advertising advantages and disadvantages essay

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Advertisements are becoming more and more common in everyday life Sample Essay

Updated On Dec 13, 2023

advertising advantages and disadvantages essay

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This article contains Advertisements are becoming more and more common in everyday life sample essays.

Given below is a real IELTS Writing Part 2 Essay question. We have provided sample essays as well as an essay outline so that you can practice writing your own!

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Read the sample essay for Advertisements are becoming more and more common in everyday life. Is this a positive or negative development?

IELTS Writing Task 2 Sample Essay

Advertising is gaining more popularity in the marketing of products or services. While advertisements are considered to be advantageous, they can have numerous negative influences.

It is unquestionable that there are several benefits of advertising. By dint o f the large-scale expansion of advertising in almost every kind of mass media and nearly all hoardings , this sector is likely to generate a diversity of employment opportunities . In other words, it provides occupations for artists, painters or copywriters in designing and preparing logos, contents or ideas for advertisements. Another advantage is that advertising may enable the messages involved in products and services to reach potential customers , followed by an increase in sales for businesses. Additionally, only thanks to advertisements, can customers be kept informed about newly-launched products . Therefore, they have more choices to make about their beloved products, contributing to the enhancement of their comforts and standard of living.

However, advertising could cause several disadvantages for customers. No sooner might companies or business exaggerate or even distort the facts related to their products for commercial purposes than the customers can experience feelings of confusion about these items, making them have troubles selecting the products to their taste. Furthermore, the facts show that the more advertising expenses increase, the higher the product price is. The reason can be that the selling price of the advertised items covers the high cost of advertisements . As a result, the advertised products can cost more than they should. Finally, when customers cannot resist the temptation of products which are advertised beyond customers’ expectations , there is every likelihood of them purchasing products which may be unnecessary. This trend could be seen as a waste of money.

In conclusion, based on the aforementioned explanations, individuals may gain both considerable benefits and drawbacks through the growing prevalence of advertisements.

Band 9 Sample Essay

Today, as is rightly said by many, is a world of marketing and endorsements. In the competitive world that we have today, advertisements and commercials are a must. This essay shall advocate the development and constructive impact of advertising.

Early-stage or mid-age startups, organizations and companies, the more we see, the more we observe the encompassing pervasion of businesses these days. One niche has typically umpteen business models. With the rising era of entrepreneurs, solopreneurs and digital nomads, the vigour and strife amongst businesses have only been exacerbated. Therefore, advertisements are of greatest essence keeping in view the current times, thereby, resulting in the increasing usage of various adver

tising channels, be it, pamphlets, hoardings, flyers, newspaper commercials, or the entire digital marketing rigmarole. The more the marketing, the more is the awareness.

Many people might not even be acknowledged to the new product line a company launches or a new product that paves its way in the market. In such a scenario, making them aware is the only perspective initially thought of. Moreover, making a new customer be a stalwart, remarketing branding and endorsing are what businesses primarily and obviously look for. During today’s time when options are many, in the pursuit of customers, a recognition of a brand evanescing is not uncalled for, reminding them of one’s existence, in such a case, is majorly solicited.

Some may argue that advertising tactics today have been misguiding, well, that’s not the case amongst those who are prudential and wakeful of the multiple sources available.

Conclusively, it could be stated that advertisement has been progressive development, and not only should it be treated as an option to ponder upon, but also considered as one of the key constituents of a business model and the relevant campaign.

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17 Biggest Advantages and Disadvantages of Advertising

Advertising is the profession or activity of producing consumer marketing messages for commercial products or services. Although there are times when companies can advertise for free, this tactic typically involves paying another agency for space to promote something specific. The goal of this investment is to reach as many people as possible who are likely to pay for the items suggested in the ads.

When businesses start advertising, then it is essential for each firm to find their ideal customer. It is cheaper to create ads that work with a specific population group instead of working with generalized data. Companies can look at gender, age, education, income, and a person’s geographic location to determine if there is a strong likelihood that someone will become a customer.

Advertising can occur in a variety of ways. Outlets include television, radio, newspapers, and magazines. Some companies use billboards, the sides of buildings, or product packaging. Internet options continue to expand.

That’s why the advantages and disadvantages of advertising require a careful review. It could be a way to expand the influence of a brand, but this investment could also be a waste of money if not approached correctly.

List of the Advantages of Advertising

1. Advertising is what sets companies apart from each other. Advertising is the fastest way for an organization to prove the expertise it offers in its industry. This marketing approach allows a company to look at the specific pain points its goods or services address so that customers can independently decide if there is value available to consider. The free-market system allows consumers to make choices based on their needs for innovation, so the advantage here is that improved communication occurs from the business to the consumer.

2. Companies can reach multiple markets and population groups simultaneously. Advertising is one of the most straightforward ways to contact multiple demographics simultaneously. This investment helps a company to discover who their primary consumers are in better ways, along with the demographics to which they belong. Marketing through paid and unpaid platforms contributes to data that enables prospect duplication.

Advertising also allows a company to reach out to multiple new markets to judge how influential their marketing messages can be in the future.

3. Businesses can concentrate their advertising on a single population group. Advertising enables a company to target one population group specifically. We see this benefit daily through direct mail efforts, email marketing blasts, and television commercials. When you can time these messages to correspond with times or circumstances where a consumer feels a pain point, then a successful conversion is more likely to happen. It forms a natural networking opportunity that helps prospects engage with a brand message because they can acknowledge the created value proposition.

4. Advertising creates economic benefits at every level. The advertising economy in the United States is responsible for almost 20 million jobs. It is available in every market at each level, from ultra-local to international campaigns. This industry provides opportunities for almost every skill, ranging from sales-based approaches to creative careers like graphic design or writing. When successful outreach efforts occur, then businesses increase revenues. That creates even more jobs that support other companies at every level.

This cycle repeats itself every time a new advertising campaign occurs. Although there are no guarantees for success, a company must make itself known to its community for customers to become aware of its goods or services. That means there’s always a place for it.

5. The advertising industry creates a global culture. Every global event that involves participation, goods, or services requires advertising content to increase exposure. The budget for the Olympic Games in each cycle is several billion dollars. Companies use sponsorships, naming rights, and other strategies to increase brand awareness in a variety of ways. It gives us an opportunity to work together to support the common good at every level.

Even a group of businesses that support a youth soccer league get to take advantage of this benefit. Although the benefits are more localized with that support, it’s still creating a global culture within that community.

6. It gives an opportunity to create niche expertise presentations. The prevalence of PDF downloads, ebooks, whitepapers, and similar written content is a form of advertising that businesses use to prove their expertise. Advertising is moving toward a place where the value to the consumer is the priority instead of what the customer can do for the business. This benefit works for B2B and B2C firms because it shows people what can be done for them instead of telling them what can happen.

That’s why this form of advertising is so effective. It builds loyalty by focusing on relationships instead of relying on logo recognition or a tagline to stay at the top of the mind of possible consumers.

7. Advertising helps a customer make positive choices. Each customer has a different preference for specific products or services based on the pain points they encounter in life. Some choices are going to be more appealing than others, which is why businesses promote what they offer proactively. If someone can compare value propositions in real-time situations to determine what options provide the best value, then that ability increases the likelihood of a transaction taking place.

Businesses can provide specific or broad data about their goods or services to each demographic in unique ways to encourage this advantage. It is a benefit that can lead to tremendous growth opportunities when handled appropriate.

8. It is a straightforward way to support moral or social issues. Companies can support the public good by producing advertising campaigns that can bring more awareness to specific societal issues. Homelessness, cyberbullying, and similar concerns receive exposure in ways that wouldn’t be available to consumers without this marketing effort. Even though there are production costs to consider with this advantage, the value that occurs through increased revenues and economic activities from helping others more than makes up for the initial investment.

List of the Disadvantages of Advertising

1. Everyone is advertising. The average person gets exposed to over 2,000 brand messages every day because of advertising. That makes this marketing effort less effective unless there is a way for a company to rise above all of that noise. This disadvantage is the reason why you see businesses like Geico take unique approaches to this investment, using a mix of humor and character development to create something memorable.

Most people spend less than five seconds to determine if an advertisement is worth their attention. If that content fails, then the remainder of the ad gets forgotten.

2. Advertising cannot produce guaranteed results. Businesses take a gamble when they pay for advertising. This marketing effort doesn’t come with a guarantee. The companies that purchased TV spots during the 2020 Super Bowl were paying over $5 million for a segment. That’s a massive investment in something that may not produce additional revenues.

Although there is value in brand recognition, that outcome only translates to investment when it creates an eventual conversion. Having someone know that Flo represents Progressive isn’t beneficial if that person always uses public transportation. That’s why most small businesses focused on targeted, localized ads as a way to create results.

3. The cost of advertising can be a disadvantage to small businesses. The cost of TV advertising at local television stations is at least $5 for every 1,000 viewers during a 30-second commercial. Then you have the cost of creative development when taking this marketing approach to consider. By the time the first spot hits the air, a company has likely spent at least $10,000 to create the materials and purchase the airtime.

National spots are much more expensive. Businesses that purchase a 30-second television ad on a national broadcast spent an average of $115,000 per slot in 2019.

4. Potential customers may be on multiple platforms. If brand recognition is the goal of an advertising effort, then a business may need to invest in multiple platforms to gain the levels of familiarity they require. You can advertise in printed publications, online blogs, television, radio, Internet ad services, and all of the other traditional methods. A company might find over 100 different ways to reach their customers. When an advertising budget is financially limited, then finding out where most people are consistently becomes a top priority.

5. Advertising requires interesting materials to be useful. The best advertising efforts create memorable experiences for targeted consumers. If you’re a science-fiction fan, then you probably remember all of the exposure Taco Bell paid for itself in the movie Demolition Man. If you’re a fan of older superhero movies, then you may remember the giant Coca-Cola billboard blowing up in Superman. If a business can’t create such an experience, then the entire message gets forgotten.

This disadvantage means that every business must continuously invest in innovative marketing approaches to stay relevant. It’s also the reason why you see brands trying to copy the success that others find in this arena.

6. The “Fake News” movement tarnishes the reputation of advertisers. Politics in the United States has become a fractured, cantankerous space where anyone who doesn’t agree becomes an enemy. If a business advertises through a traditional media outlet that promotes a political agenda or news stories that someone finds to be disagreeable, then that company’s brand becomes directly tied to that experience. Although the people who agree will be more likely to purchase goods or services, those who don’t will boycott the agency indefinitely.

7. Advertising increases the risk of a brand message getting tarnished. Advertising can be memorable for all of the wrong reasons sometimes, leaving viewers to wonder what a business was thinking when putting a spot together. Qiaobi often receives credit for putting together one of the most racist commercials in history by having a Chinese woman forcing a black man into her washing machine after he whistles at her. Once the washing cycle is finished, a winking Asian man emerges.

Miracle Mattress put together a local advertising spot that mocked the events of 9/11, including having two stacks of mattresses fall on workers. Burger King unleashed a regional spot for their Texican Whopper that had the tagline of “The taste of Texas with a little spicy Mexican” – and the add featured a tall American cowboy and a short Mexican wrestler.

8. Most people consider advertising to be a nuisance. Extravagant advertising may have a positive effect on the economy. Still, it tends to harm consumers when the same promotions happen repetitively. This disadvantage occurs in the United States every two years during the election cycles when political ads take over the television and radio. It can also happen when spots frequently occur within the same broadcast or publication.

Hundreds of millions of dollars in advertising may get spent on a single election, exposing populations to competing messages that get monotonous and bothersome when they air several times per hour.

9. The targeted consumers may not see the marketing message from an advertising effort. New technologies make it easier than ever before for consumers to proactively opt-out of viewing advertisements. Popup blockers for Internet browsers can eliminate almost every ad that might display when users are online. Families can fast-forward through ads on broadcast networks when they record shows to watch. Some providers even offer tech that eliminates this marketing effort automatically.

Even if someone is watching live TV, an advertisement break creates an opportunity to walk away from the television. Companies can pay millions without ever knowing if their intended audience is available to watch what they’ve put together.

Advertising messages are an effort to persuade people to purchase specific goods or services. This outcome is also the goal of B2B transactions. A person must become convinced that one item is better over another. That’s why each ad offers a headline, subheading, body copy, image, and a call-to-action. It’s like a 30-second speech that shows how much value something has to a potential client.

Advertising isn’t the only way to get a message seen or heard. It can be more expensive to utilize than other marketing opportunities. That’s why it tends to be more popular with large corporations than sole proprietors and other small businesses.

The advantages and disadvantages of advertising balance cost with the opportunity to increase revenues and consumer awareness. Although there are no guarantees for success, this marketing option can produce immediate and memorable results.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Advertisement

Looking for advantages and disadvantages of Advertisement?

We have collected some solid points that will help you understand the pros and cons of Advertisement in detail.

But first, let’s understand the topic:

What is Advertisement?

Advertisement refers to the process of promoting a product, service, or idea through various media channels.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of Advertisement

The following are the advantages and disadvantages of Advertisement:

Advantages of Advertisement

Increased Awareness – Advertisements help to increase awareness of a product or service, by introducing it to a wider audience. This can lead to increased interest and sales.
Targeted Audience – Advertisements can be targeted to a specific audience, based on factors such as age, gender, and interests. This helps to ensure that the right message is reaching the right people.
Creative Freedom – Advertisements allow for creative freedom in how a product or service is presented, using a range of different mediums such as TV, print, and social media. This can help to make the message more engaging and memorable.
Brand Recognition – Advertisements can help to build brand recognition and loyalty, by creating a strong association between a product or service and a particular brand.
Economic Benefit – Advertising can have a positive impact on the economy, by creating jobs in the advertising industry and stimulating consumer spending.

Also check:

10 Lines on Advertisement
Essay on Advertisement
Paragraph on Advertisement
Speech on Advertisement

Disadvantages of Advertisement

Misleading Information – Some advertisements may contain misleading information or exaggerations about the product or service being promoted. This can lead to false expectations and disappointment among consumers.
Increased Costs – Advertising can be expensive, particularly for small businesses with limited budgets. The costs associated with creating, producing, and distributing ads can add up quickly.
Overexposure – Too much advertising can lead to overexposure and consumer fatigue, as people may become tired of seeing the same ads repeatedly. This can lead to a decrease in the effectiveness of the advertising campaign.
Negative Association – Some advertisements may be perceived as offensive or inappropriate, which can lead to negative associations with the product or service being promoted. This can damage the reputation of the brand and lead to decreased sales.
Environmental Impact – Advertising can have a negative impact on the environment, particularly with regards to printed materials such as flyers, posters, and billboards. These materials can contribute to waste and pollution.
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Advertisement : Meaning, Advantages & Disadvantages – Essay, Speech, Article

Advertisement : meaning, advantages & disadvantages – essay, speech, article, advertisement meaning.

Advertisement Defination: Advertisements in a simple sense are drawing the attention of the general public to a product, service, event or idea through different marketing mediums and advertising is an activity or profession of producing advertisements for commercial products and services . The advertisement has a great impact on the audience which creates an urge in them to buy a particular product or service though it is subjective. The advertisement is the lifeblood of any business. It is a very well known fact that it depends on how creatively the advertisement is designed though it cannot be said that advertisements are the sole concern when it comes to sales. It is just a part of marketing strategy. Advertisement regardless of being online or offline if they don’t catch the attention of the public then the entire expenditure turns out to be a waste.

Advantages Of Advertisement (Benefits & Pros)

There are advantages of advetisements which is not hidden by anyone. Advertisement creates the market for products, goods and services. In a competitive market advertisement play a significant role in increasing the sales of the particular product. It creates awareness among the general public about it’s existence and also about it’s rates, discounts and various other advertisements advantages as well. It lures the customer to buy it and also helps them to compare the rates and quality of homogeneous products. The mediums of advertising like television, newspaper, magazines, pamphlets, applications and through other various means also earn a lot for broadcasting or publishing it. The main motto of advertising is giving knowledge to the public about the existence and nature of the product to create it’s market. It doesn’t just help to marketing managers or agents but also to the public by helping them to gain knowledge about new products or the editions in the old products.

Disadvantages Of Advertisement (Demerits, Drawbacks & Cons)

The advertisement may have many advantages but as every coin has two sides so is with this, as there are some disadvantages of advertisements as well. Many advertisements misleads people to buy their product which sometimes is harmful in some or the other way, doesn’t give the quality or type of product that is promised in advertise, luring customers by discounts but offering them degraded quality are few examples of the adverse effects of advertisement . They also try to promote inferior quality goods. Many times distorted version of reality is shown in advertises confusing and at the same time encouraging them to buy it. Some advertisements uses ill language or objectional pictures which are not accepted by the society. Cases are also filed even for the taglines that do not hold true, one of it’s prominent example is Redbull. Everyone knows that having any energy drink will not result in giving you wings, but there are few out of many who get misguided by such taglines as well.

Control Measures To Reduce The Demerits of Advertisements

There are no plotted points or ideas about how you control the demerits of advertisement because they are beyond control but still there are things which a consumer can do by himself. The cons of advertisements mainly consist of something which in simple words can be said as fooling the consumers. Consumers can file complaints under consumer protection act if they do not get the quality as promised. They can get more awareness through social media and other sources so that they do not get trapped by misleading advertisements . Print media and visual media both have it’s demerits which can be removed by gaining more knowledge about the product or service and also being aware is necessary.

Quotes on Advertisements

“A Good Advertisement Is One Which Sells The Product Without Drawing Attention To Itself.”

“Creative without strategy is called ‘art’ and creative with strategy is called ‘advertising’.”

Advertising Methods: Benefits and Drawbacks Essay

Introduction, benefits and drawbacks of types of advertising, the most effective type.

It is essential to mention that advertising surrounds people; it is an integral element of modern business. Advertising is a type of marketing activity, which is to disseminate information about the product to attract more customers. Large organizations understand the need for quality advertising, which is why they create departments where specialists are engaged in marketing. Accordingly, an effective advertising campaign makes the brand more recognizable and significantly increases the firm’s profit (Schneider, 2017). Therefore, it is crucial to identify and compare the advantages and shortcomings of different promotion types.

Media or banner advertising involves posting text or graphics on websites, forums, and portals. One of the main advantages of the banner is that it contains animation, which is usually an excellent eye-catcher for visitors (Schneider, 2017). In addition, the banner usually has a hyperlink to the resource being promoted, due to which it is actively attracting targeted traffic. Among other benefits, media advertising provides comprehensive coverage of the audience. Its use can quickly increase sales of well-known brands, as and promote new products and services. Currently, experts widely use banner ads during various promotions and brand promotions. The disadvantages of this type of advertising include that half of the clicks on banners happen by accident, at least on mobile devices (Deepak & Jeyakumar, 2019). Another shortcoming of banner advertising is that many users do not view it because they use programs that block such commercials.

The next type of marketing, contextual advertising, serves primarily to attract and increase the number of potential customers. It is a text-graphic or text block displayed with the advertising platform’s content (Deepak & Jeyakumar, 2019). Among the main advantages of contextual advertising can be called the demonstration of blocks already interested audience, the fee charged per click on the ad, and the loyalty of users who perceive such advertising as part of the information on the site (Deepak & Jeyakumar, 2019). The main disadvantages are the high cost, complicated configuration, the need for regular maintenance, and increased competition.

Moreover, the type of advertising is advertising in social networks; this method of advertising is currently developing rapidly. It can be organized by several methods: by placing banners and contextual ads on users’ pages. In this case, the payment is made only for the number of impressions of ads or the number of clicks on them (Deepak & Jeyakumar, 2019). Additionally, the creation of thematic communities with the active involvement of subscribers, that is, interested public potential customers. To attract visitors to social networks to any particular site, such advertising has the following advantages. This includes targeting the target audience, detailed analysis of the course of advertising, cheap cost, and involvement of a large audience (Deepak & Jeyakumar, 2019). Promotion in social networks also has disadvantages; for example, attracting a mass audience in highly specialized areas is impossible, and it is difficult to analyze the effectiveness of promotion in advance.

The most effective type is advertising in social networks because it is, first of all, a gathering of a live audience interested in communication and shopping. Furthermore, almost 50% of the world’s population uses social networks (Deepak & Jeyakumar, 2019). This is more than 3 billion users around the world. Statistics show that 93% of social media advertisers regularly use Facebook ads. In addition, 81% of companies prefer video marketing on Facebook (Deepak & Jeyakumar, 2019). Thus, an increasing number of companies use social networks because half of the world’s population is registered in them.

Hence, advertising is distributed in different ways, depending on the goal that the company is attempting to achieve or the target audience that the campaign is aimed at. However, one of the most effective types of advertising is social media promotion. This is because it does not require significant financial investments, but attracts a significant amount of audience. In addition, the types of advertising include media and contextual.

Deepak, R. K. A., & Jeyakumar, S. (2019). Marketing management . Educreation Publishing.

Schneider, G. (2017). Electronic commerce . Cengage Learning.

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IvyPanda. (2023, December 8). Advertising Methods: Benefits and Drawbacks. https://ivypanda.com/essays/advertising-methods-benefits-and-drawbacks/

"Advertising Methods: Benefits and Drawbacks." IvyPanda , 8 Dec. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/advertising-methods-benefits-and-drawbacks/.

IvyPanda . (2023) 'Advertising Methods: Benefits and Drawbacks'. 8 December.

