Manipulative Marketing

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    Theoretical and Applied EconomicsVolumeXX I 2014),No. 2 591), pp. 19-34

    Manipu la t ive marke t ing persuas ion and man ipu la t ionof the co nsum er th rough adve r tis ingVictor DAN CIUBucharest University of Economic [email protected]

    Abstract The manipulation through advertising became an issue the consumers arefacing on almost a regular basis. hispractice move aw ay the mission of marketing thatof meeting the needs of customers a nd widens the asymm etries of power between thecompany and the consumer.Many of manipulative advertisements are difficult toprove because of their controversialnature andcontent hispaper is about how the com panies use the stimuli, the techniquesand the mechanisms of advertising to manipulate the consumers. At the same time, itadvances some suggestions about the diminishing of the manipulative practices. Theeffectiveness ofthese solutions will depend on the observance of some principles by thecompanies w hich advertise in areas where they and the consumers can find mutual goalsand interests.Keywords: manipulative advertising manipulative techniques deceptive advertisingfallacious arguments emotive persuasion conscious consumer conscious advertising.JEL Classification: M31 M37 M38.RE L Classification: 14G.

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    M a n i p u la t iv e m a r k e t in g p e r s u a s io n a n d m a n i p u la t io n o f th e c o n s u m e r t h ro u g h a d v e r t is in g 2

    types which are non-manipulative and manipulative advertising. The non-manipulative persuasion thi-ough advertising consists in simply presenting theproduct or service, in the best possible light. The advertiser doesn t need to lieomit detailsorintimidate theconsumer. This type ofadvertising is truthful, that isthe facts presentedarereal, theinformation isgiving in a clear, logical manner, inorder to convince by infonning (Grover, 2011). The infomiative and persuasionfunctions of advertising are based on facts and emotional arguments. Theinformative advertising gives factual information to the consumer, while theemotional advertising consists in an emotional game which has as goal tofavorable influence thedecision of the consumer. There aremany situations whencombined alternatives are needed and they consist in various emotional gameswhich are used as arguments for a certain way of acting on target-groups andindividual consumers. Every time when these advertising efforts are focused ongettingtheconsumers to dowhat theadvertiser wants through subversive mannersthat lack the truth, we can saythis is manipulation. Where the advertiser try topersuadetheconsumer bygiving himfacts forexample, ifit is amanipulator maymakeup orimply facts.The non ethical behavior of the advertisers is also stimulusfor manipulationthrough advertising.The issue of manipulative persuasion in advertising bringsout the discussion on the role of ethics. The ethics ofmarketing has in view towhat extent the marketing behavior, decisions and practices t the rules andprinciples of good conduct. The advertising practices must have a set of ethicalprinciples that could helpthemanagers toevaluate themoral importance ofeachactionand todecide how far they could go inorder tostay just online ofethics.The research of the subject highlights three dominant principles of ethics inadvertising which obey the law act in your self-interest and comply with theethics (Craig Smith, 2000; Danciu, 2009; Gray, 2011).It is not disputed that theadvertisers haveasobligation toobey the law and to act in their enlightened self-interest. However, manyof the present practices of advertising show that are anincreasing number of cases when there is no alignment of the marketer s self-interest with customers interest. There are numerous situations when thecompanies try to induce the customers the feeling that they maximize thecustomers satisfaction through manipulative advertisements. Allthese argumentssupportthe idea that the law and these lf-interest are not sufflcient guidelines forgood conduct in marketing advertising. The advertisers must also be guided byethics, especially by normative marketing ethics that is prescriptive, identifyingmoral principlesandmethods ofmoral reasoning that justify rules and judgmentsof whatisright and wrong (Craig Smith, 2000).

