Brandwashed: Tricks Companies Use to Manipulate Our Minds and Persuade Us to Buy

Citation

Lantos, G.P. (2012), "Brandwashed: Tricks Companies Use to Manipulate Our Minds and Persuade Us to Buy", Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 29 No. 7, pp. 554-557. https://doi.org/10.1108/07363761211275063

Martin Lindstrom has struck again, following up on his best‐selling, widely‐quoted 2010 Buyology (reviewed in Journal of Product and Brand Management, 2010, Vol. 19, No. 3) with this tantalizing tome that, like its predecessor, explains how marketers use their knowledge of how our brains function and consumer psychology to influence our buyer behavior. The message: Marketers surreptitiously try to manipulate us early and often.

The book's purported purpose is to educate consumers to make better informed purchase decisions and to avoid falling prey to devious marketing methods. Lindstrom says, “My goal is by understanding just how today's newest hidden persuaders are conspiring to brandwash us, we as consumers can battle back” (p. 8). He aims to heighten consumers' awareness of marketing's attempts to “trick, manipulate, and seduce us” (pp. 227‐8) and to educate buyers to make better marketplace decisions. Some little known findings could be useful here (e.g. if you double the size of your shopping cart, you will end up buying up to 40 percent more). Overall, however, Brandwashed is light on consumer solutions. (For instance, given the power of peer pressure, he could recommend we cultivate frugal friends.) This book is also sparse in suggestions for practitioners. Nonetheless, Brandwashed is worthwhile reading for both marketers, students of marketing, and consumers.

Mr. Lindstrom is well‐qualified to write this book. A former ad executive at BBDO and renowned marketing consultant to giant firms such as Disney, Procter & Gamble, McDonald's, and Microsoft, plus at least one royal family, he was named one of the world's Most Influential People of 2009 by Time magazine. Lindstrom specializes in using the tools of neuroscience (which studies the structure and function of the nervous system and brain), notably fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) scanners, which electronically measure the brain's activities (especially the subconscious mind's functions) to provide detailed descriptions of what part of the brain consumers use while viewing images and messages. Such research reportedly aids marketers in stroking subconscious responsive chords as well as in attracting and retaining attention and interest.

This book is Lindstrom's kiss‐and‐tell tome revealing his insider information, although he never reveals his motive for outing the marketing industry's alleged stealth marketing secrets and his own practices concerning these subconscious “hidden persuaders” (p. 8). The author's writing style is interesting, entertaining, and at times witty. He demonstrates repeatedly that most of our decisions are emotional, not rational, and often subconscious, based primarily on our hopes and fears as well as need to feel good.

Lindstrom focuses primarily on what he views as marketers' deceit and manipulation of consumer perceptions. However, it seems that much of this activity merely entails appealing to people's emotional desires such as fear, nostalgia, and lust.

Following is a condensed synopsis of Brandwashed, which covers the gamut of marketing techniques. It is organized into ten chapters, each featuring a broad topic of consumer influence (various emotional desires, plus other topics such as celebrity marketing and data mining), and each broken down into more detailed examples of uses of the broad consumer influence:

1. 1.

   Buy Baby Buy. Firms begin marketing to us in the womb since research shows that mothers strongly influence their pre‐born babies, and the marketing continues toward very young children (e.g. using kid‐targeted versions of adult products) to form lifelong buying preferences.

2. 2.

   Peddling Panic and Paranoia. Fear appeals sell, as evidenced by pharmaceutical firms exaggerating the dangers of epidemics, germs, and diseases such as H1N1and SARS; antibacterial soap makers leading us to believe that germs are omnipresent (whereas antibacterial soaps actually make us more susceptible to disease since our bodies do not build up resistances), and insurance companies producing tear‐jerking commercials. Fear actually gives consumers a rush by activating their adrenaline and epinephrine hormones.

3. 3.

   I Can't Quit You. Many firms engineer their products and their marketing to be addicting and craving‐inducing. This often occurs by triggering emotions that cause our brains to release dopamine, a feel‐good chemical. When these emotional triggers are associated with a brand, consumers connect the good feeling with the brand, thereby desiring it. Examples of addictive marketing include the shot of dopamine we get from emails, Facebook messages, Twitter responses, and flash shopping sites such as Groupon; habit‐forming chemicals in our foods; addictive video games; and micro‐rewards such as a new Farmville crop type or fresh information from a smartphone that keep us coming back for more.

4. 4.

   Buy It, Get Laid. Sex sells; many marketers in effect say, “Purchase the product and succeed in the bedroom.” Much advertising goes beyond merely creating an association between the brand and a sexually attractive person to aspirational advertising in which viewers visualize themselves as the pitchperson who is extremely attractive to the opposite sex (e.g. Axe commercials). Some ads play off of our hidden sexual fantasies or our nostalgia for the sexual glory days of our youth.

5. 5.

   Under Pressure. Because we are social animals made for community, pernicious peer pressure persuades; especially children, tweens, and teens, who have not firmly formed a self‐image, are subject to the herd instinct. We feel better (feel‐good brain chemicals at work again) when we select products popular with our peers. Examples include reliance on online reviews, bestseller lists, Facebook “likes,” and Zhu Zhu pet's marketing triggering social contagion.

