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This is an IELTS writing task 2 sample answer essay on the topic of advertising, persuading and paying attention from IELTS Cambridge 15.
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Writing Task 1 Tests 1-4:
Writing Task 2 Tests 1-4
IELTS Writing Task 2 Sample Answer Essay Cambridge 15: Owning or Renting a Home (IELTS Cambridge 15)
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IELTS Writing Task 2 Cambridge 15 Sample Answer Essay: Advertising & Paying Attention
Some people say that advertising is extremely successful at persuading us to buy things. Other people think that advertising is so common that we no longer pay attention to it.
Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.
IELTS Cambridge 15
There are those who would argue that advertising has become so pervasive, it hardly has any effect anymore. In my opinion, while people have developed habits to ignore ads, they still achieve their desired effect on the whole.
The main argument against the power of ads is they can be avoided. Online advertising is a good example of this. Users rarely click on or even glance at a website’s combination of pop-up ads, banners, mailing list requests, and auto-playing video ads. These have become so common that consumers have developed the unconscious practice of skipping ads on YouTube, quickly closing pop-ups and scrolling past in-page advertising. Advertisers have tried to counter this by making their marketing less conspicuous, as with ads that resemble real posts on social media sites like Instagram, but their sheer frequency means they can be easily identified and do not stand out.
However, despite the best efforts of users, advertisements are still effective. Most people ignore most ads most of the time. This is something that advertisers expect and build into their marketing budgets. These days marketing is the major source of earnings for the largest companies in the world, including Facebook and Google, because of more sophisticated targeted ads. Savvy marketers can sort through demographics and cross-test content for different audiences until they hone in on the most efficient advertising solutions. They can then replicate these ads and invest more money into the well-performing ones, with the financial justification coming from clicks and sales conversions. Advertising today, in reality, is far more effective than at any point in the past because of the raw data available to target potential consumers and the concrete feedback on succcessful ads.
In conclusion, despite the best efforts of ordinary citizens to circumvent advertising, technological innovations have given marketers more power than ever before. This portends badly for future generations and it is important that lawmakers enact regulations on marketers.
Analysis
1. There are those who would argue that advertising has become so pervasive, it hardly has any effect anymore. 2. In my opinion, while people have developed habits to ignore ads, they still achieve their desired effect on the whole.
- Paraphrase the overall essay topic.
- Give a clear overall opinion.
1. The main argument against the power of ads is they can be avoided. 2. Online advertising is a good example of this. 3. Users rarely click on or even glance at a website’s combination of pop-up ads, banners, mailing list requests, and auto-playing video ads. 4. These have become so common that consumers have developed the unconscious practice of skipping ads on YouTube, quickly closing pop-ups and scrolling past in-page advertising. 5. Advertisers have tried to counter this by making their marketing less conspicuous, as with ads that resemble real posts on social media sites like Instagram, but their sheer frequency means they can be easily identified and do not stand out.
- Write a clear topic sentence with your main idea at the end.
- Explain your main idea. You can vary long and short sentences.
- Support it with specific details.
- The more specific the better.
- Make sure that you relate it back to the overall essay topic of ads being everywhere and therefore less effective.
1. However, despite the best efforts of users, advertisements are still effective. 2. Most people ignore most ads most of the time. 3. This is something that advertisers expect and build into their marketing budgets. 4. These days markeing is the major source of earnings for the largest companies in the world, including Facebook and Google, because of more sophisticated targeted ads. 5. Savvy marketers can sort through demographics and cross-test content for different audiences until they hone in on the most efficient advertising solutions. 6. They can then replicate these ads and invest more money into the well-performing ones, with the financial justification coming from clicks and sales conversions. 7. Advertising today, in reality, is far more effective than at any point in the past because of the raw data available to target potential consumers and the concrete feedback on succcessful ads.
- Write another topic sentence with a clear main idea at the end.
- Explain your main idea.
- Continue to develop your main idea.
- Use specific examples and real companies if possible.
- Draw out the results from your examples.
- Continue to develop with specific ideas.
- Conclude with a strong sentence. This paragraph can be a little longer because it is the idea that you agree with.
