I'm busy designing a webpage for my writing. I hated Amazon the moment I saw it. And other retailers are no better, just not as scrupulous and demon-like.
It's taking me ages, but the whole point is to leave out all the psychological triggers and emotional hooks you've mentioned here, and actually give people choice.
The only thing is that people are so accustomed to the hooks and loops that maybe when they're actually given a choice they won't know what to do, and even be suspicious.
So, yeah, articles like this are needed. Definitely restocking.
"Canceling a subscription shouldn’t feel like defusing a bomb. Yet companies bury the “stop payments” button deep in menus, and they intentionally make everything much more complex than it should be - for their own benefits."
absolutely. this is one of the tactics that bothers me the most. anytime its easy to sign up and difficult to turn off. I've resubscribed to services in the past once i needed them again purely because i knew they had such an each off button.
Great read guys! Lets see where this new liability takes us.
This is eye opening Mohib. It’s crazy how much of what we think are choices are actually carefully engineered. Makes me realize the power of awareness. Sometimes, we just have to pause before clicking or buying and that changes everything.
Your statement, "Awareness is the first line of defense - and if enough of us care, pushback becomes possible" reminded me of two different thoughts:
1. "You vote with your dollar" - what we "spend" our time, money, and energy on is what we invest into
2. We can be controlled in two ways: one is when we are unaware and the other is when we are aware and become anergy. When we use our awareness on anger we are still fueling the very thing we're anergy about.
Awareness can only be a defense when we use our awareness to consciously choose where we put our energy and attention.
You will think I'm ornery! If I want a work shirt, for instance, and they show me evening blouses, tops for the sea side, then, in anger, I switch off the computer until the need is desperate. Then, I will just look for that top and will not accept anything else. Perhaps this is why my spending has taken such a downturn!
Another brilliant article!
I'm busy designing a webpage for my writing. I hated Amazon the moment I saw it. And other retailers are no better, just not as scrupulous and demon-like.
It's taking me ages, but the whole point is to leave out all the psychological triggers and emotional hooks you've mentioned here, and actually give people choice.
The only thing is that people are so accustomed to the hooks and loops that maybe when they're actually given a choice they won't know what to do, and even be suspicious.
So, yeah, articles like this are needed. Definitely restocking.
Thanks for the detailed comment.
I wrote this one a while back because I was noticing a lot of these patterns whenever I used social media. And I just could NOT write about it…
Such an important topic.
And once you understand this, then you realize how much the younger generation is at danger here.
Meta faced a big lawsuit for this recently, thought the settlement wasn’t that big….
That's the critical issue, the younger generation. They really don't stand a chance, unless they're educated about it.
yep
"Canceling a subscription shouldn’t feel like defusing a bomb. Yet companies bury the “stop payments” button deep in menus, and they intentionally make everything much more complex than it should be - for their own benefits."
absolutely. this is one of the tactics that bothers me the most. anytime its easy to sign up and difficult to turn off. I've resubscribed to services in the past once i needed them again purely because i knew they had such an each off button.
Great read guys! Lets see where this new liability takes us.
Solution for this? Be broke - and you’ll never be able to fall for this trap - ahhaha.
This is eye opening Mohib. It’s crazy how much of what we think are choices are actually carefully engineered. Makes me realize the power of awareness. Sometimes, we just have to pause before clicking or buying and that changes everything.
Glad my post was able to help you.
Now, just try your best to not fall for their tricks using the methods I told u :))
So well written.
Your statement, "Awareness is the first line of defense - and if enough of us care, pushback becomes possible" reminded me of two different thoughts:
1. "You vote with your dollar" - what we "spend" our time, money, and energy on is what we invest into
2. We can be controlled in two ways: one is when we are unaware and the other is when we are aware and become anergy. When we use our awareness on anger we are still fueling the very thing we're anergy about.
Awareness can only be a defense when we use our awareness to consciously choose where we put our energy and attention.
How do you starve a fire?
Take away it's oxygen supply.
Awareness without direction is just noise, but awareness with intention becomes power.
That's a good way to frame it, I never thought about it like that - I'll always remember this now. And glad you liked the post : D
You will think I'm ornery! If I want a work shirt, for instance, and they show me evening blouses, tops for the sea side, then, in anger, I switch off the computer until the need is desperate. Then, I will just look for that top and will not accept anything else. Perhaps this is why my spending has taken such a downturn!
That's a good thing you do.
Also, I am not going to lie - I am not immune to this tactic.
I always get the urge to buy a lot of clothes since I like wearing good clothes.
But generally, I wait 24 hours to give myself some time to think about the decision.
Most of the time, it's some stupid thing that I was going to spend my money on.
That's why waiting is the best strategy - unfortunately, some people just give in.
And that does happen for some folks. But for most, they give into it and hence there's a reason why targeted ads are working so well :(