Article: Between shaping fantasy and mutating values, does advertising have any limits?

By Étienne Armand AMATO

Associate professor in information and communication  sciences, University  of Marne la Vallée, Dicen-IDF Laboratory, research adviser at Gobelins, École de l’Image

Abstract

Advertising relates intersubjectively the emitter of a message and its target with the goal of arousing consumers to make a purchase. This is the perspective adopted by R&D in advertising when it turns toward the cognitive sciences. The latter open access to a new world, the “a-conscience”, a change reflected in the word “neuromarketing”. This strategy encounters limits however and necessitates a collective debate about the governance of our fantasies, dreams and desires.