6. 6.

   Oh, Sweet Memories. Nostalgic marketing suggests that buying the brand will return you to a happier, simpler time (even better than the first time around since we tend to remember past experiences as being better than they actually were). “Authentic” and retro‐iconic brands revive old ad campaigns and packaging, and they use '70s and '80s tunes in their commercials to return us to the “good ‘ole days,” tapping into our fondest memories (including brand memories), especially from childhood. Again, the evoked pleasant emotions are associated with the brand.

7. 7.

   Marketers’ Royal flush. Celebrities market themselves as brands. When associated with a brand, the emotional attachment consumers have with the star transfers to the brand. This influences their brand decisions as they imagine they can be transformed into the luminaries by becoming brand users.

8. 8.

   Hope In a Jar. Snake oil is alive and well as non‐FDA products vaguely claim that thet cure what ails you by offering intangible, emotionally powerful “spiritual” qualities such as health, hope, happiness, and vitality. Marketers hitch themselves to the latest feel‐good trend, whether it is breast cancer's pink ribbons, bailing out disaster‐struck regions (Tide's “Loads of Hope” campaign), or the simplicity movement during the Great Recession.

9. 9.

   Every Breath You Take, They'll be Watching You. All of the above themes were alive and well back in the days when Vance Packard was maligning the marketing profession. This chapter, however, concerns twenty‐first century technology and the extensive data mining that is occurring thanks to digital coupons, Facebook and Twitter posts, credit‐card purchases, Google searches, smartphone app and iTunes downloads, and loyalty‐card memberships, all of which enable marketers to track our digital footprints. The resulting data is shared liberally amongst marketers in our “postprivacy society” (p. 227). After finishing this chapter you will probably be loath to swipe your loyalty card, click ads online, or download coupons as you will have the creepy feeling marketers are tracking your every move.

Conclusion: I'll Have What Mrs Morgenson Is Having: The Most Powerful Hidden Persuader of Them All: Us

Lindstrom closes by describing a US $3 million social experiment in peer marketing he conducted by implanting a family living an enviable lifestyle, the Morgensons, in an upscale Southern California neighborhood to get them to subtly promote products to their neighbors, friends, and colleagues for a month. They have a powerful influence, getting each neighbor on average to try three recommended brands.

Lindstrom draws on multiple information sources, including his professional experiences, fMRI research, and a variety of secondary sources, mostly internet addresses for magazine and newspaper articles but also some academic journals from many academic fields. Unfortunately, some of the research he discusses is unsourced, and, due to small sample sizes, much of his own research is more anecdotal than scientific. It should also be noted the jury is still out on the validity of fMRI research.

Although the book contains interesting war stories, there are no startling revelations for professional marketers and advertisers as there are no trade secrets and, as noted above, few recommendations. Is it any surprise that celebrity endorsements stimulate sales, that nostalgia moves merchandise, that loyalty cards collect personal data to be used in future marketing, or that word‐of‐mouth and peer‐to‐peer influence are more persuasive than marketing communication? (Check out the Northface jackets and Ugg boots on any college campus). Most readers know that some food ingredients such as caffeine, MSG, and sugar (not to mention salt – Lay's potato chip's classic commercials dared consumers, “Betcha can't just eat one!”), are addictive, and any parent knows that video games are habit forming. If you watched “Rocky and Bullwinkle” cartoons or “Sesame Street” you realize that Hollywood incorporates adult humor and entertainment to keep the parents watching too. Anybody who has taken Psychology 101 understands that it takes only a few people in a group to influence the other group members. Lindstrom finds it surprising that one study discovered that fear of failure drives consumers more than promise of success, yet long ago Tversky's well‐known work on loss aversion revealed this. Much of the fMRI research simply demonstrates that firms manufacture and market appealing and pleasurable products so that we will buy and try them and then want to purchase more.

The book does contain some interesting, little‐known tidbits, such as that shampoo companies know that consumers believe that more bubbles equates to cleaner hair, but this is probably of little use to any but the in‐the‐know industry insiders. There are even a few interesting insights, such as buying “socially responsible” products is an act of conspicuous consumption and marketing products as having soothing, magical, or summoning qualities works because our brains are wired to believe in something (which Judeo‐Christian theology says is God). It seems that marketers, at most, can ask themselves how they can best tap into the emotions discussed and how their rivals might already be doing so.

Many of the phenomena discussed are familiar not just to marketing practitioners but also to savvy shoppers, marketing educators, and anyone who has taken basic courses in marketing principles and consumer behavior. Lindstrom does not use the names of these familiar time‐tested theories, principles, and concepts from the marketing literature (e.g. perceptual cues such as fresh fruit on juice cartons, and words and phrases such as “natural” and “pesticide free” are commonly called “surrogate indicators” of product quality; the phenomenon of too much choice leaving consumers confused is the “paradox of choice”; creating emotional brand associations is a form of “classical conditioning”; the power of celebrities’ personal product usage is known as “public opinion leaders”; and rushing to get the latest hot product is called the “bandwagon effect” of crowds). In several cases, Lindstroms coins his own terminology, such as “rosy remembering,” (p. 128) for “selective memory.”

