The role of advertising and the car

There currently exists some sort of consensus that the present level of increase in demand for cars and car usage cannot continue without congestion and major problems for the environment. Yet persuading people to think differently about car transport may be difficult. The car has inherent advantages over other forms of transport, and, perhaps more importantly, it has some sort of psychological hold over many people. In part, emotional attachments are formed because of the image bestowed on cars by the advertisers and other media. This paper investigates the nature of the connection between the demand for cars and car advertising. The final part of the paper seeks to indicate how attachment to the car could be reduced and the role that advertising has to play in this process.