- [Narrator] There are a lot
of methods companies employ to convince consumers that
their product is the best. Most of these are often
so subtle that we aren't even aware that we're being influenced. We take a look at 10 more
ways that companies trick you on a daily basis, from subtle manipulation to outright psychological warfare. - Amazing. - [Narrator] Number
10, scarcity principle. This one is pretty straight forward and yet it's amazing how
often we fall for it. It's the idea that if a
store markets something as going out of stock
or only being offered for a limited time, that
people will naturally want to capitalize on it,
even if it's something that they don't actually need. Now while this may be true
of certain seasonal things like Mandarin orange
chocolates and candy canes, the majority of these
ploys are simply there to encourage reckless
spending and have little to do with scarcity at all. Nevertheless in keeping with the mantra of supply and demand, we
are naturally inclined to want to process things
that are seen as rare. The next time you visit a grocery store and there's a special one-time
offer being advertised, try to keep track of whether
or not it's still there the next time you come back. Chances are, it's still there. Number nine, visualizing dollar signs and cost to weight. You wouldn't thing something as simple as dropping the dollar
sign from the price tag would have an impact on
whether or not someone chose to buy a product. But a study out of Cornell found that when looking at many
restaurants, there was a notable difference in spending habits. When restaurants got rid
of the infamous dollar sign or any other currency symbol
and simply displayed a number, patrons were far more likely to purchase more expensive items. This also heavily ties into a similar bias where consumers tend to favor items that look cheaper than they actually are. You've probably encountered this firsthand and it's become one of the more obvious but nevertheless effective
ways to encourage spending. An item priced at 2.99
visually appears to us to be a better deal than
something priced at $3 even though the difference
between them is only a cent. This doesn't just apply to candy bars and small things however. Car manufacturers are famous
for pitching the same method marking down prices to look cheaper by reducing numbers to the left. There is also the matter
of cost to weight ratios. Many products have been
experiencing diminished amounts per package with a
price that fails to take into account this loss. In many cases this
involves the convenience of packaging and stores
tapping into the inherent laziness of their customers. Think about it. If you're in a stifling mall and just want to buy what's on your
grocery list and get out, you're less likely to
head to the bulk aisle and spend time measuring
and bagging your own food when you can just as easily
cruise down another aisle and swipe a prepackaged
version of the same product into your cart and keep going. The problem is, these prepackaged
items don't often reflect a fair weight to cost ratio
and you end up paying more for less. Number eight, social proof. We are innately herd creatures
meaning that we often contextualize events and
experiences according to the people around us. This is something psychologists
and marketing agencies have known for decades and has given birth to what is affectionately
termed social proof. If we see something that
appears to have been advocated by others, we are more likely
to make emotional purchases based on that information. Slogans like nine in 10 people prefer us over competitors may
seem like lip service, but when displayed in a way
that emphasizes authority, such as on big signs and commercials and through celebrity endorsements, there is a measurable effect
in people's willingness to believe and buy accordingly. Number seven, trustworthiness of faces. Speaking of celebrities,
there is a wholesale algorithm behind the sorts of people that show up on commercials and advertisements. And generally speaking, most
of them fit a certain criteria. There is considerable evidence to show that we often make up our
minds about the trustworthiness of a person's face in the blink of an eye, between 10 and 33 milliseconds,
and that the degree to which we trust a face has a lot to do with its proportions. A study out of New York
University found individuals with higher cheek bones and eyebrows, as well as genuine smiles
that utilize all the muscles of the face were statistically viewed as more trustworthy than
those with sunken cheeks and furrowed eyebrows. The moral of the story, if
you wanna sell something, maybe getting a facelift
isn't as far fetched as it sounds. This certainly paid off for Calvin Klein when they piggybacked on
the up and coming fame of Justin Bieber for the 2015 line, a campaign whose video racked
up nearly 10.5 million views and became one of the top trending topics on Facebook that year. Number six, stimulate your appetite. Restaurants and bars are
notorious for priming their customers to purchase
more than they normally would. The presence of bar snacks or appetizers like free bread, have
become so common place that we almost take them for granted. In fact you might be a little miffed if you don't get apparently gratis extras at these sorts of establishments. But in reality, the choice
of what makes up a bar snack or a complementary appetizer
has been carefully selected to encourage you to make
larger expenditures. Bars in particular favor
salty snacks like peanuts which make you thirsty,
while high class restaurants encourage you to eat bread
to activate your appetite so that you'll be even
hungrier when it comes time to choose a menu item. By lining the stomach,
the break will also enable their clientele to drink
more, which is beneficial to the restaurant as
beverages have the highest profit margins. There is also agreement in
the hospitality industry that by offering free and
relatively small samples, you're encouraging
reciprocity, our psychological tendency to want to pay people back for acts of kindness and generosity. The next time you find
yourself unconsciously wanting to tip a large amount,
think back to whether or not you were offered
a complimentary glass of wine or basket of bread. Number five, social conditioning. Understanding how people
react to certain stimuli has become the proverbial el dorado for social savvy marketers. And social conditioning is
just one of the many techniques that employees are taught. Although we are predominantly
