Marketers Beware: Marketers Using Fraud, Manipulation and Intimidation Are On The Increase. Are You Prepared?

dark persuasion

It’s no secret that there are people from all walks of life who don’t have your best interest at heart. It’s likely this is especially true in the world of Internet Marketing. Some marketers will use any and all kinds of dark persuasion techniques to get the desired result. This includes but is not limited to outright manipulation, lies, intimidation and other dirty tricks. These techniques often border on what might be considered mind control.

But you don’t have to sit still for devious tactics such as these. Before we get into how you can insulate yourself from these human parasites, let’s look at a few examples of exactly what you’re up against.

Red Fruit, Orange Fruit

This is a common ploy used by marketers of all types. It’s called apples to oranges comparisons and the reason it’s so often employed is because it’s a highly effective form of dark persuasion. People often use apples to oranges comparisons when they want to make a point that would otherwise be flawed. For example, someone selling a high priced product might want to get you off guard by comparing it to something completely unrelated.

Let’s say you are looking at upper end watches. A tricky marketing technique is to compare a high item to something like a Ferrari or a Lamborghini. But many won’t stop there. The comparison will often make strong appeals to your vanity as well. The marketer might say something like, “…and since you’re obviously a discerning individual who cares only about the best, you’ll naturally want to invest a few lonely dollars in _________” Fill in the name of his or her product.

These techniques are often very subtle. But when you stop to think about what the true intentions are of the marketer it becomes downright maddening because you later find yourself harboring guilt over spending money you never intended to spend on something you never intended to buy.

There’s another subtle and devious technique large pharmaceutical companies use to get new customers. I have a friend whose mother has fallen into this trap in a big way. First, she’s actually a very healthy woman. She sits in front of the television much of the time and becomes mesmerized by drug commercials.

And often, within a short period of time she simply “develops” the symptoms of some of the diseases the advertised drugs are supposed to relieve. Before long, she’s off to the doctor with vague complaints asking if she should perhaps be taking the drug named in the commercials. And she’s so convinced she needs certain drugs the doctor will often simply write the prescription rather than try to convince her she doesn’t need yet another drug. I’d bet you might even know someone just like her. Don’t think for a moment the commercial wasn’t specifically produced for this effect. And of course, this is exactly what the drug companies want, new customers and lots of them.

But it’s not just marketers that use these techniques. You’ll find big business, government, religious organizations and unscrupulous individuals all using dirty tricks to get what they want from us. Take religious organizations for example. I’m not going to name one in particular because they all do pretty much the same stuff. And what might that be, you ask.

But, I Do Want To Go To Heaven

You’ll find them often using guilt and shame to get people marching in the direction they want you to go. Show me one major religious organization that doesn’t claim that their particular brand of salvation is the only way to have peace in the afterlife.

They all say the same thing, if you’re not a member of their particular faith you won’t be going to heaven. And some would have us feeling uneasy about our own bodies and enjoying the very pleasures we were created with.

So what’s the answer? Awareness. It’s nearly impossible to avoid some of these tactics without first knowing what they are.  As you probably already know, if something feels wrong it usually is and it may be best to simply sidestep it before allowing yourself to get hung up.

The problem is, we often become so busy and have placed our faith in people that don’t have our best interests at heart, we fall prey to the tricks despite our best intentions.

Charles Steed has been a writer for nearly 25 years. He currently works as a freelance writer. You can learn more about Dark Persuasion Techniques Here.