tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/online-marketing-11885/articlesOnline marketing – The Conversation2023-05-02T03:44:08Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2042772023-05-02T03:44:08Z2023-05-02T03:44:08Z‘Kidfluencer’ culture is harming kids in several ways – and there’s no meaningful regulation of it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523708/original/file-20230502-20-1nrq1h.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=35%2C23%2C7767%2C5182&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Parents share content of their children <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1329878X19828365">for myriad reasons</a>, including to connect with friends and family, and to seek validation or support. </p>
<p>However, some parents also do this for commercial gain. They manage their children as social media “kidfluencers” – allowing them to work with brands to market products to other children (and adults). </p>
<p>The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s latest interim <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/about-us/publications/serial-publications/digital-platform-services-inquiry-2020-2025/digital-platform-services-inquiry-march-2023-interim-report">report</a> for the Digital Platforms Services Inquiry has acknowledged key issues relevant to kidfluencers, including privacy concerns and possible labour exploitation issues. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://journal.media-culture.org.au/index.php/mcjournal/article/view/2952">research</a>, published recently in the M/C Journal, further highlights how the kidfluencer culture opens the door for possible child exploitation and a host of other problems.</p>
<p>There is a clear need for regulation in this space – and achieving it will require a considered, collective effort.</p>
<h2>Is YouTube the world’s most popular babysitter?</h2>
<p>Speaking to Forbes in 2019, Eyal Baumel, the chief executive of Yoola (a management company which also manages digital child stars), <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maddieberg/2019/12/18/the-highest-paid-youtube-stars-of-2019-the-kids-are-killing-it/?sh=2a1a3d1e38cd">described</a> YouTube as “the most popular babysitter in the world”. </p>
<p>Since then, the COVID pandemic has prompted a surge in <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2798256">screentime</a> for kids, who are being marketed toys as well as other products normally targeted to adults.</p>
<p>Product lines for kids are big business. In 2021, the global toys market was <a href="https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/toys-market-104699">projected to grow</a> from about US$141 billion to $230.6 billion by 2028.</p>
<p>It’s now common to see YouTube kidfluencers marketing toys to other kids through toy “reviews”. But these videos aren’t the same as traditional product reviews. They’re <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17482798.2019.1693409">mash-ups</a> that blur the lines between three major genres: reviews, branded content and entertainment.</p>
<p>The most popular toy review channels have millions of subscribers, and their hosts are some of YouTube’s top earners. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChGJGhZ9SOOHvBB0Y4DOO_w">Ryan’s World</a> is probably the most well-known channel in this genre. Conservative estimates suggest 10-year-old Ryan Kanji’s family earns about <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/05/magazine/ryan-kaji-youtube.html">US$25 million</a> each year. </p>
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<h2>Instakids are on the rise</h2>
<p>Apart from YouTube (now more <a href="https://www.tvtechnology.com/news/new-data-shows-youtube-dominates-video-landscape-for-kids#">popular among kids than television</a>), a significant number of kids and teens are also spending time on Instagram. </p>
<p>According to <a href="https://info.thorn.org/hubfs/Research/Responding%20to%20Online%20Threats_2021-Full-Report.pdf">a 2021 report</a> by child protection organisation Thorn, about 40% of children under age 13 (out of some 750 interviewed) said they’d used Instagram. This is despite the platform ostensibly <a href="https://help.instagram.com/517920941588885">only being for</a> people aged 13 and older. </p>
<p>For our latest research, we analysed the Instagram accounts of two Australian influencer siblings to better understand the nature of child-to-child marketing in 2023.</p>
<p>Pixie Curtis, age 11, started her online toy store Pixie’s Pix during COVID, when toy sales rose globally. This came after initial success selling hair bows through Pixie’s Bows, a business managed by her mother, PR entrepreneur and reality TV personality Roxy Jacenko.</p>
<p>Pixie’s Instagram account (which has about 136,000 followers), and her brother Hunter’s (20,000 followers), have been used to promote Pixie’s Pix toys as well as other brands and products.</p>
<p>And although <a href="https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/parenting/kids/roxy-jacenkos-daughter-pixie-curtis-has-announced-a-huge-life-change-before-her-12th-birthday/news-story/ff6fda8895d4a682eb0f1b9fd6c3311c">Pixie recently “retired”</a> from the toy shop business, she continues to promote products, including her original line of hair bows and other brands’ skincare and beauty products.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/CrAnCYdhPXG","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>Our research identifies key areas of concern, including:</p>
<ul>
<li>a lack of online privacy for kidfluencers, who have many aspects of their lives publicised online</li>
<li>the commodification of children, and the enabling of a culture geared at up-selling them products and services </li>
<li>the <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10551-016-3080-3">gendered marketing of toys</a> and an increased focus on appearance for girls (which <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebook-knows-instagram-is-toxic-for-teen-girls-company-documents-show-11631620739">can be harmful</a> for their self-esteem) </li>
<li>the “stealth” marketing of toys and other products through advertorials.<br></li>
</ul>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/3-ways-app-developers-keep-kids-glued-to-the-screen-and-what-to-do-about-it-191672">3 ways app developers keep kids glued to the screen – and what to do about it</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<h2>Regulation is needed now</h2>
<p>So far, the French government appears to be the only one that <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54447491">has taken tangible action</a> to regulate the labour of child social media influencers. Under <a href="https://www.ibanet.org/Social-media-Rise-of-kidfluencers-pushes-legislators-to-engage-with-childrens-rights-online#:%7E:text=Under%20the%20French%20law%2C%20the,their%20images%20and%20videos%20online.">French law</a>, children below age 16 can only work limited hours, and their earnings must be safeguarded in an account made accessible when they turn 16. </p>
<p>France is also considering <a href="https://www.euronews.com/next/2023/03/10/sharenting-why-is-france-trying-to-stop-parents-from-oversharing-their-childrens-images-on">legislation</a> to regulate “sharenting” – <a href="https://www.oed.com/viewdictionaryentry/Entry/93527020">a portmanteau</a> of sharing and parenting that describes the practice of consistently posting content about one’s children on social media. </p>
