Becoming immune to manipulation

On a weekly basis, each of us is likely getting manipulated multiple times in some way or the other. They aren't scam per se, but these companies and individuals employ tactics to influence our purchasing behaviour.

The examples in this post aren't meant to highlight how we are victims. Rather it's to help us become more aware of all the ways that we can be made to do things that we may not have otherwise done. And as a result of awareness, hopefully build immunity towards manipulation.

Diamonds in Rings
DeBeers, a diamond mining company, is credited with associating diamonds with engagement rings in 1977 through their TV campaigns. The marketing agency they worked with created the "A diamond is forever" tagline and also seeded the idea that a man should spend roughly 2 months of his salary on the engagement ring.

At some point, DeBeers used to artificially inflate prices by controlling supply too - given that they pretty much had monopoly. But not anymore.

Paying Media Publications
If you pay enough money, most of the well known publications will write a favourable article for you. I've been reached out to by large multi national media houses asking for ~5000USD / 4-5 Lacs to have an article written about our company.

I've also received several emails from companies that release "Top 20 Fast Growing Startups" or "Top 10 Young Entrepreneurs" lists where their rep asks if I want to pay to be featured.

Breakfast Cereal
American Cereal makers funded research to promote Breakfast as the most important meal of the day and also created an association between breakfast and cereals. Such that eating Cereals and processed orange juice become a household norm.

Sugar Industry Funds Research to Blame Fat
The sugar industry secretly funded research to blame Fat for Coronary Heart Diseases.

Taking Multivitamins Once a Day
"The common belief in taking a daily vitamin dose for good health and chronic disease prevention arose not from any scientific study, but from a product called “One-A-Day Vitamins” introduced in the 1940s by an Indiana-based private company called Miles Laboratories" - Cyriac Abby Philip

Regular Water
When a waiter asks you if you like your water Sparkling or Still, they deliberately leave out the 3rd option - Regular. Because the regular water is typically free whereas Sparkling and Still water are chargeable.

Charity Donation
A popular OTA portal in India adds ₹ 10 by default into your final flight ticket price and says it's for Charity. You have to manually remember to remove it.

Chinese Food Addiction
Monosodium Glutamate (MSG or Ajinomoto) is a food additive used in Chinese food and a ton of of other fast food restaurants. Glutamate is already present in your body and you need it in the right amount for proper functioning. But consumsing food with MSG, artificially introduces more of it.

Anecdotally speaking, I tend to get sleepy after a Chinese meal. And I also crave Chinese food every now and then. The research on this isn't very clear, but I'd like to believe that MSG induces addiction.

ATMs Abroad
ATMs abroad trick you into picking an option that makes you unnecessarily pay extra for "conversion". For the longest time, I've been falling for this trick until it was recently pointed out to me.

Subscription Jail
When you want to cancel and NYT subscription, they make you chat with a customer support rep who runs a frustratingly long conversation before they let you officially cancel.

App Payments
When you download an iOS app, they show you a screen that says it costs $3.99 to get onto the monthly paid plan. And then you notice a faint "Skip" button at the top right in translucent font, so that you miss it and hopefully end up getting on a paid plan.

Airbnb Hidden Costs
They've recently removed this - but for the longest time Airbnb used to not show the full cost of renting a home until you were on the checkout page, where you get slapped with an extra $50 cleaning fee that makes the listing far less appealing.

Amazon Reviews
When you try to leave a poor review on a product that Amazon itself is selling (i.e. AmazonBasics), they introduce friction to deter you from posting it.

The Fineprint
Before signing, the average person doesn't read every line of long documents, like contracts or agreements. Which means a common tactic is to hide gotchas or the fineprint somewhere deep in the document such that it will likely be missed by the reader.

Apple Subscriptions
The subscriptions screen in your iPhone is hidden behind multiple levels, introducing friction to cancel an app's subscription.

Auto Conversion from Free Trial
SaaS products automatically convert you into a paid user if you forget to cancel your free trial at the end of its period.