It depends on who you talk to
There are strong arguments on both sides of the topic and they also have some legitimate reasons to back their arguments up. One side will say that no one, not even a marketer, can get you to buy a product that you do not need.
Marketers manipulate consumers. They do so by persuading consumers that frivolous products are truly necessary, and consumers purchase them because they have been tricked into believing that need and quality exist where both are absent.
The other side of the argument will disagree with that and produce different people who have been unduly influenced by marketers and have bought products they did not need.
it is an interesting debate and to get to the right answer, just continue to read our article. It has the information you want to know about to see if you have been manipulated or not.
Marketing Manipulation defined
There are some very good definitions of the word manipulate. Those definitions let one know that manipulation is not all bad. That is when those definitions are applied to mechanical devices, tools, cars, and so on.
That definition is based on how you handle those items that cannot move without the aid of a human behind the controls, etc. However, that good application of manipulation or manipulate can be used n a very unethical or devious manner.
That is the other definition of this word. There are many unethical people who have a desired goal or objective and they use different means to manipulate others into helping them achieve their goal.
These unethical people employ a variety of methods that are at their disposal to get other people to buy something they may not be able to afford. The ease of use of credit cards is just one of those tools.
There are different ways to convince people that buying their product is a good thing to do. That is a form of manipulation. These tools help you avoid your ability to think things through and use your reflective and deliberative abilities to make a proper choice.
Are marketers manipulative?
While there are a lot of people who state that marketers do not have the ability to manipulate their fellow human beings, the physical evidence seems to support the opposing view.
One example would be the issue of using toothpaste and mouthwash. Marketers have been successful in getting people to buy toothpaste that whitens teeth as well as uses those mouthwashes that have certain colors of dye in them that are not good for the color of your teeth.
Then those same people claim that the ‘human mind will not accept anything if it doesn’t believe in it.’ While that is possibly true, it may take some work but marketers are often capable and able to positively convince people to believe in their product and claims through manipulation.
That concept is a bit naive as it ignores the fact that people can change their minds or be convinced to try something even if they do not believe in it. Credit cards are a great example here as everyone knows those items are very risky to own, yet marketers have been very successful in getting millions of people to own more than one car.
To answer the question directly, yes they are manipulative and all you have to do is look at how their advertising is designed. Even Saturday morning commercials were designed to manipulate kids to get their parents to do something they may not think is good for their children to eat, etc.
How does marketing manipulate people?
There is an old salesman saying that goes something like this: “get the wife, get the husband”. That is the way to get the husband to open up his wallet and pay for items he feels they cannot afford.
You could say that is the oldest trick in the book when it comes to marketing. If you can convince or change the mind of the wife, then the husband goes along with it. According to Douglas Van Praet, there are 7 ways that marketers use to manipulate people (#1)
marketers try to interrupt the pattern of the life of their consumer target audience. Then they move on creating a comfort that is seen in many ads on television. After that those same ads employ the third step which is to lead the imagination with a nice picture, wonderful story, and so on.
All of these previous steps are designed to do step 4 which is to shift people’s feelings and that shift should satisfy the critical mind of their target audience, which is the fifth step in the manipulating process.
Once they can satisfy the critical mind the marketers start to change associations. This is where people associate colors, etc., with a certain product to a new color or whatever. Finally, there is a call to action that is designed to motivate you to act in what would be a positive way for the marketer.
Those seven steps can be combined in one way or another with the following 5 methods many marketers employ:
- change the consumers’ perception
- force exposure onto them
- do some hidden marketing, often called subliminal advertising
- create socially undesirable situations (#2)
How do advertisers manipulate consumers?
The physical evidence for this is well-known. One way that advertisers manipulate people is through targeted advertising. By targeted, they are aiming for the emotions of people and trying to get them to respond emotionally and buy the product.
For example, the beautiful lady in a car ad is not there because she likes cars. Most likely, she does not know a thing about them but the implied message to men is, you can get a beautiful woman if you own that particular car model.
Os as one cigarette brand told many men, you can be tough, rugged, and independent if you smoked their brand. While another cigarette company used a camel to take the harshness and reality of smoking away and hide it so no one would know about those realities until it was too late.
Or if you are tired, stressed, and hate the cold weather in your region of the country, showing beautiful people in ads having fun in Hawaii or some other warm exotic location is a form of manipulation.
Those travel agency, hotel, or other travel-related company ads do not tell you the actual price or the fact that your body is not going to generate the fun shown in the ads. There are many more examples that support this argument that marketers manipulate people.
Saturday morning advertisements were often targeted towards children to get them to nag their parents until their parents bought the toy or unhealthy food item being advertised during their cartoon show.
But it is not just television ads that have been used. Movie theaters used to show subliminal advertising before the movie to get their customers to buy more popcorn. Print ads in newspapers and magazines were also designed to manipulate readers and now the internet uses those same techniques.
That is one reason why they want internet users to disable their ad=block software. They can’t make any money unless you see their ads.
What is customer manipulation?
To answer this question bluntly, consumer manipulation is defined as the effort of a small or large company to control the spending habits of its target audience. There is just no nice way to put it.
These companies will employ many different methods to get the consumer into their buildings or websites, where their salespeople can convince them to buy different products. Or use advertising in such a way that the consumer is ready to buy and the sales clerk does not have to do anything but carry the product to the counter for them.
In some lesser areas of society, this would be called, ‘you are being played.’ That is what all those advertisers and marketers are doing when they employ these customer manipulation strategies. They are playing you in a way that gets you to buy what they are selling and make you feel good when you do.
Besides ads, marketers often use television shows and their character’s situations as a way to manipulate into thinking one way and over-ride your common sense, etc. Also, those characters get to live outside of their means without any consequences. Customer manipulation can be very subtle when it wants to be.
Some final words
Despite the arguments to the contrary, marketers do find ways to manipulate people. They have unlimited resources and methods to use to convince the most stubborn person that their product is something they need.
One can argue that if marketers did not manipulate people, the consumer would not darken the businesses’ doors. It is a weak argument and does not call into play the many unethical ways marketers trick people and get them to change their spending habits.
The key to avoiding being manipulated is to watch out for these efforts and stand your ground. Make sure you need and can afford the product before you rush out there and buy it.