1. In conclusion, despite the best efforts of ordinary citizens to circumvent advertising, technological innovations have given marketers more power than ever before. 2. This portends badly for future generations and it is important that lawmakers enact regulations on marketers.
- Summarise your main ideas and repeat your opinion.
- Add final thought/detail to get full marks from the IELTS examiner.
Vocabulary
What do the words in bold below mean?
There are those who would argue that advertising has become so pervasive, it hardly has any effect anymore. In my opinion, while people have developed habits to ignore ads, they still achieve their desired effect on the whole.
The main argument against the power of ads is they can be avoided. Online advertising is a good example of this. Users rarely click on or even glance at a website’s combination of pop-up ads, banners, mailing list requests, and auto-playing video ads. These have become so common that consumers have developed the unconscious practice of skipping ads on YouTube, quickly closing pop-ups and scrolling past in-page advertising. Advertisers have tried to counter this by making their marketing less conspicuous, as with ads that resemble real posts on social media sites like Instagram, but their sheer frequency means they can be easily identified and do not stand out.
However, despite the best efforts of users, advertisements are still effective. Most people ignore most ads most of the time. This is something that advertisers expect and build into their marketing budgets. These days marketing is the major source of earnings for the largest companies in the world, including Facebook and Google, because of more sophisticated targeted ads. Savvy marketers can sort through demographics and cross-test content for different audiences until they hone in on the most efficient advertising solutions. They can then replicate these ads and invest more money into the well-performing ones, with the financial justification coming from clicks and sales conversions. Advertising today, in reality, is far more effective than at any point in the past because of the raw data available to target potential consumers and the concrete feedback on succcessful ads.
In conclusion, despite the best efforts of ordinary citizens to circumvent advertising, technological innovations have given marketers more power than ever before. This portends badly for future generations and it is important that lawmakers enact regulations on marketers.
Answers
pervasive common
hardly barely
developed habits become accustomed to
ignore not pay attention to
desired effect what they want to happen
on the whole overall
avoided ignore
rarely click on don’t often open
glance at look at
combination mix
pop-up ads advertisements that appear on websites
banners ads on the sides and tops of websites
mailing list requests asking for your email
auto-playing video ads ads that play automatically
consumers customers
unconscious practice ingrained habit
skipping ads not watching ads
quickly closing pop-ups x-ing out of ads
scrolling past in-page advertising not looking at ads
counter fight against
less conspicuous not as obvious
resemble look like
sheer frequency great amount of
easily identified can be recongnised
stand out clear
despite the best efforts of regardless of trying
most of the time usually
expect anticipate
build into accoutn for
marketing budgets money for ads
these days nowadays
major source of earnings where they make most money
more sophisticated targeted ads complicated ways of sending out ads
savvy marketers smart advertisers
sort through demographics analyse groups of people
cross-test content send different content to different people to see if it works
audiences potential customer base
hone in on focus on
efficient advertising solutions good ways to advertise
replicate reproduce
well-performing ones ads that are working
financial justification makes sense because they make money
clicks opening ads
sales conversions finalising a purchase
in reality in fact
far more effective work better
any point in the past any time before
raw data available amount of information they have
target potential consumers send ads to specific groups/people
concrete feedback on succcessful ads clear results from their ads
ordinary citizens normal people