visual creatures, some studies have found
that utilizing tactility in interactions, such as
having sales people touch you while demonstrating or
explaining a product, makes it far more likely
you'll end up buying whatever it is they're selling. Mimicking expressions and
gestures also increases empathy and creates a social bond between employee and customer, making you
much more sympathetic to a spending spree, a phenomenon known as facial feedback theory. If you've ever noticed a
salesperson tapping your shoulder or folding their arms
and touching their face when you do the same thing,
you've probably been a target of such social conditioning. Additionally, there is
evidence that when luxury items are concerned, customers are more inclined to buy a product when the
salespeople are rude to them, the idea being that snobbiness
fosters the illusion of belonging to an in crowd. And here we like to think we've grown out of high school clicks and
trying to be the cool kid. Number four, complementing principle. Another relatively
straightforward sales strategy, this one is favored especially
by electronic manufacturers such as Sony and Microsoft. Often a product will be
sold for a certain amount but the additional
components, such as batteries, remotes, cables, et cetera,
will be sold separately and come with higher than
average price tags attached. When purchasing a computer is concerned, this is readily apparent. A computer may be sold for $1,000. But the real income for
the store is derived from the installation
of software, add ons, and warranties. Another example I've personally noticed are Go Pro batteries. The recommended retail
price for Go Pro batteries on Amazon is around 20
pounds, which is much more expensive than
alternatives like Smatree who sell two, which store
more charge anyways. Plus a charger for even less
than one official battery. The reason they often
get away with it though is because either most people are unaware or they regard them as inferior seeing as third party batteries
aren't under warranty. Either way, it's an insanely high markup. Number three, gender specific advertising. Let's face it. While there are obvious
physical differences between men and women,
there are also significant differences in their spending habits. Take razors for example. Before 1915, shaving of the underarm was relatively unheard of. But the introduction of
short-sleeved dresses provided an opportunity
for razor companies to cater to yet another demographic. And shaving the legs didn't become popular until the 1930s. Fast forward to today, and
razors are still advertised to women, but in the form
of basic, easily breakable, simple toned disposables. While men's razors are sleek,
hardy, futuristic-looking and use language that is
geared towards masculinity. Razors were able to find a market not only with both sexes, but the way
in which the same product with the same function as
advertised differs considerably. In fact, a report by the Times
found that overall women's products were 37% more
expensive than their male counterparts, which
may explain why many women have switched to using men's razors which are cheaper to buy in bulk and often of a higher
quality that last longer. But the gender bias on consumer products goes both ways. Male skin care products
tend to be hundreds of times more expensive than
their female counterparts, such as Nivea moisturizers. Number two, arbitrary expiration dates. We like to think there is an ordered and logical system behind the application of expiration date stickers. The actual usage of
expiration dates on food didn't come about until the 1970s. But today there is a
consensus that they are meant to tell us when a product
is no longer edible. In fact, expiration dates
are a bit of a misnomer since they are actually meant to indicate to food purveyors when a
food is at its freshest. Products are often quite edible long after their expiration dates,
especially in the case of canned or dried goods. But also more unexpected
products like medications. This confusion has
resulted in a huge amount of food going to waste in North America with 90% of Americans
throwing out food prematurely. The problem is that expiration
dates were never implemented as a safety measure,
but as a quality measure meaning that there is
no national regulation dictating what expiration
dates have to say. While some things like milk or vegetables definitely go bad faster,
chances are you've been chucking good food in
the waste bin for years. Number one, nostalgia and smells. Yes, even the friendliest
looking companies may be taking advantage of
your childhood memories. That catchy tune that
comes in on the intercom while you're perusing
the mall, or that barrage of Christmas music during the holidays, it's not just there to
add a bit of atmosphere. Several studies have found that appealing to people's sense of nostalgia effectively makes them value money less. This may have to do with the fact that nostalgia fosters a sense
of social interconnectedness. When we are reminded of something pleasant in our past, we begin to
over value our relationships to others while at the same
time devaluing our attachment to other things. If you're in the middle
of a mall or store, that other thing may be your credit card. We've also had it drilled into us that smell is a most
evocative of the senses when it comes to memory. Grocery outlets are well aware of this and often design their
layouts so that smell takes precedence when you
walk through the doors. Positioning the flowers in produce section or the bakery near the
entrance immediately assaults customers with pleasant
smells that stimulate the appetite encouraging them to buy more. Likewise, when another
consumer study experimented by using vanilla scent in
a women's clothing store and rose Maroc in a men's clothing store, their sales nearly doubled. Our best advice to avoid
being manipulated by stores, bring a clothespin. Our subconscious can be a powerful thing and though we may not always be aware of what it's doing, it's
there to help us navigate the world and our experiences. At the same time, it also
makes us an ideal target for companies who know how
to exploit our base impulses, biases and psychological quirks in order to encourage us to buy
things we don't need. Can you think of any other
hidden or mischievous tactics that the marketing industry uses or any that we might have missed? Hey, feel free to leave a comment below and let us know. Thanks for watching Be Amazed.
