Internet Marketing - The power of public perception in marketing

Marketing is largely about the manipulation of public opinion in its favor.

How can a president win an election? Largely related to the perception of the public to get votes.

How does a movie studio to sell many tickets for a movie? Taking advantage of the public perception that some of the film, as the stars attached to it, the subject / film history, etc.

How does an affiliate become the top dog? Taking advantage of the public perception that they are the best network and the place to be.

No need to manipulate public perception in some way, our marketing efforts would be almost useless. We would be obliged to adhere to "big deals" that do not involve a mass of consumers. Without a public perception that there was more or less limited to B2B (business to business) the kind of deals that have no mass of consumers involved. And even offers b2b involves the perception that you are going to benefit the company you're dealing with!

Recently, in Los Angeles, CA decided to close the main road state called the 405. Basically it is the backbone of the traffic from Los Angeles to points north and south. The news that promoted and called it "Carmaggeddon" and Carpocalypse "as if going to be one of the worst weekends of traffic on the history of Los Angeles. They told people to stay beside the roads, as get stuck in traffic anywhere in Los Angeles.

This perception of the public (as of 15: 00 the first day of the closure 405) has scared so many people who have mostly stayed home and the opposite has happened, no one is on the way by fear and the perception that going to be so bad if add to the traffic. Wow some great marketing minds at work here to put fear in reality in the eyes of the people enough.

This made me think of how we as marketers can use the public perception and even fear tactics to our advantage to get people to do what we do (or do not want to do) in the mass. It is interesting that one can be so valuable to get someone to do what you do not want to do (for example, sign up for an affiliate network of competition or the competition.)

It reinforces the theory that if enough people do something a problem, be a problem and people will take measures (like not driving on the road this weekend in Los Angeles) only by the extreme exaggeration behind him. People is basically saying "the city officials advised him to stay off the roads, as it will be bad, and I have to assume they are good, so I stay off the road and not a" boy bad "to add to the traffic." When in reality just bought into the hype and do not want to feel like a bad person by adding potentially a problem.

So in a sense, city officials did their job enough to freak out the Los Angeles residents to stay off the road. However, the interesting thing is that most of the news media are reporting "the roads are clear," and we'll see if people really stay off the roads or if you now start coming to the roads since the news said that are clear. If enough people are now convinced that the reverse paths are clear and everyone stays home, everyone could try out now.

Either way is an interesting lesson about public perception and how people listen to authority figures and advertising, but in the back of your mind knows that authority figures are using scare tactics and manipulation techniques to get what they want. Convincing the entire city of Los Angeles to stay off the roads? Marketing.

Do any of you have felt manipulated by a product launch online?

What other forms of manipulation and public perception play a legitimate role in marketing?