What customer manipulation tactics do brands use to get more customers?

Some marketing strategies are innocuous attempts to promote products, others cross an ethical line by manipulating and deceiving consumers.

These manipulation tactics can take many forms, both overt and covert. By understanding common manipulative tactics, consumers can make more informed choices.

While not every brand employs deceptive psychological manipulation, many modern advertising and sales techniques demonstrably deploy strategies primed to bypass rational decision-making and drive impulsive, emotionally hijacked purchases.

What is an example of consumer manipulation tactics?

• Deceptive Advertising One of the most prevalent forms of manipulation is deceptive advertising. This involves using false, misleading, or unsubstantiated claims about a product or service. For example, an ad might overstate a product’s capabilities, make scientifically unsupported claims about health benefits, or use fine print to hide important limitations. Visuals can also be manipulated through techniques like altered photos.
• Creating Artificial Scarcity and Urgency Marketers understand the psychological principle of scarcity – that consumers place more value on things that are scarce or dwindling in availability. Companies capitalize on this by announcing “limited-time offers,” displaying countdowns for deals ending soon, or claiming that supplies are dwindling fast. Often, the scarcity is completely artificial and manufactured.
• Pricing strategies like “902-power pricing” or “charm pricing” exploit the left-digit bias cognitive bias that causes consumers to perceive prices like $4.99 as much closer to $4 than $5. Other biases like anchoring (throwing out an extreme price to make the real price seem lower) are also used.
• Origins and Health Claims Manipulation Food marketing is rife with claims about a product being “natural,” “artisanal,” or “farm fresh” that may be misleading or meaningless. Manipulative health claims on foods allege benefits not backed by evidence. “Vitamin-enriched” or “antioxidant-boosted” labels deceive consumers into believing products are healthier.
• Targeting Vulnerable Groups Some marketers shamelessly target vulnerable groups like children, the elderly, or those struggling with addiction. Tactics here include collectible toys and contests aimed at kids, bogus anti-aging products for seniors, and promotion of potentially addictive substances like alcohol, gambling apps, or e-cigarettes

What is manipulation of consumer behavior?

Manipulation of consumer behavior refers to marketing tactics that take advantage of psychological biases and principles to influence purchasing decisions. This includes using scarcity and urgency cues, exploiting cognitive biases around pricing and discounts, leveraging social proof, and making exaggerated claims about products.

• Creating Artificial Scarcity and Urgency A core tenet of influence is that humans place more value on scarce resources and act fast when prompted by a perceived urgency. Marketers capitalize on this by using phrases like “limited time offer,” displaying countdown timers for short-lived deals, and claiming that supplies are dwindling rapidly – pressuring an impulse purchase. Often the scarcity is entirely fabricated.
• Using Social Proof and FOMO Consumers are heavily influenced by what others do and say. Marketers take advantage of this by showing customer testimonials, displaying several purchases made, and creating a fear of missing out (FOMO) on trends. Social media influencers are paid to create buzz around products their followers may feel pressured to buy.
• Other Deceptive Visuals and Fine Print Even product visuals are manipulated through techniques like enhancing food styling, photoshopping models, and hiding disclaimers in fine print. Essentially anything deceptive that isn’t outright illegal may be used as a persuasion tactic.
• Targeting Vulnerable Demographics Some of the most unethical manipulation targets children, the elderly, addicts, and other vulnerable groups. Child-oriented marketing features toy giveaways and contests designed to drive pester power. Casinos and alcohol brands leverage psychological levers around addiction. Anti-aging scams prey on insecurities related to mortality.

How do stores manipulate customers?

While some of these tactics are simply good merchandising, others cross the line into realms of psychological manipulation that exploit human decision-making weaknesses for profit. Savvy consumers should understand these techniques.

• Strategic Product Placement Stores leverage prime real estate like endcaps and eye-level shelves to display high-margin, impulse items certain to catch your attention. More affordable basics are tucked away in less-visible locations. Essentials like milk and bread are positioned toward the rear to ensure you trek through tempting merchandise en route.
• Maze-Like Store Layouts
  The winding, maze-like paths stores force you through are no accident. They maximize browsing opportunities and make it difficult to quickly locate what you need. Visual obstructions like hanging racks and signage make you subconsciously slow your pace as well.
• Limited-time “sales” pressure impulsive buying. Suggested pricing anchors artificially inflate the true discount perception.
• Leveraging Scarcity Cues Tactics like displaying limited quantity items or signs announcing “Just Arrived” and “Last Chance” warnings induce a fear of scarcity. Customers feel urgency and are more willing to impulse spend.
• Harnessing Social Proof Few can resist being part of the “in the crowd.” Stores leverage social proof by stating popularity, posting testimonials, or featuring displays of products already in other shoppers’ carts.
• Sensory Seduction Delicious smells like fresh-baked goods waft through stores stimulating appetites and cravings. Upbeat music playlists elevate moods making customers feel more open to indulging themselves. Appealing product packaging and displays create a tactile pull.
• Checkout Shelving Impulse Buys
  The gum, candy, magazines, toys, and novelty items lining check-out queues aren’t just for convenience. These temptations are calculated efforts to trigger additional impulse purchases while you’re trapped waiting in line.
• Child Targeting Stores cater to “pester power” by placing kids’ prize-grab vending machines, toy displays, and towering candy racks squarely at a child’s eye level. This engages youthful nagging for parents to acquiesce

The next time you hit the mall, remember - you're being meticulously nudged to spend, spend, spend.

