[...] advertising. Beware the insidious power of marketing. You are not immune. We are all subtly manipulated in ways we cannot possibly imagine. When I watch [...]

[...] — like the President, economists, and every single advertisement in the entire world — people are unwilling to accept that they are powerless (nearly) in the face of constant browbeating. But they can’t admit that, and therefore, are unwilling to ask for help, or take steps to [...]

[...] I encourage you to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!In February I wrote about the insidious power of marketing. “We can try not to be swayed by advertising and marketing,” I said. “But no [...]

[...] I read a great post from Get Rich Slowly, entitled “Beware the Insidious Power of Marketing. In it, he highlights a book called The Consumer Trap, which discusses product management [...]

[...] let advertising brainwash you. I’ve written before about the insidious power of marketing. (And I have another entry on this subject coming soon.) Mihalik decries the Great Marketing [...]

[...] Beware the Insidious Power of Marketing How marketers convince you to buy things you don’t really need. [...]

[...] advertising. Beware the insidious power of marketing. Steer clear of situations that expose you to advertising. You are not immune. We are all being [...]

[...] Feb. 13th: Beware the insidious power of marketing [...]

[...] recently wrote about the insidious power of marketing, about how advertising is used to make you want, need, and buy Thneeds and Zizzer-Zoof Seeds, and [...]

[...] recently read J.D.’s post at Get Rich Slowly warning us to Beware the Insidious Power of Marketing. It reminded me of the power of what we see, hear, smell, taste, and feel to influence our actions, [...]

Top 100 Most Popular Personal Finance Blogs…

Creditcard.org recently released the Top 100 List of personal finance blogs to read in 2007. I've re-ranked the list in order of popularity to make it easier for readers who do not have the time to browse through all one hundred blogs. Methodol…

[...] Beware the Insidious Power of Marketing How marketers convince you to buy things you don’t really need. [...]

Keeping up with the Joneses is hard once you’re a parent. As soon as you go to the first parent-infant drop-in, you’ve got the parents with their $1200 strollers. And I can’t believe how many pairs of shoes toddlers seem to have. We just went to a 2nd birthday party with a $75 cake. And I’ve been hassled for not wanting to spend $15 + lunch to take my two-year-old to the aquarium/science centre/art gallery. (I concede that we have a couple of memberships, but we thought them through. Paying $15 for a one-time fee is different.) Then there are the $200 swimming lessons, $200 music lessons, and various other fees for the toddlers. People seem to think that spending a lot of money on your kids will make them better.

But I know this isn’t true. My husband and I come from very modest backgrounds, yet have had very successful academic and professional careers. And we have good friends and an appreciation for many things in life. Yet there seem to be a lot of people who think spending boatloads of cash on your kids will make them better people.

Yes and no. True, my money goes directly to the seller when I purchase a stock. But by the same token, the act of my purchase (in concert with many many similar acts by others), moves the stock price up. An increased stock price helps the company to retain or attract talent (in the form of stock options) or acquire new assets such as other companies (in the form of stock swaps). A higher market capitalization often gives a company a higher value to measure against debt, resulting in lower interest rates.

I don’t think you’ll ever hear a CEO or CFO of a company say, “Don’t buy our stock! We don’t want to bear the expense of paying you dividends!” If you’re aware of such an example, I’d be very interested in learning about it, as it would represent a very atypical situation.

@VinTek:
“Nonsense. My money is invested in companies, where it is used to fund research and development, provide jobs, goods and services.”

If you are are invested in common stocks, you probably bought a piece of your companies from someone else. This money goes directly to the seller, and they might just smoke it up their crack pipe for all we know. If the seller is the company, then it could be used for those things, but I don’t know how often that happens. If you get dividends, then you are actually taking away money from the company that could be used for any of those things. If you invest in bonds, then yes, that money could be used for all of those things. It probably would be better for the company for you to sell all your stock and buy its products. Better for you to buy and hold.

[...] This post from Get Rich Slowly points out that advertising has an effect on you, whether you think so or not: Ultimately we must each bear responsibility for our purchasing behavior. We can try not to be swayed by advertising and marketing. But no matter what we do, we are all affected by attempts to manipulate our subconscious. Even when we believe we are immune to manipulation, we are not. [...]

