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The article seems a bit condescending towards "regular people", when in reality the hardest, and most expensive, effort marketing wise is education. To educate

The article seems a bit condescending towards "regular people", when in reality the hardest, and most expensive, effort marketing wise is education. To educate an audience is so expensive that one is better to place that responsibility on governments, most of the times through the education system, or other public services that make it mandatory/enforced. A good example is the goddamn seat belt - a technological wonder that saved millions, yet people have them right next to their shoulders and still today a lot refuse/forget to use it, while being enforced by law in many countries. That's why I think the article can be resumed to - educate people to change their behavior is hard, expensive and can take a long time. The most seamless tech adoption is the one unnoticed, where people don't realize neither have opinions on it's usage. Or enforced, where people/manufactureres are forced to adopt new technology.

Razengan 7y ago
> educating people to change their behavior is hard, expensive and can take a long time. And on the other side, in order to sell products, people are often "educated" into believing misinformation and myths that persist for generations: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrot#Night_vision https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrot#Night_vision https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond#Industry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond#Industry Or see the many vintage adverts glamorizing products and lifestyles that are now considered hazards: https://old.reddit.com/r/vintageads/ https://old.reddit.com/r/vintageads/ Some of them literally show doctors approving cigarettes: https://i.imgur.com/Pornn4E.jpg https://i.imgur.com/Pornn4E.jpg
- libertine 7y ago
  >in order to sell products, people are often "educated" into believing misinformation and myths that persist for generations You're correct, but like I said, it takes a lot of money and time (a bit redundant since time is money, but it's important to stress the time window). Such campaigns take years, with several ads being displayed with high frequencies, with opinion leaders paid to advertise the product, product placements, it's a long term game that the average company can't sustain. Specially now that technology moves so fast. What took decades to build, for example, with the cigarettes industry by using ads, doctors, movies, tv shows, sponsorships, and many other forms of advertising and media, also is taking years to reverse. The vaping, e-cigarret industry is growing thanks to years of government backed campaigns about the health issues related to cigarettes, with the addition of new laws set in place to ban advertising and smoking indoors for example. So it's not like the new technology of vaping and e-cigarrets is making the investment themselves to educate people, they are riding a wave. To make it clear, it doesn't mean they are not investing, but that they aren't making the massive investment to change people behavior.
pjc50 7y ago
> A good example is the goddamn seat belt - a technological wonder that saved millions, yet people have them right next to their shoulders and still today a lot refuse/forget to use it, while being enforced by law in many countries. In the United States at least, the legal battle was directly against the car manufacturers. This is where Ralph Nader got his start: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unsafe_at_Any_Speed https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unsafe_at_Any_Speed Safety culture is an odd thing to have to sell, but it does require selling. Another great example is Jackie Stewart's campaign to make Formula 1 less needlessly dangerous.
starfallg 7y ago
Habits, once formed, are hard to change. That's all there is to it really. It's nothing to do with tech at all. One thing that irks me is how much tech thinks the world revolves around tech. It doesn't.
- libertine 7y ago
  > One thing that irks me is how much tech thinks the world revolves around tech. It doesn't. Very true. Sometimes that thought becomes a barrier.

Razengan 7y ago

> educating people to change their behavior is hard, expensive and can take a long time. And on the other side, in order to sell products, people are often "educated" into believing misinformation and myths that persist for generations: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrot#Night_vision https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrot#Night_vision https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond#Industry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond#Industry Or see the many vintage adverts glamorizing products and lifestyles that are now considered hazards: https://old.reddit.com/r/vintageads/ https://old.reddit.com/r/vintageads/ Some of them literally show doctors approving cigarettes: https://i.imgur.com/Pornn4E.jpg https://i.imgur.com/Pornn4E.jpg

libertine 7y ago
>in order to sell products, people are often "educated" into believing misinformation and myths that persist for generations You're correct, but like I said, it takes a lot of money and time (a bit redundant since time is money, but it's important to stress the time window). Such campaigns take years, with several ads being displayed with high frequencies, with opinion leaders paid to advertise the product, product placements, it's a long term game that the average company can't sustain. Specially now that technology moves so fast. What took decades to build, for example, with the cigarettes industry by using ads, doctors, movies, tv shows, sponsorships, and many other forms of advertising and media, also is taking years to reverse. The vaping, e-cigarret industry is growing thanks to years of government backed campaigns about the health issues related to cigarettes, with the addition of new laws set in place to ban advertising and smoking indoors for example. So it's not like the new technology of vaping and e-cigarrets is making the investment themselves to educate people, they are riding a wave. To make it clear, it doesn't mean they are not investing, but that they aren't making the massive investment to change people behavior.

pjc50 7y ago

> A good example is the goddamn seat belt - a technological wonder that saved millions, yet people have them right next to their shoulders and still today a lot refuse/forget to use it, while being enforced by law in many countries. In the United States at least, the legal battle was directly against the car manufacturers. This is where Ralph Nader got his start: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unsafe_at_Any_Speed https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unsafe_at_Any_Speed Safety culture is an odd thing to have to sell, but it does require selling. Another great example is Jackie Stewart's campaign to make Formula 1 less needlessly dangerous.

starfallg 7y ago

Habits, once formed, are hard to change. That's all there is to it really. It's nothing to do with tech at all. One thing that irks me is how much tech thinks the world revolves around tech. It doesn't.

libertine 7y ago
> One thing that irks me is how much tech thinks the world revolves around tech. It doesn't. Very true. Sometimes that thought becomes a barrier.