<p>In the US, the Coogan Act (named after child star Jackie Coogan) was signed into law in 1939 to regulate child labour in the entertainment industry, but no equivalent laws have been enacted for child social media stars.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, the problems surrounding kidfluencing are starting to <a href="https://www.teenvogue.com/story/influencer-parents-children-social-media-impact">gain attention</a> around the world.</p>
<p>Last year a UK <a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/28742/documents/173531/default/">House of Commons</a> report investigated the implications of influencers targeting children with advertorials, especially those that provide little to no disclosure of the post being an ad. </p>
<p>The committee made several recommendations, including promoting young people’s social media literacy, developing a code of conduct for influencer marketing, and strengthening the powers of the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority and Competition and Markets Authority. </p>
<p>As a result, the UK’s Department for Education is now “open to exploring legislative ways of improving employment protection for child influencers”.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/is-13-too-young-to-have-a-tiktok-or-instagram-account-199097">Is 13 too young to have a TikTok or Instagram account?</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<h2>The unintended consequences of regulation</h2>
<p>In January, Meta (the parent company of Facebook and Instagram) held its first <a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2023/01/providing-safe-experiences-for-teens/">Summit on Youth Safety and Wellbeing</a>. It might be trying to get on the front foot as regulators continue to scrutinise platforms on issues relevant to young people’s social media use.</p>
<p>But regulating in the kidfluencer space won’t be easy. In March, Utah introduced laws to stop children under 18 having access to social media <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/27/podcasts/the-daily/social-media-instagram-tiktok-utah-ban.html">without parents’ explicit consent</a> – but critics have pointed out the potential negative consequences. </p>
<p>Teens use social media for important connections, including with friends and online support groups. Vulnerable teens may become isolated without online support from their peers. Beyond that, social media provide kids with a sense of enjoyment and identity. Taking this away could do more harm than good. </p>
<p>More work is needed to determine what effective regulation would look like. While parents and educators have a role to play to increase children’s social media literacy, digital platforms and businesses should also step up.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/anorexia-coach-sexual-predators-online-are-targeting-teens-wanting-to-lose-weight-platforms-are-looking-the-other-way-162938">'Anorexia coach': sexual predators online are targeting teens wanting to lose weight. Platforms are looking the other way</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498128/original/file-20221129-22-imtnz0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498128/original/file-20221129-22-imtnz0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=115&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498128/original/file-20221129-22-imtnz0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=115&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498128/original/file-20221129-22-imtnz0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=115&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498128/original/file-20221129-22-imtnz0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=144&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498128/original/file-20221129-22-imtnz0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=144&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498128/original/file-20221129-22-imtnz0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=144&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em>The Conversation is commissioning articles by academics across the world who are researching how society is being shaped by our digital interactions with each other. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/social-media-and-society-125586">Read more here</a></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204277/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>I am an Associate Investigator with the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kate Delmo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Social media child influencers are increasingly marketing products normally targeted at adults, such as beauty and skincare items.Catherine Jane Archer, Senior Lecturer, Communication, Edith Cowan UniversityKate Delmo, Senior Lecturer and Head of Discipline of Strategic Communication, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1751482022-04-12T03:22:50Z2022-04-12T03:22:50ZWhat our negative comments and consumer gripes on social media reveal about us<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444691/original/file-20220207-17-1d38iss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C594%2C5760%2C2854&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A supermarket starts <a href="https://kitchen.nine.com.au/latest/hot-cross-buns-on-sale-after-christmas-coles-supermarkets/4545d232-d183-427a-b677-2ab0d8ce5975">stocking hot-cross buns</a> straight after Christmas. A <a href="https://www.marketingmag.com.au/news-c/new-glad-wrap-cutter-crisis-customer-complaints-spark-reversal-box-innovation/">cling-wrap brand</a> shifts its serrated cutter bar from the base of the box to inside the lid. The maker of M&M’s chocolates changes its marketing. Each time people take to social media <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/petersuciu/2022/01/20/mms-efforts-to-be-more-inclusive-met-with-mockery-on-twitter/?sh=6044c12c129f">to complain</a>.</p>
<p>Why do people get so angry about things that seem so trivial? </p>
<p>We’ve examined the issue of consumer anger on social media because, as marketing academics, we’re interested in how companies handle the excessive toxicity that comes with corporate social media engagement. But our research also helps explain the causes of this culture of complaint.</p>
<p>Our findings point to this behaviour meeting two basic psychological needs.</p>
<p>First, complaining is a mechanism for social connection. </p>
<p>Second, it’s an opportunity to boost self-esteem through what psychologists call “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/psychology/downward-social-comparison">downward social comparison</a>”. Given social media feeds can be rife with opportunities to feel inferior, complaining about brands is an easy way to feel better about ourselves.</p>
<h2>How we did our research</h2>
<p>To figure out why people complain so much on social media, we analysed negative posts on Facebook about brands caught up in media controversies at the time.</p>
<p>We focused on six companies – a clothing brand, a supermarket, an airline, an e-commerce store, a department store and a beverage company. </p>
<p>Each had a Facebook page with more than 1 million followers. The controversies included alleged employee mistreatment, unethical business practices, bad customer experiences and a poorly received advertising campaign. We analysed hundreds of comments posted on these companies’ pages. We followed up with interviews with 13 social media users who said they used Facebook at least daily and interacted with brands on social media at least weekly. </p>