IvyPanda . 2023. "Advertising Methods: Benefits and Drawbacks." December 8, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/advertising-methods-benefits-and-drawbacks/.

1. IvyPanda . "Advertising Methods: Benefits and Drawbacks." December 8, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/advertising-methods-benefits-and-drawbacks/.

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IvyPanda . "Advertising Methods: Benefits and Drawbacks." December 8, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/advertising-methods-benefits-and-drawbacks/.

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advantages and disadvantages of advertising

IELTS essay advantages and disadvantages of advertising

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IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer: Discussing the pros and cons of advertising.

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IELTS Writing Task 2 essay with model answer

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task. Write about the following topic

Advertising has become an inevitable part of our lives. Some people believe that it is a positive aspect of our lives while others are of opposite belief. Discuss both views and give your opinion.

Write at least 250 words.

Model Answer :

In the recent years, advertising has become an integral part of our daily life. Almost every product is advertised through several media sources like Youtube, television, websites. While some people support this trend, others tend to oppose it. There are several reasons for this. In this essay, I am going to discuss these viewpoints and give my opinion on the matter.

On one side of the argument, there are people who believe that advertising is not very beneficial. The main reason for this view is that people tend to buy unnecessary items because of watching these advertisements. Another reason is that several products fo not work the way they are claimed to work in the ads. For instance, these days several coding boot camps advertise a 100% job guarantee for every student who graduates from their boot camp. However, upon careful investigation, it was found that a job could be an internship, part-time position, or a full-time job! Thus, it is easy to see why this argument has gained weight.

On the other hand, there are people who support advertisements. The primary reason is that the market very competitive these days. Rather than letting a product go unnoticed, it is better to advertise the product so as to enhance its popularity among the masses. For example, the percentage of sales of two products released by top brands on the same day is greatly affected by marketing. A recent survey indicated that there is a 40% boost in sales if the product is rightly marketed. Althogh, some people or companies tend to promote the sales of their products through fake claims, it is left to the discretion of the buyer to decide.

In conclusion, advertising has its pros and cons as discussed. I feel that the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. People need to be very careful with falsce advertisements and decide on the usefulness of the product before buying it.

Total Words: 280

Task Achievement: 9

Coherence & cohesion: 9, lexical resources: 9, overall score: band 9.

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Unveiling the Power Play: Advantages & Disadvantages of Advertising

Jun 7, 2023 | Digital Marketing

Advertising is one of the most powerful tools in the business and is capable of attracting millions of consumers worldwide. Companies search out other advertising agencies and pay them to advertise their products on different platforms. The goal of this investment is simple, to reach people and urge them to buy their products and services.

Advertisement involves researching much information related to demographics, culture, people, gender, and many other factors to determine success. A brand can grow and thrive with the help of advertising, however, if done improperly, it can also be an ignominy. Henceforth, it is significant to review the advantages and disadvantages of advertising as mentioned in this article.

1.1 Set brands and products apart from the competition
1.2 Increase product & brand awareness
1.3 Attracting Current and Potential Customers
1.4 Increase Sales volume and ROI
1.5 Reach multiple markets and population groups simultaneously
2.1 It is money and time consuming
2.2 Challenging for small businesses
2.3 It creates a general disturbance
2.4 No surety of returns
3 Concluding Advantages & Disadvantages of Advertising

Advantages of Advertising

Set brands and products apart from the competition.

There’s always a possibility of an alternative product in the market for the same product you are offering, which increases the competition. This necessitates an innovative marketing approach to set your product apart from other competitors.

The quality of advertisement makes the audience aware of the quality product you are offering which can help you create a powerful image in the minds of the consumers. Consequently, effective tailored advertisements that highlight the benefits of the products, their suitability for the consumer’s budget, and the professionalism of services offered can persuade customers to choose your product over the competition.

Increase product & brand awareness

Alerting the target audience about the existence of a product and brand is crucial. Advertisements have been proven to be a compelling tool for building brand awareness and effectively spreading the word about your business in a short period.

Well-established businesses use effective advertising strategies to enhance awareness about their products and services which in turn increases their sales. The strategies may include advertising a newly launched product or service, highlighting advancements in existing products, or offering discounts and benefits via service. This also provides an opportunity to market a brand’s authentic taste and distinctive qualities that are crucial to its reputation.

Attracting Current and Potential Customers

Advertising plays an important role in making the marketing sales funnel successful. In addition to building awareness, advertisements also increase considerations and conversions. More leads can be generated by effective advertisements that inform audiences about business operations. This includes promoting a new store’s opening through advertisements or publicizing the location of the business etc. Moreover, ads on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin can grow the followers base and help you connect to more people thus expanding your connectivity.

Increase Sales volume and ROI

Advertising serves as the motive to drive sales and increase return on investment(ROI) by targeting current and potential customers who are one step away from completing the desired conversion.

Traditional advertisements like print ads, billboards, and broadcast ads are beneficial to increase awareness about your business, but they can be expensive. Digital advertising techniques like display ads, search engine ads, social media conversion-optimized, and retargeting ads are cost-saving which can further give an advantage by increasing ROI and sales volume.

Reach multiple markets and population groups simultaneously

Advertising is one of the most straightforward ways to reach multiple demographics simultaneously. This can help businesses better identify the demographics and population to whom their customers belong, providing information that allows for duplicating prospects.

Marketing through various paid and unpaid platforms enables the collection of useful data which could be analyzed to know precisely where to target ads to increase awareness and sales. Advertising also allows a company to reach out to new markets to effectively judge the influence of its marketing methods.

You Might Like: Navigating the Differences Between Advertising and Publicity

Disadvantages of Advertising

It is money and time consuming.

Advertising proves to be a very costly and time-consuming function. A lot of time is consumed from creating and editing videos for ads to finding space on platforms offering flexible budgets to run your ads. Therefore, advertising becomes a strategic activity for businesses, and allotting specific budgets and setting targets are recommended to overcome the consequences.

Moreover, in some scenarios, it has been found that the cost of advertisement increases the set budget which affects the cost of the advertised products and consequently decreases the sales volume.

Challenging for small businesses

Small business owners lack resources and budget for advertisements as a result of which they get lost in the market. Large firms are the ones who dictate the entire market of products and goods which makes it challenging for medium enterprises to make their presence and do their business.

It creates a general disturbance

Advertising may have a positive effect on the economy but it also impacts negatively on the consumers when it happens over and over again. Also, according to digital marketing experts, on average a person is exposed to 6,000 to 10,000 ads every single day. Many of the ads become repetitive and irritating which can develop hate towards a brand or an entity. This proves to be a major disadvantage of advertising.

No surety of returns

Advertising may cost thousands if not millions of dollars but cannot guarantee a surety in return on investment. This is why it becomes important for any digital marketing company to research demographics and audience groups to find the pain points before advertising. As long as there is some sort of valid value proposition there will always be some sort of return on investment. Even then, a million-dollar campaign could bring a $1 return.

Concluding Advantages & Disadvantages of Advertising

Advertising is an advantageous practice as it can increase brand and product awareness and simultaneously set you apart from the competition. Effective advertising strategies can help any company to ensure a good return on investment but it’s not always likely to achieve that feat. Further, make sure to do the proper research, allocate a flexible budget, and be patient for a campaign to be successful.

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Advertising

Everything you need to know about advantages and disadvantages advertising. Advertising is defined as the paid, non-personal form of communication about products or ideas by an identified sponsor through the mass media so as to inform, persuade or influence the behaviour of the target audience.

Advertising is directed to a large number of people and not to one individual. That is why we call it non-personal. Advertising is communication about products or ideas. It may inform us about the features of iPod or new smart phone or spell out the need to have a cancer check-up.

Some of the advantages and disadvantages of advertising are:-

A. Advantages of Advertising – 1. Promotion of Sales 2. Expansion of Production 3. Enhances Goodwill 4. Large Turnover and Huge Profits 5. Information about Different Options and Comparative Prices 6. Creates Employment 7. Higher Standard of Living

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B. Disadvantages of Advertising – 1. Adds to the Cost of Production and Product 2. Leads to Price War 3. Deceptive Advertising 4. Leads to Unequal Competition 5. Creates a Monopolistic Market 6. Promotes Unnecessary Consumption 7. Decline in Moral Values.

Learn about the Advantages and Disadvantages of Advertising

Advantages of advertising:.

The advantages of advertising are to be analyzed in terms of its advantages which are as follows:

(i) From Viewpoint of Manufacturers:

A well-advertised product is easier to be sold by the salesman in the market. If a brand is popular and well-known, people respond favourably to the salesman’s efforts. It provides a support to salesmanship, as the audience understands the product and its uses more clearly through the advertisement and the salesman’s effort is reduced to convince the buyers.

(a) Increase in Sales:

The main object of the manufacturer in advertising his products is to promote the sale of his products. Goods produced on a mass scale are marketed by the method of mass persuasion through advertising.

Repetition of advertisements, the manufacturers are not only able to retain existing markets but are also able to expand the markets both by attracting more people to their products and also by suggesting new uses for them. Advertising is a helping hand to selling.

(b) Supplementing Salesmanship:

It creates a ground for the efforts of the salesmen. When a salesman meets its prospect, they have just to canvass for a product with which the consumer may already have been familiarised, through advertisements. Therefore, the salesman’s efforts are supplemented and his task is made easier by advertising.

Sales turnover and encourage mass production of goods are enhanced by advertising that results in large scale production, average cost of production reduces and results in higher profits. At the same time, when the cost of advertising and selling costs gets distributed over a larger volume of sales, the average cost of selling also lowers down.

(d) Greater Dealer Interest:

Advertising creates demand by which every retailer gets an opportunity to share with others. Hence, the retailers who deal in advertised goods are materially assisted by advertising in the performance of their functions. The retailers have not to bother much about pushing-up the sale of such products. Therefore, they evidence more interest in advertised products.

(e) Quick Turnover and Smaller Inventories:

A highly responsive market is created by well-organised advertisement campaign thereby facilitating quick turnover of the goods. Resulting, in lower inventories in relation to sales and being carried-on by the manufacturers.

(f) Steady Demand:

Seasonal fluctuations on demands for products are smoothened by advertising generally the manufacturers tries to discover and advertise new possible uses of which a seasonal product maybe put. The innovation of cold tea and cold coffee for the use during summer has helped in increasing the demand for these beverages even in that season. The same maybe said for refrigeration.

(ii) From Viewpoint of Consumers:

(a) Improvement in Quality:

Usually, goods are advertised under brand names. When a person is moved by the advertisement to use the product, they proceeds on the hope that the contents of the particular brand will be better than the other brands of the same goods.

When his experience confirms his expectation, a repeat order can be expected. Or else, the sales may rise very high once but may drop down very low subsequently when the consumer’s confidence in the quality of the product fails.

(b) Facility of Purchasing:

Purchasing becomes easy for the consumers after advertising. Generally, the re-sale prices (prices at which the goods are to be sold by the retailers) are fixed and advertised. Thus, advertising offers a definite and positive assurance to the consumer that they will not be overcharged for the advertised product. The consumer can make his purchases with utmost ease and confidence.

The utility of given commodities is increased by advertising for many people. It points-out and pays even more for certain products which appear to have higher utility to them. If these products are available at the original lower prices, there will naturally be a certain amount of consumer’s surplus in terms of increased satisfaction or pleasure derived from these products.

(d) Education of Consumers:

Being an educational and dynamic principle, the prime objective of advertising is to inform and educate the customers about new products, their features, prices and uses. It also convinces them to adopt new ways of life, giving up their old habits and inertia and have a better standard of living.

(iii) From the Viewpoint of Middleman:

(a) Retail Price Maintenance becomes Possible:

The consumers are quite keen on getting quality products at stable prices over a period of time. Each consumer has his or her own family budget where he or she tries hard to match the expenditure to the disposable income for a socially acceptable decent living.

In case the prices go on changing abruptly, these individual budgets are likely to be distorted to such an extent that the consumers will have to think of substitutes for the products they are enjoying at present.

(b) Acts as a Salesman:

What a travelling salesman does for this organisation is done by the advertising at least cost. This is the reason that most of the retail organisations do not employ large army of travelling salesman, rather they are willing to spend on advertising which attracts consumers to the sores where the counter salesmen cater to their needs.

Every retailer having the stock of different producers needs a quick turnover. By bringing the wide range of these products to the notice of the consumers, advertising boosts up of sales.

Faster sales imply the specific advantages such as reduced capital look-up, reduction in losses of holding stock over longer period, increased profits even by reducing the profit margin per unit. Further, advertising gives much leeway and freedom to better serve the needs of the consumers.

(iv) From the Viewpoint of Society:

(a) Change in Motivation:

Radically advertising has changed the basis of human motivation. While people of earlier generations lived and worked mainly for bare necessities of life, the modern generation works harder to supply itself with the luxuries and semi-luxuries of life.

(b) Sustaining the Press:

For support and sustenance the newspapers, periodicals, journals, looks for advertisers, press, look to advertisements. In the absence of income from advertising, the newspapers have to be produced at a higher cost and may not be able to keep themselves free from its competitors.

Designing artists, writers to do creative work. They earn their living from preparing advertisements.

(d) Encouragement to Research:

When manufacturers are assured of sufficient profits. They undertake research and discover new products or new uses for existing products. Advertising puts forward this assurance and thereby encouraging industrial research with all its advantages.

(e) Glimpse of National Life:

A glimpse of national life is provided by national life.

Disadvantages of Advertising:

Advertising too have its own limitations. In some case it’s being misused by few people over looking their business interests.

The main weaknesses of advertising are discussed below:

i. Deferred Revenue Expenditure:

It is a deferred revenue expenditure, as the results are not immediate. As advertising occupies a substantial portion of the total budget of the organisation. Hence, investing a large sum in it does not necessarily yield immediate results thus limiting its utility.

ii. Misrepresentation of Facts:

A major drawback of advertising is misrepresentation of facts regarding products and services. Advertisers usually misrepresent unreal/false benefits of a product and make tall claims to excite people to indulge in actions leading to their benefit, but opposed to consumer’s self-interest.

iii. Consumer’s Deficit:

Advertising creates desires as consumers have low purchasing power. It leads to discontentment. Such discontent is obviously not very desirable from the point of view of society, particularly if it affects a large majority of people. But it is important if it acts as a spur to social change.

iv. Barriers to Entry:

Advertisements promote industrial concentration to a greater or lesser degree. The extent of such concentration may vary with the character of the individual trade, the advertisability of the product and the technical conditions of its production. Although, studies on this subject are not conclusive. The evidence of positive association between advertising and concentration is weaker than can be expected.

v. Wastage of National Resources:

It is objected that advertisement is that it is used to destroy the utility of goods before the end of their normal period of usefulness. Now models of automobiles with nominal improvements are, for example, advertised at such high pressure that the old models have to be discarded long before they become useless, not that merely, the most-advertised products are delicate, fragile, and brittle.

vi. Increased Cost:

It is much debated whether advertising induces additional cost upon a product which the community has to pay. In a sense, it is true since expenses on it form a part of the total cost of the product. But at the same time, it would be unjust to infer that if the advertising costs were cut down the goods would necessarily be cheaper. Advertising is, one of the items of costs but it is a cost which brings savings in its wake on the distribution side.

vii. Product Proliferation:

Critics state that advertising encourages unnecessary product proliferation. As it leads to the multiplication of products that are almost identical, resulting in wastage of resources which could otherwise have been used to produce other products.

viii. Multiplication of Needs:

Advertising compels people to buy things they do not need as it is human instincts, to possess, to be recognized in the society, etc., are provoked by advertiser in order to sell products. At times, various types of appeals are advanced to arouse interest in the product. Sentiments and emotions are played with to gain customers.

Benefits of Advertising :

i. Internet Advertising is Huge:

With the growth of information on the Internet has growth the amount of time people spend on it, which has in turn generated a new market for Internet advertising. Some of the wealthiest companies in the world have made sure that they get a piece of the internet marketing pie, and for a good reason.

ii. Internet Advertising is Targeted:

As a company looking for advertising opportunities to a specific market, Internet advertising offers some targeting methods that insure that those who see your ads are the ones most likely to buy. Programmes like Google’s Ad Words and AdSense match up advertisers with content that their target market peruses regularly. Forget the costly machine- gun strategy of newspaper advertisements, Internet advertising is targeted!

iii. Internet Adverting Enables Good Conversion Tracking:

It is impossible to get a good idea of how many people see advertising through traditional means. Tracking the reach of newspaper and television advertisements is difficult. However, Internet advertising allows the advertiser to track the number of impressions an ad gets (how many people see it), and how many visits their business web site gets from particular ads, making it easy to see what kind of conversion rates internet advertisements are getting.

iv. Internet Advertising has a Lower Entry-Level Fees:

If you have a limited budget, Internet advertising can be much more in reach than traditional methods. A small yellow-page ad can cost thousand rupees. However, you can bid for advertisements on Google and Overture on a performance basis. That means that you only get charged when visitors click on the advertisement, and bidding starts at a few rupees pop.

v. Internet Advertising can be Much Cheaper :

Because of the targeted nature of Internet advertising and the ability to track the effectiveness of ads, conversion rates from internet advertising is typically much better than traditional mediums.

vi. Internet Advertising has Greater Range :

One more benefit is that, since the Internet spans the globe, pockets of your target market scattered around the world can all be targeted at once, rather than trying to find different publications, radio stations and television stations that cater to a particular geographical area.

On the whole, Internet advertising can be a great way to get the word out there about your service or product in a cost- effective, efficient way.

Limitations :

i. Measurement problem – It is difficult to measure effectiveness of advertising.

ii. Surfing speed – Due to traffic and technical difficulties users find that the time required to access sites can be long.

iii. Clutters – Too many ads over a short period could result in low registration of the message.

iv. Privacy – Like telephones being misused for telemarketing, Internet is also accused of invading user privacy.

Advertising is beneficial to manufacturers, traders, consumers and society as a whole:

1. Promotion of Sales:

Advertising helps the producer to increase his sales. A form attempts to increase the demand for its product, either by reducing the price or by inducing buyers to purchase more of its product; even at the constant price. The latter involves the use of sales promotion and hence advertising.

2. Expansion of Production:

Increased demand brought about by advertising has to be met by a corresponding increase in production. In this way, advertising causes production to expand in order to cater to an increased demand.

3. Enhances Goodwill:

Advertising is instrumental in increasing the goodwill of the company (advertises). It introduces the manufacturer and his product to the people. Repeated advertising and better quality of products strengthens manufacturer’s reputation and enhances his goodwill.

4. Large Turnover and Huge Profits:

An increased demand, generated through advertisements can create a larger turnover for the company and eventually resulting in more profits.

5. Information about Different Options and Comparative Prices:

Advertisement keeps the buyers well informed by providing information about the different products and their relative prices. This helps the consumer to take adequate decision regarding the features they want and the amount they want to spend, even before physically going to the shops.

6. Creates Employment Opportunities:

Advertising is capable of providing employment to large section of the society including the professionals like painters, photographers, singers, cartoonist, musicians, models and people working in different advertising agencies.

7. Higher Standard of Living:

Advertisement promotes larger consumption, increased production and greater employment. This further reflects on lower prices, better quality and greater variety of goods to the consumers. Advertising, thus, ensures better and happier living.

Disadvantages of Advertising :

Despite of being regarded as the life-blood of modern business advertising has the following disadvantages:

1. Adds to the Cost of Production and Product:

Advertising increases the cost of the advertised product, as the expenses on advertisement add to the total cost of the product. To mitigate the cost incurred during advertising of the product or the service, the advertiser adds the cost of advertisement to the total price of the product or the service. So, the advertising cost is actually being borne by the consumers.

2. Leads to Price War:

Large scale competitive advertising by prominent competing firms can possibly lead to advertising wars with the consumers being made to pay for it. It leads to a situation of price war and that makes the production activity unduly wasteful. The entire industry has to suffer a setback.

3. Deceptive Advertising:

Sometimes, advertising is used as an instrument of cheating. Unscrupulous firms defraud the consumers by misrepresenting their products through advertising. In order to induce people to purchase their product, firms issue false statements with regard to different virtues of a products; this undermines public confidence in advertising. As a result we have the Advertising Code of Conduct that regulates advertising and ensures commercial honesty.

4. Leads to Unequal Competition:

The producers spend a huge amount of money for the advertisement of their products and services. Small local firms cannot match the big advertising budgets of multinational companies. Therefore, the scales are always tilted in favour of the bigger producers leading to unequal competition.

5. Creates a Monopolistic Market:

Larger firms by virtue of their larger advertising budgets drive the smaller firms out of the market. This leaves the market open to just a few large producers. In this way the bigger firms win competition and monopolize the market.

6. Promotes Unnecessary Consumption:

Advertising promotes the consumption of goods and services which are not even required by the people. Hence it is wastage of national resources.

7. Decline in Moral Values:

In order to attract attention of the people, many times advertisers use indecent, vulgar language and obscene photographs.

All these reasons together justify the statement that “Advertising is Social Waste”, because it does not add any real value to the society.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Advertising – With Criticisms

Money spent on advertisement is an investment – This is because it gives rise to many benefits to various. Categories viz., Producers, Middlemen, Consumers and entire society.

The various benefits are as under:

A. Benefits / Advantages to Producers / Manufacturers:

1. Communication of Information to Consumer, i.e., Information about product, price and place from where it can be bought. Latest innovations and arrivals. Changes in product by manufacturer.

