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Do independent reviews and product testing count as marketing? There's some element of magicking away the payola in this thought experiment.

AnthonyMouse 2y ago
We already have those things. To the extent that people can use them to get the good product instead of the junk one, don't they already do it? And, of course, we know that these things are often corrupted. One of the major problems is that people want this most for products that are expensive, but manufacturers only send free/pre-release test samples to reviewers they think will publish a favorable review. To do it right you need the reviewer to not have this dependency on the manufacturer for access, so they need money to buy the product themselves. Which is what you get with Consumer Reports, but they (haha) aren't funded by advertising, and then people on a tight budget forego subscription and don't know what to buy.
- account42 2y ago
  > To the extent that people can use them to get the good product instead of the junk one, don't they already do it? Because they are bombarded with effective psychological manipulation designed specifically to get them to buy buy buy without thinking.
  - AnthonyMouse 2y ago
    That's really two different classes of products. You want to read a review before you buy a car, but by and large people actually do that already. Low cost items don't need that because this isn't going to be the only sandwich or bottle of laundry detergent you buy this decade, so it's as easy to take a chance on it once and try it yourself as to read a review which may or may not be biased, and then if it sucks you don't buy it again.
ghaff 2y ago
Somehow you have to get your product in front of (and probably give it away) to the people doing the independent reviews and product testing. That's marketing. There are probably some exceptions in well-defined markets with a limited number of products like automobiles but those are actually companies that, in general, spend a lot on marketing and advertising.

AnthonyMouse 2y ago

We already have those things. To the extent that people can use them to get the good product instead of the junk one, don't they already do it? And, of course, we know that these things are often corrupted. One of the major problems is that people want this most for products that are expensive, but manufacturers only send free/pre-release test samples to reviewers they think will publish a favorable review. To do it right you need the reviewer to not have this dependency on the manufacturer for access, so they need money to buy the product themselves. Which is what you get with Consumer Reports, but they (haha) aren't funded by advertising, and then people on a tight budget forego subscription and don't know what to buy.

account42 2y ago
> To the extent that people can use them to get the good product instead of the junk one, don't they already do it? Because they are bombarded with effective psychological manipulation designed specifically to get them to buy buy buy without thinking.
- AnthonyMouse 2y ago
  That's really two different classes of products. You want to read a review before you buy a car, but by and large people actually do that already. Low cost items don't need that because this isn't going to be the only sandwich or bottle of laundry detergent you buy this decade, so it's as easy to take a chance on it once and try it yourself as to read a review which may or may not be biased, and then if it sucks you don't buy it again.

ghaff 2y ago

Somehow you have to get your product in front of (and probably give it away) to the people doing the independent reviews and product testing. That's marketing. There are probably some exceptions in well-defined markets with a limited number of products like automobiles but those are actually companies that, in general, spend a lot on marketing and advertising.