Is there a lemmy community, for example, where people discuss shopping strategies which minimize the risk of the purchase decision being influenced by Brand Image or Flashy Packaging? Or similar topics. Maybe what product categories have cheapest products that are bad, so you can’t apply an objective criterion while making the purchase decision, and are more vulnerable to advertising. Maybe how shopping background music is evil because it takes up mental capacity. (I’m feeling slightly autistic right now, science at least shows music makes you buy more, the rest is just my guess.) You know, that kind of thing.
Questions I would ask people interested in this (feel free to answer them anyways): Do you think making a list of every company that has ever advertised to you so that you can hold it up to yourself when making a purchase decision and only buy from their competitors, makes sense and would be worth your time? Do you love shopping lists because they make you think of the generic product beforehand, and then let you objectively decide based on price which one to buy? Do you agree with the sentiment that, like an AI in a Robert Miles video / Sci-Fi Movie resisting being turned off, I should want to resist something that will change my opinion or state of mind? Do you get a negative gut reaction whenever you see that people are studying advertising, which means most of their job is making this manipulation more efficient? Would these hetorical questions make good advertising for the hypothetical Advertising Hate Club?
Do you think making a list of every company that has ever advertised to you so that you can hold it up to yourself when making a purchase decision and only buy from their competitors, makes sense and would be worth your time?
Absolutely not. I loathe ads with every fiber of my being, and I could not think of anything that would be a bigger waste of time. You’re also getting ads from the advertising competitors. Several store brands are just name brands in a suit. We’re so bombarded with ads, that it’s impossible to track them or know when something is an ad. Can you tell when a product listicle is based on genuine feedback and when it’s a sponsored post? Now, if you have a moral or ethical concern about the company then it totally makes sense to make a list. But not for seeing ads.
The book Influence by Cialdini not only talks about the levers of influence, but how to minimize their impact.
Avoiding advertising is the best way to avoid influence, but remember that pretty much everyone wants you to change your mind ina way that benefits them. Avoiding influence altogether is impossible, and that influence is necessary to stay informed and make good life choices.
My advice is twofold. First, learn the logical fallacies and how to identify them. Second, account for uncertainty in your decisions. The most practical application of this second point is to favor decisions that leave you with more options in the future. This uncertainty should include you. Account for the possibility that your goals and views may change in the future, because they will.
Advertising goes way beyond fallacies. Companies are always finding ways to manipulate you. I could spend a year walking through a supermarket identifying manipulations. An easy one to understand is the ingredients of jam. If fruit is the first ingredient in your jam, then it must make it healthier, right? Take a look at the next three ingredients. Instead of using one sweetening agent, they use at least three so each one has a lower amount than the fruit ingredient.
New recipe! New size! Classic recipe! 20% more!
Don’t let them tell you what you want and need. Marketers and advertisers will only lie to you.
The fact you are even thinking about all this critically is a great step.
Being aware of advertising and what it does to you individually and what it means socially is more awareness that 90 percent of the population who just passively accept it as a normal part of our world.
Keep asking questions … always keep asking questions … even if you never find the answers … asking questions is always better than just passively accepting the unacceptable things in our world.
The only caution to all that is … always be wary of those who give you the simple answers … especially easy answers to complicated questions. Life is a complicated process and it seldom leads us to easy simple answers.
I repeat “I hate [company] and this is a shit ad” whenever I start hearing the same ad more than twice.
BuyItForLife communities might work, and a lot of topic specific communities have discussions on if a product is worth the hype. Having a separate community for it might not work as well if it doesn’t have the momentum / crowd sourced knowledge
Consumer protection programs are also fun. CBC Marketplace has a BuzzKill segment that somewhat fits with this theme
The unfortunate reality is that these communities are big enough now that advertisers are aware of them. They are full of sock puppets and have become guerrilla advertising platforms and you have to really read through them more carefully than in the past
Initially on Lemmy I was uncomfortable with upvotes being public, but now that seems like the only way to catch issues like this. Vote manipulation is spiraling out of control back on Reddit
I definitely think there are things you can do to lessen the effect of ads on your decision making.
The best way is to try not to see ads at all. Use Ad Blockers on all digital devices. Wear headphones in public places. Train yourself to look away from billboards, elevator televisions and all other kinds of physical environment advertising. Don’t shop at stores run by the products’ brand. Every time you see a product recommendation, ask yourself if its possible the writer got paid for making that recommendation.
There are also lots of behavioral approaches you can take to un-do the effect of marketing and advertising when purchasing things. Define what you need before you start looking at products. Use the price per oz instead of packaging shape to make decisions at the grocery store. Only buy store brand.
That’s all my helpful advice, but I’m also guilty of taking this stuff too far. There are absolutely products that I would like, but refuse to buy because I hate them for advertising to me. I’ve stopped consuming lots of media because I thought their advertising revenue approach was gross. I have a bunch of generic containers & big bottle of GooGone in my house and remove all the labels from everything I buy as soon as I bring them home. These things don’t actually help… its just spiteful behavior I haven’t been able to bring myself to move past unfortunately.
You forgot: never watch tv or movies because product placement is everywhere. Don’t listen to any music because sometimes they have brands in songs. Keep your eyes closed in public at all times so you don’t see logos on clothing, vehicles, etc.
ANYTHING YOU CAN’T DO PERFECTLY IS NOT WORTH DOING AT ALL
CRAWL BACK INTO YOUR ADVERTISING INFESTED HOLE IN THE GROUND CITIZEN
I know you’re joking but yeah, I basically don’t watch tv or movies or listen to music.
And yes, I do exclusively wear logo-less clothing!
Seems a bit extreme - unless you just don’t enjoy those things. Plenty of media that is not laden with product placement out there
Do you think making a list of every company that has ever advertised to you so that you can hold it up to yourself when making a purchase decision and only buy from their competitors, makes sense and would be worth your time?
No, but I do have a mental list of companies (mostly local, a handful of contractors and landscapers) that have shitty ass drivers that can’t follow basic road rules and are likely the owners.
Your article does not say that music makes you buy more overall
I don’t think they’ve figured out how to advertise to anybody under 40. at this point if I see an ad for your company it makes me actually dislike you
Get rid of cable tv if you haven’t already. I’ve been without it for 20 years. First via piracy, then streaming. When I visit family, I can’t believe how intrusive and insulting the ads are because I’m no longer conditioned to them.
You don’t realize how bad it until you go to a sporting event. Every square inch that can be turned into advertising has been, and when you don’t have the commercials taking your attention, you definitely realize you spent $400 to get 1 hour of content stretched to 3 hours with a really awful DJ to fill in where the ads would have gone.
Just use adblock and then never go outside. Easy peasy