<p>We asked these 13 people what they posted about and their reasons for posting. We also asked them to speculate about other social media posts regarding the same brands. This enabled us to draw our conclusions.</p>
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<img alt="Image of Facebook feed." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457558/original/file-20220412-12-rb38ke.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457558/original/file-20220412-12-rb38ke.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457558/original/file-20220412-12-rb38ke.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457558/original/file-20220412-12-rb38ke.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457558/original/file-20220412-12-rb38ke.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457558/original/file-20220412-12-rb38ke.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457558/original/file-20220412-12-rb38ke.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<h2>Complaining to bond with others</h2>
<p>The most common reason for complaining online was paying for something that didn’t arrive or failed to work in some way. This was our least surprising finding. </p>
<p>More surprising was how many who joined in posting negative comments, without any firsthand experience. We saw this complaining used as a bonding mechanism, with users tagging family or friends in posts about malfunctioning equipment with questions such as: “Has this happened with yours?” </p>
<p>Complaining has long been “a pervasive and important form of social communication”, as psychology professor Mark Alicke and colleagues noted in <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0146167292183004">a 1992 study</a>, published before most people had even heard of the internet. </p>
<p>Social media has amplified this, enabling us to not only complain to friends but also to create a type of social connection with strangers. We could give you dozens of examples from our research, but you can probably think of many from your own experiences.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/does-social-media-make-us-more-or-less-lonely-depends-on-how-you-use-it-128468">Does social media make us more or less lonely? Depends on how you use it</a>
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<p>The people we studied got a kick out of debating strangers, particularly when they felt they had the upper hand. One interviewee told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I kind of like it, because it shows that at least I’m having an impact. If I’m talking about something someone’s so angry about that they write something back, at least we’re having a conversation.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Such responses speak the social dilemma of social networks. Our increasingly digital existence contributes to real-world social disconnection. To compensate, people look for whatever attention they can find on social media, including through complaining and arguing.</p>
<h2>Downward social comparison</h2>
<p>The second major psychological reward from complaining on social media was to boost their self-esteem. As one participant told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>This is kind of that negative thing, but it’s more in a funny, sarcastic, trolling negative thing.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This pay-off came through strongly when we asked our interviewees to speculate on others’ complaints. “Maybe they’re bored and lonely at home,” said one. “The fact he’s obviously looking down on the people is elevating his position,” said another. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-research-shows-trolls-dont-just-enjoy-hurting-others-they-also-feel-good-about-themselves-145931">New research shows trolls don't just enjoy hurting others, they also feel good about themselves</a>
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<p>Boosting self-esteem by looking down others is known as “downward social comparison”. This idea was articulated by American social psychologist <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/001872675400700202">Leon Festinger in 1954</a>, who suggested humans were hardwired by evolution to compare our value against others. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457578/original/file-20220412-30687-341a2j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Leon Festinger's 1954 paper, " src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457578/original/file-20220412-30687-341a2j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457578/original/file-20220412-30687-341a2j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=854&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457578/original/file-20220412-30687-341a2j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=854&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457578/original/file-20220412-30687-341a2j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=854&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457578/original/file-20220412-30687-341a2j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1073&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457578/original/file-20220412-30687-341a2j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1073&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457578/original/file-20220412-30687-341a2j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1073&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Leon Festinger’s 1954 paper, ‘A Theory of Social Comparison Processes’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/001872675400700202">Human Relations</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Generally we seek comparisons with people like ourselves. Upward social comparisons (to higher-status individuals or groups) is bad for our self-esteeem, while downward comparison (to lower-status targets) can boost our self-esteem. </p>
<p>Research over the past decade or so suggest amplifies our need to find things to feel superior about precisely because it is so effective in making us feel inferior, with social media feeds typically subjecting us to “<a href="https://www.psychreg.org/lives-social-media/">highlight reels</a>” of other people’s beachside holidays, job promotions, romantic dinners and so on. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275507421_Social_comparison_social_media_and_self-esteem">One study</a>, for example, has found that spending more time on social media is associated with a greater likelihood of thinking others are happier and have better lives. </p>
<p>Looking down on companies and brands may be an easy, relatively socially acceptable way for us to feel smarter and superior.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-social-media-affects-children-at-different-ages-and-how-to-protect-them-180374">How social media affects children at different ages – and how to protect them</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<h2>Manipulating our love of complaining</h2>
<p>Some complaining is a good thing. It shows companies we are ready to hold them to account. </p>
<p>But the degree to which complaining is done to scratch psychological itches is complicating the use of social media. Indeed, some companies now deliberately court controversy to exploit our love for complaining.</p>
<p>An example is British breakfast cereal maker Weetabix, which in February 2021 tweeted an image of Weetabix topped with baked beans. This is hardly an important issue. But it generated enough controversy on social media to also spill over into dozen of reports on legacy media. </p>
