Appealing to consumers desires’ and fears

Marketers decieve to win business

#1
In the TV commercial of an instant coffee mix, “French Cafe” from Namyang Dairy Products, famous actress Kim Tae-hee drinks the mixed coffee and whispers with a smile, “This is the right time to choose this coffee mix as long as you care about your health, because this contains real milk, not `sodium caseinate,’ a chemical synthetic.”

#2
In U.S. version commercial of K5 sedan, a vehicle from Korea’s No. 2 automaker Kia Motors is driven by a man who gets into a trance-like state where he sees amazing scenes. Still in that state, the driver shifts to high gear, then attracting a bunch of gorgeous super models including Adrian Lima, starring at him with such loving passion and admiration.

#3
A pretty woman in a crowded elevator can’t even push the button of the elevator, concerned about the perceived inconvenience of her armpit’s foul odor. But after using Nivea deodorant, she confidently stretches her arms in the same elevator and even attracts a guy’s attention. The impression given is that she only gets confident after using the Nivea deodorant.

Marketers are always trying to get into the consumers’ mind. Not surprisingly, they don’t hesitate to appeal to customers’ desires and even fears, as demonstrated in each of the above-mentioned commercials.

“Businesses, marketers, advertisers and retailers have gotten far craftier, savvier, and more sinister. They know more than they have before about what inspires us, scares us, soothes us, and seduces us,” said Martin Lindstrom, a New York Times best-selling author and speaker, who calls himself a “fan of the consumer” in his book entitled,“Brainwashed: Tricks Companies Use to Manipulate Our Minds and Persuade Us to Buy.”
“They know what alleviates us to feel more confident, more beloved, more secure, more nostalgic, more spiritually fulfilled and know far more about how to use all this information to obscure the truth, manipulate our minds, and persuade us to buy.”
The problem is that after watching these commercials, people easily become anxious. They may wonder “what if I’m drinking an unhealthy coffee? What if girls don’t like me just because I don’t drive the car? What if guys think I’m smelly just because I don’t use the deodorant?”

In fact, contrary to what the actress would have viewers believe, sodium caseinate is not as unhealthy as she seeks to portray.
Sodium caseinate is a safe protein approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the United States. It is widely used in powdered formula, yoghurt, and various dairy foods.

Then why is it so controversial?
Milk contains 3 percent protein and casein comprises 80 percent of the protein. In the process of manufacturing, sodium hydroxide is added because casein is not soluble in water.
“Sodium hydroxide might be controversial since hydroxide is a very dangerous substance, but after processing, sodium casien doesn’t contain hydroxide and there is only sodium left. An adequate amount of sodium is not harmful to the body. Meaning the chemical is not dangerous at all,” says Kim Ji-in, a senior researcher at the National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER).

Likewise it’s not surprising that food companies often use strategies of exploiting consumers’ fears of being exposed to toxic chemicals and sometimes, new sort of diseases are made or labeled by pharmaceutical companies.
Take the pharmaceutical industry, for instance, many women have suffered from hormonal changes every month for decades but it was not that long ago before they became aware of it being a disease, dubbed “premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD)” and of course, PMDD can be milder nowadays with medication.

Lindstrom pointed out that it’s mainly the result of all the sophisticated new tools, technologies and its related new generation research in the field of consumer behavior, cognitive psychology, and neuroscience.
In that sense, he asks consumers to understand how today’s new and hidden strategic marketers are choosing to brainwash consumers, in order for them to guard against such misleading strategies, or at least know how they can be smarter, sounder when they make purchasing decisions.

In other words, it would be far better for consumers to be more informed when they buy items such as food that is especially made with chemical synthetics like sodium casein.

“Chemical synthetics such as sodium casein and monsodium glutamate (MSG) are neither good nor bad, given that most of them come with regulatory safety certifications. That said, it is far safer for consumers to resort to more natural food rather than artificial ones, if it’s possible. There is no doubt that natural foods are healthier,” Kim said.
Therefore, Kim pointed out the controversy on the chemicals has to be understood as customers’ desire for buying better products and eating healthier food, not just a target of criticism for arousing their anxiety. <The Korea Times/Bahk Eun-ji>

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