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I would say the difference here is that you can’t see ratings/reviews from other buyers on an end-cap the same way you do online. So the phrase “Amazon’s Choice

I would say the difference here is that you can’t see ratings/reviews from other buyers on an end-cap the same way you do online. So the phrase “Amazon’s Choice” suggests that there is a level of editorial oversight that might not exist if the phrase was “featured by Amazon.” Overall, I agree that this isn’t a huge surprise, but I think the fact that Amazon has data on things like returns, ratings, reviews, makes it totally understandable why someone would assume a “choice” product was chosen because of those factors and not because the company paid to be featured.

CobrastanJorji 7y ago
"Amazon's Choice" certainly suggests editorial oversight, but only in the way that "Quality Inn" suggests quality. For anything that isn't an objective, measurable fact, companies are allowed to lie.
- GavinMcG 7y ago
  The difference is that Quality Inn represents itself as "quality". Amazon is advertising other products as being chosen by them. We know not to trust a company's claims about its product, but if you ask an employee about a product you expect an honest answer – not one based on a kickback, for example.
  - wolco 7y ago
    I worked for electronic stores in the 90s. Certain products gave more commission. We sold the products that paid more. I sold phones at some point.. Depending on the brand I might get an extra 5 dollars. Those are the phones that were sold more. An employee isn't going to give you an objective honest answer or they would tell you walmart has it for cheaper.
  - morroc 7y ago
    Store employees might also have been incentivized to suggest a specific product based on kickbacks the store receives. There is a precedent there. You shouldn't expect unenforceable honesty from anyone.
  - Benjammer 7y ago
    I'm sorry, but that's BS. What brick and mortar store doesn't promote third party products in the exact same fashion? Case in point, literally a brick and mortar store with "<store name>'s Choice" as the slogan, to market a brand created by a third party company: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam%27s_Choice https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam%27s_Choice
    - onion2k 7y ago
      By the sounds of it "Sam's Choice" is similarly deceptive. That doesn't let Amazon off the hook here though.
      - barbecue_sauce 7y ago
        I don't see how Sam's Choice is deceptive. Private label product programs are created by retail organizations, often at the behest of the founders/top management (usually the same in family run retail organizations). This is how I imagine it went down: -Sam Walton said "We should have a private label soda program. Loblaw in Canada has President's Choice." -Category manager of Soda floats this to potential suppliers. -Cott Beverage says "Hey, we'll do it. How 'bout we call it 'Sam's Choice'?" -Category manager of Soda says "Great! I'll tell Sam." (or more likely, the VP of Grocery/Merchandising) -Sam Walton says "Great Job! Sam's Choice, nice touch. That's my name!"
    - Retric 7y ago
      It’s very common for stores to advertise money losing items to get people into the store. In store they often promote their extremely low price on something to make a positive association with their customers and move more products. Amazon’s approach is micro optimized to make money today at the cost of customer satisfaction, a long term losing strategy. PS: It might just be my circle of friends, but many Amazon early adopters have mostly moved on. That opening the box and wondering how you where screwed this time feeling is a major issue for the company.
      - sciurus 7y ago
        Moved on to which alternatives?
  - ramblerman 7y ago
    > but if you ask an employee about a product you expect an honest answer That just seems naive.
    - wccrawford 7y ago
      Not the OP, but I also expect an honest answer. But I'm wary that it might not be, because humans are humans and none are perfect.
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
- 27182818284 7y ago