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<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457059/original/file-20220408-21-so75f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Weetabix's baked beans on weetabix tweet" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457059/original/file-20220408-21-so75f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457059/original/file-20220408-21-so75f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=634&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457059/original/file-20220408-21-so75f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=634&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457059/original/file-20220408-21-so75f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=634&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457059/original/file-20220408-21-so75f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=797&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457059/original/file-20220408-21-so75f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=797&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457059/original/file-20220408-21-so75f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=797&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://twitter.com/weetabix/status/1359074254789165059?lang=en">Twitter</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>Whenever you see a brand bringing out some odd flavour, it’s probably not because company executives have lost their minds. It’s more likely their marketing experts are deliberately looking to provoke people to express mirth or disgust about it. </p>
<p>So if you find yourself engaging in online complaining, be mindful of the social and psychological factors lurking below the surface. </p>
<p>Just as you may be taking advantage of a brand to make yourself feel better, it is possible a company is stoking controversy to take advantage of you.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/175148/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Complaining on social media meets two basic psychological needs: the desire for connection, and wanting to feel superior.Angela R. Dobele, Associate professor, RMIT UniversityAshleigh Powell (née Druce), Lecturer, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1628162021-08-25T12:26:33Z2021-08-25T12:26:33ZWhy people feel guilty about using effort-saving products when taking care of loved ones<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416552/original/file-20210817-22-1mugdbh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C218%2C4865%2C3248&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Does effort equal love?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/overhead-view-of-girl-making-valentine-card-on-royalty-free-image/961113652">Cavan Images/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em></p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>People who care for friends, children or other loved ones may avoid products and services that make caregiving easier – such as ready-made meals – because they believe that doing so undermines their ability to show that they care, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucab039">according to our new research</a>. Psychologically, people equate effort with love, and taking shortcuts can make them feel guilty.</p>
<p>While making caregiving easier might seem like a good thing, people don’t necessarily perceive it that way. As part of our research, we collected <a href="https://instagram.com/p/BhvIL1AgaOG/">Instagram</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BuzzFeedNews/videos/1285752184779130/">Facebook</a> comments on posts about <a href="https://www.happiestbaby.com/?utm_source=google&utm_campaign=&gclid=EAIaIQobChMImuX26uWp8gIVAeKzCh2T1wXMEAAYASAAEgIkafD_BwE">the SNOO</a>, a smart crib that automatically rocks a fussy baby to sleep. We found that a plurality of the 675 comments we examined – 40% – were negative. Many of the comments called parents who would buy the SNOO “just lazy” or questioned them with such comments as, “If you need that device, you shouldn’t have kids.”</p>
<p>In fact, the more people perceived the SNOO as making bedtime easier, the more harshly they judged parents who used it.</p>
<p>These comments suggest that people have the intuition that proper caregiving should require effort. But does this intuition affect people’s own caregiving decisions? </p>
<p>We conducted nine experiments to answer this question. </p>
<p>Our first four experiments sought to tease out how important perceived effort is when caring for loved ones and whether people believe using an effort-saving product implies they don’t care enough.</p>
<p>For example, in one study, we recruited 251 undergraduate students and asked them to send their grandparents a card to cheer them up, which we mailed for them. We asked half of the students to pick one from a set of several premade cards, while the others made one themselves using markers, stickers and glitter. After they finished choosing or making a card, we asked how they felt. Students who used a premade card reported they felt like less dedicated family members and guiltier than those who sent a handmade one. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="The front of two cards shown side by side, the one on the left is premade, the one on right is handmade with the words 'you're in my thoughts' written in pencil and stickers of two hearts and a star" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416561/original/file-20210817-22-zr5mvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416561/original/file-20210817-22-zr5mvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=269&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416561/original/file-20210817-22-zr5mvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=269&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416561/original/file-20210817-22-zr5mvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=269&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416561/original/file-20210817-22-zr5mvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416561/original/file-20210817-22-zr5mvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416561/original/file-20210817-22-zr5mvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Which one would you prefer to receive – or send?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ximena Garcia-Rada, Mary Steffel, Elanor F Williams, Michael I Norton</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The next four studies examined when and with whom people felt it is especially important to express their love through effort. </p>
<p>In one study, we found that people making cookies to comfort their partner during the COVID-19 pandemic were over 20% more likely to choose to mix the dough by hand rather than use ready-to-bake frozen dough than those who were baking cookies to comfort themselves. </p>
<p>Overall, making an effort seemed most important when participants were trying to give emotional support or helping someone they were especially close to.</p>
<p>In our final study, we tested how companies offering products that support caregiving can make them more palatable to customers by teaming up with smart crib-maker Happiest Baby on an actual marketing campaign. We crafted advertisements for the company that described the SNOO in two different ways: by acknowledging parents’ efforts (“you give the XOXOs, SNOO gives the ZZZs”) or by emphasizing how the SNOO makes parenting easier (“with SNOO, get ZZZ’s with ease”). </p>
