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It's disturbing how we as a society are okay with ad companies weaponsing psychology

So many people that take psychology courses end up working in the advertisement industry because that’s where the jobs are if you have a psychology degree. Very few people sit back and think about the implications of the scientific study of the mind being used by companies to distort peoples perceptions and make them buy things.

They are literally trying to control our minds. It’s not a conspiracy theory this is out in the open public information. If some companies decided to they can make you depressed to sell more things to you and you wouldn’t even know it.

Imagine the pick a teenage boy. This boy is a bit shy and insecure. Now, psychology was originally intended to help people. Under the capitalist model it doesn’t. Now this teenage boy instead of being recommended stuff to help them will instead be recommended the likes of Andrew Tate and so on. This person won’t even know what hit them and won’t even understand the turn of events that will lead to those videos being recommended. But they are recommended to him. Suddenly his change in behaviour pushes people away and he falls deeper and deeper into a rabbit hole.

They get more depressed. More lonely so they start buying shit like AI girlfriends but they aren’t real. They get recommended more hateful content as well. They will sprial deeper into depression. This person will likely seek help at this point. Perhaps they’ll recommend putting effort into real world connections so they download something like tinder. But all these apps are designed to make you pay in order to succeed so he pays to get special access. Now the ad companies know they’ll loose money if this now grown man becomes confident so they start recommending content that’ll make them more anxious and depressed about the experience. They give up and retreat further into depression. The whole time the person who is being targeted, their family, their therapist and their loved ones will never be able to put the dots together. They’ll wonder what went wrong not knowing that their personality was already decided for them by ad companies years ago.

So like that they add companies weaponising human psychology can target a teenage boy and basically plan out the next ten years of their life. Think about how dystopian the weaponisation of psychology is when a family member of yours goes down the alt right pipeline after “suddenly” being recommended such videos.

The_Picard_Maneuver ,
@The_Picard_Maneuver@startrek.website avatar

Also can’t forget gaming companies that have turned many modern games into Skinner-boxes.

aniki ,

I just flatout refuse to play a game that has any kind of monetization in the first few menus. It’s amazing how many games that cuts out.

If you advertise DLC before the game loads? Instant refund.

umbrella ,
@umbrella@lemmy.ml avatar

ill pirate games, and those come with all the dlc out of the box, no bullshit. its awesome.

CodexArcanum ,

I “joke” all the time that the CIA ended their mind control programs because they succeeded and moved all if it into the private sector in advertising.

Atelopus-zeteki ,
@Atelopus-zeteki@kbin.run avatar

All humor has a bit of truth in it, else it wouldn't be pertinent.

CrayonRosary ,

Humor can work simply because you fear something is true. Or want it to be true. It doesn’t have to actually be true. It just has to be plausible.

CIA_chatbot ,

Shit, we own the private sector. Or they own us, I can never remember

NovaPrime ,
@NovaPrime@lemmy.ml avatar

Capitalists own the private sector. Everyone else is just human capital.

gregorum ,

You comment would get more votes if it didn’t creep everyone in the hell out because you’re totally right

CIA_chatbot ,

Yea, for a novelty account sometimes I kinda just say stuff then regret it

Showroom7561 ,

Yes, it’s absolutely horrific where we’re at. But there is an upside!

If you’re able to acknowledge its existence and protect against it, you’ve built a tremendous foundation for preserving your mental health that will last a lifetime.

One thing I’ve learned over the years is that these ad companies (and the companies who deploy their services) only have control over you if you give them permission to.

  • Block ads whenever you can.
  • Avoid apps/websites that use dark patterns. .
  • Work to improve your health (physical and mental), find meaningful tasks, be with people in real life or enjoy the outdoors alone; the less time you spend on ad territory, the less impact they will have on you.
  • Buy from ethical companies, if possible.
  • Avoid “influencers”, people who constantly promote “sponsored content”, and other strongly bias sources for your information or entertainment.
herrcaptain ,

These are great suggestions. I’ll add a book to that list: “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion” by Dr. Cialdini. (Not so coincidentally, his doctorate is in social psychology.)

It’s been a few years since I read it, and if I’m remembering correctly it’s oriented toward business people. Regardless, it teaches you what to watch out for and how to mitigate its effects on your own psychology. People use this book everyday to exploit others, so why not learn their tricks?

Showroom7561 ,

“Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion” by Dr. Cialdini.

Thanks for the recommend! I’m going to check my library for it!

KnightontheSun ,

For even more comprehensive of an understanding, another resource is Adam Curtis’ documentary: The Century of the Self

Showroom7561 ,

Thanks for the recommendation.

I finished watching it, and I’m both fascinated and furious.

KnightontheSun ,

Yes. It is knowledge you almost wish you didn’t have.

blind3rdeye ,

Building on this, I also want to warn against the attitude that ‘ads don’t work on me’. A lot of people seem to think that they have some kind of mental filtering system such that they are immune to manipulation. They sometimes talk about how they deliberately make a point of not buying from some company who advertised in a way they didn’t like, or whatever.