2. Brand Building – Advertisement is actually brand building. Advertisement creates brand preference for company’s products. Brand equity is established with the help of advertisement Brand equity refers to over-all strength of a brand in the market and its value to the company owning it.

3. Increase in sales – Old customers are kept tied up with the firm, reminding them about product, again and again through advertising. New customers are created by creating attraction towards product. Demand for new products is created by explaining merits of the product showing superiority over rivals’ products and giving knowledge about new products.

4. Help in facing competition and protecting manufacturer against unfair competition as advertisement creates a brand name.

5. Increase in Profits via increased sales.

6. Creation/Enhancement of Goodwill of Company and Product as clientele increases.

7. Stability in seasonal Demand – Advertisement helps in creating demand over all the seasons by discovering new product and new usage of product. For example, tea is sold in summer, ice-cream in winter due to advertising.

8. No Overstocking due to Quick Sales/turnover by creating high responsive market. Also this results in lower inventories.

9. Economies/Advantages of Large Scale Operation as sales increase.

10. Establishing Direct Relations/Contact between manufacturers and consumers through mass communication of messages about product.

11. Getting Efficient and Experienced Middlemen – Advertisement helps manufacturers in getting a team of efficient and experienced middlemen because increase in demand for a product encourages middlemen to maintain its stock/inventory.

12. Quickening the turnover by creating high responsive market resulting in lower inventory.

13. Advertisement gives employees a sense of practice on their jobs and a feeling to be in the service of a concern of repute. As such, it inspires executives, employees and workers to improve their performance and efficiency.

B. Benefits/Advantages to Middlemen (Wholesalers and Retailers):

1. Convenience in Selling without much effort as advertised goods are already in demand and customers are well convinced about such goods.

2. Increased Sales and Profits due to high demand, easy sale of products, and high rate of turnover.

3. No risk of overstocking as demand is already high.

4. Increase in goodwill as they become known for dealing in standard, quality goods.

5. Economy in selling as their overheads are saved and they need not spend on advertising.

6. Stability in sales and profits due to all-seasons demand through advertising.

7. It enables wholesalers and retailers to have product information.

C. Advantages to Salesmen:

1. Salesmanship is incomplete without advertising.

2. Advertising serves as a forerunner of salesman in selling goods.

3. Salesmen are helped by advertisement in following ways –

i. Selling becomes easy and convenient as products are already advertised informing consumer about product’s characteristics and quality.

ii. Advertising prepares requisite ground for salesman; as such his sales efforts are reduced.

iii. Contact between salesman and customer becomes permanent through effective advertising as customer is assured of quality and price of produce.

iv. Salesman can also weigh advertising effectiveness through direct contacts with customers.

D. Benefits / Advantages to Consumers:

1. Knowledge about New Products.

2. Saving of time and Labour in making purchases as they already know details about product through advertising viz., features, place where available.

3. Advance Decision to buy Consumers are able to take advance decision to buy in the light of advertisement.

4. Protection against cheating by Sellers as advertising message often provides details about weight, packing, price, discounts, special schemes and ‘alerts and warnings’.

5. Knowledge about variety of Products as different producers advertise their products.

6. Knowledge about Alternative Use of Products.

7. Enhancement in Consumers’ Marketing knowledge through advertising about existing products, new products, their different as well as new uses, place and manufacturers where available, other details.

8. Elimination of Middlemen and their costs in cases where direct relation between producer and consumer develops and this reduces consumer price.

9. Helps retailer’s Anticipation of actual sales.

10. Unfair competition and price wars are avoided as prices are controlled by manufacturers through advertisement.

11. Increase in Standard of living as people come to know about new home products, gadgets and appliances which makes their living more comfortable and living standard higher.

E. Advantages/Benefits to Society/Community:

1. Increase in standard of living of citizens.

2. Larger and Handsome Employment opportunities.

3. Development of Advertisement Industry viz., advertising firms / agencies, artists, writers, models, art designing.

4. Boon to Press, that is Newspapers, Magazines etc. as their income increases.

5. Encourages R & D.

6. Encourages Healthy Competition.

7. Educative, providing lot of information to people.

8. Provides new Horizon of knowledge.

The main reason is that advertisement benefits not only different sections of society but also the society as a whole. One can therefore also say that money spent on advertisement is an investment and not a waste.

Criticisms of Advertising:

Despite its various advantages, advertising has not been free from criticisms.

1. Burden upon Consumers:

Media of advertisement being costly, manufacturers have to spend huge amount on advertising. This ad spend adds to cost of production and increases cost per unit and finally the price of the product. Increased prices are a burden on consumer.

This criticism is not fully correct. Advertisement also raises demand for products, increases scale of production, brings economies of large scale production and thus finally decreases cost per unit and hence price.

2. Advertisement Creates Monopoly:

Advertising ultimately blocks other firms from entering an industry (barriers to entry) leading to market power for the firm and ultimately to higher prices. If sheer advertising volume expenditure is directly related to increased sales, small firms cannot afford it. This enables large-scale manufacturer to stay and enjoy monopoly.

However, advertisement also creates healthy competitive market for the products.

3. Advertisement Leads to Consumerism:

Advertising encourages excessive and at times unnecessary expenditure by consumers. Frequent and repeated advertising compels consumers to buy a product even when it does not suit him or is not needed.

4. Advertisement Leads to Luxurious Life:

Advertising luxurious goods is often done in a manner that consumers feel them necessary to buy. Such goods become status symbol. Consequently, people are made to live a luxurious life even when they cannot afford it

However, in so far as advertising offers wide choice in making their purchases, it improves their life style and raises their standard of living.

5. Advertisement is a Wastage:

Money spent on advertising is a wastage if demand for advertised goods and services does not increase.

This is however not necessarily so because very often, advertisement increases demand through wider coverage and new uses of product.

6. Advertisement Leads to Falsehood in Business:

Advertisements often mislead people, and at times exaggerate benefits of products or their attributes.

While it is true that some of the advertisements are untrue and fraudulent, this is not disadvantage of advertisement. Rather it is the advertiser who is to be blamed.

7. Advertisement Gives Birth to Social Evils:

Advertisement often gives birth to social evils like smoking, drinking etc.

Conclusion – While various criticisms are true, measures can be adopted to check these social evils.

1. Advertising stimulates production, employment and income, leading to rising purchasing power and better living standards.

2. Commercialization of inventions, accelerated public acceptance of innovations, new products, etc., can be realised only due to effective mass communication or advertising. Change is the essence of life. It can be brought about by science and technology but it has to be accepted by the public without much resistance. For quick acceptance of new products and new ideas we need advertising.

3. Informative advertising enables consumers to secure relevant and adequate information about all rival products and their relative merits. Thus, advertising helps consumers to exercise their right to choose and buy a product of service intelligently. We have a wide variety of goods many of them complicated and sophisticated. Hence, wise purchases demand adequate information flow.

4. Advertising facilitates mass production and mass distribution. We have, therefore, lesser unit cost of production as well as lesser unit cost of distribution. Scientific management reduces cost of production. Scientific marketing research ensures reduction in the cost of distribution.

Marketing research can be used to reduce the cost of all components of the marketing mix including advertising. Reduction in costs enables corresponding reduction in prices. Competition in business also ensures price reduction and fair prices. Thus, consumers enjoy all the benefits of effective advertising and marketing. They can have increasing real income also in terms of goods and services.

5. Advertising builds up brand preference and brand loyalty. In the long run these are not possible under keen competition unless the brand quality is maintained and steadily improved by the manufacturer. Thus, consumers can get not only goods at lower prices but also goods of standard quality and quantity.

6. Advertising has educative value also. It teaches us to adopt new ways of life and higher standard of living. It can educate the community to demand quantity of life, e.g., freedom from pollution.

Disadvantages of Advertisement:

1. Loading the Price:

Advertising is expected to reduce total costs due to mass production and mass distribution and ultimately enable consumers to buy at lower prices. Experience proves otherwise. In reality advertising increases the prices of goods.

National brands demand heavy expenditure on advertising and promotion and their prices are higher by about 20 per cent than the prices of dealer brand though products under both brands are manufactured by the same enterprise. There is some element of truth in this criticism. However, it is due to extreme product differentiation resorted to by manufacturers through branding and higher prices are due to element of monopoly.

2. Creating Wastes:

Advertising is wasteful. It can never appeal accurately to the target market like salesmanship. Many people may not read, hear or view your advertisement. Press, radio, and TV advertisements have short life span and relatively costly persuade unit of space or time.

Competitive advertisement is a waste as it enables only reshuffling of customers-one Company stealing customers from another. Measurement of effectiveness of all advertisement statistically is practically impossible. But research in advertising and distribution can enable a company to reduce waste of expenditure in advertising appreciably.

3. Monopoly:

A few firms in an industry do utilise the weapon of advertising to prevent entry of small firms in the market and thus advertising enables creation of monopoly or oligopoly in the market. It kills competition and to that extent consumers’ interest is sacrificed. Only giant manufacturers can afford to spend lavishly on extensive and intensive advertising to retain and even enlarge their market share.

However, if government can effectively control and regulate monopolistic tendencies, we can have reasonable competition in the market. We have to crush monopolies in the world of business to protect consumers against evils of monopolies.

4. Fraud on Consumers:

Some advertising is fraudulent, misleading or deceptive. Advertising causes us to buy goods, we do not want, at prices we cannot pay, and on terms we cannot meet. It is true that hard-sell, high pressure advertising does coerce the innocent and ignorant buyers to purchase many unwanted and shoddy goods. It is true that advertising often persuades people to buy things they should not buy, they do not need nor they can afford.

Public attitude toward advertising as a persuader is constantly unfavourable. This has been proved through opinion polls in the U.S.A in 1960s. Only self-regulation by business firms can ensure truthful advertising. The seller should ensure that his advertisements mean what they say and they say what they really mean. Consumer legislation can also prevent such abuses of advertising. Consumerism through self-help can also safeguard consumer interest against bogus advertising.

Marketing mix based on marketing concept (consumer-oriented marketing approach) can also reduce substantially these abuses of advertising. Marketing research and customer-centred marketing plans and policies can definitely provide judicious and best use of advertising, sales promotion and personal selling in our promotion mix.

Enlightened and scrupulous top marketing management can recognise consumerism not as an obstacle but challenge and primarily through self-regulation streamline the entire marketing process based on the new marketing concept, then only marketing communication complex (promotion mix) can deliver rich dividends and ensure bright public image of business concerns.

(1) Low cost per contact.

(2) Ability to reach potential visitors where sales staff cannot reach.

(3) Great scope for creative versatility and dramatization of messages.

(4) Ability to create images that sales staff cannot.

(5) Non-threatening nature of non-personal presentation.

(6) Prestige and impressiveness of mass media advertising.

(1) Inability to close sales.

(2) Advertising clutter or too much competition.

(3) Viewer visitor may ignore advertising messages

(4) Difficulties in getting immediate response and actions.

(5) Difficulties in getting quick feedback and in adjusting messages.

(6) Difficulties in measuring effectiveness.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Advertising – With Objections against Advertising

The importance of advertising is realised on all hands. In fact, advertising has already become such an integral part of our life that we never feel the need of pausing to consider its value and importance. There is no doubt about the fact that in the absence of advertising, our lives would have been lived very differently.

Such being the place of advertising in our life, it will be worthwhile to consider some of the important advantages of advertising here:

1. Advantages to Manufacturers :

There is justification in the adage, “it pays to advertise” because of the following advantages of advertising accruing to manufacturers:

(i) Increased Sales:

The chief object of the manufacturer in advertising his products is to promote the sale of his products. Goods produced on a mass scale are marketed by the method of mass persuasion through advertising. By repeating advertisements, the manufactures are not only able to retain existing markets but are also able to expand the markets both by attracting more people to their products as also by suggesting new uses for them. Advertising acts as an aid to selling.

(ii) Steady Demand:

Advertising has led to the smoothening cut of the seasonal fluctuations in demand for many products. The manufactures are generally trying to discover and advertise new possible uses to which a seasonal product may be put. The innovation of cold tea and cold coffee for the use during summer has helped in increasing the demand for these beverages even in that season. The same may be said for refrigeration.

(iii) Quick Turnover and Smaller Inventories:

A well-organised advertisement campaign creates a highly responsive market thereby facilitating quick turnover of the goods. This, in turn, results in lower inventories in relation to sales being carried on by the manufactures.

(iv) Greater Dealer Interest:

The retailers who deal in advertised goods are materially assisted by advertising in the performance of their functions. Advertising creates demand which every retailer gets an opportunity to share with others. The retailers have not to bother much about pushing up the sale of such products. So they evidence more interest in advertised products.

(v) Lower Costs:

Advertising provides a spur to the sale and increases the turnover tremendously. This is advantageous in two ways – on one side, the selling costs including the cost of advertising get spread over a large volume of sales, thus lowering the average cost of selling; while on the other side, higher turnover necessitates higher volume of production, thus lowering the average cost of production per unit.

(vi) Supplementing Salesmanship:

Advertising prepares the necessary ground for the efforts of the salesmen. When a salesman visits a prospect, he has just to canvass for a product with which the consumer may already have been familiarised through advertisements. Thus, the salesman’s efforts are supplemented and his task is made easier by advertising.

(vii) Creation of Goodwill:

By constantly associating the name of the manufacturer with certain standards of quality, advertising builds a fund of goodwill for him. Goodwill thus created is a valuable asset not merely because it enables him to get more and more of repeat orders for his existing products but also for the reason that the manufacturer can introduce new products in the market with confidence. The Godrej concerns have been able to sell the whole range of products ranging from oils to soap and from locks to typewriters mostly on the strength of their goodwill.

(viii) Encouragement to Better Performance:

Advertising gives the employees that feeling of pride in their jobs and the products they produce or help to produce, which is basic to high morale. It can, thus, inspire executives and workers to improved performance. Moreover, an advertiser may have built up a vast fund of goodwill which will serve as assurance of security to the employers. This will also serve to boost up the morale of the men working in the manufacturer’s organisation.

2. Advantages to Consumers :

(i) Facility of Purchasing:

Advertising makes purchasing easy for the consumers. Moreover, the resale prices (prices at which the goods are to be sold by the retailers) are generally fixed and advertised. Thus, advertising offers a definite and positive assurance to the consumer that he will not be overcharged for the advertised product. The consumer can make his purchases with utmost ease and confidence.

(ii) Improvement in Quality:

Goods are generally advertised under brand names. When a person is moved by the advertisement to use the product, he proceeds on the hope that the articles of the particular brand will be better than the other brands of the same goods. If his experience confirms his expectation, a repeat order can be expected.

Otherwise, the sales may rise very high once but may drop down very low subsequently when the consumer’s confidence in the quality of the product is shaken. The manufacturer is thus prompted to maintain and, if possible, improve the quality of his brand so that the confidence of the consumers can be maintained.

(iii) Elimination of Unnecessary Intermediaries:

By advertising his goods, a manufacturer may seek to establish direct contacts with the consumers. In this process, the number of middlemen whose profits increase the price and reduce the manufacturer’s margin of profits may be considerably reduced. This will mean large profits for the manufacturer and cheaper products for the consumers.

(iv) Education of Consumers:

There is considerable truth in Sir William Leverhulm’s remark that advertising is an educational and dynamic principle. Advertising aims at educating the buyers about new products and their diverse uses. In this process, it introduces new ways of life to the people at large and prompts them to give up their old habits and inertia. Advertising thus paves the way to better standards of living.

(v) Consumer’s Surplus:

Advertising increases the utility of given commodities for many people. It points out and emphasizes the qualities possessed by certain goods and leads consumers to appreciate more strongly the utility of such goods. As a result, the consumers may be willing to pay even more for certain products which appear to have higher utility to them.

If these products are available at the original lower prices, there will naturally be a certain amount of consumer’s surplus in terms of increased satisfaction or pleasure derived from these products.

3. Benefits to Society :

(i) Sustaining the Press:

When advertising made its beginning, advertisements generally occupied some odd nooks and corners in the newspapers. The present situation is just the reverse. The newspapers, periodicals, journals, nay the whole press, look to advertisements for support and sustenance.

In the absence of income from advertising, the newspapers have to be produced at a higher cost and may not be able to keep themselves free from party pulls and pressures from business lords.

(ii) Encouragement to Research:

The manufacturers will undertake research and discover new products or new uses for existing products only when they are assured of sufficient profits. Advertising provides this assurance and thus encourages industrial research with all its advantages.

(iii) Change in Motivation:

Advertising has radically changed the basis of human motivation. While people of earlier generations lived and worked mainly for bare necessities of life, the modern generation works harder to supply itself with the luxuries and semi-luxuries of life.

Advertising has brought to the notice of the masses numerous products which are more than mere necessities and has created in their minds a desire to possess them. Thus, the motive force of fear (or going without the bare essentials of life) has been replaced by desire (for more and newer products).

(iv) Higher Standards of Living:

Advertising leads to a rise in the standards of living, not only through the education of the buyers but also through greater consumption, increased production and a larger volume of employment.

(v) Encouragement to Artists:

Men of talent, including artists, story writers, announcers, etc., get an opportunity to do some creative work while earning their livelihood through the designing of advertisements and the use of ideas in advertising various products.

(vi) Glimpse of National Life:

Advertising does provide a glimpse of a country’s way of life. It is, in fact, a running commentary on the way the people live and behave and is also an indicator of some of the future trends in this regard.

Objections against Advertising :

Advertising has also been subjected to a number of objections mainly because it has been misused by some people to serve their own ends, overlooking the business interests. An examination of some of the forceful objections will be of interest.

(i) Multiplication of Needs.

It is said that advertising compels people to buy things they do not need. Human instincts, like desire to possess, to be recognised in the society, etc., are provoked in order to sell products. Sometimes, various types of appeals are advanced to arouse interest in the product. Sentiments and emotions are played with to gain customers. To say this would not however, be correct inasmuch as advertising cannot force anybody to buy a thing which he considers unnecessary.

(ii) Misrepresentation of Facts:

Through misrepresentation of the benefit a product will give, goods of no real value are sold. Tall claims are made by the advertisers to tempt people to take such actions as go purely to their advantage and cause tremendous loss to the consumer. Even adulterated food and medicines are marketed, which by no stretch of imagination can benefit anybody.

By sheer exaggeration of facts, demand for the merchandise advertised is created without much difficulty even when the commodities carrying greater worth or satisfaction are already there in the market. Such unscrupulous actions of a few tell upon public confidence in advertising.

(iii) Consumers’ Deficit:

While advertising leads to increased satisfaction from commodities already in use, it also creates discontent in the minds of many people who are tempted to purchase some commodities but are not able to do so because of insufficient purchasing power. Such discontent is obviously not very desirable from the point of view of society, particularly if it affects a large majority of people. But it is important if it acts as a spin to social change.

(iv) Wastage of National Resources:

A more serious objection against advertising is that it is used to destroy the utility of goods before the end of their normal period of usefulness. New models of automobiles with nominal improvements are, for instance, advertised at such high pressure that the old models have to be discarded long before they become useless.

Not that merely, the most-advertised products are delicate, fragile and brittle. In the U.S A., there is evidence of a marked decline in the quality and durability of cars, furniture, rugs, television sets, refrigerators, etc. That appears to be the way in which the increased demand created through advertising can be sustained.

The same is true of dresses, furniture and other products. From the point of view of the community it is a waste of resources. The natural resources, capital equipment and labour energy which go into the production of new items to take the place of the discarded ones amount to waste when measured in terms of social well-being.

(v) Increased Cost:

There is a great deal of controversy as to whether advertising leads to increase in the cost which the community has to pay for a product. In a sense it is true since expenses on it form a part of the total cost of the product. But at the same time it would be wrong to infer that if the advertising costs were cut down the goods would necessarily be cheaper.

Advertising is, no doubt, one of the items of costs but it is a cost which brings savings in its wake on the distribution side. On manufacturing side, it is one of the factors that make large-scale production possible and anyone would agree that large-scale production leads to lower costs.

It is quite usual for the small non-advertiser retailer to say, “We don’t advertise—we put the cost of advertising into the goods.” But it is often nothing more than an attempt to justify his “side street location, the quality of his goods and his high price.” In fact, if comparisons are made between advertisers and non-advertisers, it will usually be found that the merchants who advertise have larger stores and lower prices than those who do not advertise.

Sears, Roebuck and Co., is one of the heaviest advertisers of the U.S.A. spending over $16 million a year for newspaper advertising alone and, in addition, $30 million or more on other forms of advertising including catalogues. In spite of such a heavy expense on advertisement, the Company is known for its low prices.

In fact the history of American business is full of examples of such industries as have lowered prices and supplied better quality while spending millions of dollars for advertising. This has been possible because advertising has raised the volume of their sales tremendously thus bringing about a number of economies in production and selling.

(vi) The ‘Monopoly Argument’:

An objection which is most commonly raised against advertising is that it tends to develop monopolies. As it is, most advertising is devoted to the promotion of branded merchandise. The manufacturer usually chooses a particular brand name or trade mark for his product and uses advertising to create an impression on the mind of the consumer that his brand or product is superior to all other brands.

