Consumer manipulation techniques through marketing communications - a review from 0222 Digital Agency (Los Angeles, Miami, New York, CA, Florida) Development Company: AI, Blockchain, IoT

All gimmicks are allowed in marketing and advertising - so marketers use widespread methods based on manipulation or subtle subliminal messages to influence our buying decisions.

What methods of manipulation are most often used in advertising and marketing? Here are 5 examples from 0222 Digital Agency (Hollywood, Beverly Hills, US West Coast, San Francisco, Las Vegas, NV):

Promotions

This is a good topic of conversation before Black Friday. We all love discounts, and many consumers go shopping until they drop during Black Week or seasonal sales. It is true that sometimes you can find a really profitable discount, but sometimes the supposed promotions, strategies, turn out to be manipulations. Some sellers raise prices sharply just before sales and then raise prices. In general, the price is higher, but uninformed consumers are tempted by bright messages like "-50% discount" and buy without hesitation, thinking that this is a real discount. However, only the seller benefits from this. Another common trick is buy more, pay less promotions, which force you to buy more than you need to - sometimes things you never use. This is the opposite of saving money, but your brain is tricked into thinking that you have actually taken the opportunity.

Expert opinions

You probably know this type of advertising on television - a specialist with a very professional appearance talks about the benefits of the product. This is a common method of building trust. Often, “experts” are presented as doctors or members of organizations with serious names that resemble those of official institutions. Do these organizations really exist? Are these people really connoisseurs or actors? Nobody knows or checks it. But even if we don't know about it, we subconsciously remember the product as reliable and recommended by experts. This influences our purchasing decisions. Another popular trick is advertising with celebrities and influencers. Even if no one believes that Leo Messi is eating the chips he advertises ... who wouldn't want to be like him even if he just eats the same snacks ?! Thus, our subconscious mind can be persuaded to buy a product.

Reviews on the Internet

The case is similar to the previous one, but concerns the opinion of "ordinary people", mainly on the Internet. Checking information online is now an integral part of our shopping habits: According to the Pew Research Center, more than 80% of shoppers rely on online reviews before buying. Marketers are fully aware of this trend - which is why word of mouth exists. The internet is full of fake reviews from company employees or paid people. Word of mouth marketing is big business and many agencies offer such services. You absolutely cannot trust these reviews, but how can you tell the real from the fake ones? This cannot be done, which is why we are often fooled by manipulative reviews and buy based on a not very reliable opinion that we have seen somewhere on the Internet.

Emotions

Companies love to use positive emotions to build their brand image. Therefore, many ads are purely entertainment in nature and at first glance do not even try to sell anything. They tell an interesting story, and we want to watch them over and over and show our friends - why not? After all, advertising is so touching, cool or funny. This is how viral advertisements are created that generate positive emotions towards the brand. If you associate the brand with cute dogs or adorable babies, you won't have bad feelings. What about negative emotions - are they used by companies too? Of course. For example, fear or anxiety is often used as an incentive to buy - for example, applying pressure with phrases such as “last chance!”, “Promotion will end soon!”, “Last item available!”, “Someone has just completed purchase ". Such offers make you nervous that the opportunity to buy will fly over your nose - as a result, you decide to buy quickly and thoughtlessly.

Product placement

While probably no one wants to admit that they are prone to such cheap gimmicks, placing a product on a TV show or movie does work - even if sometimes we don't realize we are looking at a particular product, or it is displayed somewhere in the corner of the screen. The effect is even stronger if the hero depicted on the screen with the product makes us sympathetic or impresses with the lifestyle presented. When we see the placed item while shopping, something surprises us in our head and ... we feel the urge to buy it, although we remember that we saw this article on the screen before.

Of course, there are many more manipulation techniques out there because marketers can be really creative. What do you think about these methods of advertising, marketing? Are you against them as a consumer, or maybe you yourself use them in your marketing and advertising campaigns?