it's most dangerous to think you're immune. it's subtle enough to sway anyone in ways you don't realize.
this post was submitted on 01 Jul 2023
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People keep saying that but never give examples.
Btw the topic is ads. There are other forms of sneaky marketing like altering search results or placement of goods on shelves in a store, but it's not that hard to be wary of those too.
A very simple example: advertising makes you aware of brands. Just knowing that a brand exists might be enough to influence your decision in the future. Think about it: are you more likely to choose the brand you heard about, or the brand you don't even know exists?
The only times I choose a brand is based on reviews or personal experience. And I may still go against that based on price or other need.
This week I bought a
SD card and a
spoiler
Sandisk
card reader. That's because all cards except this one have always failed me in some way at some point. I might have been swayed by
spoiler
Kingston
branding to a degree, but again that's just based on my experience with the brand, and the reviews. Also the price difference was negligible. As for the reader, well it was the cheapest one.spoiler
"extreme pro"
As for the store where I got it, also based on experience and convenience. It's a major retailer now, but I used to buy from them when they were a tiny back alley store. And I still looked in 2 brick and mortar stores first.
On the same day I also went in the mall (the closest one) to look for a few things like swimming trunks and a belt pack. I was aware of brands but why would I care about them? Mostly they just make things too expensive.
As for other stuff like food or medicine, I mostly buy store brands, or look at ingredients, or occasionally randomly try new stuff. There's usually no difference between a detergent from a big brand or the store brand.
I also teach other people that.
As such the only kind of marketing that may affect me are sales, and then I have to actively be in a store and need the thing anyway. So that's not much of an ad, that's just shopping with common sense.
I always buy the cheapest option on the shelf (in terms of food). Usually that's the store brand for the store I am in. For electronics I usually just do a lot of research (Reddit, looking into age of the company, picture reviews and 1 star complaints) and ask friends. I'm sure that the "ads" shown in my research sway me sometimes though when I'm truly clueless about something and just have to take people's word for it.
Sometimes, though, the people you're trusting to be objective have been swayed by ads themselves! It's honestly impossible IMO to be completely unaffected by ads because of that. Even if you never see an ad in your life -- the people around you have.
I always buy the cheapest option on the shelf (in terms of food).
The question is not necessarily which option you pick, but that you feel the need for a particular product at all. Without advertising, for example, people would buy far fewer sodas. I'm pretty sure the same goes for tech gadgets.
That's a question of consumerism in general, not necessarily of ads.
Why is it different? Because if we shrug and say that well, we buy unnecessarily shit anyway, then we are even more likely to buy based on ads and other marketing ploys.
Being aware and skeptical of actual advertisements, on the other hand, can make you more wary about buying too much.
I mean, if you watch TV ads, don't use adblock etc, you're just used to the whole ecosystem and are just going with the flow. But if you block ads everywhere and then suddenly get hit by one, you definitely realize how stupid and evil they are. Plus you have more time to look for other sneaky marketing tactics.
Sometimes, though, the people you're trusting to be objective have been swayed by ads themselves! It's honestly impossible IMO to be completely unaffected by ads because of that.
And even if the reviews are objective ads might have an effect on what products get reviewed. Or what products stores are likely to stock etc.
So even if you try to be objective yourself and do your research you may never even be aware of some competing product or it just isn't available.
Yeah many advertisements specifically target the subconscious mind, I doubt most people actually realize how advertisements affect them.
Do you have a source for that?
People say adds are subtle and you don't see them working, but I don't see any proof for that.
I'm pretty confident I would not be on Lemmy right now had someone not advertised it.
Are you really placing a well-meant recommendation of a non-profit, open source space that's in a direct opposition of Big Tech, on the same level as intrusive, annoying, constantly repeating, privacy intruding, personal dat collecting and misusing marketing of soulless corporations?
Cause I see some slight difference.
Advertising is advertising, regardless of what you're advertising and how.
Yes.
Advertising for a good product is still advertising.
You make an interesting point, and I cannot deny the validity of your claim.
However, this was directed towards corporate advertisements. The moment I see © or ™ is the moment I stop being swayed.
I would have never known about it unless I’d seen a post advertising something as a “Reddit replacement” but better.
Also the advertisement for the various apps available in testing for Lemmy.
Think about it differently: How many things would you not be aware of if advertising didn't exist?
In a world without advertising you would stand in front of the drinks section in the supermarket and not know that Coke is the world's most popular soda.
In a world without advertising the first time you start looking up car brands is when you decide to buy one, as with washing machines or sth.
In a world without advertising you don't plan out what do get during the Steam summer sale.
etc. It does not "mind control" you - but it absolutely shapes your considerations as a consumer
Yes. I know that people tend to think "if you think they don't affect you, they do", but I don't even see almost any ads anywhere (blocked everywhere), and if I do, I either actively turn them off or tune out.
So I'm just not used to the experience and find it actively hostile. I see some people watch regular TV and start singing to ad tunes or try to point out to me how something is funny and I'm like WTF? Why do you engage with that shit?
Plus I don't even buy much of anything at all anyway
Now obviously, occasionally I may choose to get into it like if I choose to watch a sponsored clip of somebody I know, or if going to the mall, or to look at a flyer. I may also have a bias for certain brands, but that's mostly due to personal experience.
So I don't think it's impossible and it's not just marketers affecting me sneakily.
I find it incredibly upsetting when an ad campaign catches on with such vitality that people start quoting it.
Ads are invasive as is, so we really need to become personal shills for the companies that showed us something “funny”?
There is so much humor all around us — especially online. Why do so many people chose to embrace the shitty, forced humor of advertisements to the point where they deliberately regurgitate the ad, using it as an office joke or ice breaker?