Through constant repetition of the brand name and its qualities, the manufacturers may ultimately succeed in creating the desired ‘brand image’ in the mind of the prospect. Although the particular ‘brand’ may be similar to another brand in all respects including physical construction, yet the similarity is concealed from the public by the use of an exclusive name and illusion is created that it is superior to the competing brands.

This gives rise to a ‘brand monopoly’. On reflection, however, it will be found that this kind of monopoly will be based upon a control of human attitudes, and it will not give the manufacturer a monopolistic control over the supply of goods or services which are similar in everything but name.

Besides, brand monopoly created through large-scale advertising will provide only slight power to increase prices. The moment prices are increased substantially in the wake of a brand monopoly; rival companies may rush into the market with lower-priced product and may use extensive advertising to push its sales. This may be followed, in course of time, by a shift of choice on the part of the consumers.

A brand monopoly secured through expenditure on advertising does not necessarily give the manufacturer an effective monopoly of particular industry. The Golden Tobacco Company has a monopoly of Panama brand of cigarettes but not of the whole cigarette industry.

Even in those cases, where the popularity of a brand places the manufacturer in a position of near- monopoly, the competitors generally use advertising to break his hold on consumers’ attitudes secured through advertising.

It may be concluded that advertising can create temporary brand monopolies which are abolished through competitive advertising -by other manufacturers. Even these short-lived monopolies are more useful for increasing sales than for increasing prices and profit margins. As Heppner aptly points out, “Advertising stimulates competition. It often enables the small businessman to compete with large concerns as well as to start new business.”

Though one cannot entirely turn one’s face away from the objections which are raised against advertising, it is clear that much of the criticism is either ill-founded or exaggerated. Fundamentally most of the drawbacks attributed to advertising are inherent in the competitive system of economy.

The social wastage involved in the struggle for more markets as between brands of a product is, for example, a basic feature of the competitive market economy. As Sandage puts it, “As a competitive tool, advertising is perhaps less costly than many other tools which will be used to a greater degree if advertising were banned.”

He obviously refers to the personal selling and the giving of greater dealer’s margins to the retailers which might be used in place of advertising. Either of them would be costlier for the society.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Advertising – As a Promotional Tool

Strengths of advertising:.

Advertising is a major promotion tool.

It has the following basic plus points or strengths as a promotion tool:

(1) It offers planned and controlled message.

(2) It can contact and influence numerous people simultaneously, quickly, and at a low cost per prospect. Hence, it is called mass means of communication.

(3) It has the ability to deliver messages to audiences with particular demographic and socio-economic features.

(4) It can deliver the same message consistently in a variety of contexts.

(5) It can reach prospects that cannot be approached by salesmen, e.g., top executives.

(6) It helps to pre-sell goods and pull the buyers to retailers.

(7) It offers a wide choice of channels for transmission of messages such as visual, aural, aural and visual.

(8) It is very useful to create maximum interest and offer adequate knowledge of the new product when the innovation is being introduced in the market.

Weaknesses of Advertising:

Advertising as a promotion tool has the following weaknesses:

(1) It is much less effective than personal selling and sales promotion at later stages in the buying process, e.g., in convincing and securing action.

(2) It is less flexible than personal communication. It cannot answer objections raised by prospects.

(3) It is essentially one-way means of communication. It cannot obtain quick and accurate feedback in order to evaluate message effectiveness. In absence of feedback, personal salesmen becomes necessary.

(4) It is most efficient communication (very low cost persuasion prospect) but it is least effective as a tool of communication.

(5) It is unable to reach prospects when they are in a buying mood. Hence, we have to repeat advertisements and repetition involves additional cost.

(6) Advertising media, e.g., newspapers, magazines, carry many messages competing to secure attention of audience simultaneously. Thus, it creates noise in communication.

(7) Advertising, many a time, lacks credibility and trustworthiness.

Many of the aforesaid weaknesses can be eliminated by other elements of promotion when they are combined with advertising.

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12 Advantages and Disadvantages of Advertising

Concept of advertising.

Advertising is a means of creating awareness and promoting a product or service in the market. It is a paid form of communication to inform the public about an idea, good or service. Advertising is a market communication intended to influence people’s actions and persuading them to buy or try the product.

This is one of the effective promotional tool of an organization for promoting its product among the target audience. It spreads the promotional message containing full details about the product among the customers. Advertising is a one-way communication by which organizations communicate with people by paying charges to an advertising company.

Advertising is of different kinds depending upon the type of medium used for communication such as print advertising, social advertising, outside advertising, broadcasting advertising, etc. There are three main motives of advertising: informing potential customers about brand, persuading people for buying brand products and reminding customers from time to time about brand message and vision.

Advantages of Advertising

Introduces product

Advertising is a medium through which companies introduce and create awareness regarding their products in the market. It explains the features and uses of new products to customers.

Increase Sales

Advertising helps the business in increasing its sales volumes. It attracts more and more people toward the company’s products and persuades them for purchasing it.

Widens Market

It enables businesses in exploring new markets and reaching out to a wide number of peoples. Advertising creates wide awareness regarding brand products among the public.

Fights Competition

Advertising is an effective tool for businesses to face competitive forces in the market. It provides detailed information regarding products that helps in differentiating it from competitor’s products and acquiring a competitive advantage.

Eliminates Middlemen

It serves as the direct connecting link between manufacturers and consumers. Advertising eliminates the role of all intermediaries between producer and customers which increases the profit margin of producers and reduces the overall cost to customers.

Stabilizes Sales Volume

Advertising helps in stabilizing the sales volumes for business. It helps in retaining more and more customers for a longer time period and develops more loyal customers.

Educates Consumers

It serves as the mean through which companies communicates all details regarding their products among customers. Advertising informs customers about the uses and utility of the product.

Disadvantages of Advertising

Increases Cost

Advertising raises the cost of products offered by the business for sale in the market. The business incurs huge expenditure on advertisement activities which they recover by charging high prices for their products.

Mislead People

Advertising often leads to misleading and fraud customers by presenting false facts about goods. Many times it makes exaggerated and unfair claims regarding products.

It is an impersonal and one-way means of communication between the manufacturer and customers. Customers sometimes are confused by the message communicated through advertisements by the company and are not able to resolve their queries.

Discourages Small Business

Advertisement programs require huge funds to gain popularity and goodwill in the market. It is beyond the scope of small businesses as they cannot afford huge advertisements like big companies.

Encourage Monopoly

Big corporations through wide advertisement programs create their monopolies in the market. They are able to create a permanent place for them among customers and restricts the entry of new competitors.

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Online Advertising: Advantages and Disadvantages

Online advertising includes advertising through the internet. There are different advertising options in online advertisement which include; searching engine advertising where keywords are used to search for product and the advertisers pay per click campaigns through the three main search engines – Google, Yahoo and MSN; and display ads which involve renting space on a website that is frequently visited where one pays the site.

There is also classified advertising which involves display on various sites and occurs at different spaces where one pays the site. Finally there are lead generation, rich site Summary (RSS) advertising, the rich media and the email advertising where emails are sent to individuals or columns are set to open as people open the web pages. The types of online ads present include; banner ads, which may involve banner exchange, pay publishers, and pay a banner network; Pop-up ads; floating ads (which appear for sometime when one opens a web page); interstitial ads (appear on the web page as user requests); unicast ads (runs on the browser window and is animated); takeover ads (appear with first click of website then it move to other parts of the page); chat rooms, spyware/adware; web portal site; web blogs; and contextual ads.

One major advantage of online adverts is that online ads are designed to capture the attention of the reader as he opens the web. In addition, online ads have a wider mass outreach as numerous people visit the web all the time. Use of emails may create instant interest to the reader thus leading to increased product awareness. Since online ads are measurable by clicks, payment is prompt while the space is bought from the regularly visited sites, creating a quick knowledge of the product or service. Disadvantages of online ads include; the pop in ads may irritate the visitor, the net may be slow to open reading to skipping of ads that take time to load, and those who can access internet will not get access to the advert. Online ads are very effective since one never searches a web page unless there is interest in it, and in so doing, he/she will come across the ad.

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IELTS Writing Task 2
Advantage Disadvantage Essay

IELTS Advantage Disadvantage Essay Lesson

This lesson is about IELTS advantage disadvantage essay questions when you are told to assess whether the benefits of something outweigh the drawbacks.

The topic of the essay which is used as an example is about the trend to live and work abroad.

Take a look at the essay question we are going to analyse:

People now have the freedom to work and live anywhere in the world due to the development of communication technology and transportation.

Do the advantages of this development outweigh the disadvantages?

Understanding the Task

When you have this type of advantage disadvantage essay it is important to distinguish between this and one that asks you to discuss advantages and disadvantages but does not ask your opinion.

If you are asked “ What are the advantages and disadvantages of….. ” you are not being asked your opinion. You simply have to discuss the benefits and drawbacks.

You could do this in two body paragraphs:

Body One: The positive points
Body Two: The negative points

However, if you have the word “ outweigh ” or “ Will this trend have more positive or negative effects? ” then you are being asked for your opinion and you must say which there are the most of – positive or negative impacts.

If you do not do this then you may get your score reduced on ‘ Task Response ’ for not fully addressing the question.

If you look at the IELTS public band descriptors (available to download if you do an internet search or available from your local IELTS centre), you will see that this could reduce your band to a 5 for this criteria (it would not necessarily affect the other three criteria).

(Check this lesson on IELTS Band 7 for an overview of the criteria for getting a band 7 if you are unsure of what the criteria are).

Take a look at these examples:

What are the advantages and disadvantages of this trend?

This advantage disadvantage essay is not asking for your opinion. You could simply write one paragraph on the advantages and another on the disadvantages.

However, this one does:

Will this have more positive or negative impacts?

What does 'Outweigh' mean?

Another point to be careful of is using the word ‘ outweigh ’. It is common for IELTS students to get mixed up when they write the thesis statement, and actually say the opposite to what they write in the essay!

For example, they will say the drawbacks outweigh the benefits, but then give more benefits in the essay. This makes no sense.

So if you are not sure you can use the word correctly, I would recommend not using it in this type of IELTS advantage disadvantage essay. You can just say what your opinion is, as in the thesis in the model answer:

I believe that this has more benefits than drawbacks.

This will avoid any mistakes.

Writing your Thesis

You then need to think of 3 supporting ideas . One for one side and two for the other side.

So you will then have three body paragraphs, one with the drawback / benefit and two with the advantages / disadvantages.

It is common academic practice to start with the opposing opinion to yours, so you can start with the point that you have one idea for.

As explained above, it is very important, especially if you are looking for a band 7 or higher, that your opinion reflects what is in your essay. So if you have said there are more benefits, then you would have two benefits and one drawback.

Now take a look at the advantage disadvantage essay model answer.

Model Advantage Disadvantage Essay

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own experience or knowledge.

Write at least 250 words.

Advantage Disadvantage Essay Model Answer

These days many people choose to live or work in other countries, which has been made possible because of the convenience of air travel and modern communications. I believe that this has more benefits than drawbacks.

The disadvantage of this development is the distance that is put between family members. If a person moves away it is true that air travel and devices such as skype mean that communication and contact can be maintained. However, it is likely that a person will only be able to return one or two times a year during holidays, and speaking on skype or via email is not the same as face-to-face contact.

Despite this, there are significant advantages it can bring to people’s lives. Firstly, it means that people have the opportunity to see other parts of the world and the way people live. For example, people from the West often go to work in Asia or the Middle East and visa-versa. This enriches many people’s lives as they get to learn about other languages, traditions, cultures and different ways of working from their own country.

In addition to this, on a wider level it may also benefit other countries. If someone moves abroad for work, it is usually because their skill is required there. To illustrate, nurses and Doctors often move to work in hospitals in other countries when there is a shortage, so this is very valuable to the place they move to.

I would therefore argue that although there are disadvantages of the current trend to live and work abroad, they are outweighed by the advantages. It can enrich people’s lives and lives of the people in the countries that they move to.

( 283 Words )

As you can see in the essay, the writer believes there are more benefits so the essay is biased towards this opinion, giving more advantages than disadvantages.

The opinion is very clear, and repeated in the conclusion, and the body of the essay reflects this opinion so there will be no confusion when someone reads it.

More Task 2 IELTS Lessons:

Transitional Phrases for Essays

Learn transitional phrases for essays to get a band 7 or higher in your IELTS writing for coherence and cohesion.

Using Substitution in IELTS to Improve Writing Coherency

You can use substitution in your IELTS essays in order to improve coherency and coherence.

How to Identify the Task in an IELTS Essay

Learn how to identify the task in an IELTS task 2 essay question. This is one of the most important steps in responding to an essay question.

How to use brainstorming and planning to generate essay ideas.

Brainstorming and planning is a key step in developing your IELTS essay. This lesson has tips on how to coming up with ideas and organising them.

Writing an IELTS Essay Conclusion

The IELTS essay conclusion is the final part of your IELTS essay. This lesson guides you on how to write a conclusion quickly but effectively.

IELTS Task Response - 25% of your essay grade

The IELTS Task Response criteria in the scoring makes up 25% of your band score for your essay.

Requirements for IELTS Band 7 in Writing

Getting to an IELTS Band 7 is a struggle for many candidates. This lesson explains exactly what you have to do to reach this band score.

Using Pronouns to Improve IELTS Essay Coherency

Find out how to use pronouns to improve your coherency for IELTS task 2 essays.

How to Identify the Topic of an IELTS Essay Question

In IELTS you must identify the topic of your essay as this is a key to making sure your essay is on topic.

The 3 Types of IELTS Opinion Essays in IELTS

IELTS opinion essays in IELTS can be placed into three types. This lesson explains the different types and how to analyse these essay questions.

Improving Writing Coherence for IELTS essays

25% of the writing grade is on how you organise your essay so this lesson shows you how to improve your writing coherence.

Generating ideas for IELTS essays for writing task 2

Generating ideas for IELTS essays for writing task 2 can be difficult but complex ideas are not expected.

Tips on How to Score IELTS Band 8 in Writing and Speaking

To score IELTS Band 8 you need to understand exactly what is in the IELTS Band Descriptors for an 8 for writing and speaking first.

Writing an IELTS Essay Introduction

Tips on how to write an introduction for an IELTS essay introduction in a quick and easy way.

How to Write an IELTS Essay: The key steps

Learn key steps on how to write an IELTS Essay. This guides you on how to write a great essay plus other lessons to improve your writing skills.

Thesis Statement Tips for IELTS Essays

Your thesis statement in an IELTS essay should be written quickly and concisely. Use these tips to do that.

Can you use Personal Pronouns in Essays for IELTS?

Learn how to use personal pronouns in essays for IELTS correctly. Can you use "I", "we" and "you"?

IELTS Music Essay: Understanding a Complex Question

An IELTS essay about music is used to show you how to answer a more complex IELTS essay question that does not have a clear 'task' given to you.

IELTS Problem Solution Essay Strategies and Tips

In IELTS problem solution essays you have to discuss a particular issue and present ideas to solve that problem.

Paragraph Writing for IELTS: Building strong arguments

This paragraph writing lesson provides tips on constructing the best paragraphs for your IELTS essay.

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Essay Task 2

Guide to Advantage Disadvantage IELTS Essay Type

Essay Types
Double Question
Advantage Disadvantage
Problem Solution
Essay Length

IELTS advantage/disadvantage essays ask you to write about the benefits and drawbacks of a topic as well as (sometimes) asking for your opinion. This guide covers everything you need to know to complete an Academic IELTS advantage/ disadvantage essay. Let’s start preparing with Benchmark IELTS!

1.1 understanding the question, 1.2 example advantage/disadvantage questions, 2.1 essay structure 1, 2.2 essay structure 2.

3.1 Identify key words and phrases

3.2 Organise your ideas

3.3 identify vocabulary, 4.1 introduction, 4.2 main body paragraphs, 4.3 conclusion, 5.1 complete the sample advantage/disadvantage essay, 5.2 advantage/disadvantage sample essay, 1. advantage/ disadvantage essay overview.

This section of the guide will show you how to identify an IELTS advantage/disadvantage question.

Remember, there are five main types of writing task 2 questions:

Advantage/disadvantage
Double question
Problem/solution

It is very important to understand what type of question you are given in the exam so you can respond in an appropriate way: different question types will require different responses.

Advantage/disadvantage essay questions can be presented in several different ways.

Here are some examples of the way an advantage/disadvantage question may be worded:

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages and give your opinion.
Describe the advantages and disadvantages of _____ and give your opinion.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of _____?

You may also see questions using synonyms for advantage and disadvantage, for example:

What are the benefits and drawbacks of…?

Be careful, the question itself might not always use words or phrases relating to advantage/disadvantage and they could be hidden in the statement, as seen here:

Some people believe that using a bicycle as your main form of transport has a lot of advantages , whereas others believe that it has many disadvantages . Discuss both views and give your opinion.

Here is another example of a question where you are asked to give your opinion:

Do the advantages of … outweigh the disadvantages

After you have identified the essay type , you need to understand what you are being asked to do. To do well in the Task achievement marking component, you need to ‘ address all parts of the task’ .

This type of essay question will always be split into two parts:

The IELTS statement
The question

You must always write about both the advantages and disadvantages of the given topic. As we can see in example questions 1-6, sometimes you are asked to give your opinion on the question, and sometimes you are not. Let’s compare the following questions:

You are not being asked to give your opinion

Here are some example advantage/disadvantage essay questions:

In the past, when students did a university degree, they tended to study in their own country. Nowadays, they have more of an opportunity to study abroad.

Do the advantages of this development outweigh the disadvantages?

Today children spend a lot of their free time watching TV.

Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages of this practice?

Also, read the following IELTS Essay Writing Guides

IELTS Discussion Type Questions
Double Question IELTS Essay Topics
Opinion-based Task 2 IELTS Guide
Problem Solution IELTS Writing Task Statement

The threat of nuclear weapons maintains world peace. Nuclear power provides cheap and clean energy.

The benefits of nuclear technology far outweigh the disadvantages.

To what extent do you agree or disagree?

In the past, when students did a university degree, they tended to study in their own country. Nowadays, they have the opportunity to study abroad.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of this development?

More and more people prefer to read news online rather than on paper.

Do you think the advantages of this trend outweigh the disadvantages? Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge and experience.

2. Essay Structures for Advantage/Disadvantage Essays

There is more than one way to structure your advantage/disadvantage essay. You could take a thesis-led (opinion in the introduction) or an evidence-led (opinion in your conclusion).

You could also choose to focus on one or more than one advantage/disadvantage in each of your main body paragraphs.

The next two sections will give you two possible ways that you could structure your essay using four clearly organized paragraphs.

Thesis-led approach

Evidence-led approach

3. Planning your Advantage/Disadvantage Essay

Before you start writing your essay, you should give yourself 5 minutes to analyze the question and organize your ideas . Follow the tips below to create a well-planned essay!

3.1 Identify keywords and phrases

It sounds simple, but it is very important that you read the question carefully and understand what you are being asked to write about. To analyze the question, first, identify any keywords and phrases .

You should first identify the topic of the essay. If you do not write about the correct topic, you will score poorly in Task achievement . The general topic can always be found in the IELTS statement.

Let’s take a look at one of the previous examples:

The threat of nuclear weapons maintains world peace . Nuclear power provides cheap and clean energy .

The topic words are underlined and show the general topic of this essay question in nuclear weapons/power/technology .

After you have identified the general topic, you need to locate other keywords that give you more detail about the topic. In this question, the words world peace and cheap and clean energy in bold give you more information about the general topic. Therefore, your essay should only relate to these aspects of nuclear weapons/power/technology .

Now take a look at the question for our model answer at the end of this guide. Can you identify the general topic?

This is an important step that is often skipped by test-takers. By quickly writing down your key ideas, you will avoid repeating or missing any points and improve your score in both Task achievement and Coherence and cohesion .

You could use bullet points , columns , or another preferred method of writing down ideas . Here is an example for our sample essay:

Take a look at our Master Guide for a more in-depth look at idea generation and organizing your ideas.

Taking a moment to write down more uncommon vocabulary related to the essay topic will not only make you feel more relaxed in the exam but will also help you to improve your score in Lexical resources .

This doesn’t have to be a long list, just a few ideas that come into your mind. Here are some examples of the topic of studying abroad:

Culture shock
Language barrier
Broaden one’s horizons

4. Writing your Advantages/Disadvantages Essay

Your introduction should be the shortest paragraph in your essay (about 40-60 words is perfect).

You need to rephrase the IELTS statement in your own words. This is known as paraphrasing (a key skill to develop for the IELTS exam).

Take a look at our example:

You can also briefly state what your essay will be about in one clear sentence. For instance:

This essay will discuss both points of view and then I will give my opinion.

If you are taking a thesis-led approach, you can use one of the following sentence starters to briefly give your opinion:

I believe that…
It is my belief that…
In my opinion,…

A note on the use of the first person ‘I’: Unlike writing task 1, it is appropriate to use the first person in your writing task 2 essay. In fact, it is unavoidable when giving your opinion. But , you should not overuse ‘I’ in your essay and we recommend you limit your use to your introduction and conclusion.

Topic sentences Usually, the first sentence of your main body paragraph will be a topic sentence . The purpose of your topic sentence is to introduce the main idea of your paragraph .

You should include one topic sentence for each advantage/disadvantage . This means that, if your main body paragraphs focus on two advantages/disadvantages , then you should have two topic sentences per paragraph.

