The charts show the main methods of transport of people travelling to one university in 2004 and 2009.
Summarise the information be selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
Consumers are faced with increasing numbers of advertisements from competing companies. To what extent do you think consumers are influenced by advertisements?
What measures can be taken to protect them?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Write at least 250 words.
WRITING TASK 1
The given pie charts compare the percentage of students using five different means of transportation (Car, Train, Bus, Bicycle, and Walking) to travel to a particular university during 2004 and 2009.
It is noticeable that travelling by train was the least favored form of transportation, while there was a change, from cars to buses, for the most commonly used form of transport over the five years period.
In 2004, just over half of students traveled to the university by car, with only a third taking a bus. The remaining students rode a bike, went on foot or took a train, with the figures being 9%, 4%, and 3% respectively.
However, with the construction of a new bus stop in 2008 and the introduction of car parking fees in 2006, in 2009 the number of students commuting by car dropped to 28%, and consequently the number of students travelling by all other methods increased. Those travelling by bus increased to 46%, bicycle user’s rose to 16%, and both train travelers and walkers increased by 1% and 2% respectively.
(177 words)
WRITING TASK 2
These days, due to a highly competitive commercial market, people are exposed to an ever increasing amount of advertising. I believe that people are highly susceptible to modern day advertising and marketing techniques, and that certain actions need to be taken to ensure the wellbeing of consumers.
Advertising has become a multibillion dollar industry, and much research has gone into its development and effectiveness in order to help businesses sell more products and services. And although advertising can provide many benefits to the consumer, it can also have quite a negative impact on individuals and society as a whole. One of the negative effects advertising can have is that it can lead people to buy things that they don’t actually need or even necessarily want. Advertising techniques can make us feel as though we really need to have something and this can cause people to make impulsive purchases, which they may not have made if they had made a more thorough decision.
Furthermore, in societies where advertising laws are more relaxed, people are faced with large amounts of advertising containing many subliminal messages and explicit content. For instance, it is well known in the advertising industry that sex sells. Creating sexual themes within advertisements can influence people’s thoughts about not only the product but ideas associated around it. This can have many negative influences on the minds of people, and in particular children, potentially forming certain negative beliefs and ideas about such topics.
In conclusion, for these, and many other reasons, I believe that Governments and other organisations need to monitor how companies are promoting their products and services in order to protect innocent consumers. This can be achieved through the regulation of the content of advertisements and the regulation of the space where advertisements occur, such as billboards and posters. Individual companies also must take responsibility regarding their advertisements to ensure that they do not contain subliminal or explicit material that might negatively affect consumers.
(326 words)