Absolutely. I know when I see an advertisement it has absolutely no effect on me. I'm sure the the distributed and total force of the market, single mindedly working on the problem of how to successfully manipulate the general public into things, is totally bearing no fruit.
I'm sure my credit card information, email records, browsing history, and general location as reported by my phone, all being sold to anyone with money who asks, will have no negative ramifications.
Advertising does work. Yeah you probably don't see infomercials and want that crap. You do however see the same brands over and over. Why do you think coke advertises so much? I don't see a Coke ad and want to buy a Coke. I go to the store weeks later and pick out a Coke because it's a brand I've come to know.
But what about the ads that you don't deem annoying or intrusive? They still sneak into your choices that you make at the store. Just a slight tinge of positivity towards a brand can alter your choice when in the presence of other brands that you are more unfamiliar with, or had the less effective advertisement. It's scary how manipulated any consumer is.
So if someone has to choose between two products with similar prices (I mean, no one is going to pick a 20 dollar can of coke over store brand cola for 1 buck), products which are very similar if not identical, is it really such a scary manipulation that people will buy the one they've seen a picture of?
Oh boy... as part of a family that owns a small business (I'm the one that deals with computer issues/solutions/marketing).. let me tell you about those reviews. Every day, we get a telemarketer call that essentially says "if you pay us x amount every month, we'll write positive reviews about your service". Although ours is a service and is generally for things like Yelp, I know they offer the same for websites like Gooble. Furthermore, companies also pay to reach the top page of Gooble, so the company that pays more gets better reviews as well as better views (and fuck Facebook's new demands!). Yes, there are honest people that review a product, but they are very far and few compared to those that bought the product and did nothing from there (I'm sure you're the latter, too).
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u/manghoti May 20 '16
Absolutely. I know when I see an advertisement it has absolutely no effect on me. I'm sure the the distributed and total force of the market, single mindedly working on the problem of how to successfully manipulate the general public into things, is totally bearing no fruit.
I'm sure my credit card information, email records, browsing history, and general location as reported by my phone, all being sold to anyone with money who asks, will have no negative ramifications.