Here’s an example: One advantage of studying abroad is that students can improve their language skills.

Here are some other sentence starters you can use for your essays (you can replace the underlined words with vocabulary linked to your topic):

One advantage of studying abroad is that ….
Another benefit of studying abroad is that…
One downside of studying abroad is that…
Another downside of studying abroad is that…

Supporting sentences You should then expand on your topic sentence with a supporting sentence/sentences . Your sentence(s) could either describe a result of the advantage/disadvantage, go into more detail , or explain the reason(s) why these benefits/drawbacks occur.

Our example supporting sentence describes a result of the advantage given in the topic sentence.

Topic sentence – One advantage of studying abroad is that students can improve their language skills.

Supporting sentence – This means that when the students return to their home countries, they will have more employment opportunities.

Here are some sentences starters you can use to begin your supporting sentences:

This is because…
The result/consequence/reason is that…
This means that…
As a result/consequence,…
In other words,…

Giving examples For all writing task 2 essay types , you must support your response with examples. Do not personalize your examples and link them to your life instead, Keep your examples more general . Also, do not refer to made-up statistics .

Here are some instances of suitable and non-suitable examples:

Suitable For example, many young people who study in an English-speaking country for a few years develop strong communication skills and have the confidence to work in an international company when they return home.

Not suitable My cousin spent three years in an English-speaking country and they got an excellent job with an international country when they came back to Spain. ( this example is too personal as it refers to the writer’s family ) ❌

According to statistics, international students are 30% more likely to get a job in an international company when they study overseas. ( this example contains a made-up statistic )

You must include a conclusion to achieve a good score in Task achievement . Your conclusion does not have to be very long, but it needs to be clear and do two main things:

Paraphrase yourself : summarise the key points in your body paragraphs
Give your opinion : It depends if you have taken an evidence-led or thesis-led approach, you will either be re-stating the opinion given in your introduction or giving your opinion for the first time.

Make your conclusion easy to identify for the examiner by starting with linking phrases such as:

To sum up,…
To summarise,…
In conclusion,…

When you are paraphrasing the main points of your essay, you need to state that you have examined both sides of the argument (as that is what the question has asked you to do). To do this, consider using a phrase like:

In conclusion, having looked at this topic in detail, it is clear that there are both advantages and disadvantages of studying abroad .

You would need to replace the underlined section with your essay topic.

To give your opinion, you need to use a range of cohesive devices to introduce each example such as:

From my perspective,…
In my view,…

You then need to clearly state which side of the argument you agree with (advantage or disadvantage). Remember, your actual opinion does not matter, it is how you present your opinion using English that is important.

Here are some example sentences to do this effectively:

In my opinion, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.
From my perspective, the drawbacks outweigh the benefits .

5. Example Advantage/Disadvantage Essay and Exercise

Now you’ve taken a look at how to write an advantage/disadvantage essay, let’s look at a model answer.

We have removed some of the words so you can put your knowledge to the test.

Select the correct missing words and complete the model answer.

In recent years, it has become much more common for students to complete their degree overseas instead of their house country. Many persons believe that there are significant benefits of doing this, while others argue that there are also drawbacks connected to studying abroad. This essay will discuss both points of mind and then I will give my opinion.

One advantage of study abroad is that students can improve their employee skills. This means that when the students return to their home countries, they will have more employment opportunities. An example, many young people who study in an English-speaking country for a few years develop strong communication skills and have the confidence to work in an international company when they return home. On the other hand benefit of studying abroad is that you can develop a better understanding of other cultures, Example , learning about a country’s customs, traditions and cuisines. The consequence of this is that people become more open-minded.

In the other hand, there are some disadvantages of studying abroad. One backdraw is that students may miss their friends and family and feel homesad. They may also find it difficult to connect with other students and make friends due to a language barrier . Another disadvantage is that students can experience a real culture shock when moving to another country. This is because the culture and language may be different which could lead to frustration for the student and dissatisfaction with their study experience.

To overall , it is clear that there are both advantages and disadvantages of studying abroad. In my thought, the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. Although it is true that the experience may be challenging at first, on balance , if you study abroad you will have an enriching experience that will broaden your horizons and increase your future prospects.

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IELTS Advantage Disadvantage Model Essay

Below is an IELTS advantage / disadvantage model essay about having one language in the world. The essay is estimated at band score 9.

The development of tourism contributed to English becoming the most prominent language in the world. Some people think this will lead to English becoming the only language to be spoken globally. What are the advantages and disadvantages to having one language in the world?

It is thought by some people that English, which is now the most widely spoken language in the world, may one day predominate over all other languages and result in their eventual disappearance. Having one language would certainly aid understanding and economic growth but there will also be some drawbacks.

One evident benefit to having one global language is that it would enable greater understanding between countries. In other words, if everyone spoke one language, there would be complete understanding between not only countries but all people throughout the world which would promote learning, the flow of information and ideas. Another reason that one language would be advantageous is that it would help economic growth. With all people speaking the same language, there would be fewer barriers and therefore trade would flourish between countries, resulting in a healthier world economy.

On the other hand, there are obvious disadvantages to having only one global language. Firstly, it would mean that all other languages would eventually disappear and, along with them, their cultures. The diversity of cultures is one of the joys this world has to offer. Each culture is unique with its own way of life and own perspectives of the world which would all be lost if there were only one language. Secondly, it would result in the collapse of tourism because there would be no reason to travel for pleasure and interest if all countries had the same language and similar cultures. This would devastate many countries economically that rely on tourism as a source of income.

In conclusion, while there are plus points to having one global language, too much would be lost as a result. Maintaining local languages and cultures should be prioritised to ensure a rich world heritage for future generations.

Comments: This sample answer addresses the task fully and provides relevant, well extended ideas. All aspects of cohesion is well managed. Vocabulary is flexible and there is a good range of complex sentence structures.

More IELTS Model Essays

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Hi dear Liz. I just wanted to ask a thing or two regarding your above model answer. (i) In the second BP, firstly and secondly is used, without lastly. Is it ok to write points like that. (ii) This was adv and disadv essay, and it was not required to give your opinion, according to the essay question. Then why did you write in the conclusion that a lot will be lost. I reckon it is a opinion. Your comments would be highly appreciated. Regards

1) Just because you use first and second does not mean you must use lastly. Also using first and second within a paragraph can be helpful, but not between paragraphs because it is too mechanical for a high score. 2) Putting a final comment in the conclusion is fine, it could be an opinion, prediction or suggestion. But you never put an additional opinion in the conclusion as a final comment if your entire essay is opinion based.

Hi Litz, Your youtube channel and this blog is really helpful in preparing for my IELTS exam. I am having a doubt, which I would like to be clarified by you. So, in the advantages and disadvantages essay, we should explain one body paragraph as advantages and 2nd as disadvantages? and then give the conclusion which is better? or either explain one those and give opinion. Please clear my this doubt as i have my exam in a week. Thank you and wish you a speedy recovery.

If you are in doubt, please see my advanced lesson in my online store for detailed training: https://elizabethferguson.podia.com/

Thank you for the reply. I just want to know what structure is used in advantage/disadvantage essay. In the above model essay you used one BP showing advat and 2nd BP showing disadvnt. I just want to know is this the structure for this essay?

Of course, this is the structure. This is the purpose of my website and of these model essays – it allows you to learn at home.

Hello Liz, I truly appreciate your valuable lessons and information about IELTS. I have a question for you. The instruction was “Do you think the advantages of taking risks outweigh the disadvantages?” So I stated my opinion that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. And I write two body paragraphs for two advantages. I include the idea that disadvantage is not big in these body paragraphs. But I am concerned that should I write one full body paragraph for disadvantage? Or supporting my opinion is fine since I stated that disadvantage is not that strong.

I hope you answer my question. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

You are marked on your logical organisation of information into paragraphs. Having both advantages and disadvantages mixed up in a body paragraph isn’t going to help your score for Coherence & Cohesion. Separating ideas into body paragraphs is essential. However, that is only one part of Coherence & Cohesion, and it won’t affect your score for the other marking criteria.

Dear Madam, I found the below topic confusing. I can’t decide whether it refers back to “Do you agree or disagree” in which we ought to focus on only one side of the essay topic and forget the other side, or the “Advantages and Disadvantages” where we should discuss both sides. If the latter is correct, which I don’t think so, then we should cover both sides of two topics (living in a house and apartment) which would be a very long essay and unwanted in IELTS. So please help me out on this and thank you in advance.

Some people prefer to live in a house, while others feel that there are more advantages to living in an apartment. Are there more advantages than disadvantages of living in a house compared with living in an apartment. (Test 1, General Training, Volume # 7, IELTS Cambridge Series)

This is a very unusual question to get in IELTS because it is complicated and too lengthy. Most essays contain instructions which are more simple such as “Discuss both sides and give your opinion” or “Do you agree” or “What are the advantages and disadvantages?”. So, before I explain I will say that although this question is found in an IELTS Cambridge test books, which makes the question authentic, it is very uncommon to get any such question. The first thing to tackle in your mind are – what are the advantages to living in a house than living in a flat. Examples: internal space, privacy, outside spaces which flats generally don’t have. The downside would be – cost more than the countryside and there are fewer houses available in cities compared to rural areas. With these ideas planned. We then think about structuring the essay using these ideas and addressing the task. We can see that generally there are more advantages and less disadvantages. So, we will present the advantages in one body paragraph and provide simple comparison points such as “a house is more spacious than a flat” and then state the disadvantages in another body paragraph. We will present the opinion in the introduction and conclude it as well. So, you can see that although the essay question is written differently, it is an outweigh essay with simple comparisons. I hope this helps you 🙂

The reason for English developing into the most well-known language in the world owes to the advancement of tourism, leading some people to speculate that it will be the sole spoken language globally. One of the main benefits would be the improvements in communications, while the lack of diversity would be the drawback if English became the only language in the world.

The greatest benefit from having a single worldwide language is that people can understand each other more than they used to. Not only is this beneficial, but this also means that information would be easily exchanged between different cultures; for instance, many people would have been more educated if they had been given access to education materials in a language that they can understand. For these reasons, it would be more useful to have the same language as everyone else in the world.

It could be argued that despite the benefits, one of the most appealing sides of diversity, the mother tongue of other cultures, would be lost. Following this, the tourism industry, which relies on showcasing different atmospheres created by the variety in languages, would suffer the consequences. Travellers would become bored more easily and their desires to visit other places would reduce. Take the latest research findings as an example; conclusion therein states that countries which lost their mother tongue have seen to have fewer annual visitors than their counterparts. Thus, there would be some problems when it comes to uniting the entire planet under one language.

In conclusion, while there are some downsides to having a global language, it would still be beneficial for the majority. Hence, convincing societies to switch to English should be our priority for the better of the posterity.

Hi Liz, can I add ” personally, I believe…” before the last sentence in conculsion section? (personally, I believe maintaining local languages and …..)

I know some examiners that find that too informal. Your essay should always be formal: in my opinion, I believe, I think, from my point of view

There is no doubt that increasing number of tourism industry has put up the English as global language, which is concern for many people as they think this will result in English as the only language spoken internationally. Having one language would certainly aid the understanding and economic growth but there will also be some drawbacks. There will be many advantages of one language being spoken world-wide. Firstly, it will enhance the human-to-human connectivity and more understanding between them. This will also enable more trade between countries and fuel the economic growth. It will also help the research and education field, for instance, all research work, technology advancement and educational books will be available only in one language and it can benefit the whole world without any translation. On the other hand, the downside will be many local languages will be lost and with this many cultures and rituals will be vanished. The world will become monotonous and there will be no variation in people’s way of life or their cultures. The world is beautiful with its rich and diverse culture and the main reason for this is the language. The people will be no more interested in visiting other parts of world as the main reason is that that to go to different parts of world to experience the different cultures and language. In conclusion, speaking one language world-wide will surely benefit people in trade and many other aspects of life but the loss will be irreparable. Maintaining local languages and cultures should be prioritized to ensure rich world heritage for future generation.

Hi Liz, I have one question. I can’t understand why you wrote the last sentence. Isn’t it an opinion? I know this question is just discussing, not requesting my opinion…but why…?

It is possible to provide a final comment in your conclusion which might be an opinion, a prediction or suggestion. However, in an opinion essay, you would not present a new opinion in this way.

Advantage of “something ” outweigh the disadvantage? In the statement, can I have opinions for both, for instance, advantages point and disadvantage point as well ?

You still need to say which is more dominant. You must present a clear position. It doesn’t mean you must choose only one, but you must be clear which outweighs more than the other.

English is becoming the most popular language around the globe for many different reasons, one of those reasons is the increasing number of tourists to English speaking countries this might lead to an only English-speaking globe. In this essay I will illustrate the positive and negative impacts of speaking one language on both individuals and countries.

There would be a number of advantages to have one language in the world which people use to communicate ideas and feelings since communication will be easier and clearer for all individuals with no room for mistranslations or misunderstandings. In addition, foreign students and workers will not have to spend long periods of time learning a new language to study, work or live abroad. The globe will be more connected with one universal language.

On the other hand, having one global language results in a loss of each country’s heritage and history since language is seriously linked to culture and religion, for instance, travelers claim that learning local language brings them closer to local residents and helps them to deeply understand their culture and customs. Moreover, human brains develop different linguistic and intellectual levels while learning a new language which enhance individuals’ skills and personalities. Furthermore, there are many jobs that are based on the number of languages people speak globally such as teaching, translation and tourism which would disappear if humans speak only one language.

In conclusion, there are various advantages and disadvantages to have one spoken language in the world. Having English as the global language would ease communication and save a lot of time translating news and information, but it would demolish extremely important aspect of individuality and uniqueness between countries and cultures.

Having a common langue will ease all the language barrier and connect the people more easily. It is obvious that having a one common languages will help us to build strong understanding between countries and people which will help to build strong relationship. When people of different countries share a common ideas strong relationship. it will automatically result to built trust and hence improve our trade and economy.

On the other hand, having a single common language will eventually lead to disappear our unique culture and heritage.

Some people believe that it is best to accept a bad situation, such as an unsatisfactory job or shortage of money. Others argue that it is better to try an improve such situations. Discuss both these views and give your opinion

Some people believe that it is better to avoid struggle and stay with what you have such as lack of money or unsatisfactory job. Whereas, other people believe that it important to work more and try to change your lifestyle. In my opinion, avoiding hard work and accepting other decision is worse approach to leave a life. At first, without courage to improve life standard it is impossible to come out from such situation. One who is not trying to change his life he will never be able to change his life. At start it is difficult to move toward progress but with passage of time improvement will come if we are consistent and doing hard word for the sake of progress. Although, competition is on the peak and it is hard to make place in market but if our decisions are strong enough then no one can compete us. In addition setting goal and objective at start will help to get reward at the end and will lead us toward progress. On the other hand, if we stay with what we have it is worse decision of our life. When we a see achievement of other and happiest moment of those who are close to their goal. It will hurt us. Study shown that, people who are not trying again and again will never get success and end up with nothing. In conclusion, hard work is key to success and laziness will lead you toward negative thoughts as a result never you will never enjoy pleasure of success.

hye liz i am your big fan please check my essay and suggest band score

Having a language dates back to the earliest centuries of human beings’ lives. It has always been needed for people to understand each other and communicate. Various languages are spoken in many countries. It is arguable, that the increasingly enhanced tourism actions are empowering the English language, because tourists can use it wherever their destination is to explain their needs. This is due to the indulgence of it in all schools and universities curriculums worldwide. A small group of individuals believe that this will lead to a world with only one spoken language, which is English. This may have several merits such as a world described to be a close-knit community and less education expenses. However, it would badly affect the traditions of local cultures, in addition to the deterioration of countries’ economies.

A world controlled by people speaking one common language would be stronger, with notable education cost reduction. Many researches and projects are held on an international level. This emphasizes the importance of complete understanding and communication that will enhance the final outcome. For instance, according to an article released in 2019, many businesses have extended their cooperation with other companies all over the world, with the use of English. Hence, it could be justified that parents spend a lot of money, about half of their salaries, for teaching their children a second language, which is mostly English in non-English speaking countries. This can be explained by the enormous spreading of its usage and demand in all different nations. Thus, if it was the only language taught in schools, there would be no need to pay extra money to learn it. As the Netherlands has become an English speaking country, this fact has helped its citizens to save more than a quarter of their yearly income.

On the other hand, traditions and values will be affected negatively with the disappearance of local languages. All customs and history are inherited from generation to generation via books and stories that are better transmitted using domestic alphabits. The globalization of English will break down all the history of ancient tribes. In India, all traditions are connected with songs and festivals, which depend incredibly on slang and proverbs. Nevertheless, these cultural distinctions are the major attraction to tourists. Individuals will find it inessential to visit a country with a similar history and inheritance. For instance, American people tend to buy tours to European countries ten times more than taking a holiday to the UK, as stated in the sun daily journal.

To conclude, English is becoming increasingly significant, as a result, there will be one monocultural nation controlling the Earth, with no need for extra fees paid for linguistic lessons, yet with a fragile economy, and eroding traditions.

I don’t usually reply to people posting their essays because I don’t offer such a service. But in this case, I will point out that your aim is to write around 270-290 words, not over 400. Keep your introduction to just two sentences and make sure your main points are very clear and well presented in the body paragraphs. See all my free lessons and tips to learn more about writing an IELTS essay: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-2/

You are so humble and genuine.

That’s kind. Thank you

Nowadays, the tourism industry has developed on large scale because of easy transportation services and technological advancement. This development of tourism has led to English being one of the most widely used languages all around the world to communicate effectively. Moreover, some people think in the coming years English will be the only language spoken globally. There are lots of advantages and disadvantages to it as lots of countries have their native language depicting their culture and traditions. The biggest advantage of this will be that all the people around the world will have only one language to follow. This will help the traveler to communicate easily and get the desired help in an unknown place. Because of the language barrier tourism in that particular place is affected a lot hence having a single speaking language around the world will help boost the tourists’ spots and help in development. Although, the disadvantage of having a single speaking language is that every community wants to preserve its essence of culture and traditions. With languages all around the world, every particular region has its own style of communication which also contributes to history, music and art which will fade away overtime leading to extinction of communities around the world. So, having a single language as a communication protocol may work but at the same time will lead to communal protest and disagreement globally from the countries who have strong cultural and historical background in their native language.

Please Rate my Writing

Hello Liz. First of all, thank you for beautiful contents. I have a very important question. In ‘advantages-disadvantages’ essays, what if one don’t think there isn’t any advantages or disadvantages ? In the sample esssay, you tell the advantages in one body paragraph, and you tell the disadvantages in the following paragraph then you give your own statement in the conclusion (if I understand correctly.) But, what if you think there isn’t any disadvantages of monoculture and having one, predominant language in the world and you totally believe that this is how it should be ? Do pupils pretend that they think there are both advantages and disadvantages ?

This type of essay isn’t about your opinion. It is about presenting the information that IELTS are requesting. You are requested to present the advantages and the disadvantages – you must do that. It is part of the Task Response marking criterion. Furthermore, you now know that many IELTS essays will request you to do this. It isn’t a surprise. This means it should be part of your preparation to prepare ideas for topics and that includes advantages and disadvantages of various world concerns or trends.

The importance of English language which was always debatable has now become more controversial with many people claiming that it is beneficial while other reject this nation. The substational influence of this trend has sparked controversy over the potential impact in recent years. In my opinion, there are more demerits as compared to merits and i will discuss the both views in the upcoming paragraph.

On the one hand, there are some advantages on this trend. The first and foremost reason behind this is that, English is a very significant part in everyone’s life. If school provide English language since childhood then it will very beneficial for children because in this contemporary era, majority of jobs provide the job if masses know about english. Another striking benefit is that, if children do learn English since childhood do learn English since children then younger ones can easily crack their exam related abroad countries. For instance, IELTS, PTE , TOEFL etcetera and people can easily understand foreign language.

On the other hand, there are numerous reasons why I think there are more disadvantages. People avoid their native language then people do not follow the traditions and cultures so it is a very bad thing because Punjabi and Hindi language is also very important language and it maintain our discipline. During this, individuals follow their culture

In conclusion, there are some advantages, individuals can easily understand foreign language and crack the English based exam, Nevertheless, I believe that there are many pitfalls such as it become low popularity about native language .

Hi Liz, Could you please enlighten me, In adv outweigh disadv and discuss both views and give your opinion questions, Should I write the side I choose in more detail than the other? I mean Should I write two equal body paragraphs for two sides or give importance to one of them?

Best wishes Merve

The length of the body paragraphs should be equal. This is stated in the band score descriptors published by IELTS. But you can express your opinion clearly in the body paragraphs to make your stance clear.

Thanks Liz ☺️ I have been watching your videos in You tube

thank you for your model essey it was useful for me. Thank you so much again.

I had my IELTS exam last weekend. The question for task 2 was: “Some people buy their food from small shops and local markets, others buy from large supermarkets. Which one has more advantages for the customers?” What is the right way to write this essay?

Thanks and regards, Hilda

This is the “outweigh” essay. The instructions say: Do the advantages of X outweigh the advantages of Y. So, just approach it with the normal approach for the adv/disadv outweigh essay.

Hi Liz, is it okay to say in the introduction statement that “both the advantages and disadvantages of this development will be elaborated in this essay?”