  hahaha, oh wow. I have been completely incorrect on my interpretation of Amazon's Choice. Historically when I searched for something, I've often find a product in the results with 80-90% of the features I'm looking for. That result was often listed as Amazon's Choice, so I built it up in my mind to mean "users of Amazon mostly get this one" I was fine with that because, like I said, it usually wouldn't fit the criteria exactly, but it was 80-90% of the way there so it made sense to me that it would be the choice of most people, but not all.
  - nightfly 7y ago
    That's what the Amazon's choice feature is supposed to do. Instead of having their customers paralyzed by the many options they choose /something/.
- markdown 7y ago
  > companies are allowed to lie And this is just accepted. Ridiculous.
  - ajross 7y ago
    Again, though, the practice is pervasive. Are the "best value!" items you see at the ends of grocery aisles really the best value? How often are things "on sale" from prices for which they were never offered? I mean, I guess it's OK to be outraged about this. But doing it specifically about Amazon seems maybe a little unobjective.
    - rapind 7y ago
      I find marketing in general outrageous. I'm not surprised by or find Amazon particularly egregious in their marketing. This is apparently the system we want, at least until no one wants it anymore. I will almost subconsciously assign a negative mark to companies who aggressively market, and a positive mark to those I deem authentic (spoiler, very few). I'm at the point now that I'm saving a ton of money because I'm simply turned off by the hard sell. It's like when you immediately close a tab on an article you were about to read because 4 different "Join our newsletter" modals slid in. I'm guessing I'm not the only one (but maybe one of few?). Is it possible that marketing practices have gotten so out of hand that they are very gradually nudging consumers away from what they're selling? Anyone know if marketers talk about this sort of backlash at w/e conventions they have, or is it just push push push. The data must identify at least a hint of a negative trend right? How long until there are "authenticity consultants"?
      - TeMPOraL 7y ago
        You're not the only one. I too am the less likely to buy something from someone the more they seem to be pushing it.
    - pilsetnieks 7y ago
      > How often are things "on sale" from prices for which they were never offered? At least in the EU that's blatantly illegal.
- rexpop 7y ago
  > companies are allowed to lie. And that's in no way scandalous?
- WalterBright 7y ago
  > isn't an objective, measurable fact, companies are allowed to lie. Pedantically, it isn't a lie if it isn't objective and measurable. It's an opinion, and opinions are not lies. As for "Amazon's Choice", it's literally true. Amazon chose it. They make no representation as to why they chose it.
  - mikeash 7y ago
    Even more pedantically, lying is all about intent to deceive. A correct statement is still a lie if you think it’s wrong. The key question here is: does Amazon intend to deceive? It’s probably impossible to know but the odds are decently good.
- bambax 7y ago
  Depends on what you mean by "allowed". Is it legal? Yes. Will customers retaliate when they find out -- or at least, learn to ignore that lie as just another marketing tactic with no value? More than likely.
- paulific 7y ago
  Yes, I remember my local supermarket had 'recommended' products that were marked like they were specials, but were not actually discounted at all. I appreciated the business logic, but basically stopped shopping there.
- mattrp 7y ago
  The more comparable products are Sam’s “President’s Choice” and Costco’s Kirkland. Both of which have long developed brand promises that represent at least above average quality and some level of curation. Choice is a specific word chosen by Amazon to give the impression its products have similarly been curated. It’s deliberate subterfuge.
- unethical_ban 7y ago
  I agree with other users. I took it as an official designation that Amazon had vetted the product and/or vendor for consistency, and that returns/reviews/volume of purchase were all factors in a genuine recommendation for the product. I'm a tech savvy 30-something cynic, too. Think about how it would fool others. If the name of the product or brand line was "Amazon's Choice" then I would consider it branding. But when used as a designation, I expect more.

