4 ms·

>Relevant ad is euphemism for "ad that makes you buy stuff you would happily not own otherwise". Since ads in general work (they make people buy more or differe

>Relevant ad is euphemism for "ad that makes you buy stuff you would happily not own otherwise". Since ads in general work (they make people buy more or different stuff) and you can not objectively evaluate whether you was influenced by ads, it is rational to avoid them. Umm - you should avoid getting information because it might influence you to buy things ? There's nothing wrong with what you said, in an ideal world ads would be just that - informing the customer about your product - and influencing their decisions with information. The psychological marketing tricks to make a thing more attractive is also a value add. Problem is it's easy to be misleading, create disinformation and it can be very profitable - that's what leads to shitty borderline fraudulent ads we have.

watwut 9y ago
Ads are not information. They are not factual. Psychological marketing does add at value to me, just like being manipulated in person does not add value to me.
- rubber_duck 9y ago
  Like I responded below, psychological marketing effects like branding, exclusivity, etc. have been shown to increase peoples enjoyment of products in multiple studies. Being manipulated can also add measurable value to you. For example if a doctor gave you a sugar pill for some condition and the placebo effect helped you get better - would you say that it added no value just because the sugar pill physically did nothing ?
jodrellblank 9y ago
Umm - you should avoid getting information because it might influence you to buy things? UMMMMMMmmmmm - yes? Obviously? If you wouldn't let a salesperson barge into your house, interrupt your reading to try and convince you to get discount eye surgery, why would you let that happen in visual form? in an ideal world ads would be just that - informing the customer about your product This is not anything like an 'ideal' world. One human has such limited attention, that you could spend every second of your lifetime attending to a different product and do nothing else, and you still wouldn't cover them all. And companies still wouldn't be happy with this ridiculous limit case, they'd still want a greater share of your attention and wallet. You, us, individually, mean nothing except a source of coins. If we want to mean anything to ourselves, defence against the dark arts is necessary. The psychological marketing tricks to make a thing more attractive is also a value add. The psychological marketing tricks to make a thing more attractive is abusive and parasitic. Ideal brains would search for what they need, and buy the most fitting thing. Human brains which can be manipulated are a weakness we all share - and we should all be kind enough not to abuse this fact of each other any more than we have to.
- rubber_duck 9y ago
  >Ideal brains would search for what they need, and buy the most fitting thing. That's not really how things work - there are certain things you need to accomplish other things where your reasoning partially applies but even then it's debatable. But then there are things you do for pleasure - and how you value those things can be completely separate from their physical properties. For example there was a study[1] where they gave people 5 vine samples, a cheap wine with 5$ price tag, same wine with a 45$ price tag, 90$ vine and the same 90$ vine with a 10$ label, and a correctly labeled 35$ vine. They found that reported enjoyment and measured fMRI activity went up with price even for same vine. Plenty of similar studies that show similar effects for branding, etc. So these things actually create value even if they don't physically change the product - you end up enjoying it more and it's purpose is your enjoyment. I mean most of the high end stuff ends up being blowing smoke up your ass to make you feel good about paying 2-10x markup, even when the quality is superior they bundle the bullshit and inflate the price extra because they know you'll pay. [1] http://news.stanford.edu/pr/2008/pr-wine-011608.html http://news.stanford.edu/pr/2008/pr-wine-011608.html
  - watwut 9y ago
    They are not creating value. They just mislead.

watwut 9y ago

Ads are not information. They are not factual. Psychological marketing does add at value to me, just like being manipulated in person does not add value to me.

rubber_duck 9y ago
Like I responded below, psychological marketing effects like branding, exclusivity, etc. have been shown to increase peoples enjoyment of products in multiple studies. Being manipulated can also add measurable value to you. For example if a doctor gave you a sugar pill for some condition and the placebo effect helped you get better - would you say that it added no value just because the sugar pill physically did nothing ?

jodrellblank 9y ago

Umm - you should avoid getting information because it might influence you to buy things? UMMMMMMmmmmm - yes? Obviously? If you wouldn't let a salesperson barge into your house, interrupt your reading to try and convince you to get discount eye surgery, why would you let that happen in visual form? in an ideal world ads would be just that - informing the customer about your product This is not anything like an 'ideal' world. One human has such limited attention, that you could spend every second of your lifetime attending to a different product and do nothing else, and you still wouldn't cover them all. And companies still wouldn't be happy with this ridiculous limit case, they'd still want a greater share of your attention and wallet. You, us, individually, mean nothing except a source of coins. If we want to mean anything to ourselves, defence against the dark arts is necessary. The psychological marketing tricks to make a thing more attractive is also a value add. The psychological marketing tricks to make a thing more attractive is abusive and parasitic. Ideal brains would search for what they need, and buy the most fitting thing. Human brains which can be manipulated are a weakness we all share - and we should all be kind enough not to abuse this fact of each other any more than we have to.

rubber_duck 9y ago
>Ideal brains would search for what they need, and buy the most fitting thing. That's not really how things work - there are certain things you need to accomplish other things where your reasoning partially applies but even then it's debatable. But then there are things you do for pleasure - and how you value those things can be completely separate from their physical properties. For example there was a study[1] where they gave people 5 vine samples, a cheap wine with 5$ price tag, same wine with a 45$ price tag, 90$ vine and the same 90$ vine with a 10$ label, and a correctly labeled 35$ vine. They found that reported enjoyment and measured fMRI activity went up with price even for same vine. Plenty of similar studies that show similar effects for branding, etc. So these things actually create value even if they don't physically change the product - you end up enjoying it more and it's purpose is your enjoyment. I mean most of the high end stuff ends up being blowing smoke up your ass to make you feel good about paying 2-10x markup, even when the quality is superior they bundle the bullshit and inflate the price extra because they know you'll pay. [1] http://news.stanford.edu/pr/2008/pr-wine-011608.html http://news.stanford.edu/pr/2008/pr-wine-011608.html
- watwut 9y ago
  They are not creating value. They just mislead.