Being an advertising student my line between persuasion and manipulation may be blurred. After all, I've spent the better part of two years learning how to convince susceptible people into buying products that may better their lives (Well, at least that's what I've been told by the client). In the current environment it is hard to discern between the two.
Ethics is a very hard subject to talk about in the advertising industry. I'd like to think I am helping people find the right product at the right time that aids their life in a meaningful way. However, this is very rarely the case... One quick fact I would like to point out, the advertising industry is 100% self-governed. That means we decide what is appropriate and inappropriate within our own industry. To put this into some sort of context, imagine what Australia would be like if there wasn't a third party governing the alcohol and cigarette industries. I'm sure we would be told how good beer is for your health and cigarettes would tailor sweet flavoured tobacco for a younger market to get hooked onto.
Before and after the introduction of standardised packaging for cigarettes as evidence of industry regulation.
How can we know when we are being persuaded or manipulated? I like to think of it as a sliding scale. There is no black and white to this, all forms of persuasion have traits of manipulation and vice versa. What we need to be considerate of is the intent behind the persuasion/manipulation. This is where the real ethics lie. The way I separate the two is by asking myself, did I have any intention of buying this over the last few months and would this have a long-lasting beneficial impact on my life. If the answer is no to both, then I am being manipulated into buying the product.
Maybe a positive note we can gather from this is that although the industry is self-governed the public is our true judge, jury and executioner. As the general public is our audience, it is in our best interests to keep you all happy. If something does fall through the gaps of our governance, the public will (sometimes unexpectedly) inform us through complaints, emails, social media posts, boycotts... etc and the ad or even the entire business will be tainted.
So, I'll wrap this up by asking; have you been a victim to advertising manipulation or have you always been in control of your purchases?