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    M a n i p u la t iv e m a r k e t in g : p e r s u a s io n a n d m a n i p u la t io n o fth e c o n s u m e r t h ro u g h a d v e r t is in g 2 3

    advertising claims because of their strong desire to improve the environment andtheir way of life. But even the consumers with high levels of green concerns arenot able to detect misleading or deceptive claims better than other consum ers. Therapid increase of the green claims for a wide range of products and services createconfusion among consum ers. A great diversity of misleading and deceptive claimsis used by the companies which have not truly green products and try tomanipulate consumers. All claims with manipulative role that can be used inadvertising no matter the product could be included in the following categories:vague or ambiguous claims, claims that omit important information necessary toevaluate their truthfulness or reasonableness, claims that are false or outright lies,and various combinations of the previous categories.

    3. The manipulative advertising at wori3 1 The most claims used with a manipulative roleThe ultimate goal of all types of advertising is to persuade the consumer topurchase a product or service. The manipulative advertising intends to do that byusing facts, arguments and plying with consumers emotions in a misleading anddeceptive manner. The most claims used in manipulation through advertising arethe exaggeration of the quality of product, fallacious arguments and emotionalappeals.Exaggeration of quality An exaggeration can be nothing less than falseinformation about the product, but it can also be a form of puffery. Puffery is theterm used to denote the exaggerations reasonably to be expected of a seller as tothe degree of quality of his product, the truth or falsity of which cannot beprecisely detemiined. At the same time, puffeiy is advertising claims thatordinary consumers do not take seriously (Berinato, 2010). Claims such as world best (cup of) coffee or king of be ers are examples of puffery in themanipulation by advertising. The puffery seems to influence the people who arenot major consum ers of the product but turns away the consumers who are expertsor have relatively high knowledge. These observations show that suchexaggerations are not very useful for achieving the goals of advertisingcampaigns. The puffery could attract some new consumers but it could lose manyconsumers which are loyal to the product.Fallacious arguments A fallacy is any error in reasoning that occurs with somefrequency (Teves, 2009). The fallacies or poor argum ents can be made ignorantlyand intentionally. The second situation is of greatest importance in marketing

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    advertising because of its potential for consumer manipulation. The advertisingfallacy consists in using reasoning errors when creating, displaying or transmittingmessages to the consumers. The fallacies which could be used in advertising fillup a long list; the fallacies of credibility are an important category which canlargely be used in advertising. motional appeals are the claims playing with consumers emotions both atconscious and unconscious level. In the advertisements can be included appealsto the need to achieve, dom inate, feel safe, nurture , satisfy curiosity, the need ofsex, the need of affiliation, guidance, prominence, attention, autonomy,physiological needs such as food, drink, sleep and so on. The advertisers canspeculate on the consumer emotions and the ads are work out in such a mannerthat seem to promise or imply a possible connection between a product andhappiness, social acceptance, a good family, a good sex life intimate friendshipand so on. They may also use the scare for capitalizing on panic, if necessary. Alarge -sc al e contagion provides the best' ' opportunity for companies to perk upthe profits. One example is the antibacterial hand gel. Many companies havecapitalized on health scares like the swine flu and SARS by connecting theirsanitizer products to these outbreaks. A company from US, Lysal, speculatedduring the swine flu scare. They said on their website that while we don't knowhow the virus spread, following proper hygiene routines can help preven t thespread of illness . So they insinuate that using antibacterial soap will preventpeople from getting specific illness. But, while hand sanitizer sales amplified,these products actually do nothing to defend against contagions. Both viruses arespread via tiny droplets in the air there are sneezed or coughed by people whoare already infected (Tartakovsky, 2011). Some companies take further steps totarget panic over these viruses by updating their products or launching newones. Kleenex came out with antiviral tissues which are virucidal againstRhinoviruses Type lA and 2; Influenza A and B; and Reparatory SyncytialVirus or whatever that means.All previous categories of claims are substantiated in advertisements using

    linguistic, visual, auditory techniques and various combinations as vehicles forcreating manipulative messages.