Sounds very much like a learned phrase that you can apply to any adv/disadv essay. This doesn’t help your score increase. This is a language test and each sentence should be unique to yourself. Try to avoid memorising sentences to fill your essay. Also the examiner knows you will elaborate the advs and disadvs – the examiner has the instructions as well. You don’t need to repeat the instructions. So, it’s really a waste of time focusing on such sentences which are not needed and won’t increase your score. There are much more important things to focus on in your writing task 2 preparation.

Hi Liz! I love the way that you write. Thank you for your beautiful page and I hope you keep going with. You are my inspiration!

I’m glad my lessons are helpful 🙂

Could I ask, in this model essay, where are the examples in body paragraph 1 and 2 ? Could you help highlight them for me? Or is it not necessary to have examples, so you haven’t mentioned them?

Thanks for your help with this!

You don’t need examples in all body paragraphs. Explain and illustrate your ideas your way.

Hi Liz! My ielts teacher (not a native speaker of English) said it’s better to avoid using words like” firstly””secondly”, because it is like ” chidren’s essay “. But you are still using them in your essay. Is it true?

They are perfectly fine to use and certain not children’s language. However, try not to use them at the start of each paragraph to avoid “mechanical linking” which is a feature of band 6 for Coherence and Cohesion. Using them within a paragraph is fine. But use them once only.

There is no denying fact that the phenomenon of English widely spoken is ubiquitous across the globe due to the paramount importance of tourism. One school of thought opine that this should not be the case, however others consider that a couple of problems may also occur because of the same. Although this has plethora of merits yet numerous demerits are also there which will be elaborated in the upcoming paragraphs. Initiating with the best possible benefits, the most significant advantage is ease of communication. In other words, people would interact using only one language which would promote easy understanding between countries and societies. To cite an example, a survey conducted by the British magazine in 2019 reported that, 80 % of the people living in UAE communicate easily with rest of the nationalities by speaking English alone. Along with it, the relationship among the nations will become healthier. As a result, this will make countries to build a stronger bond between them. On the paradoxical side, there are several drawbacks as well. First and foremost, the extinction of the local languages. To explain further, various languages will ultimately be vanished slowly and gradually by the domination on one language. Secondly, People would not be interested to travel to other tourist places to explore the culture and lifestyle. Consequently, there will be a significant fall in the economy of the countries. To conclude, without any doubt this is a mixed bag. Although this topic has many positive aspects to centralize one language, the negative points of this notion may not be underestimated.

Wow… This is wonderful essay. It made me inspired and developed my attitude. This essay should score band 9.

The spikes in Tourism has made English the well known language in the world to communicate to which masses believe that it will be the only dialect accepted and implemented worldwide. This notion has its own advanatages and disadvantages related with it and we shall discuss on the same in this essay. I believe this should not be implemented. The effects of movies has a great impact on masses resulting an increase in travel industry. English being accepted globaly makes the communication easy with the native and tourists. Both the parties can communicate , understand and can be on the same page. Having a single language will certainly be user friendly worldwide. The possibities of awkwardness will not occur. Both the parties can convey their opinions with no hesitaion .Conversing in same speech will be fluent and smooth leading to no scope of shyness between the two person. At touristy spots, there will be no need for a local guide or translator for a traveller to shell their money on. However , a coin has two sides. Their are few disadvantages as well related with the notion. Every country has a cultural and native language which it is renowned for. For example, Europe is famous for French which has a major significance for the country. India has several cultural languages which it is famous for. Having the same language will not inculcate learning native language for the children and youth of the country. It is vital to stay grounded to your roots.The employement rate for attendant, translators will decrease. The history of the country will be hampered leading to no room of learning. To conclude English is well accepted globally but the roots of the country i.e language should be intact for the betterment.

It is a wide-known fact that English is considered to be the most dominant language worldwidely. Many claim that English will predominate over the other languages, leading to their gradual disappearance. The use of only one language universally will definitely have some benefits in terms of travelling or communication between the governments but at the same time, may have severe disadvantages on cultural identities and world economic status. Initially, an argument in favour of having a common language is that the travelling experience is enhanced and becomes more efficient. In other words, visiting a country with a different language is frequently a real struggle for some people, who might feel insecure to walk around and enjoy. Consequently, a common language may motivate more people to travel overseas, which will certainly boost the tourism for every country. Moreover, a mutual language may help addressing and tackling global issues such as the environmental problem. For instance, as long as all the governors share the same language, their communication will be more effective and their relationships will be strengthened. Under these circumstances, dealing with universal problems will be considerably more productive. On the contrary, the dominance of one language has some apparent drawbacks. Firstly, there is no doubt that each language is the bright gem of each country. This is exemplified by the fact that the various languages offer a great insight into the cultures and civilizations. If the languages start eliminating, then the long-term history and the uniqueness of each country will extinct very soon. Secondly, another equally significant argument against the prevalence of one language is that may negatively affect the travel frequency. To paraphrase, many people are motivated to learn a language and visit the country, where is spoken, either for practice or for simple interaction with local people. Provided that people speak the same language, this may discourage many to travel and as result tourism and world economy might be affected damagingly. In conclusion, although there are positive points to have a catholic language, maintaining the local languages is a great way to promote each country’s diversity and appreciate the differences that make each culture unique!

I would like you to ask you about main ideas and supporting details. Many teachers say that you should have only one main idea per paragraph and support it with your supporting ideas. So, for example, for advantages and disadvantages type of questions they recommend firstly find all ideas for advantages and disadvantages and after group them into main ideas and write one paragraph for each main ideas.But, in your eassay there is one paragraph for advantages and one paragraph for disadvantages. Is it ok to write paragraphs without main ideas? I am just confused about different style of essays.

The examiner is looking for logical organisation which means all advantages together and all disadvantages together. Furthermore, the marking criteria states that paragraphs should have a central topic – which means all advantages together. Many teachers get confused about this because they think a central topic must be a central idea – but that is not actually the case. It is about a central topic.

Hey Liz, Hope you are doing well. I got my ielts academic result today, with an overall band of 8. I just want to thank you for all the tutorial videos and sample essays you have made, they helped a lot to me. Thank you very much.

That’s a really great score 🙂 Very well done 🙂 Glad my lessons helped.

The English language has developed over the years to become one of the most recognized and popular languages all over the world. With the onset of tourism, people are connecting and interacting with different cultures and languages and English has become the preferred mode of communications. Hence, this has lead to speculations that the diversity of language spoken would become affected. While I do agree that English unites most people and allow for improved communications and sharing of knowledge, I find all languages to be rich in culture, beauty and individualism and it is highly unlikely that they would become extinct over time.

With twenty-first century becoming more globalized, there is a greater need for common ground understanding and communications with different people from all over the world. This has inspired people to pick up a second or third language and English is really popular among people. This is significant, as it allows for better sharing of knowledge, information and culture and helps bring more understanding in the world.

On the other hand, it is important to preserve different languages, as it is our culture and roots. If the world were to be left with English language, we may become less tolerable of different diversity and lose our individualism. In addition, we may find ourselves losing touch and the ability to understand our histories and artefacts (which are written in other languages).

Furthermore, given the growing popularity for the Chinese, Japanese, Korean, French and German languages, it becomes highly unlikely for English to be the only surviving language. People appreciate and admire the beauty and complexity with different languages and as such, I find it highly unlikely for humanity’s love for languages to die out.

In conclusion, despite the fact that having one language may improve communications, I believe that most people would agree that languages would make our world a more colourful and interesting place to be in.

In band descriptor of Writing there isnt any point explaining about idomatic language wherger we have to use or not. Yet, for speaking band descriptor explicitly mentions to use idomaric vocabulary. In your advanced lessons’ videos, u use few idomatic phrases, such as money does not grow on trees. As you are not only an IELTS teacher but also a native speaker, I have written some of your exact phrases, but my non-native tutor advised not to use them. Since I accept ur lessons more, how can I convince my teacher that they are not only ok, but also really good?

Any language I use in model essays or lessons about essay writing is fine to use for your IELTS essay. Less common idiomatic language is good for your score, but only when used appropriately.

Hello ma’am, plz check this essay fr me Topic – At the present time, the population of some countries includes a relatively large number of young adults, compared with the number of older people, Do the advantages of this situation overweigh disadvantage?

Essay : In the existing era, in some countries the population consists of large number of young generation, in comparison to the figure of old people. In my opinion, there are various benefits to this but the drawbacks cannot be overlooked. To begin with, there are several advantages of this notion. Having more youth in nation will give better development to the country. But the biggest downside of this is the loss of culture. As the older people maintains it in every home, which keeps the nation balanced. It also maintains the responsibility and strictness in the society. However, if these things get vanished in the contemporary time, there would be no limits on anyone as well as the freedom will be misused. Another evidence of this is it will result into unemployment. As there will be more young adults, more jobs will be needed. And it would not be easy for the companies to generate lot of employment. India, for example, is the country where unemployment rate is very high, especially the age group 20-40 are the most which remain jobless. In conclusion, the increase in young era may lead to various consequences although in my view, a country needs balanced population to keep it’s people well developed.

I would like to inform you that I have taken the date of exam for 7/9/2019

Most of the IELTS teacher suggest to put a example in each paragraph but I didn’t find anyone in this essay..why???

Because it is a recommendation and not a requirement. You choose how and when to illustrate. Not all illustrations need to use “for example” – not all illustrations are introduced by a linking word.

Hi Liz. I have encountered this question on your practice page. “What are the disadvantages of knocking down old buildings? Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?” Is the structure of the essay for this similar with what you have taught us on your advanced lesson video on outweighing? Or is there a new structure for this since there are two questions? I’m a little bit worried because I will be taking the exam this week. Thank you Liz!

If you have two questions, you must answer both. So in the first body paragraph, you state the disadvantages and in the second you would give your outweigh ideas. As you have only one paragraph for the outweigh – keep your position easy.

According to grammar rules mam we can not use to with verb form+ing but in your essay you have used many sentences in this form is it right? Can we use this?

It is not used as a verb. It is not a (verb+ing). It is the same as writing “I’m looking forward to hearing from you”. This aspect of grammar should not be used unless you have been trained to use it.

That is a to- infinitive, the variation Liz used is at the object position of the sentence. You can have it at the subject position too(initial part of a sentence) in which case it becomes “nominalized” e.g. ‘Reading is a good way to pass time’ or ‘To read is a good way to pass time’ My test is tomorrow Liz, wish me luck… I’m not too scared though because I’ve been following your lessons here and on youtube

I wish you all the luck in the world! Keep your eye on the clock for reading and writing. Make sure you plan your writing thoroughly. Read the essay question again and again before you start each paragraph – it will help you keep on track with ideas and language. Fingers crossed 🙂

If question says, “More advantages or disadvantages?” Does it mean “outweigh essay” which requires to mention both advantages and disadvantages along with my own opinion in Thesis statement (e.g. advantages outweigh disadvantages)?

Those instructions are the outweigh essay. IELTS like to paraphrase instructions from time to time.

How can your paid videos be accessed?

They are accessed through an email which is sent automatically after purchasing. Always check your spam folder. However, I am stopping all sales for the next month. They will be available again in September.

HI Liz, Thanks a lot for the fabulous work you are doing here. Your website has been a great help to me and even though I’ve not gone through other IELTS website, I can confidently say your site is the best out of the lot. So, I attempted my first IELTS (General) on March 23,2019 after a one week prep to sit for the exams and that as you would’ve guessed didn’t go too well. For my first attempt my results were; Listening 8.5 Reading 5.5 Writing 6.0 Speaking 6.5 Overall Band 6.5 This was obviously a bad result since I needed atleast a band of 7.0. Also, with a masters degree from a country which has English as its International language, I naturally underestimated the IELTS and I only chanced on your site after five days into my one week prep, which then meant I had very little time to get enough guidance from your site.

So, after that sore experience and having found your site, I decided to sit for the IELTS again but with enough time using solely your site as my study material and some Youtube simulation IELTS speaking videos to prep for my second attempt which was on May 23, 2019. Fast forward, I just checked my result and the breakdown is as follows; Listening 8.0 Reading 8.0 Writing 6.5 Speaking 7.5 Overall Band of 7.5

You can just imagine how excited I am right now, and this is all thanks to you Liz for your patience in replying to these many comments on your lessons and putting together such a well structured lessons on your site. This site is one-stop-shop for IELTS preps and I would encourage all those who are yet to sit for the exams to follow the lessons here diligently like I did.

Thank you again and may God continue to bless you, Liz.

Brilliant improvement – I’m really impressed !! Very well done 🙂 It really shows your determination to succeed 🙂 Thanks for recommending my site – I’m glad my lessons were helpful 🙂

Well done Seloram However, I can’t help but comment that when I read your post I really did feel you ought to have received a better score for your writing since your writing style is quite impressive. Did you contemplate giving a try for remarking?

Yes, I did consider requesting for a remark because I had enough time to plan, write and even had 5mins to go over and correct some errors for both writing tasks before the time was up. However, since I had hit my goal of getting an overall band of 7, I quickly disregarded the thought of a remark. Thanks!

I wanted to buy your new e-book, but turkey is not listed in the paypal system. So how can I get your e-book?

Unfortunately, I don’t have other payment options. However, it is possible for you to ask a friend to buy them for you.

I have been referring your website for clearing many IELTS, GT, Task2 related confusions, however, one confusion remains and, it has given me sleepless nights. It is regarding having one idea and developing/extending it or two ideas in one body paragraph.

I have seen your videos where you suggest to pick one idea, extend and support it to gain higher band. But, in your sample essays, more than often you have use two ideas in one body paragraph. I also referred other websites, which says that two ideas in one body paragraph may affect score in cohesion and coherence.

Please guide. Looking forward to your kind response. Thank you

You are confusing have one idea and having a central theme to the paragraph. You are being marked on your ability to group information into paragraphs which have a central theme. If you are giving advantages and disadvantages, a central theme would be all advantages in one body paragraph with disadvantages grouped in another. If you are presenting individual reasons for supporting your opinion, you would present each reason (each idea) in a separate body paragraph. So, your choice of structure and your paragraphing is flexible depending on what information you are presenting. This is what you are being marked on in Coherence and Cohesion.

Thank you for quick response.

you have cleared my doubt. This is the best explanation I have received.

God bless you.

I’m relieved you understood. It isn’t always easy to explain in a message.

Please feedback if this could score more than 7.5

Globally and due to tourism English has become so well known that some of us believe that, it would become the only spoken language in the world. While there are advantages in having one language such as the ease in conducting business, and improving communication among people, there are certain drawbacks such as erasing other languages, and loosing cultures identities.

Firstly, English has spread in many parts of the operational world and in particular in business. For example, many universities now are offering their postgraduate programs entirely in English. This allows international students to study and share research opportunities all in the same language. This benefit proves to be extremely rewarding as it unifies talents from all over the world and it enables students to grow in business endeavours together. Secondly, when conducting business, specifically, when it comes to transactions, it has been proven that bank operations in English are smooth and with less chances of making errors. Additionally, The Wall Street Journal has estimated that using English on the stock markets across the wold has saved expenses for many companies from translation costs as well it has substantially improved fast and easy communication. As a result, there is a clear confirmation that in business, it absolutely beneficial to use English as the main form of information.

However, there are some downsides to the notion of using one language. On the one hand, it gradually eradicates the potential to learn another language. For instance, because it is much easier when travelling or temporary visiting another country to use English instead of Spanish, people in general, lose the ability to attempt to learn a different language because they know that they can function with just applying English. A simple example, would be to communicate in English with a real estate agent in Spain, to purchasing a backpack in Germany, to even getting around with errands in China. Nonetheless, in the long run, this absolves you from the effort to learn the local language and as a result, one ends up living in a foreign country without learning to a greater extent about the culture. This appears to be only of disadvantage to us since we are not making progress in developing our skills. A study released from Harvard Psychology Magazine has found out that our brains are not as challenged by only relying on one language and therefore, they recommend continuous learning of other languages. Moreover, the notion of just having one language world-wide would definitely erase the character of many places, which we cherish as they are, for example, the authentic sound of French, the historical value of the Greek language, as well as the importance of medical terminology in Latin.

In conclusion, even though some purport to the idea that English is beneficial especially in business communications, others still think that it would eventually destroy other languages and ultimately eliminate the significance of other cultures.

I think u should go for a remarking. Your style of writing is good. Think again!!

I have been using this website since few months ago & I purchased your advance writing lessons as well. I could really enhance my knowledge through them. You are certainly born for teaching IELTS.:)

Could you please help me to build the background statement of following essay. “Some parents buy their children a large number of toys to play with.What are the advantages & disadvantages for the child of having a large number of toys?”

If I write this way is it correct ? “Although an excessive number of toys is thought by some to be useful for children, other people consider that it can be detrimental.” I have a little confusion there as question is not focused on negative aspect.

I’m going to take IELTS at beginning of May & hope you would help me.

Don’t change the content of the background. The essay question didn’t say anything about it being detrimental. It only stated a fact, not an opinion. So, you should paraphrase it exactly as it is: Some parents are indulgent and spend a lot of money buying toys for their children’s amusement. OR Some parents do not limit the number of toys they buy for their children’s amusement. OR Some children are indulged by their parents who buy them many toys to play with. (this option changes the order of information by starting with children rather than parents – this is a useful technique is paraphrasing is tough).

I took my ielts exam today. Everything went well, but I think I have messed up with essay task 2.

The question was: Companies are selling their products globally these days. Does this trend has more advantages or disadvantages. Support your answer with reasons and examples.

Unfortunately, i got confused that the question prompt is asking me to opt one side and write about it-because it said ‘or’ and not ‘and’

Was it incorrect to write only about the benefits and not disadvantages? How much would it impact my score?

It would affect your score for Task Response which is 25% of your marks for task 2. Your score cannot be predicted. Your task was to choose adv more and disadv less OR adv less and disadv more. This was an “outweigh” essay.

Hi, Mam, can you please post video lectures for cause solution and Direct Questions Essays. I need help with those. I ay. already purchased all your video lectures.

Waiting for your Kind Reply. My Ielts will be on 27 April.

Unfortunately, I stopped making videos due to health problems. See my free lessons and model essays: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-2/ . I’ll start making videos when I’m better – hopefully next year.

God Bless you and Get well soon. All good wishes to you and thanks for the reply

Wishing you speedy recovery Liz.

Thanks for giving us gerund to make a complex sentence. I used it. but I have some mistakes while making a complex sentence.my aim is 6.is it necessary to make every sentence in complex form for me

If your aim is band 6, you can use a combination of simple and complex. Review the band score criteria here: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-2-band-scores-5-to-8/ . Then review all lessons and tips here: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-2/

Your website is wonderful. Please what does a note form look like? I’m going through road to ielts writing and I came across a part that said note form and bullet points are not allowed.

We write notes when we are short for time in a meeting, for example. They are not fully formed sentences – just notes. You should avoid writing like this and write with fully formed sentences which adhere to English grammar rules.

In the Adv./ Disadv. Essay with whether the Advantages outweighs disadvantages, considering an opinion where the advantages indeed outweighs the disadvantages, will it be alright if I discuss the disadvantages first and then advantages. (I feel more comfortable in placing the heavier argument in the second paragraph. )

Thanks 🙂 Shailesh

Whatever order you choose, make sure it is logical. This means that the order in the introduction follows the order of the body paragraphs. Organisation is marked on logic.

Good point to remember. Right after this comment, I saw the way to attempt such essays in your Advance Writing video, and I think that would be more appropriate than reversing the order.

Thank you Liz. You are great!! Shailesh

Great. Glad you got the Advanced Lessons. Whenever you are in doubt in IELTS always aim for logic and clarity 🙂

Hi Liz, thanks a lot for posting this answer, however, i have a doubt. The question does not require you to provide your opinion (it only asks to mention what are the advantages and disadvantages), which i think means that you have to provide a neutral answer of both advantages and disadvantages. However, in the second sentence of your conclusion, do not you think that you are leaning towards one of the sides? Would not this contradict the requirement of the question to be relatively neutral? Am particularly concerned with the “should be prioritised”. What are your thoughts on this?

This is called a final comment – it is not a new point. It is possible that an opinion is a final comment as long as it is a neutral essay. A final comment is not actually necessary – it is optional.

Could you please rate the below essay and provide feedback.

The topic is as follows:

The development of tourism contributed to English becoming the most prominent language in the world. Some people think this will lead to English becoming the only language to be spoken legally. What are the advantages and disadvantages of learning one language in the world?

My essay is as follows:

Thanks to the development of tourism, English has become the most prominent language across the globe. This creates a standard where English becomes the main language for communication across countries. However, the downside to this is that many people would neglect their own native language, which would result in that language being lost as the generations go by.

The benefits of having a universal language is that it allows knowledge, communication and innovations to be shared across countries. For instance, in the past, many people would work as translators because each country would publish their discoveries in their native language. This process has been rendered obsolete thanks to the invention of a universal language. Having one language in the world, saves a lot of time as you don’t have to translate it from one language to another. It also allows for information to be shared much more efficiently.

In earlier generations, schools would teach their students the native language and offer foreign languages as an option. Consequently, schools now teach English and offer the native language as an option. As a result, many languages are being forgotten and lost. When Languages are lost, ancient cultures and stories written in that language are also lost.

In conclusion, one major advantage of learning one language in the world is that it saves a lot of time as you don’t have to translate from one language ti another. However, the disadvantage of learning one language in the world is that many languages and ancient cultures are forgotten and lost.