How is e-commerce changing consumer behavior?

E-commerce has transformed consumer behavior in several key ways – increasing expectations around convenience and speed, driving more impulse and mobile purchases, enabling easy price comparison, facilitating customization and personalization, and ushering in subscription-based consumption models.

• Increasing Expectations of Convenience One of the most significant e-commerce forces shaping consumer expectations is the demand for fast, frictionless shopping experiences. One-click purchases, rapid shipping, easy returns, and intuitive user experiences have conditioned consumers to expect extreme convenience when buying online or through mobile apps.
• Impulse and Mobile Shopping Surges E-commerce has unleashed an unprecedented wave of impulse purchases – both accidental and driven by relentless digital advertising. The “endless aisle” of choices, frequent promotions, and ability to shop anytime, anywhere (including on mobile devices) has led to spikes in unplanned, spur-of-the-moment purchases.
• Enabling Effortless Price Comparison Whereas physical retail made comparative shopping an arduous task of driving between stores, e-commerce allows for rapid price comparison across virtually all online vendors within seconds. This price transparency has empowered consumers while also fueling intense price competition between brands.
• Personalization and Mass Customization E-commerce data enable deep personalization, customization, and predictive recommendations tailored to each consumer’s preferences and past purchases. This unlocks new models like made-to-order products, custom configurations, and other niche, small-batch offerings that were impossible through mass-market retail alone.
• Subscription-Based Consumption Models From subscription boxes to digital streaming services, e-commerce has enabled subscription-based access over outright ownership for many types of goods and content. For consumers, this means paying recurring fees instead of purchasing outright, which impacts budgeting and relationships with brands.
• Social Shopping and Influencers Online social communities have spawned entirely new e-commerce behaviors like social shopping and being influenced by peers, online reviews, influencers, and digital word-of-mouth. This represents a democratization of marketing channeled through trusted social connections.
• Digital Experiences Over Physical Ones Finally, e-commerce has elevated the importance of digital consumer experiences potentially at the expense of physical ones. Online channels must sufficiently replicate and often improve upon in-store purchase journeys through rich media, virtual walkthroughs, and frictionless digital interfaces.

Related: Why customer education is important in 2024 and in the future?

How e-commerce sites manipulate you into buying things you may not want?

These novel digital approaches go beyond traditional psychological ploys by fully immersing and motivating shoppers through advanced software, virtual realities, and even gamified purchasing experiences. Understanding the vanguard of e-commerce manipulation is critical for conscientious consumers.

• AI-Powered. By harnessing machine learning algorithms trained on immense datasets, AI enables hyper-personalized e-commerce experiences tailored to each individual’s predicted preferences and triggers. Everything from product recommendations to pricing, messaging, and user interfaces can be dynamically adapted to increase desired purchasing behaviors.
• Immersive Virtual Reality Shopping Transporting shoppers into fully-realized 3D virtual retail environments allows e-commerce sites to recreate the excitement and social atmospheres of physical stores. VR environments map user eye movements and elevate product interactions far beyond flat web pages, increasing emotional investment.
• Augmented Reality & 3D Visualization Similarly, augmented reality (AR) apps enable realistic visualizations of products directly overlaid into your living spaces through smartphone cameras. Seeing rendered furniture, clothing, or appliances “in place” helps e-commerce overcome traditional touch/feel barriers while blurring virtual and material realities.
• Gamification of the Purchase Process By introducing game-like elements such as reward point accumulation, exclusive memberships, competition leaderboards, and bundled “power-up” packages, e-commerce platforms can transform shopping into an engrossing pastime driven by compulsion loops and a desire to accumulate more rewards.
• Token-Gated Exclusivity and FOMO Drawing from the allure of cryptocurrency rewards and NFT exclusivity, retailers are experimenting with token-gated shopping experiences only accessible by holding particular branded digital tokens or collectibles. This cultivates both perceived scarcity and FOMO for not wanting to be left out.
• Motivation Through Online Rewards Programs
  While customer loyalty programs have existed for decades, modern variants integrate e-commerce with gaming principles by awarding redeemable points and achievement badges for completing specific purchase actions or consistently buying particular brands/categories.
• Influencer Affiliate Shopping Social media influencers are incentivized through lucrative commission programs to prolifically promote e-commerce products across their platforms. Leveraging parasocial relationships with influencers manipulates fan audiences into feeling compelled to purchase sponsorships.