circumvent avoid
innovations new ideas
more power than ever before most effective now
portends badly looks bad for the future
lawmakers enact regulations politicians make laws about
Pronunciation
Listen and repeat:
pɜːˈveɪsɪv
ˈhɑːdli
dɪˈvɛləpt ˈhæbɪts
ɪgˈnɔː
dɪˈzaɪəd ɪˈfɛkt
ɒn ðə həʊl
əˈvɔɪdɪd
ˈreəli klɪk ɒn
glɑːns æt
ˌkɒmbɪˈneɪʃən
ˈpɒpˌʌp ædz
ˈbænəz
ˈmeɪlɪŋ lɪst rɪˈkwɛsts
ˈɔːtəʊ-ˈpleɪɪŋ ˈvɪdɪəʊ ædz
kənˈsjuːməz
ʌnˈkɒnʃəs ˈpræktɪs
ˈskɪpɪŋ ædz
ˈkwɪkli ˈkləʊzɪŋ ˈpɒpˌʌps
ˈskrəʊlɪŋ pɑːst ɪn-peɪʤ ˈædvətaɪzɪŋ
ˈkaʊntə
lɛs kənˈspɪkjʊəs
rɪˈzɛmbl
ʃɪə ˈfriːkwənsi
ˈiːzɪli aɪˈdɛntɪfaɪd
stænd aʊt
dɪsˈpaɪt ðə bɛst ˈɛfəts ɒv
məʊst ɒv ðə taɪm
ɪksˈpɛkt
bɪld ˈɪntuː
ˈmɑːkɪtɪŋ ˈbʌʤɪts
ðiːz deɪz
ˈmeɪʤə sɔːs ɒv ˈɜːnɪŋz
mɔː səˈfɪstɪkeɪtɪd ˈtɑːgɪtɪd ædz
ˈsævi ˈmɑːkɪtəz
sɔːt θruː ˌdiːməˈgræfɪks
krɒs-tɛst ˈkɒntɛnt
ˈɔːdiənsɪz
həʊn ɪn ɒn
ɪˈfɪʃənt ˈædvətaɪzɪŋ səˈluːʃənz
ˈrɛplɪkeɪt
wɛl-pəˈfɔːmɪŋ wʌnz
faɪˈnænʃəl ˌʤʌstɪfɪˈkeɪʃən
klɪks
seɪlz kənˈvɜːʃənz
ɪn ri(ː)ˈælɪti
fɑː mɔːr ɪˈfɛktɪv
ˈɛni pɔɪnt ɪn ðə pɑːst
rɔː ˈdeɪtə əˈveɪləbl
ˈtɑːgɪt pəʊˈtɛnʃəl kənˈsjuːməz
ˈkɒnkriːt ˈfiːdbæk ɒn succcessful ædz
ˈɔːdnri ˈsɪtɪznz
ˌsɜːkəmˈvɛnt
ˌɪnəʊˈveɪʃənz
mɔː ˈpaʊə ðæn ˈɛvə bɪˈfɔː
pɔːˈtɛndz ˈbædli
ˈlɔːˌmeɪkəz ɪˈnækt ˌrɛgjʊˈleɪʃənz
Vocabulary Practice
Remember and fill in the blanks:
There are those who would argue that advertising has become so p_______________e, it h__________y has any effect anymore. In my opinion, while people have d_____________________s to i___________e ads, they still achieve their d________________t o__________________e.
The main argument against the power of ads is they can be a_____________d. Online advertising is a good example of this. Users r__________________n or even g_______________t a website’s c_______________n of p________________s, b______________s, m_____________________s, and a__________________________s. These have become so common that c________________s have developed the u_______________________e of s_________________s on YouTube, q________________________s and s____________________________________________g. Advertisers have tried to c_____________r this by making their marketing l________________________s, as with ads that r________________e real posts on social media sites like Instagram, but their s______________________y means they can be e_____________________d and do not s_______________t.
However, d__________________________f users, advertisements are still effective. Most people ignore most ads m____________________e. This is something that advertisers e__________t and b____________o their m_______________________s. T______________s marketing is the m________________________s for the largest companies in the world, including Facebook and Google, because of m________________________________s. S__________________________s can s___________________________s and c______________________t for different a_______________s until they h_________________n the most e____________________________s. They can then r_______________e these ads and invest more money into the w________________________________s, with the f_______________________n coming from c__________s and s__________________________s. Advertising today, i___________________y, is f_____________________e than at a_______________________t because of the r______________________e to t__________________________s and the c__________________________________s.
In conclusion, despite the best efforts of o_____________________s to c____________________t advertising, technological i__________________s have given marketers m_____________________________e. This p___________________y for future generations and it is important that l_____________________________s on marketers.
Listen and check:
Listening Practice
Learn about the science of persuasion below:
Reading Practice
Read about target ads below in Wired:
https://www.wired.com/story/why-dont-we-just-ban-targeted-advertising/
Speaking Practice
Talk about the following topic of two minutes from the real IELTS speaking exam:
Talk about an advertisment you watched and will not forget.
Include:
What it was
Why you remember it
If you bough the product
Real IELTS Speaking Exam
Writing Practice
Write about the following related topic and then check with my sample answer:
Some believe that people will purchase a product based on their needs and advertising is not needed.
