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How can you be that naive? On the large scale, marketing (which includes paid for by industry, biased scientific studies) is what shapes people’s desires. Vast
by p1esk 8y ago
How can you be that naive? On the large scale, marketing (which includes paid for by industry, biased scientific studies) is what shapes people’s desires. Vast majority of people are perfectly happy with letting someone else choose for them, and even smart people fall for it. It has truly became a fundamental principle of our society.
- orthecreedence 8y agoNot only this, but the capitalists talk of economic free choice, but you can't just go "start a business"...you need capital. And you can be lucky enough to already have it, or you need to convince someone to give it to you. In essence, we're all either lucky, forced to beg for capital (ie, someone else making decisions for you, there goes "freedom"), forced to sell our labor for less than what it's worth, or live in a van. But, hey, we have 2000 different refrigeration options, yay... On top of this, the commodification of basic essentials like housing constantly drives prices up to meet productivity levels. So, we're being more productive, but expenses are growing to match because, well, the invisible hand wants it that way, and who are we to argue?
- htmk 8y agoExpanses are growing thanks to government created inflation, by printing money.
- westiseast 8y agoI think thats a bad cliche. If I break down my spending, most goes on food (I have no rent/mortgage), the next biggest item are essentials like utilities/council tax/bills, then car bills (insurance, petrol, repairs), then the kids then personal luxuries for me and my wife. Marketers might shape how I spend my food budget (ie on which brands/products) but I still need food. Marketers influenced my choice of car, but I still need a car with certain qualities (big, room for kids and bikes, reliable). If I had to pay rent, a vast portion of my income would go on that - how is this being influenced by marketers? If PR/advertising/marketing became illegal tomorrow, people would still continue to spend most of their income on a place to live, food to eat, utilities, a car and their kids education.
- p1esk 8y agoA lot of marketing efforts in various forms are designed to subtly persuade you that owning a car is cool, that driving it is a pleasant experience, that it signals respect and social status. Even people who don’t need cars are influenced by that. Same techniques are used in real estate advertising. Keep in mind that marketing also influences other people, including those whose opinions you value. If PR/advertising/marketing became illegal tomorrow, people would still continue to spend most of their income on a place to live, food to eat, utilities, a car and their kids education. Yes, and the commercial entities providing those services would have devised ways to influence you despite all those restrictions. Unless you’re talking about North Korea style society, where marketing is replaced by propaganda.
- westiseast 8y agoI guess I’m saying, marketers aren’t persuading me I need a car. I made a fairly practical choice that I needed a car (maybe I’m not typical?). But perhaps instead of buying the cheap Japanese one, I bought the expensive German one. So marketers persuaded me to spend 20% more? The idea that marketers are somehow controlling people’s lives assumes that without marketers, we’d all be living some kind of radically different lives. I doubt we would.
- p1esk 8y agomarketers persuaded me to spend 20% more Exactly. There are basic needs and there are desires. I’m talking about the latter. Note that to afford that extra 20% you might need to modify your life in some way.
- petra 8y agoWithout marketing, people buy a Toyota that's reliable for 20 years, instead of 4 German cars. Of course fuel-efficiency complicated matters a bit, but in an efficient economy, engines may be replace.
- hellot848 8y agoNope. People's desires shape marketing. Not the other way around. Marketing caters to people's pre existing desires to convince them. Desires have always existed and always will.
- p1esk 8y agoYou didn’t want to drive that bmw until you saw that ad. Perhaps you didn’t want to drive at all. Now you do.
- hellot848 8y agoNo one wants to drive a BMW. Everyone wants to a) Travel from point A to point B b) Have fun c) Impress people with status symbols. BMW created something that satisfies those needs.