<p>After a two-week social media campaign, twice as many people clicked on the ad acknowledging parents’ efforts compared with the one that emphasized how much it reduced effort. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two similar tweets are shown side by side, the one on the left emphasizing how a SNOO smart crib will reduce effort, the one on the right emphasizing the role of the parent" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416546/original/file-20210817-21-vzou7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416546/original/file-20210817-21-vzou7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416546/original/file-20210817-21-vzou7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416546/original/file-20210817-21-vzou7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416546/original/file-20210817-21-vzou7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=550&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416546/original/file-20210817-21-vzou7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=550&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416546/original/file-20210817-21-vzou7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=550&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Twice as many people clicked on the ad on the right.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ximena Garcia-Rada, Mary Steffel, Elanor F Williams, Michael I Norton</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>Caring for one’s family and friends is important and meaningful – but a lot of work.</p>
<p>People in caregiving roles say they experience <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2013/03/14/modern-parenthood-roles-of-moms-and-dads-converge-as-they-balance-work-and-family">high levels of stress</a> and have very busy schedules. This has been <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2018494118">especially true during the pandemic</a>. </p>
<p>Yet our work suggests that people may not take advantage of ways to make this work easier – and when they do, they feel as if they are doing a worse job. </p>
<h2>What still isn’t known</h2>
<p>We didn’t test whether there are other ways people could be convinced that it’s OK to use effort-saving products to help them care for their family and friends. </p>
<p>Future work could examine exactly how caregivers prioritize showing their love versus getting tasks done when they are juggling multiple responsibilities for the many people in their lives. This could show how caregivers might feel enabled to show their love without spreading themselves too thin.</p>
<p>[<em>Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklybest">Sign up for our weekly newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162816/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A series of studies shows people taking care of loved ones equate effort with love, making them feel guilty for using a product that reduces that effort.Ximena Garcia-Rada, Assistant Professor of Marketing, Texas A&M UniversityElanor Williams, Associate Professor of Marketing, Washington University in St. LouisMary Steffel, Assistant Professor of Marketing, Northeastern UniversityMichael Norton, Professor of Business Administration, Harvard UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1471242020-10-01T15:37:58Z2020-10-01T15:37:58ZEsports could be quietly spawning a whole new generation of problem gamblers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360542/original/file-20200929-20-8q3fjz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The new problem gambling?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/team-professional-gamer-playing-winning-tournaments-1584735865">Parilov</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Most large sports events came to an abrupt halt during the pandemic, but one category was not only unaffected but enjoyed <a href="https://www.economist.com/international/2020/06/27/the-pandemic-has-accelerated-the-growth-of-e-sports">accelerated growth</a>: esports. Esports is the competitive playing of video games such as League of Legends, Fortnite and Fifa Football. </p>
<p>The audiences for the biggest titles <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/esports-ecosystem-market-report?r=US&IR=T">are now enormous</a>. Fortnite alone has around 78 million monthly players and professional tournaments draw in many millions of online spectators. League of Legends World Championship attracted over 100 million viewers in 2019 with a peak of 44 million. In comparison, the Wimbledon men’s final 2019 peaked at around <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/48989639">9 million viewers</a>. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AXfkqXamJU0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>It’s not just the size of the audience that’s different, it’s also their age. The average tennis spectator is 61, whereas esports spectators are on <a href="https://www.pmg.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/eSports-Marketing-PMG-Whitepaper.pdf">average 26</a>. </p>
<p>Major bookmakers such as PaddyPower, Bet365 and Betway, along with many niche operators, are now offering bets on esports tournaments. Monthly esports betting revenues for UK operators <a href="https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/news-action-and-statistics/Statistics-and-research/Covid-19-research/Covid-19-updated-August-2020/Gambling-business-data-on-gambling-during-Covid-19-updated-August-2020.aspx">rose 30-fold</a> between March 2019 and March 2020, and by June they had more than doubled again. </p>
<p>The global esports betting market is <a href="https://sbcnews.co.uk/esports-fantasy/2020/05/06/everymatrix-sports-titles-esports-betting-volume-growth/#:%7E:text=The%20report%20estimated%20that%20total,from%202%25%20to%2027%25.">expected to be</a> worth up to $15 billion (£12 billion) this year, compared with less than US$6 billion in 2016. This explosive growth has been fuelled by online advertising, which almost <a href="https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/online-gambling-ad-impressions-almost-triple-during-lockdown/1682440">tripled during lockdown</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360546/original/file-20200929-14-16c94y5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Fan standing up in mass audience for esports event in Moscow" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360546/original/file-20200929-14-16c94y5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360546/original/file-20200929-14-16c94y5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360546/original/file-20200929-14-16c94y5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360546/original/file-20200929-14-16c94y5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360546/original/file-20200929-14-16c94y5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360546/original/file-20200929-14-16c94y5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360546/original/file-20200929-14-16c94y5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Esports Counter Strike global event in Moscow, September 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/moscow-russia-14th-september-2019-esports-1520640266">Roman Kosolapov</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The danger is that younger people are being drawn to gamble on esports. In 2019, <a href="https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/PDF/survey-data/Gambling-participation-in-2019-behaviour-awareness-and-attitudes.pdf">17% of esports gamblers</a> were aged 18-24. In general, <a href="https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/PDF/survey-data/Gambling-participation-in-2019-behaviour-awareness-and-attitudes.pdf">more and more</a> UK 16-34-year-olds are gambling, and the average age of gamblers <a href="https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/PDF/survey-data/Gambling-participation-in-2019-behaviour-awareness-and-attitudes.pdf">is decreasing</a>. The number of problem gamblers aged 11-16 <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-46286945">has also quadrupled</a> to more than 50,000 in just two years. This comes at a time when