CobrastanJorji 7y ago

"Amazon's Choice" certainly suggests editorial oversight, but only in the way that "Quality Inn" suggests quality. For anything that isn't an objective, measurable fact, companies are allowed to lie.

GavinMcG 7y ago
The difference is that Quality Inn represents itself as "quality". Amazon is advertising other products as being chosen by them. We know not to trust a company's claims about its product, but if you ask an employee about a product you expect an honest answer – not one based on a kickback, for example.
- wolco 7y ago
  I worked for electronic stores in the 90s. Certain products gave more commission. We sold the products that paid more. I sold phones at some point.. Depending on the brand I might get an extra 5 dollars. Those are the phones that were sold more. An employee isn't going to give you an objective honest answer or they would tell you walmart has it for cheaper.
- morroc 7y ago
  Store employees might also have been incentivized to suggest a specific product based on kickbacks the store receives. There is a precedent there. You shouldn't expect unenforceable honesty from anyone.
- Benjammer 7y ago
  I'm sorry, but that's BS. What brick and mortar store doesn't promote third party products in the exact same fashion? Case in point, literally a brick and mortar store with "<store name>'s Choice" as the slogan, to market a brand created by a third party company: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam%27s_Choice https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam%27s_Choice
  - onion2k 7y ago
    By the sounds of it "Sam's Choice" is similarly deceptive. That doesn't let Amazon off the hook here though.
    - barbecue_sauce 7y ago
      I don't see how Sam's Choice is deceptive. Private label product programs are created by retail organizations, often at the behest of the founders/top management (usually the same in family run retail organizations). This is how I imagine it went down: -Sam Walton said "We should have a private label soda program. Loblaw in Canada has President's Choice." -Category manager of Soda floats this to potential suppliers. -Cott Beverage says "Hey, we'll do it. How 'bout we call it 'Sam's Choice'?" -Category manager of Soda says "Great! I'll tell Sam." (or more likely, the VP of Grocery/Merchandising) -Sam Walton says "Great Job! Sam's Choice, nice touch. That's my name!"
  - Retric 7y ago
    It’s very common for stores to advertise money losing items to get people into the store. In store they often promote their extremely low price on something to make a positive association with their customers and move more products. Amazon’s approach is micro optimized to make money today at the cost of customer satisfaction, a long term losing strategy. PS: It might just be my circle of friends, but many Amazon early adopters have mostly moved on. That opening the box and wondering how you where screwed this time feeling is a major issue for the company.
    - sciurus 7y ago
      Moved on to which alternatives?
- ramblerman 7y ago
  > but if you ask an employee about a product you expect an honest answer That just seems naive.
  - wccrawford 7y ago
    Not the OP, but I also expect an honest answer. But I'm wary that it might not be, because humans are humans and none are perfect.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
27182818284 7y ago
hahaha, oh wow. I have been completely incorrect on my interpretation of Amazon's Choice. Historically when I searched for something, I've often find a product in the results with 80-90% of the features I'm looking for. That result was often listed as Amazon's Choice, so I built it up in my mind to mean "users of Amazon mostly get this one" I was fine with that because, like I said, it usually wouldn't fit the criteria exactly, but it was 80-90% of the way there so it made sense to me that it would be the choice of most people, but not all.
- nightfly 7y ago
  That's what the Amazon's choice feature is supposed to do. Instead of having their customers paralyzed by the many options they choose /something/.
markdown 7y ago
> companies are allowed to lie And this is just accepted. Ridiculous.
- ajross 7y ago
  Again, though, the practice is pervasive. Are the "best value!" items you see at the ends of grocery aisles really the best value? How often are things "on sale" from prices for which they were never offered? I mean, I guess it's OK to be outraged about this. But doing it specifically about Amazon seems maybe a little unobjective.
  - rapind 7y ago
    I find marketing in general outrageous. I'm not surprised by or find Amazon particularly egregious in their marketing. This is apparently the system we want, at least until no one wants it anymore. I will almost subconsciously assign a negative mark to companies who aggressively market, and a positive mark to those I deem authentic (spoiler, very few). I'm at the point now that I'm saving a ton of money because I'm simply turned off by the hard sell. It's like when you immediately close a tab on an article you were about to read because 4 different "Join our newsletter" modals slid in. I'm guessing I'm not the only one (but maybe one of few?). Is it possible that marketing practices have gotten so out of hand that they are very gradually nudging consumers away from what they're selling? Anyone know if marketers talk about this sort of backlash at w/e conventions they have, or is it just push push push. The data must identify at least a hint of a negative trend right? How long until there are "authenticity consultants"?
    - TeMPOraL 7y ago
      You're not the only one. I too am the less likely to buy something from someone the more they seem to be pushing it.
  - pilsetnieks 7y ago
    > How often are things "on sale" from prices for which they were never offered? At least in the EU that's blatantly illegal.
rexpop 7y ago
> companies are allowed to lie. And that's in no way scandalous?
WalterBright 7y ago
> isn't an objective, measurable fact, companies are allowed to lie. Pedantically, it isn't a lie if it isn't objective and measurable. It's an opinion, and opinions are not lies. As for "Amazon's Choice", it's literally true. Amazon chose it. They make no representation as to why they chose it.
- mikeash 7y ago
  Even more pedantically, lying is all about intent to deceive. A correct statement is still a lie if you think it’s wrong. The key question here is: does Amazon intend to deceive? It’s probably impossible to know but the odds are decently good.
bambax 7y ago
Depends on what you mean by "allowed". Is it legal? Yes. Will customers retaliate when they find out -- or at least, learn to ignore that lie as just another marketing tactic with no value? More than likely.
paulific 7y ago
Yes, I remember my local supermarket had 'recommended' products that were marked like they were specials, but were not actually discounted at all. I appreciated the business logic, but basically stopped shopping there.
mattrp 7y ago
The more comparable products are Sam’s “President’s Choice” and Costco’s Kirkland. Both of which have long developed brand promises that represent at least above average quality and some level of curation. Choice is a specific word chosen by Amazon to give the impression its products have similarly been curated. It’s deliberate subterfuge.
unethical_ban 7y ago
I agree with other users. I took it as an official designation that Amazon had vetted the product and/or vendor for consistency, and that returns/reviews/volume of purchase were all factors in a genuine recommendation for the product. I'm a tech savvy 30-something cynic, too. Think about how it would fool others. If the name of the product or brand line was "Amazon's Choice" then I would consider it branding. But when used as a designation, I expect more.