I’ll just say this: you don’t have a special power. The ads do work. Maybe not every ad has the effect that you think they are aiming for, and not ever ad is targeting you. But if you are exposed to advertising, then it will affect how you think - and some of the people making these ads are serious experts with lot of research to help them manipulate your habits and behaviour. It’s a type of social technology that has advanced over time. It’s better to avoid it rather than assume you are immune.

nodsocket ,

I.e. you are not immune to propaganda

skillissuer ,
@skillissuer@discuss.tchncs.de avatar

we had this for solid few years already archive.org/…/the-alt-right-playbook-how-to-radic…

AbouBenAdhem , (edited )

It also counters the consumer-as-rational-agent model that underlies most mainstream economics.

AnonTwo ,

I mean,

I don't think psychology is meant to help people.

It's neutral, neither good or evil. While you can argue it's pretty dark how deep the psychology can go, it's hard to go into a deep evaluation of that.

Old_Dude ,

Interesting thoughts. I’d like to know how many people feel compelled to make a purchase because they see an ad rather than because they actually need or want something. My assumption is that this number is very low, but I can only speak through my own experience in my life and those who I’m close to. If someone has a sickness, I’m not sure we can blame an ad for their decision making. My wife is bipolar and has had episodes of excessive spending ($15K in a week once), but I don’t blame the name brand items she purchased or restaurants she went to, she just has a condition that needs outside help.

AbouBenAdhem ,

I’d like to know how many people feel compelled to make a purchase because they see an ad rather than because they actually need or want something. My assumption is that this number is very low

If that’s the case, then most advertising budgets are wasted and companies could increase their sales by diverting that money into improving their products or reducing their prices. But none of them seem to be doing that successfully.

abbadon420 ,

It’s not the direct ad that does it. They don’t want you to see a billboard, drop what you’re doing and order that tv. They want to bombard you with their name and make you subconsiously associate their name with the word “tv” or even better, the idea of a tv. So next time when you do need a new tv, you’ll be like “I know that brandname, that feels familiair and comfortable, I’ll take that one”.

That’s what they pay the psychology students for, to come up with schemes like that.

aniki ,

To take it further with the car comercials at christmas – hardly anyone on the planet buys their SO a vehicle for christmas. Those advertisemsents are selling the idea that super wealthy people ALSO buy the same cars you do! and now you feel good about your purchase so next time you’ll get that loyalty discount and steep rebates on the horrendously made, overpriced shitbox… [looking at you GMC’

grue ,

And yet if you try to defend yourself (say, by painting over billboards), you’d be the one charged with a crime.

foggy ,

You know all that research that gets done by colleges that gets published? You know how they’re all bound by ethical guidelines about how they conduct those studies?

You know who doesn’t publish their studies? You know who’s not bound by those same ethical guidelines? Merely by law? You know who has way more expendable cash? And a vested interest in spending it this way?

Look into the careers of guys like Ernest Dichter or Louis Cheskin. And those guys only did it into the 80s.

Imagine the knowledge some of these companies have with smartphone usage data and shit. It’s wild.

abbadon420 ,

I recently found out that you can watch full youtube videos without ads if you only watch the… whatsitcalled…thumbnail?.. you can even enabke the sound. No adds! That feels like a loophole. There’s better solutions, but this one feels special, since it’s in the official youtube app. I can’t believe they left that in on accident though, but I’ll take it.

homesweethomeMrL ,

Yep. It’s why “TV” was such a “thing”. Also, Reagan.

alsaaas ,
@alsaaas@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

Welcome to capitalism babyyyyyy

Toneswirly ,

Reminds me of Minutemen’s song Shit From an Old Notebook: “Let the products sell themselves Fuck advertising, commercial psychology Psychological methods to sell should be destroyed”

reddig33 ,

Everyone weaponizes psychology. Not just ad companies. Your boss, your friends, politicians, your child when they want you to buy them a new toy, the plot of a good book. People need to learn critical thinking.

Kissaki ,

Not every user is weaponization.

aniki ,

Come off it. Not everyone is trying to manipulate you into acting against your best interest. Which is precisely what advertising is.

theworstshepard ,

Sometimes. Sometimes it’s just “we both know you’re going to have to buy this anyway so please buy our version of it”

There’s a scale of harmful from that all the way up to scams, with “you don’t need this but we’re going to trick you into thinking you do” in the middle

KnightontheSun ,

Have you ever watched The Century of the Self by Adam Curtis? If not, please do so. It is free on Youtube. You’re touching on some of the elements here.

aniki ,

To me the shit is as barbaric is treating cancer with chemo-therapy. It’s going to be one of those things future generations look back on with total disgust and horror like the way we look back and people dumping their shit buckets into the street.

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