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    superiority. The creation of the illusion of superiority of one product could usetwo major language techniques that are the use of the comparatives better and best and the effort of making the consumers believe something about theproduct that is not true. The word better is legally interpreted to be a comparativeand therefore becomes a clear claim of superiority. In certain countries, the wordbest can be used to describe the parity produc ts because if all products are equallygood, they can all be considered the best. But, in order to not manipulate thecustomer, the only time when better can be used is when a product does indeedhave superiority over other products in its category or when the better is used tocompare the product with something other than competitor brands(malleryk.wordpress.com/writing...). Making the consumer believe somethingabout the product that is not true is another technique with great potential ofmanipulation in advertising. Two major categories of claims that can be used tomake the consumers believe something about the product that is not true are theweasel claim and the unfinished claim which focus most on the linguisticaspects. The weasel claim involves a modifier, a weasel word that negates theclaim that follows it. Some of the most common weasel words include helpsvirtually, acts, can be, up to, refreshes, comforts, fights, the feel of, the look of,fortified, enriched and strengthened. These words modify the claims that followthem by being subtle enough for consumers to not notice them. The commonweasel words perform various categories of functions. A sense of action or ofdoing something important to consumer is suggested by the words like helpsand acts . That is because the words sound as if the product is being proactivetoward the desired result. In the expression helps control da nd ru ff forshampoos, the word helps acts as the claim no longer control dandruff but it helpscontrol the dandruff like a good friend might. The prepositional phrases like upto , the feel o f and the look o f imply either an upw ard trend or a similaritybetween p roduc ts. If the claim is save up to 30% , the phrase up to is oftenoverloaded as the consumer will save 30% . Additionally, the up to has a senseof rising motion in it which translates in consumer as an overall good feeling. Can be and virtually are phrases that can note the possibility of the productbeing the claim says it is. The expression leave dishes virtually spotless canmake the consumer to take it as leave dishes spotless . Ano ther function thatweasel words perform is to give one product the illusion of strength. Fortied , enr iche d or strengthe ned are words that fulflU this role by often describingproducts that the consumers normally think of as strong and powerful. Otherprepositional phrases such as the feel o f and the look o f are intended to makethe consum ers think that the; product is of high quality or is similar to anotherproduct because they imply a comparison between two things.

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    M a n i p u la t iv e m a r k e t in g p e r s u a s io n a n d m a n i p u la t io n o f th e c o n s u m e r t h ro u g h a d v e r tis in g 27The unfinished claim suggests that the product has more or is better thansomething, but does not say wha t som ething is. The unfinished claims couldrely on m ore . A clear example is the expression 20 % more cleaning pow erwhich could be interpreted as either 20 % more cleaning power than competingbra nds or 20% more cleaning power than earlier version of the some prod uct .The fact that it does not specify what product has 20% more cleaning powerrenders the claim meaningless.3 2 2 Visual techniques of manipulationMany advertisements which are placed in practically in all media relay on visualand combined techniques to manipulate the consumers. Some of the most usedsuch techniques are the manipulation by photo shopping, the mixture of theamusem ent w ith ads, the manipulation of the size and the price of the product andthe misleading graphs.The m anipulation by photo shopping The advanced technique offers a largevariety of solutions in visual advertisements and their manipulation. The photoshopping is a technique where photos or photographs are edited in ways in whichcreate an illusion or a different look and feel of the raw image and making itinteresting for advertisements. Such technique can be achieved by using photo andvector editing soft wares like Photoshop, Illustrator, Corel and Gimp and manyothers. In contrast by simply editing like enhancement and corrections, the photomanipulation often includes creative retouching like adding 3D elements,backgrounds, vectors, and other sleek vibrant colors (ninjacmnch. com/40-cool-face-...). The colors play an important role in manipulative ads, since they havemeanings and emotions tied to them just like words and images. The warm colorssuch as red, orange and yellow can represent passion, happiness and energy, w hilethe cool colors like blue, green and violet are used to create a sense of peace,serenity, health and security (Brown, 2010). The advertisers should take intoaccount some basic mies that seem to be universal in the choice of the colors. Theprimary colors like red, yellow and blue tend to emphasize simplicity as well asspeed. The secondary colors are created by mixing two primary colors together.These include green, orange and purple. The tertiary colors can be created bymixing secondary and primary colors together. When choose colors theadvertisers have in mind to create consistency, to highlight content, and toemphasize the most important features of th product. If they want manipulate theconsum ers, the advertisers are m ixing the images and colors together in such waysthat can persuade and direct the consumers to purchase the product by deceivingand misleading them (For manipulation in advertising see 37 Examples of PhotoManipulation In Advertisements, www.Designyourway.net/37-examples-of