To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Real Past IELTS Exam
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The way of advertising changed overtime to attract more consumers. The following paragraphs discuss whether an advertisement is thriving or no longer interesting, and reach a reasonable conclusion.
To start with, it is true to believe that the success of advertising varies from viewers. Advertisements are usually engaging in the eyes of older generations. They are mostly focused on what they are seeing at the moment. However, it is challenging for advertisers to gain the attention of youths because their minds are commonly concentrated on what they are watching. For instance, when they are watching videos on youtube, they tend to close pop-ups to avoid distraction. In other people’s minds, it is irrelevant for them to spend time on advertisements such as video ads, TV commercials, and pop-ups.
As time progresses, advertisers changing their marketing plans to communicate ideas and platforms. They spend a lot of money and effort on those fields where they can take advantage. Examples of these are social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter wherein they can get the attention of a lot of users. With this strategy, their sales could increase because they have more chances in capturing consumers’ attention. Aside from that, advertisers are intelligent enough to caught audiences by setting attractive colors, sound effects, or engaging music in their advertisements.
In conclusion, though it is considered by some people that advertisement is common and could not capture the full attention of audiences, the marketing strategies of advertisers has improved significantly to persuade them. For this reason, in my opinion, communication between the advertisers and consumers are remarkably successful.
Really, nice and specific writin, Jessica!
Hi! Could you take a brief look at this… What band is it worth? Thank you!
I would also appreciate other subscribers comments on this.. Thanks everyone!
The impact advertising has on people’s buying decisions is a subject of many disputes. Some hold that it greatly affects the way people spend money while others contest this opinion and say that the influence of advertising is exaggerated and people are no longer persuaded by it. I feel that, despite some decline of widespread impact of advertising, marketing is still extremely successful in today’s society.
On the one hand, many argue that people no longer pay attention to what is being promoted on TV, radio or in the newspapers and, therefore, marketing efforts are not as successful as they were in the past. The rationale behind it is that as the number of advertisement increases, people’s attention is no longer focused on a particular product that is being promoted thereby decreasing the effectiveness of commercials. In developed countries, for instance, individuals are exposed to advertising more that hundred times a day and, as confirmed by the latest studies, this sort of exposure creates an adverse effect when people lose their sensitivity to commercials, no matter how entertaining and sophisticated they may be.
However, marketing strategies and efforts taken by large corporations move along with the latest technological advancements and utilize them to successfully promote new product or service. Targeting advertisement on social media acts as a good example here. During holiday seasons, personal accounts are often an object of companies’ promotions aimed to increase sales of their product. In addition, companies such as PepsiCo and Coca Cola often support various events such as concerts and sports competitions for young people. These marketing strategies are extremely successful as they increase brand recognition and awareness of a product. Thus, as more money is being invested in new methods of customer’s persuasion, the efficacy of advertisement is expected to remain strong.
In conclusion, while some methods of advertising has long become common and thus ineffective, new ways to influence upon purchasing choices of people show promising results for large corporations. Therefore, the impact advertising has on people will remain significant in the years to come.
You can say ‘much dispute, number of advertisements, new products’
Be careful with little mistakes with plurals and countable/uncountable.
Otherwise it is really strong and certainly above band 7!
Thank you, Mr.Lang. I appreciate your feedback.
No problem!
Some people think that in this day and age we see a lot of adverts so we ignore them, while others believe that advertisements can manipulate costumers to buy products. Although sometimes it is true, I believe that mostly people do not pay attention to them.
There are some situations when advertisements have an impact on viewers, so they end up buying things. Firstly, brands nowadays use celebrities to endorse their products as they have a huge fan base. Also, contemporary youth follows their role models blindly and buys the products without even readings reviews. For instance, when a renowned sportsperson endorses any sports item, its’ sale increases drastically, that is why companies make a handsome amount of profit. Secondly, those adverts which aim at children are successful in convincing to buy things because children can be manipulated and they force their parents to purchase things.
