Calling out manipulative tactics helps us recognize how manipulation works and question practices we might otherwise repeat without examination. But stopping there leaves us with the practical question of what to do instead.
Each entry examines a tactic, how it works, and the consequences for the people on the receiving end. We look at the nuance, because these practices are rarely as simple as a blacklist suggests, and show you how to spot them in the wild.
Then we flip them around and explore explore where we might begin to do things differently.
Ethical practice cannot stop at what we refuse to do. We have to build what comes next.
The flips do not pretend there is one clean answer. Some draw on established practice; others are propositions, open to challenge and change.
Use them as a starting point. Question what we propose, consider what it would mean in your work, and choose what you will do instead.
The tactic
A ‘secret recipe’ is when someone claims they have an exclusive secret to success, or a shortcut, that no one else has. There is no ONE solution to a problem, and claiming that there is creates a sense of lack and loss aversion that are hard to resist.
The flip
An approach described plainly, without the mystery. Nobody has the only solution to anything, and saying so out loud costs less than it seems.
The tactic
Ethical and progressive values appropriated to lift image and sales, while behind closed doors the actions do not match, as when a brand donates to BLM while exploiting BIPOC in its supply chain. It rides on our need to be seen well by our peers, since we buy from companies that make us look good by extension.
The flip
Taking ownership of our organisation’s role in creating positive change. Being transparent about what we are already doing and what we are still working on, as well as how it runs through values, communications, products and operations. When we talk about our values, our ethical stances and our actions, we do it in a way that is truthful and substantiated.
The tactic
We are led to expect something of value and what arrives does not match, as when a webinar turns into a sales pitch. The bait primes us to receive, so when the value is pulled away we are anxious to fill the gap with almost anything, and quick to feel we owe something back.
The flip
When a pitch is attached to something of value, say so in the invitation and again at the start, so people arrive knowing. Keeping it under about five percent of the time, or moving it into a separate conversation entirely, leaves the value you promised intact.
The tactic
Calling something free when it is paid for with information, time and attention. Free is hard to resist, and an email address is a low-bar agreement that makes saying no harder next time. Once we have handed something over, we are more receptive to whatever arrives.
The flip
The offering available without signing up to anything else, and the list as its own invitation with a plain account of what it is for. Where the two cannot be separated, the sign-up box should say that emails are coming, unsubscribing should be easy, and what arrives should stay on the subject people signed up for.
The tactic
False scarcity is designed to make an opportunity, product or service seem more rare, and therefore more valuable than it actually is. This plays on consumers’ fear of missing out and loss aversion, rather than allowing them to buy out of genuine desire.
The flip
Honesty about what is actually available, and when something really is limited, the reason why. Invented exclusivity is the part to drop, since an invite-only offer can simply be announced to the people being invited. When quantities are genuinely short, an alternative for the people who miss out.
The tactic
Urgency that was manufactured rather than real. A countdown to a live event tells people something true, while one that resets on refresh only applies pressure. It works on the sense that you have to act now or lose out forever, so people decide in a hurry instead of working out whether it is right for them.
The flip
Room to decide without pressure. A closing date and time says what a ticker says, without the countdown. Honesty about timing, so a last chance is only called that when it is one, and a word about when the offer comes round again. Deadlines that were announced hold.
The tactic
We judge prices based on the leftmost digit of a number. Charm prices use the left-digit-effect to make a product appear cheaper than it is, bypassing the conscious choice of the buyer. They are only created to generate more sales and do not benefit the buyer in the least.
The flip
A price rounded up or down, with the nines left out. Tax and charges can be in or out as long as the page says which, and the currency wants to be unmistakable, since a dollar sign covers a lot of ground. Where a platform owns the price box, as on Amazon or Apple, the round number can still be the one in your own marketing, even if checkout differs.
The original Ethical Marketing Pledge named seven tactics we committed to rejecting. As the movement grew, so did the list. New tactics appeared, old ones changed shape, and familiar practices found new names. We realized we were playing ethical whack-a-mole.
The pledge does not ask us to memorize every way manipulation can work. It declares the intention behind our choices, so we have something to return to when the next tactic does not yet have a name.
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