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    28 Victor Danciup h o t o - m a n i p u l a t i o n - i n a d v e r t i s e m e n t s / ) . B y m a n i p u l a t i n g p h o t o s a n d c o l o r s i na d v e r t i s i n g , t h e f e e l i n g s a n d e m o t i o n s c a n e i t h e r f u l l y e x p r e s s o r b e m a s k e d , a n dt h e p r o d u c t s c a n b e p r e s e n t e d i n t h e l i g h t a n d c o l o r s w h i c h p o s i t i v e l y i n f l u e n c et h e c o n s u m e r . L ' O r e a l u se d t h e p h o t o m a n i p u l a t i o n i n t h e a d fo r M a b e l i n ep r o d u c t s f e a t u r in g t h e s t a r J u l i a R o b e r t s a n d t h e s u p e n n o d e l C h r i s t y T u r l i n g t o n .T h e c o m p a n y h a s b e e n f o r c e d t o p u l l a d c a m p a i g n s a f t e r c o m p l a i n s t h a t t h ei m a g e s w e r e o v e r l y a i rb r u s h e d . L ' O r e a l U K a d m i t te d th a t t h e T u r l i n g t o n ' s i m a g eh a s b e e n d i g i t a l l y re t o u c h e d t o l i g h t e n t h e s k i n , c l e a n u p m a k e u p , r e d u c e d a r ks h a d o w s a n d s h a d i n g a r o u n d t h e e y e s , s m o o t h t h e l i p s a n d d a r k e n t h e e y e s b r o w s( S w e e n e y , 2 0 1 l ) . T h e a d f or M a b e l i n e f e a tu r e d T u r l in g t o n p r o m o t i n g a f o u n d a t i o nc a l le d T h e E r a s e r w h i c h is c l a i m e d t o b e a n a n t i - a g e i n g p r o d u c t .The m ixture of the am useme nt with ads S o m e f o o d c o m p a n i e s d i s g u i s e t h e i r a d sa s e n t e r t a i n m e n t . T h i s i s e s p e c i a l l y a p p e a l i n g t o k i d s o n T V b u t t h e a d u l t s l i k e i tt o o . T h e s e g a m e s a r e i n h e r e n t l y a d d i c t i v e f r o m n a t u r e a n d a l l o w t h e a d v e r t i s e r s t oc i r c u m v e n t t h e re g u l a t i o n s o n a d v e r t i s i n g j u n k f o o d o n te l e v i s io n . T h e b i g g e s t U Sc e r e a l c o m p a n i e s G e n e r a l M i l l s o r K e l l o g ' s u s e d g a m e s t o p e d d l e t h e i r l a s tn u t r i ti o n c e r e a l s ( T a t a r k o v s k i , 2 0 1 1 ) .The manipulation of the s ize and the price of the product W h e n t h e s a l e s a n d t h ep r o f i t s b e c o m e l o w e r , s h r i n k i n g t h e s i z e o f t h e p r o d u c t i