Your choice, or marketer’s choice?
Ever wonder whose choice is that when you purchase something - is that your choice, or the marketer’s choice?
- When you light up the cigarate in your mouth for the first time
- When you put yourself deeply in debt for your new car
- When you spent hundreds for your CK shirt
- When you bought another pair of Nike sneakers
- When you crunch in another McDonalds burger
- When you drink up another can of Coca-Cola
- When you toss up your Carlsberg and have another hang over Saturday
Did you really make up these unreasonable decision that(might) spoil our health/financial/life quality? to spend unwisely, to take up junk foods, to numb yourself with alcohol, did you really choose yourself to do so, or it’s the marketers who’re holding the ball? There’s ethic guide for every professionals, do we have one for marketers, especially Internet marketers, as well?
Yap once told me that he read a news about a singaporean, who’s so crazy about making money online and went all out buying courses and attending seminars on the subject. after years of trying, he fails to make a dime online… but then, he started to compile what he learned and sell his own make-money-online course on the Internet, and only then, he made a fortune online. can you imagine that? a person that couldn’t make a dime get rich by teaching others earn money online. and on a bigger scale, the same go with Mcdonalds, CocaCola, Marlboro, BAT, Pepsi, Carlsberg… big cooperations that’re cause (directly, or indirectly?) most diabetis, heart attack, high colestrol cases thru out the whole world.
Imagine what if one day it’s legal to promote heroin in the market, are we going to see something like this?
Perhaps we should rethink what’s the responsibility a marketer should held.
AhYap said,
Wrote on June 15, 2007 @ 6:57 am
Correction: Yap once told me
To: Yap just told me 5 minutes ago.
People think they are smart, they think it is their choice and their decision. But it was actually a result of manipulation by the marketers.
People always think they are smart. But they are not.
When you are starbucks -
Small - RM8.90
Medium - RM9.90
Large - RM10.90
Although you can only drink small/medium, most will consider drinking medium/large, thinking they are smart because they compare the price. But are they? Their manipulation is to make you make a decision to drink medium or large. The small, is seldom sold. It is there to make the medium and large look cheap.
When you purchase a car, says RM50,000. After you make that decision, they ask you if you want to add RM200 for A and RM300 for B, you will want it because you compare that RM200 and RM300 with the RM50,000. Contrast principle, they look small. You think you ‘decide’ yourself, but actually they decide for you. If they have use the TOTAL price at the beginning, say RM55,000, you might not have bought it.
You sign up for a tour package to Bangkok, then only at Bangkok they ask you if you want to buy ticket to watch AhGua show and TigerShow. You need to pay for the ticket. Since you think you already paid RM1500 for the trip and is already at bangkok, you think you should pay that RM300 to watch. But maybe if they chagre you RM1800 up front for the trip to bangkok, you might not have join the trip. Manipulation.
My believe is, in this world, there is only 2 kinds of people
1. Those who manipulate people
2. Those who are being manipulated
Police manipulate people to pay them bribe, “Ini saman 300 oh”, “if I let you go, how to I explain to my boss? You got to shut his mouth down oh”
Insurance agent manipulate client to buy insurance, “Imagine if you are gone tomorrow, what happen to your wife and 4 kids” They you overbuy your insurance.
Mutual Funds (esp Public Mutual) manipulate people by saying, “None of other funds do as good as we! Look at our 5 year track record” [their last 1 record consist of 40% of the total 5 year performance, that’s why they talk loud now]
Doctors manipulate people by saying, “If you don’t cut that, you will die”, “If you don’t eat that medicine, you will not recover”.
Milk companies ask you to drink 3 cups for milk a day, because they sell milk!
Even Maggi Mee says they have high protein!
soufulow said,
Wrote on June 15, 2007 @ 9:22 am
Hmm, i guess i just hit the right chorde to push Yap writes the long comment. i consider that’s a good post from me.
…and yap, enjoy reading your thoughts, wanna sync it to your blog as well?
donald said,
Wrote on June 15, 2007 @ 10:31 am
hey soufu
my name is donald, so helldonald really sounds bad … keke
well, you prollie can’t mistake these people for their ability to use audio and visual ads to ask u to purchase something, they indeed get paid well by all the giants to sell their stuff. In this world, where the bottomline is how much u sell (as a business person), ethics come second, profit comes 1st.
this thing is just part of human being… surviving in this harsh world, there’s nothing too right or too wrong, just we gotta get smarter ! that’s all….
yes, internet marketer speakers are mostly bullcrap.
soufulow said,
Wrote on June 15, 2007 @ 11:07 am
I agree that most marketers take ‘profit’ larger than anything else nowadays, but i guess not all… at least Seth Godin (on the articles at the bottom of my post) talked about reponsibility and he refuses to market something he doesn’t want.
He might be telling a story and do the opposite, but let’s believe he’s a man of his word. after all, he’s Seth Godin - the real marketing Guru… (am i being manupulated by his image?)
AhYap said,
Wrote on June 15, 2007 @ 12:47 pm
> am i being manipulated by his image?
Thanks for the good example. Wahahaha.
soufulow said,
Wrote on June 15, 2007 @ 2:20 pm
Yup, it is.