Home topics news News News Is marketing manipulative? Phoebe Netto August 22, 2011 This is the second part of an article designed to share with you some of the marketing industry’s secrets that can influence or manipulate people’s perceptions of brands or organisations, to ultimately impact on their buying decisions. Here are three of the marketing tools used to influence or trick you, with tips on how you can ethically use them in your business to help it grow. Hopefully this will also help you make better buying decisions as you recognise what tools are being used to influence your decisions. Marketing tool 3: Persuasive marketing On a first date you would make an effort to look compelling and impressive, or you would arrange to go somewhere that was persuasive or memorable. This is also what marketers do in trying to persuade people to respond to an organisation or brand in a certain way. For example, marketers understand that consumers are more receptive to food advertising when they are hungry, so they often schedule snack advertisements late in the afternoon when they are likely to be looking for a snack or thinking about what to do for dinner. Marketers also know people have a preference to turn right instead of left, which is why most supermarkets are designed to be one long journey throughout the entire store from left to right, and cheaper through to more expensive. How can you use persuasive marketing to encourage people to take notice of