s a t e c h n i q u e t h a t m a y b eu s e d . T h e c h a n g e o f t h e s i z e o f t h e p r o d u c t a t t h e s a m e p r i c e i s u s e f u l w h e n t h es i z e i s s h r i n k i n g . O n e o f t h e m o s t k n o w n s w e e t s p r o d u c e r s i n U S u s e d s u c ht e c h n i q u e . T h e y h a v e a s e a s o n a l c a n d y w h i c h i s o n e o f t h e m o s t p o p u l a r t r e a t sa r o u n d t h e E a s t e r , T h e C a d b u r y C r m e E g g th a t i s j u s t a c h o c o l a t e s h e ll s h a p e dl i k e a c h i c k e n ' s e g g w i t h a s u g a r w h i t e - a n d - y e l l o w fillin g i n s i d e . W h e n t h e s u g a rp r i c e s s t a r t e d e a t i n g i n t o t h e i r p r o f i t s , w i t h c o n s u m e r s u n w i l l i n g t o p a y m o r e , t h ep e o p l e o f C a d b u r y t r i e d d o s o m e t h i n g . S o t h e y s h r a n k t h e e g g s a n d t o l dc o n s u m e r s t h a t t h e y a r e s i m p l y m i s r e m e m b e r i n g h o w b i g t h e y w e r e b e f o r e .B e c a u s e t h e e g g s a r e a s e a s o n a l i t e m , i n 2 0 0 6 w h e n t h e c o m p a n y s h r a n k t h e s i z eo f t h e e g g s t h e y p o s t e d a m e s s a g e o n t h e i r w e b s i t e s a y i n g t h a t t h e e g g s h a d n ' tg o t t e n s m a l l e r , t h e c o n s u m e r s ' h a n d a n d m o u t h h a d j u s t g o t t e n b i g g e r o r a s t h e yp h r a s e d y o u h a v e j u s t g r o w i n g u p . T h a t m e a n t t h a t C a d b u r y w a s g i v i n ge v e r y o n e l e s s f o r t h e i r m o n e y . T h e c o m p a n y w a s f o r c e d t o c h a n g e t h e i r w e b s i t em e s s a g i n g t o t h e i n c r e d i b l y v a g u e s t a t e m e n t t h e y o f fe r a b r o a d v a r i e t y o f s iz e sa n d f la vo rs o f p r o d u c t s ( S m a l l w o o d e t a l , 2 0 1 2 ) .The m isleading graphs T h e g r a p h s c a n b e m a n i p u l a t e d t o m i s l e a d b e i n ge x c e s s i v e l y c o m p l e x o r p o o r l y c o n s t r u c t e d . T h e m i s l e a d i n g g r a p h s a r e o f te n i nf a l s e a d v e r t i s i n g u s i n g t e c h n i q u e s s u c h a s i m p r o p e r s c a l i n g , a x i s l a c k o f s c a l e ,o m i s s i o n o f d a t a a n d i m p r o p e r e x t r a c t i o n ( B o u s s a ) . T h e i m p r o p e r s c a l i n g c r e a t e s a

