Consumer Choices and Your Health In this lesson, you will Learn About… What it means to be a consumer. What influences your buying decisions. How to evaluate media messages.

Consumer Choices and Your Health The Vocabulary terms for this lesson are: Consumer. Advertising. Infomercial. Endorsement. Fraud. Click on each term to display its definition.

Choices That Affect Personal Health As a consumer, you need to be aware that many of the products and services you buy affect your health. Think about your buying choices carefully, especially when purchasing health care products. To select products and services wisely, gather useful information about the product, evaluate the facts, make comparisons, and weigh your options. A consumer needs to know what to look for in a product or service that they are thinking of purchasing. For example, when choosing a sunscreen, a consumer should always select a broad-spectrum sunscreen, which will protect from both UVA and UVB rays. Have students give other examples of what to look for in a health related product or service.

Understanding Your Consumer Choices Some influences that affect your consumer choices include the following: Personal factors Family background Peers Cost Advice of salespeople Advertising Explain the influences listed on the slide using the following points: Personal factors. Personal beliefs, interests, and curiosity play a big part in purchasing decisions. Family background. Family and cultural backgrounds also help shape buying decisions. Peers. A friends’ opinion might influence the purchase of a product or service. Cost. The price of a product or service can be a key determining factor. Shop for quality and value. Advice of salespeople. Store employees can help the consumer make a purchasing decision, but the final choice should be based on the consumer’s needs and wants and on facts. Advertising. Ads can be a strong influence on buying choices. Ads are powerful sales tools, and companies invest a lot of money in them to persuade the consumer to buy products and services. Advertisers work closely with media programmers to make sure their ads reach the target audiences. Use the table on the next slide to explain to students how advertisements are used by companies to influence buying choices.

Advertising Techniques Aimed at Teens Image Used Hidden Message Bandwagon Group of teens Other teens use this product, so you should, too. Beautiful people A celebrity giving a paid endorsement. Celebrities are usually paid a large amount of money for their endorsements. You’ll be like the people in the ad if you use this product. Good times Teens having fun You’ll have a good time if you use this product. Status Brand name/designer clothing You’ll look “cool” if you wear these items. Symbols A well-known character You’ll be popular like this character if you use this product.

Types of Advertising Advertising usually falls into two groups: Informational ads: These ads may use statistics to back up their claims or they may include the advice of experts. An infomercial is a special kind of informative ad. Image ads: Ads that pair a product or a service with an attractive image, such as that of a famous athlete giving an endorsement. Both of these groups have the same basic purpose—to convince a consumer to buy a product or service. An infomercial is a long TV commercial whose main purpose seems to be to present information rather than to sell a product. Many infomercials are misleading because they look like television programs.

Evaluating Advertisements Although ads can provide consumers with important information on health-related products, they can also be misleading. They may: Exaggerate the good points of a product or omit its negative aspects. Blend facts with opinion, making it difficult to distinguish between the two. Try to convince you that what you need and what you want are the same thing. Falsely claim that their products and services cure or prevent diseases and other problems. This is fraud. Ask students to give examples of misleading advertisements. When advertisers claims sound too good to be true, they usually are. Some of the products are not completely worthless, but are often overvalued. Some products may even be harmful to health.

Reviewing Terms and Facts Define the term consumer. A consumer is anyone who buys products and services. Click to show the correct answer.

Reviewing Terms and Facts List three influences on consumer choices. Personal factors Peers Cost Family background Advice of salespeople Advertising Click to show the correct answer. Answers may include any three from the list.

Thinking Critically What can you do avoid being a victim of fraud? Responses will vary, but might include the idea that exaggerated advertising claims should not be believed without being verified by a reliable source of information.

Vocabulary Review A consumer is anyone who buys products and services. Click the slide to go back to the Vocabulary Review home page.

Vocabulary Review Messages designed to cause consumers to buy a product or service are called advertising. Click the slide to go back to the Vocabulary Review home page.

Vocabulary Review An infomercial is a long TV commercial whose main purpose seems to be to present information rather than to sell a product. Click the slide to go back to the Vocabulary Review home page.

Vocabulary Review An endorsement is a statement of approval. Click the slide to go back to the Vocabulary Review home page.

Vocabulary Review Fraud is deliberate deceit or trickery. Click the slide to go back to the Vocabulary Review home page.