However, adverts are so common nowadays that we are getting used to it and we ignore them without giving any importance to them. Advertisements can be seen everywhere such as on billboards, TV commercials, in newspapers and pop-ups on the internet. Consequently, people do not pay much attention to them and find them intrusive. For example, when we watch videos on YouTube, there are advertisements whenever we play any video and most of the people skip those ads without checking them. Therefore, people ignore adverts as they find them annoying because these show up from nowhere in between interesting movies or web series
In conclusion, even though advertising is successful in moulding choices of a specific age group, I reiterate that most people pass over them as these are very common in today’s time.
Well written!
Really accurate in general but you need to write a little more formally and have clearer sentences.
Sometimes your subordinate clauses just turn into sentence fragments…
Thank you Dave for your valuable feedback.
Could you please give band score to this essay.
People have different views about whether advertisements are persuasive or avoidable. While ignoring adverts is not uncommon among people, I believe that they leave remarkable impression on viewers’ minds.
In the contemporary era, advertisements are present everywhere such as on flyers, billboards, television, magazines and mobiles. Sellers try to make people aware regarding their product by every possible means. However, human mind cannot be so attentive to so much information present around them. For example, when people travel, they hardly pay attention to ads displayed on automobiles, billboards, or flyers that are handed to them. Also, it is commonly witnessed that whenever commercials are telecast on TV, people tend to switch to another channel. This behavior of people is because of presence of more than enough number of advertisements. Hence, ignorance of ads is quite common among people.
Nevertheless, I feel that advertisements are quite influential at convincing people to buy products of their company. For this, day do every possible effort to make the advertisement intriguing such as using catchy tunes, colors and story-line. They also use glamorous and famous faces in their ads to incline their viewers. For example, the extraordinary sale of Vivo smart phones was witnessed by Indians as these were endorsed by renowned personalities. Also, peak viewing slots are used to maximize the number of viewers. Sometimes, particular group is targeted for marketing. For instance, in the adverts of eatables, story lines are mostly child-focused so that children pester their parents to buy that product. Hence, the efforts made by advertising companies are quite effective.
In conclusion, even though people ads to a great extent, I believe that ads make people steer into their purpose of increasing sales.
Great work – keep it up!
Careful with some of your collocations – your ideas are really good!
If you want band scores, you can sign up here: course.howtodoielts.com/band-scores-corrections
What score do you need?
Thank you Dave for your valuable feedback.
My exam is on 22nd of August and I need 7 or above. I visited your website but its expensive for me.
Would you please tell me what I need to improve to get 7.
I think if you want to sign up for my Patreon here it is just $1 a month – which anyone can afford: Patreon.com/howtodoielts
Then I’ll be able to chat with you in private there and give you some advice.
Thanks Dave, I signed up there.
Great!
Hey Dave,
I stumbled at your website today and honestly, this is the most resourceful thing I have funds in days. thank you fr compiling all the IELTS stuff together at a single place.
Thanks so much – it means a ton for me to hear that!
could you please evaluate mine:
In the last few years, people have had contrasting views on whether advertisements are successful enough to convince customers to buy particular products or not. In this essay, both sides of the argument will be discussed in detail and I will provide my opinion why I believe that individuals nowadays do not notice adverts anymore.
On the one hand, some people hold the belief that adverts have a profound impact on customers’ choices. To illustrate, they might argue that the more individuals watch advertisements for a particular product, the more they will have a desire to buy it. This is proven by, many iconic brands tend to spend astronomical amounts of money on adverts, despite the fact that their products are already well-known. In addition, many adverts are made by celebrities who have the potential to influence people in many ways. Thus, companies have succeeded to direct people’s choices by using those celebrities’ endorsements.
On the other hand, there are others who believe that adverts have become more common and less effective, compared to the past. This is due to the availability of adverts everywhere. Take for example YouTube adverts, since there have been too many adverts on each video, people tend to skip them before even noticing what they are advertising for. Furthermore, owing to the current technological advancements, people often prefer to subscribe to modern streaming services, such as Netflix, which enable them to watch what they want without being interrupted by adverts. Therefore, it can reasonably be said that adverts have become incredibly common that many people get bored of them.
In conclusion, although companies may manage to affect some consumers’ preferences by spending excessive money on adverts, I still believe that most people do not pay attention to advertisements anymore. 294