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    M a n i p u la t iv e m a r k e t in g : p e r s u a s io n a n d m a n i p u la t io n o f th e c o n s u m e r t h ro u g h a d v e r tis in g 29perceptual leading-comparison while the change of y-axis maximum how thegraph appears by causing a misleading ofl ssvolatility less growth and less steepline a lower maxim. The lack of scale or the improper units make unclear thegraph. Additionally the tick marks prevent the reader from determining the graphbars are properly scaled and allow the manipulation of the graph bars to create ormitigate the expression of change and just the same effect have the omission ofdata or the improper extraction of data.

    4 Conscious adve rtising for conscious consume rs a re alistic solution againstmanipulative advertising

    Many of the manipulative actions in advertising are difficult to prove. Anyoneencounters many difficulties when trying to counteract manipulative ads. Morethe regulators tend to be reactive and his give the advertisers some space to updatethe content of their manipulative advertisements. It is difficult to say if harderregulations will reduce the natural tendencies for manipulation throughadvertising. Therefore other ways should be followed in areas where themarketers and the consum ers can find mutual goals and interests.Consciousness in consum ption asks for conscious advertising For the greatestimportance in reducing the manipulation through advertising seems to be theconsciousness in consumption and business. The conscious consumer is thatconsumer which presents a complex mix of responsible behaviors in terms ofeconom ic social and environm ental and sustainability concerns. This type ofconsumer rationalizes the unnecessary and even the unwanted consumption bysaying that is for a good cause. The conscious consumption is an ethical one at thesame time and gives it the character of a consumerism activism that is practicedthrough positive buying which ethical advertising and products are favored. Abusiness could successfully communicate and have relationships with consciousbusiness in its turn. Such a business has its consciousness tha t is the ability toexperience the reality to be aware of its inner and outside world. Theconsciousness allows the business to adapt to its environment and act to promoteits interest and goals in a fair and non-manipulative way. The most importantcomponent of the outside world of the business is the consumer which hastremendous impact on the achievement of its interests and goals. The businesscannot ignore the conscious consumers in all respects. The company has to wellknow and understand the conscious consum ers if it wan ts to succeed in makingconscious advertising. The better they comprehend the intentions the methodsand the messages of deceptive and misleading advertising the consumers easier

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    can distinguish between tmth and fallacies or lies. Bomprad and Baranowski 2007) suggest that five values drivetheconscious consumersandthesearehealthand safety, honesty, convenience, relationships and doing good. The consciousconsumers insist thatthecompaniesarehonest, thatisthey reliableandaccuratelydetail and promote the features and the benefits of the products. When thecompanies make unsubstantiated claims or ov er promise benefits, they riskbreeding cynicismanddistrust.Thedynamicsofthe realities abou ttheconsciousconsumers should have a strong impact on the commercial advertising. Thecompanies have to leam the lessons emerging from the values of consciousconsumers and their evolution in the future and create advertising messagesaccordingly. Real progress couldbemadein thepractice of advertising in manyother areas. More ethical behavior, more proactive self-regulation, bettermarketing cooperationaresome withthemost potential.More ethical behavior of the advertising nd the consumers could enhance thequality of advertising and reduce the proportions of manipulation throughadvertising. IMore proactive self regulation of the advertising. The advertising industry hasestablished self-regulatory systems in nearly all major markets. The EuropeanAdvertising Standards Alliance EASA ) brings together national advertising self-regulatory organizationsand organizations representingtheadvertising industryinEurope who support self-n^gulation. It is the single authoritative voice onEuropean advertising self-regulation. The Intemational Chamber of Commercehas prepared a Framework for Responsible Food and Beverage MarketingCommunication in 2006 with specific provisions relating to the advertising offood and beverage vis-a-vis children www. responsible-advertising.org/ eself-regulation.asp).The history of self-regulations shows that active self-regulation has moreadvantages,one of them consistingin theprotection of consumers from adsthatmislead Peeler, 2013). By acting quickly and decisively against misleadingadvertising claims, the self-regulation significantly reduces the number ofpotentially misleading claims. The chances of better counteracting themanipulation practices in advertising will risein the future if the self-regulationhasamore proactive ro le.Better marketing cooperation between the companies nd the consumers. Theissue ofcooperation is a distinctive feature of the relationship marketing whichfocus on the cultivation of mutually advantageous relationships between thecompany and its customers Danciu, 2009). An enhanced cooperation in

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    M a n i p u la t iv e m a r k e t in g : p e r s u a s i o n a n d m a n i p u la t io n o fthe c o n s u m e r t h ro u g h a d v e r t is in g 3

    advertising between the two subjects becomes possible when the company, themarketer includes the consumers in its marketing solutions. The consumers shouldbecome partners of the marketers, in order to contribute to the creation of valuefor them and to make a non-manipulative persuasive advertising.