<a href="https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/report/gaming-the-system/">93% of UK children</a> play video games, averaging three hours a day and a growing number also follow professional esports teams. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/virtual-tour-de-france-shows-how-esports-has-come-of-age-during-lockdown-143547">Virtual Tour de France shows how esports has come of age during lockdown</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>There is scant research into whether esports gaming leads to gambling, but <a href="https://www.bristol.ac.uk/media-library/sites/news/2019/aug/D1261_Horne_DEMOS_Management%20report_2019_web.pdf">our study</a> in 2019 found children heavily engaged with tweets from esports bookmakers and their affiliates. And regulators can’t keep up. During the recent <a href="https://parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/44cb93e3-bd4c-48a7-8762-9bafa7a60de9">House of Lords inquiry</a> into gambling, Guy Parker, chief executive of the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), admitted he finds it almost impossible to track and regulate online gambling advertising.</p>
<h2>Esports betting adverts and children</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.bristol.ac.uk/media-library/sites/news/2019/aug/D1261_Horne_DEMOS_Management%20report_2019_web.pdf">Our research</a>, sponsored by GambleAware and in collaboration with Ipsos MORI, the thinktank Demos and the University of Sussex, analysed 880,000 tweets from 417 UK-based accounts related to gambling operators. We looked at data from their 621,000 UK-based followers, and the 166,969 UK-based individuals who engaged with these tweets by commenting, liking or sharing them. We analysed tweets related to both traditional sports and esports betting, with the latter making up about a tenth of the accounts studied. </p>
<p>We identified three particular concerns. First, people following esport gambling accounts are very young. We found that 17% of followers were under 16, and another 69% were aged 16-23. In other words, 85% of esports betting-account followers are under 24. The same is true for those commenting on, liking or sharing these tweets: 28% were under 16, and 66% were aged 16-23.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1035898324707172353"}"></div></p>
<p>Second, the advertising techniques used by gambling operators are somewhat different from those used for traditional sports (with an older audience). Rather than getting people to sign up or make impulsive gambles by offering “free bets”, “matched bets” or “sign-up bonuses”, esports betting appears to concentrate much more on tweets that are funny, using gifs, memes and esports insider-knowledge. </p>
<p>This content doesn’t look like a hard sell or an incitement to gamble. Children <a href="https://www.ama.org/discussions/mppc20proceedings-digitalmarketing-poster2/">might not even realise</a> it is commercial content designed to make them part with their money, and might do little to resist. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"979797184194469888"}"></div></p>
<p>Funny stuff is also highly shareable. As these posts are circulated on social media, more children – who may have previously had no interest in gambling - are inadvertently looped in. So while gambling is illegal for many engaging with these adverts, with a minimum age of 18 in the UK, a positive image is slowly and implicitly building in the back of their minds.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"982664475814846464"}"></div></p>
<p>Third, when our researchers analysed a sample of all the tweets in depth, many appeared to contravene the UK’s <a href="https://www.asa.org.uk/type/non_broadcast/code_section/16.html">CAP gambling advertising code</a>. We found esports gambling tweets that used cartoons and animated characters, associated themselves with youth culture or featured esports stars under 25 years old. All of this activity breaches the code. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1019246625611534337"}"></div></p>
<p><a href="https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1336&context=gaming_institute">Other research</a> has highlighted issues with gambling advertising potentially appealing to children, but our focus on esports highlights a worrying trend that has been under the radar of researchers and policymakers.</p>
<h2>Next steps</h2>
<p>With the pandemic unlikely to disappear soon, esports playing, following and betting will continue to grow. We need to act now to stop social-media advertising turning children’s gaming into gambling. </p>
<p>After reading our research, the Gambling Commission and ASA sent all UK esports betting operators <a href="https://www.asa.org.uk/uploads/assets/f08a1429-1e0b-45ab-857bfd085549f0fb/Advice-Notice-The-marketing-of-Gambling-on-eSports-on-Social-Media.pdf">a reminder</a> of the advertising rules, and <a href="https://www.asa.org.uk/resource/cap-s-response-to-gambleaware-s-research-on-social-media-marketing-for-esports-gambling.html">published a response</a> to the findings pointing out that many tweets were from non-UK operators and therefore beyond the remit of the CAP code. </p>
<p>However, we found that it is possible in many cases for children to click through to non-UK sites and open accounts by saying they are 18, highlighting a major effectiveness issue with a UK-focused code in a world of international social media. We also believe that the ASA needs to call more UK transgressors to account with sanctions for those who fail to comply. </p>
<p>In our view, the rules do not adequately address the peculiarities of social-media marketing, where funny content can quickly and effectively make esports betting more appealing to children and normalise the link between popular games and gambling. An awareness campaign for parents is also needed. Many parents might know that their children are playing esports in their bedrooms or following professional tournaments, but most are probably unaware of the strong link with betting. Last but not least, we also need a lot more research.</p>
<hr>
<p><strong>Asked to comment, a spokesperson for the Betting and Gaming Council, which <a href="https://bettingandgamingcouncil.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/BGC-Membership-List.pdf">represents most operators</a> in the UK betting industry, said:</strong> </p>
<blockquote>
<p>We are committed to driving up standards in the betting and gaming industry. It is illegal for anyone under 18 to bet with any of our members and we operate strict age and identification measures to prevent anyone underage accessing these products. </p>
<p>We have also taken further steps to prevent young people from seeing betting adverts. From October 1, the updated industry code for socially responsible advertising means that all sponsored or paid-for adverts on search engines must make clear the products are only for those aged over 18, while YouTube users will need to have age-verified accounts before they can view betting adverts. BGC members will also have to frequently post responsible betting messages on their Twitter accounts.</p>
