|
For decades, the world of advertising used such media as posters, print ads and TV-commercials to attract customers. Now, the industry has changed radically. Media are increasingly consumed over the internet, where new advertising methods are subtly influencing people.
"Online persuasion" is the term for a branch of online marketing that makes use of advances in behavioral psychology. This includes broad-based psychological tests, the so-called A/B tests. Everyone who goes online automatically takes part in many such tests – without knowing it. Almost every web shop conducts them, as do internet corporations like Facebook, Google and Amazon. Is a product more likely to sell if it is presented on screen A or screen B? Is a lighter or a darker "buy" button clicked more often? All these factors influence our buying behavior and can be measured online. Buying habits have also been clearly linked to such factors as weather.
Psychologists and tech industry insiders alike see a danger in the increasing “gamification” in the way our smartphones are designed. The problem? They are addictive. Like addicts, we are glued to the devices and lose sight of our actual values and goals in the face of the overwhelming possibilities the web offers us. What can we do about it?
|