    4 ConclusionsThe manipulation in marketing has become an issue which accompanies the dailylife of the consumers. The companies decide to manipulate the consumers everytime w hen the interests of the consumers d on t align to their interests and goalsand they don t succeed to persuade them otherwise. A great role in the consumersmanipulation has the m anipulation by advertising due to its anctions and place inthe mix of marketing techniques used to ilflU what the consumerism demands:more consumption, more diversity and better consumption. The techniques formanipulation through advertising are controversial every time the advertiser winand the consumer lose. The critics of manipulative advertising highlight two broadclasses of advertising controversies. One type of critiquecharges that moral rulesagainst causing harm are violated when manipulating through advertising. Inother words, the advertising has negative financial and health-related effects,negative impact on efficiency, harmfully effects on familial and community ties.Additionally, the advertising promotes self-centered hedonism and lastly it mayhave negative environmental impact. Another category of controversies aboutadvertising are liberty based critics.These arguments charge that certain fomis ofadvertising rob a person of the capacity for firee choice in deciding when topurchase a product, good or service.No matter the arguments against advertising as a whole, the assumptions of itbeing always manipulative is not true. People are complex buyers which makedecisions based on a variable mix of rational and emotional components. But justthis complex, controversial and mixed nature of individual personality makepossible to deceive, mislead and misjudge some situations, products, brands orcompanies as a result of manipulative advertising. The deceptive advertising ismost universally thought of to be immoral. The responsibility of the consumer isgreatly diminished when one discovers that they are telling lies to buy by theseller or the advertiser. In such cases of fraud, the advertisers certainly hold amajority of the responsibility. When using faulty arguments it is much moredifficult to assign blame to the advertisers. Mature consumers are expected torealize which argument is real and which is bad and, if advertisers use fallacies,one would expect that the consumers know better. In such cases, the burden of

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    responsibility appears to full primarily upon the consumer. More ambiguity existsin the case of emotive persuasion because the main problem consists in thedifficulty of gauging how much effect advertisements have on the consumersemotions. Tha t s why the techniques and m echanisms of advertising should beused in a way that aligns to the convergence of interests and arguments.Many of the manipulative actions in advertising are difficult to prove and no onecan say if harder regulations will reduce the natural tendencies towardmanipulation through advertising. Therefore, it seems that other solutions shouldbe found in areas where the marketers and the consumers identify mutualinterests, in order to improve the practices of advertising. Some important areas inwhich the advertisers and the consumers could find reciprocal benefits are theconscious advertising for conscious consumers, more ethical behavior, moreproactive role of self-regulation and better cooperation in marketing and the goodresults could have a significant contribution toward the reduction of theproportions of manipulation through advertising. These efforts will help thereduction of the proportion of manipulation through advertising in these areas atleast, if the advertisers obsen e some necessary principles.The advertisers should move from a sole focus on corporate profits to a belief andpractice that an organization can achieve something larger than making money. The advertisers should understand that more consumers, especially theconscious ones, recognize that all things are connected. Therefore, they mustbe in the process of becoming conscious of the impact of advertising andpursuit the mutual benefits of it. The advertisers should be aware that the advertising must be authentic. That isall communication with the consumers should be hundred per cent honest andtransparent. More than ever, an increasingly proportion of consumers are

    prizing the transparency, accountability and authenticity. The advertisers should align their messages with con sum ers values in everyaspect and in all components of advertising. The companies which align theirvalues with their actions will eam enduring loyalty among the consumers.If the companies follow these principles, they easily could translate them inhonest, non-manipulative practices in advertising and so become more tmsted.

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    M a n i p u la t iv e m a r k e t in g p e r s u a s io n a n d m a n i p u la t io n o f th e c o n s u m e r th r o u g h a d v e r tis in g

    References

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    C o p y r i g h t o f T h e o r e t i c a l & A p p l i e d E c o n o m i c s i s t h e p r o p e r t y o f G e n e r a l A s s o c i a t i o n o f

    E c o n o m i s t s i n R o m a n i a a n d i t s c o n t e n t m a y n o t b e c o p i e d o r e m a i l e d t o m u l t i p l e s i t e s o r

    p o s t e d t o a l i s t s e r v w i t h o u t t h e c o p y r i g h t h o l d e r ' s e x p r e s s w r i t t e n p e r m i s s i o n . H o w e v e r , u s e r s

    m a y p r i n t , d o w n l o a d , o r e m a i l a r t i c l e s f o r i n d i v i d u a l u s e .