<p>We look forward to the government’s forthcoming gambling review, which we hope will lead to a crackdown on black market operators who have no interest in safer gambling or protecting their customers and do not work to the same responsible standards as BGC members.</p>
</blockquote><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/147124/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The study on which this article is based was funded by GambleAware, a national charity instructed by government to commission research into gambling in Great Britain. GambleAware is funded through contributions from the gambling industry, but decisions about what research to fund are made by the Responsible Gambling Strategy Board (renamed in 2019 to The Advisory Board for Safer Gambling), an independent group that provides advice on gambling policy and research to government. In September 2016, the RGSB and GambleAware published a Research Commissioning and Governance Procedure, which describes how research priorities are set and commissioned, in isolation from the gambling industry.</span></em></p>Esports is becoming a goldmine for betting companies. New research shows how their online ads are reeling in children.Raffaello Rossi, Doctoral Researcher in Marketing, University of BristolAgnes Nairn, Professor of Marketing, University of BristolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/931182018-03-21T10:43:14Z2018-03-21T10:43:14ZThink Facebook can manipulate you? Look out for virtual reality<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/211198/original/file-20180320-31624-13znwph.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What these people are seeing isn't real – but they might think it is.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/APTOPIX-Spain-Wireless-Show-Flagship-Phones/55557e265ea948089fc69dadde97782a/5/0">AP Photo/Francisco Seco</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As Facebook users around the world are coming to understand, some of their favorite technologies can be used against them. It’s not just the scandal over psychological profiling firm <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/17/cambridge-analytica-facebook-influence-us-election">Cambridge Analytica getting access</a> to data from tens of millions of Facebook profiles. People’s filter bubbles are filled with carefully tailored information – and misinformation – altering their <a href="https://www.onlineprivacyfoundation.org/opf-research/psychographic-targeting/">behavior and thinking, and even their votes</a>.</p>
<p>People, both individually and as a society at large, are wrestling to understand <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2018/03/18/move-fast-and-fake-things/">how their newsfeeds turned against them</a>. They are coming to realize exactly how carefully controlled Facebook feeds are, with highly tailored ads. That set of problems, though, pales in comparison to those posed by the next technological revolution, which is already underway: virtual reality. </p>
<p>On one hand, virtual worlds hold almost limitless potential. VR games can <a href="https://www.tennessean.com/picture-gallery/news/2018/02/23/virtual-reality-games-used-in-drug-rehab-therapy/110761470/">treat drug addiction</a> and maybe help solve the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-opioid-epidemic-in-6-charts-81601">opioid epidemic</a>. Prison inmates can use VR simulations to <a href="https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/bjym3w/this-prison-is-using-vr-to-teach-inmates-how-to-live-on-the-outside">prepare for life after their release</a>. People are racing to enter these immersive experiences, which have the potential to be more psychologically powerful than any other technology to date: The first modern equipment offering the opportunity <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/ces/12085175/Oculus-Rift-to-go-on-sale-in-March-for-599.html">sold out in 14 minutes</a>.</p>
<p>In these new worlds, every leaf, every stone on the virtual ground and every conversation is carefully constructed. In our research into the emerging definition of ethics in virtual reality, my colleagues and I interviewed the developers and early users of virtual reality to understand <a href="http://hdl.handle.net/1903/20513">what risks are coming and how we can reduce them</a>.</p>
<h2>Intensity is going to level up</h2>
<p>“VR is a very personal, intimate situation. When you wear a VR headset … you really believe it, it’s really immersive,” says one of the developers with whom we spoke. If someone harms you in VR, <a href="https://theconversation.com/sexual-assault-enters-virtual-reality-67971">you’re going to feel it</a>, and if someone manipulates you into believing something, it’s going to stick. </p>
<p>This immersion is what users want: “VR is really about being immersed … As opposed to a TV where I can constantly be distracted,” one user told us. That immersiveness is what gives VR unprecedented power: “really, what VR is trying to do here is duplicate reality where it tricks your mind.”</p>
<p>These tricks can be enjoyable – allowing people to <a href="https://vrsource.com/best-vr-flight-simulators-5901/">fly helicopters</a> or journey back to <a href="https://www.virtualiteach.com/single-post/2017/07/24/Uncover-the-Tomb-of-Tutankhamen-in-VR">ancient Egypt</a>. They can be helpful, offering <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1586/14737175.8.11.1667">pain management</a> or treatment for <a href="http://www.icdvrat.org/2008/papers/ICDVRAT2008_S01_N05_Rizzo_et_al.pdf">psychological conditions</a>.</p>
<p>But they can also be malicious. Even a common prank that friends play on each other online – logging in and posting as each other – can take on a whole new dimension. One VR user explains, “Someone can put on a VR head unit and go into a virtual world assuming your identity. I think that identity theft, if VR becomes mainstream, will become rampant.”</p>
<h2>Data will be even more personal</h2>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/210915/original/file-20180318-104673-196iysp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/210915/original/file-20180318-104673-196iysp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/210915/original/file-20180318-104673-196iysp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210915/original/file-20180318-104673-196iysp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210915/original/file-20180318-104673-196iysp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210915/original/file-20180318-104673-196iysp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=571&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210915/original/file-20180318-104673-196iysp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=571&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210915/original/file-20180318-104673-196iysp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=571&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An image of what the Oculus DK2 sees via its infrared sensors.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://forums.oculusvr.com/community/discussion/11385/what-can-the-dk2-ir-camera-see">MaglevNL/reddit</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>VR will be able to collect data on a whole new level. Seemingly innocuous infrared sensors designed to help with motion sickness and alignment can capture near-perfect representations of users’ real-world surroundings. </p>
