Band 7.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-21

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

In their advertising, businesses nowadays usually emphasise that their products are new in some way. Why is this? Do you think it is a positive or negative development?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 7.5)

In the contemporary commercial landscape, enterprises consistently predicate their marketing campaigns on the premise of product novelty. This strategy is primarily driven by the imperative to survive in hyper-competitive markets and capitalize on innate human curiosity.

he foremost catalyst behind this advertising paradigm is the necessity of brand differentiation in saturated markets. In an era characterized by an abundance of near-identical commodities, corporations must forge a unique selling proposition (USP) to capture consumer attention.

Emphasizing that a product is "new" triggers a psychological response known as the "novelty seeking" trait in humans, which stimulates curiosity and drives impulse buying. For instance, tech conglomerates like Apple and Samsung orchestrate annual product launches with incremental upgrades, successfully persuading consumers that their functional, year-old devices are obsolete, thereby securing continuous revenue streams. Despite driving innovation, this pervasive marketing trend engenders profound socio-economic and environmental consequences. Culturally, it fuels a pervasive "throwaway culture" or hyper-consumerism, where individuals feel societal pressure to acquire the latest iterations of goods, resulting in severe financial strain on households.

Despite driving innovation, this pervasive marketing trend engenders profound socio-economic and environmental consequences. Culturally, it fuels a pervasive "throwaway culture" or hyper-consumerism, where individuals feel societal pressure to acquire the latest iterations of goods, resulting in severe financial strain on households.

To conclude, businesses accentuate the novelty of their offerings to distinguish themselves in crowded marketplaces and manipulate consumer psychology. Although this mechanism incentivizes industrial innovation, its detrimental impacts—namely the proliferation of unsustainable consumer habits and ecological devastation—render it an overwhelmingly negative development for modern society.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.5

The response effectively addresses both parts of the prompt, discussing why businesses emphasize novelty and evaluating whether this development is positive or negative. The writer presents a clear and well-developed position throughout the essay. The reasons behind the advertising paradigm, such as brand differentiation and human curiosity, are clearly explained and supported with relevant examples, such as tech conglomerates like Apple and Samsung. Furthermore, the socio-economic and environmental consequences, including hyper-consumerism and financial strain, are thoroughly explored. The ideas are extended appropriately, meeting all requirements of the task. The response demonstrates a high level of task response, successfully covering every aspect of the prompt with insightful and mature arguments.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay displays a logical organization and clear progression of ideas from introduction to conclusion. The response opens with a strong thesis statement, followed by well-sequenced body paragraphs that transition smoothly from the causes of novelty advertising to its negative consequences. Cohesive devices are used flexibly and effectively, such as 'This strategy is primarily driven by', 'For instance', and 'Despite driving innovation'. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately, separating the introductory, body, and concluding thoughts logically. While there is a notable duplicate sentence regarding socio-economic consequences in the middle of the text, the overall flow and structural integrity of the essay remain coherent and easy to follow.

Lexical Resource — Band 7.5

The writer demonstrates a wide, fluent, and flexible lexical resource with very natural control throughout the text. Uncommon and sophisticated academic vocabulary is used skilfully and precisely, such as 'contemporary commercial landscape', 'predicate their marketing campaigns', 'brand differentiation', 'novelty seeking', and 'ecological devastation'. Word choice and collocations are generally accurate and appropriate for an academic context, reflecting a high level of vocabulary mastery. There are only occasional minor awkwardnesses, but overall the lexical range allows the writer to convey precise meanings smoothly and effectively without impeding communication at any point.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 7.5

The essay exhibits a wide range of complex grammatical structures used with a high degree of accuracy and control. The majority of sentences are error-free, featuring sophisticated syntactic elements such as participial phrases ('characterized by an abundance of near-identical commodities') and embedded clauses. Punctuation and sentence boundaries are well-managed throughout the response. Although there is a minor typographical issue at the start of the second paragraph where the letter 'h' is isolated, and a duplicated paragraph body later in the text, the actual grammatical structures deployed are remarkably strong and secure. The writer demonstrates excellent control over both simple and complex sentence forms.

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