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I don’t believe the “ads work subconsciously” bs. Whenever I plan to buy something I a) look it up beforehand or b) (if it’s a routine purchase like groceries o

I don’t believe the “ads work subconsciously” bs. Whenever I plan to buy something I a) look it up beforehand or b) (if it’s a routine purchase like groceries or household essentials) follow some method like brand name, second cheapest, iterate between different brands, etc.. b could be influenced by subconscious advertising but i just don’t think so, and anyways, most of the things that are heavily advertised (car insurance, expensive stuff, apps) are things I’m going to research before buying. I do think advertising works, it works because there are unaware people who do impulse buy expensive things and buy whatever they see. Lots of people probably aren’t going to research what olive oil or smart TV is the best, they just want to get their shopping done. And, kind of like how IAPs work because some people will spend thousands of dollars on them, some people spend thousands of dollars on impulse buys.

nathancahill 5y ago
The problem is now, when you "look it up beforehand", your going to be reading a ton of organic advertising (paid or not). It's just not a flashing banner ad so it flies under your radar.
nosianu 5y ago
> I don’t believe the “ads work subconsciously” bs. A long time ago now, but when I left my parents house to go to another city to study, when I bought laundry detergent for the very first time in my life I ended up with the brand stuff - and I only noticed what I had done at the cash register. I had skipped the cheaper no-name products even though that would have been much more appropriate for my financial situation. Instead, I picked the brand I subconsciously remembered as brand, the one that always had the most annoying TV ads. The one where as a teenager I had wondered, why is anyone so stupid to make such annoying ads? Anyone seeing them would avoid that product! Turned out those annoying housewife ads did work as intended on me.

nathancahill 5y ago

The problem is now, when you "look it up beforehand", your going to be reading a ton of organic advertising (paid or not). It's just not a flashing banner ad so it flies under your radar.

nosianu 5y ago

> I don’t believe the “ads work subconsciously” bs. A long time ago now, but when I left my parents house to go to another city to study, when I bought laundry detergent for the very first time in my life I ended up with the brand stuff - and I only noticed what I had done at the cash register. I had skipped the cheaper no-name products even though that would have been much more appropriate for my financial situation. Instead, I picked the brand I subconsciously remembered as brand, the one that always had the most annoying TV ads. The one where as a teenager I had wondered, why is anyone so stupid to make such annoying ads? Anyone seeing them would avoid that product! Turned out those annoying housewife ads did work as intended on me.