IELTS Preparation: advertising enhancing quality or quantity Topic: Advertising encourages consumers to buy in quantity rather than promoting quality. To what extent do you agree or disagree? Nowadays, advertising has become increasingly popular. This raises questions about its function. Although some people claim that it helps improve product quality, I personally believe it more encourages sales volume. Advertising boosts sales volume in several ways. For one thing, advertising informs potential customers of their products, including product features, advantages and effects. When deciding which product to buy among many similar alternatives such as wash powders, most people tend to choose the brand they know. As a result, products advertised frequently are more likely to be customers’ choice. For another, advertising campaigns could include marketing strategy such as “the second one free”, which means customers can have two items together in a cheaper price than purchasing each item separately. This obviously encourages customers to buy more. Some people claim that advertising could help improve quality because in the long term only those good-quality products can win market share. However, they are oversimplifying the situation. To begin with, the assumption that consumer has the ability to judge product quality s arguable. For example, it would be difficult for customers to feel and decide whether or not a nutrition product has effects. Moreover, advertising needs money, which doubtlessly forms the cost of the product. In order to compete with other products, producers tend to cut budget of research and development or other product cost to keep the product price within a specific range. In other words, advertising might lead to the reduction of funds for improving quality, To conclude, advertising is more conducive to increasing quantity rather than enhancing quality.