Very valid point. I would also like to add that one way to combat this effect is to choose the neighbourhood you live in, such that you live with people that make less than you do. “Keeping up with the Jones” is certainly a powerful effect. You can help reduce its effect by choosing to live near families that can’t spend as much as you. Instead of buying a much house as you can afford, buy as little house as you can “afford”.

squished

“Your article also appears to violates one of the principles that this nation was founded on and that principle is ‘That human life value is the source and creation of all property value.’”

Hmmmm…I don’t recall reading this in the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution. Care to tell me where it is?

“Your article also appears to violates one of the principles that this nation was founded on and that principle is ‘That human life value is the source and creation of all property value.’”

Gee, I don’t see that in our founding documents either.

“Is saving money at the expense of human life value a good idea? Our founding fathers didn’t think so.”

Care to attribute these ideas to at least one Founding Father? I know that at least one Founding Father stated, “A penny saved is a penny earned.” That was Ben Franklin. He was also the fellow who wanted to prove the power of compounding by leaving $5,000 to each of his two favorite cities, Boston and Philadelphia. A stipulation of the gift was that the money could only be paid out at two specific dates, 100 years and 200 years after the date of the gift. After 100 years, each city could withdraw $500K for public works projects. In 200 years, each city could withdraw whatever balance was left. In 1991, each city received approximately $20M.

“Most people have as one of their top five a need to feel comfortable as often as possible.”

I suggest that you look up Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. You need to know what you’re talking about.

“If the man sits on his money, he is creating no value for the services he values, thus ending capitalism in a free society.”

Nonsense. My money is invested in companies, where it is used to fund research and development, provide jobs, goods and services.

“You appear to value money over an enjoyable lifestyle.”

More nonsense. The frugal among us value spending and enjoying within our means. Most of us fully intend to spend our money. We just want to make sure that there is enough of it around that we don’t have to work for the rest of our lives. You have your version of what comfort means, we have ours.

While I’m sure that many marketing guys are just trying to earn a living, there are some who will use any excuse, say anything, twist any fact to justify their point of view. Your post was entirely unsupported by fact.

Say, I’ll bet you’re type to say that if we don’t spend like crazy to keep the economy going, the terrorists will have won.

I’m blogging about a new approach I’ve been trying at http://www.takebackyourbrain.com. Basically my thinking is, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em! Corporate interests have gone to massive effort and expense to train me to be receptive to advertising. Rather than just trying to resist its influence, maybe I can use that training to my advantage.

Take Back Your Brain is about using technology like computers and cell phones to create and deliver advertising messages to ourselves about the things WE care about. I’m learning as much as I can about the techniques advertisers employ to get us to do their bidding (thanks for the tip about The Consumer Trap) so I can use them to develop effective ads that remind me to take action on things I want to do. It’s pretty cool how well it works.

I never knew how much advertising affected me until I went a few months without television. My spending went down and my free time went up. Granted, the internet has its share of ads, but those are oftentimes easily blocked.

Great article!

[...] With tomorrow being a marketer’s dream holiday, good words from Get Rich Slowly, Beware the Insidious Power of Marketing. [...]

Marketing is a scary science. I believe the sophistication of marketers is getting to a level where it needs to be somewhat controlled particularly where children are involved.

Even older than the Declaration of Independence is the sentiment that “Love of money is the root of all evil.” There you have it.

I think it’s taking it a bit far to invoke the Founding Fathers to defend capitalism in its current form. There is NO WAY that someone from the 1700s could have envisioned the technologically sophisticated, media-saturated lifestyle that modern Westerners live every day.

Personally, I think it’s shameful that people proud to exploit people for personal gain.

On a personal note, like many who have posted here, stepping back from marketing (i.e. turning off the TV, getting rid of junk mail, staying away from the mall) is tremendously effective in becoming a better money manager. Exposure to ads during the Superbowl made me feel sick to my stomach. I had forgotten how far I had fallen prey to the insidious “discipline” that is marketing.