If a product is good or it meets people's needs, people will buy it, so advertising is unnecessary.

Practice this IELTS Writing Task 2 question on IELTSX. If a product is good or it meets people's needs, people will buy it, so advertising is unnecessary.

Advertising is unnecessary if product meets people's needs - IELTS Writing Task 2

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Write at least 250 words.

A student's answer to this task, and the feedback on it

Written by an IELTSX user under exam conditions and published unedited and anonymously. Band 7 ยท 260 words.

Some people think that high-quality products or services will naturally attract customers, making advertising unnecessary. While I agree with this view that product quality is essential, I believe advertising still plays a crucial role in modern business.

Firstly, premium products that satisfy customers can become more popular without any extensive advertising. Consumers usually recommend products that are reliable and useful to their friends, relatives, and colleagues, which makes them spread widely and helps to gain real customers. Meanwhile, positive online reviews and social discussions may increase a product's popularity. For example, many mobile apps and local restaurants become successful mainly because of positive feedback from customers, who share their experiences with others.

Nevertheless, businesses still have a demand for advertising. Even excellent products cannot succeed if people are unaware of them. For instance, a new startup that produces high-quality smartphones is unlikely to succeed if consumers are unaware of the brand. In the modern world, customers face a lot of products that are the same as their competitors', making it difficult for companies to attract customers more naturally. Consequently, companies should promote their products in order to sell them. This allows businesses to reach a larger audience and compete more effectively in the market. At this time, advertising plays a major role in raising awareness of their products. Even if companies' products are low-quality, marketing strategies can persuade people to purchase products.

In conclusion, the quality is indisputably important; however, advertising is still necessary because consumers cannot buy products they do not know about, especially in highly competitive modern markets.

Examiner feedback

This is a strong response that clearly addresses the prompt with a logical and balanced argument. The candidate demonstrates high-level grammatical control and a solid vocabulary range, resulting in a cohesive and persuasive essay.

Task Response - 8

- The response sufficiently addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the power of product quality and the necessity of advertising. - Presents a well-developed position that acknowledges the prompt's premise while arguing for advertising's continued relevance. - Ideas are relevant and supported by logical examples (startups, online reviews).

Coherence & Cohesion - 7

- Information is organized logically with a clear progression from the argument for product quality to the counter-argument for advertising. - Each paragraph focuses on a clear central topic with appropriate topic sentences. - Cohesive devices like 'Firstly', 'Nevertheless', 'Consequently', and 'In conclusion' are used effectively, though some transitions are a bit mechanical.

Lexical Resource - 7

- Uses a sufficient range of vocabulary to allow for flexibility and precision (e.g., 'indisputably', 'premium products', 'marketing strategies'). - Shows some awareness of collocation (e.g., 'satisfy customers', 'raise awareness', 'highly competitive'). - There is some slight repetition of words like 'products' and 'customers', but synonyms are attempted.

Grammatical Range & Accuracy - 7

- A good variety of complex structures is used (e.g., conditional 'if' clauses, relative clauses, and subordinate clauses). - Most sentences are error-free, demonstrating good control over grammar and punctuation. - Occasional minor awkwardness in phrasing (e.g., 'at this time' vs 'in this context') does not impede communication.

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