be quickly exposed to the public, so those companies will have no market and be punished by law even before they make any profits.

Also, technology is gradually changing the main focus of ads from introducing product knowledge to rising emotional reactions of audience. Nowadays customers can acquire the basic knowledge and those statistics through internet and other media so conveniently that they would expect something they can only find from the commercials. This is more obvious in the ads of high-end products. For instance, if GM is selling its Pontiac Solstice, it may not want to waste time educating customers about their...