Advertisments are like fake boobs: you only notice and complain about them when they are badly done.
Exactly. You don't remember the last time you were swayed, because you didn't even realize you were being advertised to. Talking to people who are good at this is fascinating.
I have a friend, now some big-shot SEO lead at a digital agency, started at Saatchi a decade ago. She explained to me how most of the irrelevant targeted ads you see are mostly due to idiot clients, or sometimes it’s just an awareness campaign, where they place a lot of ads and see who gets hooked - they are then followed up with better targeted and tailored ad.
Or when they are HUGE.
Or if they are being shoved into your face all the time.
Would companies spend hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars in advertising if it didn't work?
Ads are the weaponized form of decades of cutting edge psychology research. It works. Especially if you think it doesn't work on you.
The best thing you can do is minimize exposure to ads by using ad blockers, not using big social media platforms and paying for subscriptions which disable ads.
I know there’s a lot of money pumped into advertising, and I’ve seen SO MANY people say “if you don’t think it works, it works” but can anyone provide a justification for that claim?
Thinking on it now, I realize that people who are hating on advertising don’t realize just how many people there are.
This thread got me thinking about which ads I’ve succumbed to MONETARILY, and these are the ones that come to mind:
-Quip Toothbrush
That’s all that comes to mind.
There's lots of research on the matter, but of varying quality. This paper for example, measures the effectiveness of personalized ads in a sportswear website. Data found was nuanced, but the tldr is that personalized ads did, on the whole, increase the likelyhood a costumer would go further into the purchasing pipeline, but would be less effective over time with repeated exposure to the ads. Mind you, this paper didn't measure personalized ads to confirmed sales, only ads to clicks (at least, that's what I got from the discussion chapter, migraine's kicking my ass rn).
There's other papers related to the topic, but a bunch I found were qualitative and thus not the most reliable imo when measuring the effectiveness of advertisement imo.
Disclaimer: not a scientist, but had to take some related classes for my graphic design degree.
You've never seen a picture of food and had a desire to eat that type of food?
There are a lot of studies on effects of marketing such as brand recognition leading to purchases. I'd like to put the onus on you to do a bit of Google research it the topic interests you. I don't have any links at hand and I've only looked into the topic some years ago. I remember being shocked at the effectiveness of some methods on certain groups of people.
But I think a ton of market research isn't public as the companies want to make money off of it so they don't release it.
When Jack and his gf on 30 rock were shown eating a McFlurry on 30 rock, I definitely ate more McFlurries that year. They worked it into a couple jokes and at the time (highschool) I didn't realize it was a paid advertisement. I didn't want it necessarily because they ate it, more like they reminded me it exists, and who doesn't like soft serve? Anyway, when I watch the episode now it's painfully obvious McDonald's paid for several mentions and on screen use.
Damn. It's working on me again right now. I just asked my husband if we can get McFlurrys today.
Instagram ads works on me, i try so many pretty decent free mobile games from those ads lol, otherwise not too much. But Instagram ads are pretty spot on
You are, you just don't realize it's happening. Ads are annoying and silly just because they're designed to stick in your brain.
I have pretty much stripped my online prescence of advertising through bowser extensions/paid apps/pi-hole, so it is only the subtle forms left that I have to be sceptical about.
Having to use a service that has obvious advertising is mostly just annoying because I know it's an advertisment. It is the more subtle forms that you have to be on the lookout for.
There are definitely forms of advertising that work on me, for example the hype surrounding particular video games, reviews on the PSVR2 headset, those kinds of things - because I spent money on them. It is never the blatant advertising that you see on Instagram or television that works on me.
It still affects you, just in subtle and insidious ways
No one is immune to advertising, easy to ignore products you don't care about but when it comes to stuff you like, bit more difficult. For example, I bet you tried whatever new food dish ar your fav restaurant when seeing someone try it on social media
I won't say I'm immune - very rarely I'll see an ad that interests me - but any hyper-aggressive advertising makes me hate you and your product for life. I assume that if you need to constantly blast me with ads for your product, you're covering for some deficiency.
I might feel jaded to advertising, but if it's something interesting that is related to something I dream of getting (like finally getting a fiber internet connection, for example), then I pay attention. Although, I did develop an incredible amount of skepticism to ads thanks to my parents and thanks to me being online all the time.
I used to be like this until Instagram started to give me food related ads. So I think it depends on the ad type and your behavior/personality
If anything, when I see any advertisement these days, it convinces me to dislike the product, especially when they try to be obnoxiously hip.
Grub hub dancing diverse man
Old spice ad clones
Better help pandering to lgbt in garish and obnoxious ways
Liberty mutual stupid emu
And I realize that me mentioning these proves their efficacy from a word of mouth perspective, be I alone will not be more likely to purchase these products as a result of these ads.
I’m all for equal treatment, regardless of genetic makeup and sexual orientation, but when you use that stuff as a marketing tool, it offends me. Do you think I’m an ant? Do you think that your injection of humanitarian issues is going to make me more likely to buy a fucking therapy service?
I firmly believe that it won’t .
Exactly, the commercials have become so contrived and full of repetitive one channel bass beats. Not to mention, each feels like a bad high school knock off of The Groundlings, wrote each sketch. It makes SNL feel like early season GOT.
I think advertising effects everyone to some extent. In some cases, like the 4 minute ad apple pie on YouTube about it's new OS made me even more determined to never own an apple product than I was before. I don't think it's wise to assume you are "unaffected" by it though at this point in media I wouldn't even say Im aware everytime even being advertised to.
I don't even notice most of them anymore. I just scroll past without giving it a single thought.