Tuesday, March 2, 2010
How Precise is your information?
Today people are overwhelmed by all the information they are exposed to through advertising. What information is giving all the facts? Is all the information present when searching the web, or watching television? Inaccurate and deceitful information has been commonly used to mislead people to execute unnecessary transactions. False advertising has the high potential to trick individuals into paying for hidden fees and nonexistent products. For example, the 'buy-one-get-one' deal will sometimes force buyers to purchase mutiples before being able to obtain their 'free' item. This method also allows retailers to decieve consumers into actually purchasing their gift, by rising prices and have people purchase multiples. Decietful information can occur due to outdated information, or misleading information trying to scam individuals. People exposed to these unethical tactics become frustrated and unaware of what information can be trusted. People must protect themselves from false advertising and scams by; reading the information completely, using multiple and trusted sources, and being aware of when the information was published. The link given provides information on common methods of deceptive practises and misleading information.
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I agree with your thoughts on false advertising, i especially think that the rebates are the most misleading. Stores will put the price AFTER the rebate on the shelves so people believe they are paying that price which will make them decide to buy it. Most people will not even bother to send in the rebate because of the extra effort it takes, so in the end the company got to sell you the product at a higher price than they said. The trick they often use is when they send the rebate, its not actually a cheque it is just credit you can use towards another product from their company. By using rebates companies can convince you to buy the product because you think it is a good price but you end up not paying that price at all. Another form of false advertising that tricks many people is the buy 2 get one free; when you normally would have only bought one item you are now buying twice as much as you would just to get the free product when really all you needed was one. I think almost all advertising is false because when there is really good deals on products, its hard to believe that the company is actually just trying to be nice, there is almost always a hiddent part of the deal.
ReplyDeleteFalse or misleading information seems to be everywhere in today's world. Sometimes this is intentional, such as when companies use misleading marketing techniques to inflate sales (as previously mentioned by Kaitlin and Delia), although it can be debated whether this technique is actually effective over the long-term.
ReplyDeleteHowever, many times false or misleading information is simply the result of sloppiness of laziness. It takes time to research a subject properly, and authors and writers occasionally fail to do this due to poor time management or lack of effort. An example of this is the source article for this subject on Wikipedia. There are three Wikipedia disclaimers at the top of the article that indicate this document may not have been researched properly. The view of the subject is declared as too narrow, the neutrality of the article is disputed, and there are not enough citations to prove the statements listed within. As a result, the reader may be influenced by an opinion that is not entirely based on fact, possibly serving to mislead the reader. Once again, the irony is overwhelming.
I have to agree with Scott and Kaitlin to a degree, being that yes, there is false advertising present throughout the world of marketing and retail, however there is many examples found throughout the world that are simply because of laziness or sloppiness. Most of all I think it comes down to buyer beware, when you are entering into a financial exchange for large amounts it's simply irresponsible to not fully understand what you ae entering yourself into. If you are going to hand somebody a large sum of your money for a service or item from somebody, it is your responsibilty to know what you are paying and what the advertisement includes, and to know what you are purchasing as well.
ReplyDeleteOn a side note I do not like that every sort of business when advertised is the best, especially with radio stations, OK there's 7 of you you can't all be the best. I hear a lot of this and have to wonder are there facts to back this and furthermore, on 2 comparable items or services how does one render best and worst in a more opinionated fashion without being biased?
A catch 22 I suppose.