Thank you so much for the example. It’s pretty well-organized and everything flows logically and I am quite able to extract a structure for the advantage/disadvantage essay out of it.

As I am currently studying this kind of essay, I came across this prompt from Cambridge IELTS 7. It says:

I am quite confused since I feel there are way more issues to address here. Here’s what I understood:

Issue 1: Living in an apartment: advantages and disadvantages Issue 2: Living in a house: advantages and disadvantages Issue 3: My answer to that question: are the advantages of living in an apartment more than the advantages of living in a house?

So if my position is: I think that living in an apartment has far fewer advantages than living in a house, how would I structure my body section? Should I talk about the disadvantages of living in an apartment in one paragraph then the advantages of living of in a house in another paragraph?

Please help! Thank you.

Your structure is too complicated. You seem to think your opinion is separate from the advantages and disadvantages. It is not. Your whole essay is your opinion. This means you have only BP1 and BP2 as described above but written as your opinion. Always keep structure simple.

Good Day, Liz. I am confused with advantage \ disadvantage type 1 and type 2 essays. Any easy solution?

Try my Advanced lessons. Those two essays are explained in an Advanced tutorial taking over 1 hour: https://elizabethferguson.podia.com/

Hey Liz !! I am learning a lot from your videos.I wanted to ask you what can be the background statement for the topic

“Some parents buy their children a large number of toys to play with. advantages and disadantage ?

A significant number of children are bought many toys by their parents.

Based on the written essay, could you please provide an analysis report showing which sentences or essay points have potentially taken into account to enable this essay to be scored band 9 based on score criterian?

An example would be as follow :

Task achievement score is band 9 because of following points : A) B)…

Lexical item band 9 because ;.. A) B)

I believe a blog post based on this structure could have better enhance ones understanding in the effort at attaining band 9 for ielts writing for task 1 and task 2.

I have been working on ielts writing for GT to get at least band 8. I’ve took the exam twice and received same band score which is band 6 for writing with comment below:

A) my conclusion is not clear B) paragraph at not aligned in logical order C ) some of the grammar mistakes

If you could show this weakness to be solve, it would be much appreciated.

I also would like to understand better on the test criteria of “use of range of grammar structure”. Would it possible to demonstrate this based on a written essay? How to enhance this section to gain band 9?

Thank you , Hema

I have already written about the marking and how to improve each marking criteria: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-2-band-scores-5-to-8/ . It seems you did not visit my main writing task 2 page and read all the tips and links. I suggest you do that. Learn first, ask second: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-2/

Teacher, You wrot in the first paragraph ” To haveING ” . Sorry, but is it correct grammar ? as I know TO shoul be followed by first tense of verb. I know that is not a mistake but what are the conditions where we use it ?

“I look forward to hearing from you” – it is 100% fine to do this “to + verbing”. The “to” is a preposition!!!! It is advanced grammar, don’t use it if you haven’t learned it.

Hi Liz, Can we use the word ‘Statistics’ for giving example in IELTS General essay. I read somewhere, that Statistics must not be used as we are not giving a report but our thought/opinion, though i believe ‘Statistics’ is a better word. Also, please confirm if we can give false example to prove our point. For example, Statistics shows that 75% of women in London are working OR For example, Most women in London are working.

“statistics show that 75% …” is a learned phrase. This means it doesn’t help your score. The examiner doesn’t care what the percentages are. You don’t get a higher score because you have percentages. If your wrote “the overwhelming majority of women ..” that shows better language skills. Task 2 is an essay based on language, not a report.

Hello Liz, Please advise, if we should use comma before and or not.(Should we use Oxford Comma)

For example, which of below statements is correct or both are fine.

1: I have visited Spain, Italy, France, and UK. 2: I have visited Spain, Italy, France and UK.

This is an IELTS exam website. For English grammar lessons, please visit a grammar website.

Please advise if we should always write ‘outline statement’ in Introduction paragraph and can follow below structure. In few cases, this may not be possible. Please explain. Thanks.

1: Paraphrase Question 2: Thesis statement 3: Outline statement

The outline statement is optional. It is not a requirement of IELTS.

Thank you for this content. It is very useful.

Could you please guide further on the test criterion ‘Grammar Range and Accuracy’. What does it exactly mean to use range of sentence structures and tenses?

Yes, that is exactly right. You are being tested on your range of sentence structures and tenses. You don’t need to use all tenses, of course – that’s impossible. But you should use a range. But particularly, you should focus on a range of sentences structures. I’m currently writing an e-book for grammar range for writing task 2 – is that something you think would be popular?

Yes it would. Would be helpful if you could blog post some details on them as well.

Hi Liz, Can you please advise, where you gave examples in above mentioned Body Paragraphs, as i somehow could not find them.

I closely observes your posts and your reply for this would really help me. Thanks in advance.

There are many ways to illustrate and explain an idea. Examples are just one way and are not actually a requirement.

Hi Liz, this is what I came up with as paraphrase for the topic

English is becoming the most spoken language globally as a result of improvement in tourism, some argue that the outcome will be that English will become the only spoken language spoken around the world

the most widely spoken language in the world is Chinese 😉

No its not, English is, and there is no such language as Chinese, its called Mandarin!

Mandarin might be most native spoken language in the world (in population numbers of Chinese), but English is the most widely spoken language in the world, for example, Chinese, Spanish, Hindi, Arabic which falls into the top 5 most native speaking languages, some of them might take up or speak English as their second language, which in result makes English the most wide spoken and understood language in the world ! Hope this answers your question…but you are quite right, Mandarin/Chinese is the most spoken native language in the world ! This question in the Essay is very tricky as it it describes English as the most prominent language in the world, whether we agree or disagree, we need to stay on topic and just pretend we agree that English is the most widely spoken language in the world. This is why its very important to focus 3-4 mins on the question before responding as per Liz says.

Science has verious activities which is good for health,others are bad. Despite knowing,millions of people are having unhealty life. What do you think and is there other method to solve this.

This was the question asked in today’s ielts writing. Can any body reply these with a ansews I am doubt.

The problem is that the full essay question has not been written correctly. It contains a lot of mistakes and it makes it difficult to read. Try thinking more carefully and checking your grammar. I can’t offer tips unless I see an accurate question.

Good day, Ms. Liz! I am just confused. I want to ask about the tense you used on your second body paragraph before the second argument, it says “if there were only one language”. I am not good in grammar so I want to know why you used “were” if you are only referring to “one language” and why is it on past tense since it is has not happened yet? Thank you.

It is conditional.

I didnt see any examples on this essay.is it possible to score 7+ without giving examples ?

You give examples if you want to – it is not a requirement.

Hii lizz Thanku Is it opinion essay ‘do advantages outweigh the disadvantages?’ I’m little bit confused Gurdeep

It requires an opinion.

I studied your advanced writing course: advantage and disadvantage essay and practiced writing. I have a question: can I write one advantage and one disadvantage only? The question is asking advantages and disadvantages. Thank you!

If you can only think of one adv, then you will only be able to give one: the most significant adv is….

Hello Liz, I am taking my academic IELTS this weekend and I have been learning the tips and skills from your videos.Thank you so much for your help. But I have got a question regarding the writing tasks (especially task 2) : will I earn a higher score by writing complex sentences as many as possible by the use different clauses and conjunctions? Thank you.

Grammar counts for 25% of your marks and this includes range of tenses, range of sentence structures, punctuation and number of errors. A complex sentence in IELTS is considered a sentence that is not simple. So, for example, a sentence which contains one clause is considered a complex structure by an examiner. The biggest mistake students make is creating sentences that are too long and contain more and more clauses – one in enough and length should be controlled. Conjunctions, such as linking words, relate to the marking criteria of Coherence and Cohesion, which is 25% and also includes organisation of information and paragraphs as well as a good range of linking words. See this page: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-2/ and this page for my advanced writing task 2 lessons : https://elizabethferguson.podia.com/

Hi madam , how can I buy three of the videos together . Is there any other option ? Thank you Bineetha

Each lesson is bought individually. Please remember that this offer will not be available tomorrow.

Hi madam Could you please help me to understand what type of writing task 2 question is given below . We are becoming increasingly dependent on computers .They are used in business ,hospitals ,crime detection and even to fly planes .In which more field will they be used in future? Is this dependence on computers salutary or should we be more cautious about their benefits ? Is this a advantage and disadvantage question ? If it is . I guess they have also asked a opinion ( in which field they will be used in future ? ) I am confused . Their is a dilemma to understand such question . Could you please help me . I would really appreciate it . Thank you so much Bineetha

This is how I answered your topic. The world is relying more on computers, and computers have found use in various spheres of life including healthcare, forensic investigations, and even the auto pilot located on aircrafts. In my opinion, computers still have many other unexplored uses and I also believe that dependence on computers have more positive eventualities than negatives. It is worthwhile to approach the exploration of the positive attributes with caution. To begin with, in our everyday lives, computers will likely play more important roles as scientists discover more ways to apply its versatile nature. I foresee computers being used in environmental studies, for instance, measuring the amount of smog or soot in the atmosphere. Also, computers could likely replace guide dogs that walk people with visual impairment. Computers might be deployed to monitor ocean floor activities as part of an early warning system against earthquakes. The possibilities on the use of this versatile creation- the computer is truly endless. I believe that dependence on computers will have more positive eventualities than negatives. While it is argued that the dependence on computers and the increase in computer’s knowledge dubbed ‘Artificial Intelligence’ could threaten the human workforce, I am of the opinion that it will vastly increase productivity. Furthermore, computers should take over jobs which humans cannot do due to our nature. Finally, the call for caution in harnessing the positive attributes of the computer is being made in good-faith. Science fiction movies have demonstrated that computers could eventually take over the world, in collusion with some humans. It is not an idea that seems remotely impossible, since every uman process is gradually being linked to the computer. The possibility is indeed very scary. In conclusion, It is very important to be cautious as we automate and computerize our everyday activities; this is to ensure that we do not become over reliant on the computer and lose out in the end.

I’m sure it is not up to scratch, but the questions are multiple and not the usual agree/disagree type. It is more of discussion type essay.

Hi Liz, First of all thank you for your website, it has been really helpful for my IELTS study and practice. I have a question though, will they consider correct if I spell a word using the american English? Example the word “prioritize” which in UK would be “prioritise”. Thank you, Marina.

You can use either American or British Spelling – but you can’t use both. So, choose which one you will use.

You told in of your videos that you should not use “There is/are”. however, you have used it in your essay more than once?

This is not what I have said at all. Which video are you referring to?

Hello liz mam, I’d purchased your ielts essay lessons, but I’m still confused –

-Is this positive or negative development ? ( what structure I’ve to follow in this type of question ?) Body para 1 – negative side Body para 2 – posivite side It is same as advantage and disadvantage essay or some thing else ? Hoping for your reply soon as my exam is on 25 Nobember

Follow the instructions as I taught in my advanced lessons. If it ask X AND Y = both / if it asks X OR Y = you choose. Just read the instructions!!

Thank you so much mam 🤗

Another advantage will be that we don’t have to take IELTS exam

You are completely right and I agree with you.

Hello mam, Is it correct format If i write the balanced conclusion (means there are merits and demerit) in advantage and disadvange type essay????

The conclusion summarises the main points. You can’t plan what you will write until you essay the topic and essay question. You certainly don’t memorise sentences or phrases.

Thank you mam

I have some concern with one advantage and disadvantage essay question, which state “Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this and give your opinion”. Should I follow the same structure of ” Do the advantanges outweigh the disadvantages”, in which the key is the thesis statement. Therefore, my essay will have two body paragraph which explain the advantages and disadvantages, then I explain my opinion with the side I agree with. Or can I have three body paragraph – one advantages, one disadvantages, and another disadvantages (or advantages) which clearly support my opinion. Or do I have to tackle with this question type as “Discuss both view and give your opinion”? Maybe be for some questions, it is possible to do this, for instance (discuss the advantages of both methods and give your opinion, in which my opinion can be more specific) but in this case – discuss the advantages and disadvantages, and give your opinion – my opinion can not be other than whether advantage or disadvantage. I hope my question makes sense. Please give me a feedback for this concern teacher Liz.

Thank you so much for your response, your time and for this amazing blog. All the best.

You would tackle it as “Discuss both sides and give your opinion”. However, adv & disadv essays usually say “What are the advs and disadvs?” – they don’t ask for an opinion as well. So, make sure you read the instructions very carefully.

How important it is to have only one topic sentence each paragraph for a high band score? In this essay each body paragraph has more than one key points(adv or disadv).

A topic sentence (the first line) defines the content of the paragraph – that is what you need for each body paragraph.

Hi mam liz..its my first time to paraphrase a questions for task 2 in writing and the question is ” some people think that it would be better for large companies and industry to move to regional areas outside large urban centers. Do you think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?

And this is my answer.. Almost all of the people think that its better to transfer all big companies and industry to a place which is away from big cities.

Place correct my sample answer to this question..i am not confident with my grammar and vocabularies please help me to expand my ideas in creating essays…thank you so much in advance

Sorry I don’t comment on writing.

can we express our opinion in conclusion part in this kind of essay which requires a discussion on advantages and disadvantages?

It is possible to do it as a final comment. A final comment is the second sentence in the conclusion after you summarise the main points in your essay. It is not actually necessary to have a final comment. Having just one sentence which only summarises your ideas is fine.

Hello Ma’am Is it increase my band in writing task 2 if I write idioms or proverbs?

See this page: https://ieltsliz.com/using-quotes-or-idioms-in-your-ielts-essay/ and then review all my tips: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-2/

Hi Liz, I really find your lessons extremely helpful. I want to ask do I need a title for my essay? Will it affect my band score if I had/ didn’t have one?

As you can see from my model essays – there is no title.

Hey Liz I have a query regarding advantage disadvantage essay, do we have to give our opinion in conclusion as I feel u have given ur opinion in conclusion in this model answer , I thought we only have to give our opinion if the question asks do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages but not for simple advantage/disadvantage essay .Kindly help in this regard Thanks in advance Mehwish

It is not necessary to write an extra comment in the conclusion as shown above.

Hi Well i wish 2 know that in witing task 2 are no of ideas considered for marking? Nd moreover if i write few ideas or simple ideas but in an effective way how much grade shud i expect? And should i emphasize on writing gud ideas in my answer or i just hav to b concerned about my writing?

See this page to learn about writing task 2 marking: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-2-band-scores-5-to-8/

I have a question about an “Advantage Disadvantage essay”. When I see question like this: “Do you think the advantages of economic development outweigh the disadvantages?” – may I state my opinion in the thesis statement? Or should I leave it impersonal?

It is asking directly what you think. Therefore, you must answer it directly. Do you think the advs outweigh the disadvs – state what you think.

Dear Liz, I received my results and I got 7.5, I wouldn’t get that without your tips and notes. I would like to take the opportunity to thank you for the help provided. You are an angel. Best Regards, Noura Ghanem

Well done, Noura!! Band 7.5 overall is a great score 🙂 I’m so pleased my lessons were helpful 🙂

Hello teacher! Can i write a couple of advantages in one paragraph ? In advantages and disadvantages question.

Yes, of course. As long as your body paragraph has a central theme (for example, one body paragraph with all advs), it’s fine.

Hi teacher, I would like to ask about when to use past tense in writing task 2? I thought in academic writing should only have present tense, but I saw you use past tense in example section..? Hopefully you can reply my message. Thank you~

Of course you must use a range of tenses in writing task 2. This is language test and they are testing your range and accuracy.

Thanks so much Liz. My exam is this week and your lessons have been of immense help. I am however confused about something . In this advantage-disadvantage essay, I noticed an opinion was given at the conclusion. I thought opinions are only allowed in opinion essays. Thanks once again as I await your response.

It is possible to add an opinion as a final comment to a conclusion. However, I often prefer to use predictions instead. In fact, it is possible to skip the final comment and just have one line summarising the main points instead as a conclusion.

Hello Liz, in your advantage and disadvantage model essay, you gave two examples for each section. My question is that if I give only one example for advantage and two examples for disadvantage, does it lower my score ?

You can choose how many examples to give. There are no rules about this. It is your choice how you support your main point.

Hope you are doing well. Kindly help me with a confusion.

When we are asked if advantages outweigh disadvantages, do we discuss both advantages and disadvantages in BP1 and BP2 respectively or just give our opinion in introduction and discuss the one which we choose. For example if we say advantages outweigh disadvantages then we just discuss advantages in the body paras or still discuss both.

I will really appreciate your guidance. Many thanks.

Warm Regards, Preeti

You must explain why one is more important than the other. So, in expressing your opinion you will refer to both sides.

Hello Liz, Can I use “one common language” or “one international language” as a synonym of “one global language”? Regards. Sadia.

Yes, both options are fine.

Hi Liz, Is it okay for coherence to put two unrelated points in the same paragraph if both are advantages for example?

See my model essay above – it shows you how I put two advantages in one paragraph. The central theme of the paragraph is “advantages” – this is what IELTS are looking for – central themes.

Thank you! That’s what I did, but my teacher said that made it incoherent, so I thought I misunderstood the method in the model essay.

I think people get confused about having only one idea in a paragraph and having a central theme to the paragraph. For cause and solution essays, it’s the same. One paragraph for causes and one paragraph for solutions. The examiner is actually looking for logically organised ideas and it definitely logical to organise it in that way. Good luck with your results 🙂

Hello, Liz! First of all, thanks a lot for your really useful materials and video lessons! I have passed my exam this Friday and Saturday. Now I am waiting for my results. I would like to ask you about writing 2 essay type which I was given. “Do advantages outweigh its disadvantages” is it same with “What advantages and disadvantages does it have”? My topic was “most government develop its economy to improve living standard but ts leads to the loss of social values”

The main differences is that the “outweigh” essay requires your opinion – which is more important – advs or disadvs. But otherwise, it is similar. Good luck with your results 🙂

Dear Liz can I use having one global languge=monolingual world

Thanks Liz….im following your tips and hope to get d desired score soon and will let u be the results…..

Thank you for sharing your knowledge to us.

I’m wondering for advantage and disadvantages essay. Could I put any conclusion sentence in last paragraph. Or I don’t have to write any conclusion for this type of essay.

Thanks, Yun

ALL essays for task 2 MUST have a conclusion. Failure to write a conclusion for task 2 will result in band 5 for Task Response which is 25% of your task 2 marks.

Hi Liz, Thank you for this wonderful site and your tips. Could you please clear me how to approach this kind of essay. for example, “Many people starts travelling to other city. is it a positive or negative trend”. i am very confused how to approach this kind of essays, are they same like advantages and disadvantages type? looking forward to hear from you soon. Thanks.

This question is asking for your opinion. Is this positive or is this negative? Give your opinion in the introduction and explain your view in the body paragraphs.

Many thanks for your fast answer…

Hi Liz, is it grammatically correct if I write ‘the benefit OF having one …’ instead of ‘TO having’? Thanks

Yes, it’s fine.

Hi Liz, Can u please clarify me: In advantages overweigh disadvantage., Do I need to mention advantages and disadvantages and then conclude? Regards, Bhavya

You need to express your view. Which is more important than the other.

Firstly, *cough, cough*, I would like to thank you kindly for such an extensive effort into providing such detailed and straightforward information. Your lessons and tips are clear and concise, and really useful. After having lived the first 14 years of my life in an english speaking country, when asked to take the IELTS for immigration purposes, I focused on the test style, namely listening and reading, having given little thought to the writing aspect of the test, thinking it would be unnecessary. My overall band score was 8.5, however, the writing score was 6.5, and the department of immigration looks only at the lowest of all band scores. Unfortunately that score is insufficient, so this time, I am making sure I do not make the same mistake.

To conclude, *ahem*, I studied solely based on the rich and vast quantity of information contained in your site and by following your instructional videos. This time, I am sure I will obtain the desired band minimum.

Thanks again for the great work, and keep well.

Even a native speaker needs to prepare for the writing test. It is skills based as well as language based. This is the reason why having excellent English is not enough. When is your next test?

This essay is very balanced but there are repetition with “would”. why ?

It’s a conditional grammar tense.

In advantages and disadvantages essays, can we write one for each and explain and give example? Or should we write at least 2?

You can give an example , two examples or none – it’s your choice.

Thank you for your time and knowledge sharing. I would like to know, if for the above model essay if they ask for give your opinion what should should be modified in order to reuse the above essay.

You can take ideas for essays but that’s all. You can’t memorise an essay to use in the test.

Hi Liz, Can you provide a sample for introduction of advantages outweighing disadvantages essay model?

I did already – please see previous comments.

Hi Liz, Can you provide a sample of an introduction for advantages outweighing disadvantages essay model?

Question: Many students take a year off between finishing high score and going to university. Do you think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages? Into: Having a gap year before starting tertiary education is becoming increasing popular. I believe that although there may be problems with this, in the long run it is more beneficial and helps students developing into more rounded characters.

Thank you for your kindness. It will be of great help to me.

Hi liz, in this kind of question is it okay if i state first the disadvantages then advantages afterwards? will it affect my TR? thank you

It will affect your score for Coherence and Cohesion which is 25% of your marks and includes the logical order of information and ideas. It is not logical to change the order.