The book should be of service to shoppers needing to be aware of marketing's tricks of the trade. I would also recommend Brandwashed to marketing educators and anyone wishing to be a more interesting conversationalist, as it contains many fascinating anecdotes and examples as well as some relatively unknown tidbits. For instance, supermarkets sprinkle particular vegetables with water droplets to symbolize freshness and purity, although this might speed up rotting; beverages in ads have water drops on them to make us subconsciously crave them, thinking they are ice cold and hence tastier and more refreshing; hotels put a paper seal on toilet seats and paper lid on drinking glasses to make us believe nobody ever used them; college students eat lots of cereal in part because it is nostalgic; and supermarkets play slow background music so shoppers linger and buy more while restaurants play faster music to move patrons out more quickly so others can be served.

At times the book often strains credulity. For example, while it is well‐known that a baby in the womb hears her mother's voice and other close sounds, Lindstrom stretches this to claim that branding commences in the womb as the baby experiences pleasing sounds (e.g. jingles), tastes, and aromas along with the mother, influencing brand preferences and purchase behavior after birth. It is hard to believe that the first word recognized by most children worldwide is “McDonald's,” not “Mom” or “Dad,” as Lindstrom suggests. The claim that the “average” (p. 49) age of apples in the supermarket is fourteen months does not hold up when my apples rot after sitting in my refrigerator for two months. Lindstrom offers a homo‐erotic interpretation of why Abercrombie & Finch uses scantily clad models, whereas a more plausible explanation would be that men use the models as a comparative or aspirational reference group. He positions Brandwashed as the successor to Vance Packard's 1957 Orwellian portrait of the advertising industry as Big Brother, The Hidden Persuaders (pp. 1, 5), as much of Hidden Persuaders has been debunked as exaggerated or flat‐out wrong (e.g. there is little proof that motivational research and the advertising based on it have succeeded in manipulating the subconscious mind to induce behavioral changes). Lindstrom suggests that marketers can manufacture wants to alleviate the likes of smelly armpits and bad breath, which marketers explain as being latent wants that predated the marketing. There are also occasionally debatable claims (e.g. celebrities enhance our brand recall; in fact they can hinder it, especially if they are irrelevant to the product or sales message), and only time will tell if Lindstrom's prophecies will materialize (e.g. future prices will fluctuate daily like the stock market; companies will hire and plant thousands of opinion leaders such as the Morgensons to serve as stealth marketers).

Lindstrom views consumers as manipulated pawns on the nefarious marketer's chessboard, lacking reason or sovereignty. However, will Axe commercials really convince young guys that Axe will help them find multiple sexual partners? The book's tone is at times sensationalistic (“The real culprit in Red Bull is […] almost as addictive as cocaine: sugar” [p. 65]); Axe has “prayed on” male sexual fantasies [p. 81]), thereby perpetuating the stereotype of Machiavellian marketers who use “tricks, machinations, untruths, and manipulations” to “pressure, cajole, and entice us” (p. 232). Yet, he notes that “in our hyper‐connected world of Twitter and YouTube and WikiLeaks – a world in which a single trick or deception or secret can be immediately broadcast to the world with the click of a mouse – the consumer is more empowered than ever. As a result, brands of the future simply must be transparent and live up to their promises.” Good advice, but it makes one wonder whether most of the “tricks” Brandwashed discusses will soon be outmoded.

The author creates the perception that virtually all marketing activities are insidious, Nevertheless, he does reveal the underbelly of marketing's seamy practitioners (e.g. Tesco's peddling of a Peekaboo Pole Dancing kit to girls under ten; antibacterial gel marketers heavied up advertising during the swine flu scare even though flu is caused by viruses and is not prevented by antibacterial soaps). However, he condemns data mining as an invasion of privacy (which some of it is) but neglects that it helps marketers target their promotions to interested prospects and avoid bothering disinterested consumers. Should marketers solely appeal to our rational needs and neglect our emotional desires? Is it wrong for a burglar alarm firm to show a home break‐in during its commercials or for retailers to stockpile and display emergency supplies prior to a pending storm? Is it misguided for video game firms to design their games with levels that push players to keep playing to try to advance to the next level when that is exactly what players want? Are Prius marketers wicked to make their environmentally‐friendly car more attractive by appealing to conspicuous consumption? Is it evil to appeal to such emotions as fear and sex or to use celebrity endorsements? Is it not actually a service to use data mining to target consumers with advertising that is likely to interest them? These can all make for lively discussions in boardrooms and classrooms. Some of the examples of what Lindstrom positions as manipulative marketing seem to be just instances of marketers satisfying demand.

In the long run, firms that operate as shadily as Lindstrom suggests will not survive in a free marketplace. Government regulations and industry self‐regulation ensure some degree of consumer protection, and sovereign buyers exercise most of the rest of the needed oversight over immoral practices. While this book's message is “Buyer beware!,” it should also be “Seller, beware!”

(This book review was edited by Professor Richard Leventhal.)