Hi Liz , in this topic , you did not include any examples .is this ok ? i am sorry but i try to understand and define a certain forum to follow . thanks

You don’t need to give examples. There are many ways you can choose to illustrate your ideas. It doesn’t affect your score.

I thought giving examples is mandatory to support our ideas.Is it not required to give examples? If no,What are the other ways to illustrate our ideas?

You give examples when relevant. You don’t need to illustrate ideas, you need to develop them – explain them – give details.

Regarding the above question, could you tell me please how and where to put the likely answer for //state which you consider to be the most effective//.

Your opinion should always be put in the introduction when it is asked for. See my advanced lessons if you need training: http://subscriptions.viddler.com/IELTSLizStore

Hi Liz In an advantage/ disadvantage essay, should I always say which is best in my conclusion?

No. If the instructions say “what are the advantages and disadvantages”, you don’t give your opinion at all.

Hello Liz! But you did state your opinion in your conclusion when you said that “Maintaining languages and cultures should be prioritised…”. And now you are saying that you shouldn’t give your opinion. Can you clarify this contradiction please. Regards, Vlad

It is possible in a conclusion to add a final comment which might be a suggestion or prediction.

If everyone spoke? is that past indefinite?I think its wrong.

Hi Liz! I hope you will be fine. I wanna ask, we should use connectors like firstly, secondly, on the other hand etc. in start of the paragraph or use between the paragraphs in an essay. And we should make four or five paragraphs while writing an essay.

You use sequencers and linking words where necessary depending on your ideas and the content of the next paragraph. There is no fixed rule.

Hello there Liz, I think this is a discussion essay so my question is, can I freely give my opinion on what side I am for as a conclusion even though it wasn’t asked? Thank you. =)

You only give your opinion when the instructions ask for it. Stick to that strategy and you won’t make mistakes.

With the last sentence in the sample essay, have you not stated your opinion even though you did not use ‘in my opinion’ there?

It counts as a suggestion. You could also have finished with a prediction if you wish. It’s just a final comment, that’s all.

Your videos are very helpful to me, and I’m still studying some of the essay lessons. I’m practising my writing task 2 and I have realise that I am not sure when to use can and could, shall and should, and will and would. Is there any rules of when to use these words. I hope to hear from you.

Sincerely, Lynn

See this page: http://www.learnersdictionary.com/qa/could-can-and-would

Thank you so much! This will be a great help for me.

Suncerely, Lynn

Dear Liz, One writing task which misleads always is – 2 opinions discussion and your opinion. Kindly help with this. Following are the 2 examples of that 1. Some people prefer to live in a house, while others feel that there are more advantages to living in an apartment. Are there more advantages than disadvantages of living in a house compared with living in an apartment? 2. Some experts believe that it is better for children to begin learning a foreign language at primary school rather than secondary school. Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?

My question is the following 1. Do I need to write advantages & disadvantages of living in house- 1 paragraph, advantages & disadvantages of living in apartment- 2 paragraph and my opinion- 3 paragraph? 2. Do I need to write advantages & disadvantages of learning foreign language in primary school- 1 paragraph, advantages & disadvantages of learning foreign language in secondary school- 2 paragraph and my opinion- 3 paragraph.

Both these examples have 2 opinions instead of 1, and each opinion has advantage and disadvantage and finally writers opinion. This is going to be a long essay, kindly advise on this. Does any of your advanced essay videos address this, I want to buy them.

Yes, in my advanced lessons, the “advs disadv essay lesson” covers both “what are the advantages and disadvantages?” and also “do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?” http://subscriptions.viddler.com/IELTSLizStore . That lesson is 1.5 hours in length and explains in great detail how to tackle those questions.

Dear Ms Liz, Thanks a lot for your lessons. my English has improved so much since i’ve got your page. However, i missed one of your essay, that is What are the advantages for a company of having uniform that you uploaded. Would you pls help me find this. Big thanks to you

Here’s the link: https://ieltsliz.com/finding-ideas-for-ielts-writing-task-2/

Dear Liz, I want to ask you about the body paragraph of advantage and disadvantage , agree or disagree .Do they have the same method ?

https://ieltsliz.com/liz-notice-2015-2016/

your page is deeply useful, thanks very much, really, thanks for all,

i just would to ask why you wrote “In other words, if everyone spoke one language” (at the beginning of the second paragraph instead “In other words, if everyone speak one language”. As I said, thank you very much for all,

I have some problem with writing and speaking what can be done to overcome this Because only 20 days left for my ielts test

See my advanced lessons for writing task 2: http://subscriptions.viddler.com/IELTSLizStore and see this page for speaking: https://ieltsliz.com/develop-your-ielts-speaking-for-free/

Hello madam, I really thank you very much from the bottom of my heart for making this site . It is very useful for my as I plan to take islets next month on February 19th and it is my first time hoping to get the score band I want .

Actually I want ask if we can use in the phrase ( in a matter of fact ) in the begging of the introduction like you used ( it is thought by ) or it will not helping in score

Thanks in advance

Sorry for some errors in writings I were not fully concentrating 🙁

Hi there, The teacher used that statement because if you go back to video she presented in the section of Discussion Essay Useful Language. She introduced the most important statements should be utilised. Therefore, I would advice to be on the sife side and use one of them better. Best regards, Salah

Hi liz I am lakhpreet from india and my ielts examz is on 29/11/2016 so i have problem in writing task1 and task2 how can i prepare to get good score in my ielts examz . I have lot of problem in writing task 2 introduction i don’t know what i should write so please give me tips

See the main pages for writing task 1 and 2 below to learn what to do: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-1-lessons-and-tips/ https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-2/ You can also find advanced training for writing task 2 in my online store: http://subscriptions.viddler.com/IELTSLizStore

this is very useful website !!!!really

The topic is a discussion essay that does not require our opinion. However, the conclusion seems to be an opinion even though it does not use ‘I’ or ‘we’ – having one language has more disadvantages and that languages and culture should be protected.

Is this acceptable or should the conclusion be more neutral?

Good article. I am facing some of these issues as well..

I find your explanation very helpful, straight on point and easy to understand. I am very happy I came across your website. I have learned so much from the content you’ve posted here. I hope you keep up doing such great work continuously.

Warm regards,

Dear Liz Just wanted to know if there is a ques in writing task 2 How the disadvantages outweigh the advantages? Do we need to write both disadvantages and advantages at the same time and then writing in favour of disadvantages in the end or we just need to discuss the disadvantages????? Moreover, if you are slightly under words in task 2 like if you only write around 237/238 words, is that a problem? Kindly reply

Hi Mam i am Varun From India. Is it good to take stance in the introduction paragraph in both types of essays as you have done ( Arguement as well as Discussion essays )? What do you think would it be better to take stance in introduction paragraph in case of Arguement Essay and in conclusion paragraph in Discussion Essay? Please if possible then post some more model answers

Hi Liz, So in this type of question (adv vs. dsadv), there should be no thesis statement but still with a conclusion at the end? Thanks, Joharra

And, can I use “universal language” as paraphrased for “one global language”? Thanks

Yes, that’s fine. Liz

Thank you Liz 🙂

Dear Liz, I’m so thankful that I bumped to your very-useful blog. It’s nice to have an online tutor who is totally friendly and helpful. I would say that I want to share this blog to all of my friends in Indonesia who are struggling for IELTS as I am.

I have an alternative for the introduction above, if you don’t mind, you can correct it for me.. “Some people believe that because of the tourism grew up widely which influenced the usage of English to become the most spoken language, it will soon make it as the choice of language to be spoken internationally. Owing to this prediction, there would be some advantages in increasing mutual understanding and economic growth among nations. Otherwise, there also would be some disadvantages related to cultures.”

64 words, i know this is too many 🙁 Thank you so much for your response and consideration.

Sincerely, Grace, Indonesia

Sorry but I don’t comment on writing. Liz

Hi Liz, I am still very confused with how to structure my essay if the question is outweighing advantages and disadvantages. Can you please enlighten me on this? Thank you Liz.

I will be publishing a lesson on this hopefully next week. Please wait for that. It can not be explained in just a few sentences. All the best Liz

Thank you Liz. I am very keen as my exam will be on the first week of November. 🙂

Greetings from Minnesota! I’m bored to tears at work so I decided to check out your website on my iphone during lunch break. I really like the knowledge you present here and can’t wait to take a look when I get home. I’m amazed at how fast your blog loaded on my cell phone .. I’m not even using WIFI, just 3G .. Anyhow, very good blog!

Hope you enjoy the lessons 🙂

Hi Liz Shouldn’t you have used “had” instead of “have” in the sentence in the third paragraph?

“Secondly, it would result in he collapse of … if all countries “have” the same language…”

Isn’t this supposed to be an unreal or imaginary condition? thanks

Well spotted. It is indeed second conditional. Liz

I just came to see one Discussion essay “Discuss the advantages of both methods and give your own opinion” . Can we follow the same structure of ” Discuss both views and give your own opinion ” in this case.

Yes, you would need to have one BP for the advantages of one method and then another body paragraph for the advantages of the other method. Your opinion would either be explained in a separate body paragraph if you agree with neither side or you can explain your opinion in the BP with the side you agree with. All the best Liz

I have one doubt The development of tourism contributed to english… This is the first line in topic, But i am not able to understand where you have paraphrased this line in introduction ? You have only mention tourism section in last line of 3 paragraph .

please explain because i think it is important to describe that section.

Because it is an extra piece of information that IELTS have added which is irrelevant to the topic. While native speakers are able to distinguish this, foreign language speakers might have a problem. Sorry if it confused you. Liz

I am not confused. I thought we have to give some detail regarding tourism contribution in making english a prominant language in world as first line of statement topic is important, But I am agree that it is not relevant to the main topic

I have one more doubt about model answers given in official book provided by IDP when we book IELTS exam. The format and techniques provided by you and other internet sources are not same with the model answers in that book . Your information regarding ielts exam seem so relevant but model answer in that book cannot be wrong as they are giveb by Organization conducted ielts exam. For instance , they have written examples in thier first paragraph.

( this is my second attempt. i got 8 – reading , 6.5 – speaking and listening , 5.5 – writing. My exam date is 19 sept and i am still confused. please clear this doubt .

With Regards Anish Kashyap

The model answers from IELTS are not designed to make essay writing easier for you. They don’t want to make their test easy. But teachers work hard to make it more achievable which is why their models are better. It is best if you spend more time learning about how the writing is marked and how to improve your score based on the marking criteria. These pages will help: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-1-band-scores/ and also https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-2-band-scores-5-to-8/ All the best Liz

Can I use ‘benefit of having global language’ rather than ‘benefit to having’

Many Thanks

Yes, sure it’s fine. Liz

Just want clarification because I keep on reading on your essays “to having”. Aren’t we suppose to write “to + infinitive” and not “to + verb(ing)”

“to” in this case is a preposition.

In the second paragraph, is it okay to say ” there would be complete understanding not only between countries but all people throughout….” instead of “there would be complete understanding between not only countries but all people throughout….”

Yes, definitely. I like the way you have re-written it very much. Liz

Hello Liz ,As you mentioned “evident benefit TO havING “…so my question is, as I learned in grammar we do no use any forms with any verb after “to” …i mean no ing,no s or es,no second forms of verb…will you please elaborate ?if i write to have will it be wrong? Thank you:)

In this sentence, “to” is a preposition not part of the noun. Please google “advantages to having” and you will see more information about it. All the best Liz

Can i say that the conclusion is paraphrasing to the introduction?

Yes, that’s right. It summarises the main points which hopefully you put in your thesis statement. Liz

Dear Liz, Thanks a lot for your invaluable tutoring. I learned so much from your video lessons and rich website. I wanted to ask a little question for clarification – if we are asked about the advantages and disadvantages (of English as a global language), why is the writer’s opinion expressed in the conclusion? (that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages) Many thanks in advance, Barak

After you summarise the main points, you have the choice of adding a final comment to your conclusion which can be a prediction or suggestions (depending on the type of essay question you have). To learn more see my advanced lessons: http://subscriptions.viddler.com/IELTSLizStore All the best Liz

Okay, Great. Thanks a lot Liz for the very quick response!

Hi Liz, Could you kindly read my following essay and give your feedback.If you could roughly give a band score i would be so greatful to u. Q.Some believe that watching tv is a waste of time.Others think that tv is a boon for all.State your view wirh examples.

Ans: Some people think that spending time on watching tv is spoiling the quality of time.While opponents argue that television is a bliss for eveyone.However,in this essay i am going to explain my view on this topic with relevant examples.

To begin with,watching tv for a long time is waste of time.It can create lots of health problems as well as mental issues.For instance,some people tend to watch tv while they eat food.Apparently they do not understand how much do they consume.Consequently they will end up with obesity.Some viewer’s give much preference for unimporant tv programmes such series and reality shows.Eventually they will isolate themselves and some psychological ilness develops among them .For example depression and stress.Furthermore,children who watch tv for a long time will be like clone.Some kids tend to behave ,act and talk like their super heroes.

Television is a popular form of entertainment.It provides diffent kind of programmes such as,information,entertainment,education and more.Any age group can find their interested programme on tv.The news gives an uptodate kwoldege around the globe.Whereas tv shows ,music programmes and all help us to relax and reduce tension.Some educational programmes broaden the horizon of peoples knowledge.

To put it in a nut shell,waching tv ease international tension and equip people with information and knowledge.In my point of view watching tv’s advantages outweigh its disadvantage.

Please read my notice: https://ieltsliz.com/posting-writing/ and also check my video about using linking words for the conclusion: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-2-video-lesson-conclusion-linkers/ Liz

thank you.but i wish u could help me

i want all essay of writing yask 2 … where i can find it ? give me the website .

I don’t understand. do you want essay questions, model essays, tips?? You can find all these on this page: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-2/ Liz

I am not sure where you’re getting your info, but great topic.

I needs to spend some time studying much more or figuring out more. Thanks for fantastic info I used to be in search of this information for my mission.

Glad it was helpful 🙂

Dear Liz, I have confusions regarding “Advantages/Disadvantages” type of question. Like – do you think this trend has more advantages or disadvantages? Do the drawbacks outweigh the benefits? In these type of questions do we need to write both advantages and disadvantages even we agree on one side?

The question asks you if the advantages outweigh the disadvantages so you need to give your answer and show that the advantages are more important than the disadvantages – that means you need to give details of both sides in order to support your answer. All the best Liz

Thank you so much for a prompt response. I have exam tomorrow . Love from Nepal

Hi, Liz! I want to thank you for an excellent video course about opinion essey writing. I have never seen such a clear explanation. So my question is when should we expect for your new amazing video on advantages&disadvantages essey type?

The next video on my course is about the discussion essay. I’m filming it at the moment. After that I’ll do the advantage disadvantage essay. I’m really pleased you found the lesson on the opinion essay useful. All the best Liz

Hi Liz, Can you post the link of advantages and disadvantages here. I’m looking for it but nothing worked! Thank you very much! Love,

I think the reason is that I haven’t added more lessons for these types of essays. I only have one extra: https://ieltsliz.com/do-the-advantages-outweigh-the-disadvantages/ . I’ll tried to add more soon. Liz

I read about you comment about not writing “this essay will look at/discuss” but I don’t know how to remove it when writing an advantage and disadvantage and problem solution essay.

I have examples below and I really appreciate if you could help me. Thanks!

In the last decade, there has been a great increase in the number and variety of online courses available to adults. This has been welcomed as a great opportunity by many students, however, other students see these courses as less effective than classroom teaching.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of studying an online course?

As more online courses are being offered to adults, different aspects of this learning medium have become apparent. Online courses offer students some advantages over studying in a classroom, however there are some definite drawbacks. This essay will discuss some of the advantages and disadvantages of online courses.

example 2: Cars have become a convenient and economical form of transport and as a result, the use of cars has increased dramatically during the last century.

Discuss the problems this increase has created, and offer some practical solutions.

Most people now use cars as their main form of transport. An increase in this trend during the last centry has contributed to major traffic congestion in cities, and to a decline in the quality of our environment. This essay will look at how this is occuring and what can be done to address this problem.

Please read my notice: https://ieltsliz.com/posting-writing/ Liz

Hi Liz. Please take a look at my work and feel free to criticize.. Thank you for your help.

Majority of countries nowadays use English as part of their languages as a result of the development in tourism. With English language dominating globally, some people have come to think that, eventually, it will be the only language used in this world. Though, it will bring advantages in communication as a whole, the national identity of a country is also threatened as a consequence.

Noted 🙂 Anyway, I just want to thank you for this very helpful website. Enjoy your day Liz 🙂

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Essay on Social Media for School Students and Children

500+ words essay on social media.

Social media is a tool that is becoming quite popular these days because of its user-friendly features. Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and more are giving people a chance to connect with each other across distances. In other words, the whole world is at our fingertips all thanks to social media. The youth is especially one of the most dominant users of social media. All this makes you wonder that something so powerful and with such a massive reach cannot be all good. Like how there are always two sides to a coin, the same goes for social media. Subsequently, different people have different opinions on this debatable topic. So, in this essay on Social Media, we will see the advantages and disadvantages of social media.

Advantages of Social Media

When we look at the positive aspect of social media, we find numerous advantages. The most important being a great device for education . All the information one requires is just a click away. Students can educate themselves on various topics using social media.

Moreover, live lectures are now possible because of social media. You can attend a lecture happening in America while sitting in India.

Furthermore, as more and more people are distancing themselves from newspapers, they are depending on social media for news. You are always updated on the latest happenings of the world through it. A person becomes more socially aware of the issues of the world.

In addition, it strengthens bonds with your loved ones. Distance is not a barrier anymore because of social media. For instance, you can easily communicate with your friends and relatives overseas.

Most importantly, it also provides a great platform for young budding artists to showcase their talent for free. You can get great opportunities for employment through social media too.

Another advantage definitely benefits companies who wish to promote their brands. Social media has become a hub for advertising and offers you great opportunities for connecting with the customer.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Disadvantages of Social Media

Despite having such unique advantages, social media is considered to be one of the most harmful elements of society. If the use of social media is not monitored, it can lead to grave consequences.

Thus, the sharing on social media especially by children must be monitored at all times. Next up is the addition of social media which is quite common amongst the youth.

This addiction hampers with the academic performance of a student as they waste their time on social media instead of studying. Social media also creates communal rifts. Fake news is spread with the use of it, which poisons the mind of peace-loving citizens.

In short, surely social media has both advantages and disadvantages. But, it all depends on the user at the end. The youth must particularly create a balance between their academic performances, physical activities, and social media. Excess use of anything is harmful and the same thing applies to social media. Therefore, we must strive to live a satisfying life with the right balance.

FAQs on Social Media

Q.1 Is social media beneficial? If yes, then how?

A.1 Social media is quite beneficial. Social Media offers information, news, educational material, a platform for talented youth and brands.

Q.2 What is a disadvantage of Social Media?

A.2 Social media invades your privacy. It makes you addicted and causes health problems. It also results in cyberbullying and scams as well as communal hatred.

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IELTS Writing Task 2 Sample Essay. Advertising is gaining more popularity in the marketing of products or services. While advertisements are considered to be advantageous, they can have numerous negative influences. It is unquestionable that there are several benefits of advertising.
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3. The cost of advertising can be a disadvantage to small businesses. The cost of TV advertising at local television stations is at least $5 for every 1,000 viewers during a 30-second commercial. Then you have the cost of creative development when taking this marketing approach to consider.
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This helped Airbnb reach more people and become popular with a wider audience. 2. Leads to Increased Sales and Revenue. One of the primary goals of advertising is to drive sales and boost revenue for businesses. Effective advertising campaigns can create awareness and generate interest, increasing sales.
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Advantages of Advertisement. Increased Awareness - Advertisements help to increase awareness of a product or service, by introducing it to a wider audience. This can lead to increased interest and sales. Targeted Audience - Advertisements can be targeted to a specific audience, based on factors such as age, gender, and interests. This helps to ensure that the right message is reaching the ...
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On the one hand, the cost of advertising can increase the cost of consumer products. This is because companies and conglomerates spend billions of dollars in order to advertise a product. In the end, companies are forced to include these costs into their product which ultimately makes them expensive. For example, a beats headphone only costs 18 ...
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Other advantages include, commenters said, giving greater flexibility to prime contractors while allowing for detailed planning and monitoring to provide better experiences for DBEs. One suggestion made by numerous commenters for modifying the proposal was to have a "hybrid" or two-step process in design/build procurements. That is, for the ...

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Unveiling the Power Play: Advantages & Disadvantages of Advertising

Advantages of Advertising

Increase product & brand awareness

Attracting Current and Potential Customers

Increase Sales volume and ROI

Reach multiple markets and population groups simultaneously

Disadvantages of Advertising

Challenging for small businesses

It creates a general disturbance

No surety of returns

Concluding Advantages & Disadvantages of Advertising

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Advertising

Learn about the Advantages and Disadvantages of Advertising

Benefits of Advertising :

Limitations :

Disadvantages of Advertising :

Advantages and Disadvantages of Advertising – With Criticisms

Criticisms of Advertising:

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Advertising – As a Promotional Tool

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12 Advantages and Disadvantages of Advertising

Advantages of Advertising

Introduces product

Increase Sales

Widens Market

Fights Competition

Eliminates Middlemen

Stabilizes Sales Volume

Educates Consumers

Disadvantages of Advertising

Increases Cost

Mislead People

Discourages Small Business

Encourage Monopoly

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