<p>Further, the data and interactions that give VR the power to treat and diagnose <a href="https://futurism.com/ai-and-vr-could-completely-transform-how-doctors-diagnose-and-treat-mental-disorders/">physical and mental health conditions</a> can be used to hyper-personalize experiences and information to the precise vulnerabilities of individual users.</p>
<p>Combined, the intensity of virtual reality experiences and the even more personal data they collect present the specter of fake news that’s much more powerful than text articles and memes. Rather, immersive, personalized experiences may thoroughly convince people of entirely alternate realities, to which they are perfectly susceptible. Such immersive VR advertisements are on the horizon <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/vr-ads-are-almost-here/">as early as this year</a>.</p>
<h2>Building a virtual future</h2>
<p>A person who uses virtual reality is, often willingly, being controlled to far greater extents than were ever possible before. Everything a person sees and hears – and perhaps even feels or smells – is totally created by another person. That surrender brings both promise and peril. Perhaps in carefully constructed virtual worlds, people can solve problems that have eluded us in reality. But these virtual worlds will be built inside a real world that can’t be ignored. </p>
<p>While technologists and users are cleaning up the malicious, manipulative past, they’ll need to go far beyond <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/what-would-healthy-twitter-look-like/">making social media healthier</a>. As carefully as developers are building virtual worlds themselves, society as a whole must intentionally and painstakingly construct the culture in which these technologies exist. </p>
<p>In many cases, developers are the first allies in this fight. Our research found that VR developers were more concerned about their users’ well-being than the users themselves. Yet, one developer admits that “the fact of the matter is … I can count on my fingers the number of experienced developers I’ve actually met.” Even <a href="http://doi.org/10.1145/2580723.2580730">experts have only begun to explore</a> ethics, security and privacy in virtual reality scenarios. </p>
<p>The developers we spoke with expressed a desire for guidelines on where to draw the boundaries, and how to prevent dangerous misuses of their platforms. As an initial step, we <a href="http://hdl.handle.net/1903/20513">invited VR developers and users</a> from nine online communities to work with us to create a set of guidelines for VR ethics. They made suggestions about inclusivity, protecting users from manipulative attackers and limits on data collection. </p>
<p>As the debacle with Facebook and Cambridge Analytica shows, though, people don’t always follow guidelines, or even <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/facebooks-rules-for-accessing-user-data-lured-more-than-just-cambridge-analytica/2018/03/19/31f6979c-658e-43d6-a71f-afdd8bf1308b_story.html">platforms’ rules and policies</a> – and the effects could be all the worse in this new VR world. But, our initial success reaching agreement on VR guidelines serves as a reminder that people can go beyond reckoning with the technologies others create: We can work together to create beneficial technologies we want.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/93118/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elissa Redmiles receives research funding from a variety of sources including the National Science Foundation, National Center for Women in Technology, and Facebook.</span></em></p>As the internet-connected world reels from revelations about personalized manipulation based on Facebook data, a scholar of virtual reality warns there’s an even bigger crisis of trust on the horizon.Elissa M. Redmiles, Ph.D. Student in Computer Science, University of MarylandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/830632017-08-28T02:45:51Z2017-08-28T02:45:51ZAmazon’s Whole Foods deal could still be reversed thanks to forgotten antitrust case<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183527/original/file-20170827-27527-1f652gp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Amazon may make it impossible for Whole Foods rivals to compete.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Julie Jacobson</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Amazon formally took ownership of Whole Foods this week after the Federal Trade Commission <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2017/08/statement-federal-trade-commissions-acting-director-bureau">signaled</a> on August 23 that it <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2017/08/23/ftc-clears-amazon-com-purchase-of-whole-foods/?utm_term=.8c4312e81500">wouldn’t stop the deal</a>. </p>
<p>The online retailer isn’t wasting any time remaking the high-end grocery chain in its low-price image. Its first act <a href="http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?ID=2295514&c=176060&p=irol-newsArticle">involved cutting prices</a> on dozens of items, from avocados to tilapia. But that is not what is <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/24/technology/whole-foods-amazon-lower-prices-prime.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0">sending shivers</a> down the aisles of rival food retailers like Walmart, which now controls <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/24/wal-mart-regaining-grocery-share-from-competitors-at-accelerating-rate.html">20 percent of the grocery market</a> by pursuing just such a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-walmart-can-pull-off-everyday-low-prices-while-everyone-else-keeps-failing-2012-9">low-price strategy</a>.</p>
<p>The reason, which the FTC ignored in providing its imprimatur, is that Amazon gives Whole Foods access to an <a href="http://www.retailtouchpoints.com/topics/e-commerce/amazon-claims-56-of-general-merchandise-traffic">online marketing platform</a> that no other grocery company, even a behemoth like Walmart, can hope to reproduce. </p>
<p>My research suggests that only a few decades ago the FTC would have used antitrust law to block the deal – and it still has the power to do so. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183524/original/file-20170827-27564-18wzknt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183524/original/file-20170827-27564-18wzknt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183524/original/file-20170827-27564-18wzknt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183524/original/file-20170827-27564-18wzknt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183524/original/file-20170827-27564-18wzknt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183524/original/file-20170827-27564-18wzknt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183524/original/file-20170827-27564-18wzknt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Amazon will give Whole Foods a marketing platform for its products that few rival grocery stores can compete with.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Predatory promotion</h2>
<p>Everyone knows that Amazon is the biggest online retailer. The company handles <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-accounts-for-43-of-us-online-retail-sales-2017-2">43 percent of all internet purchases</a> in the U.S., attracting so much business that its website is actually the country’s <a href="https://www.alexa.com/topsites/countries/US">fifth-most trafficked</a>. </p>
<p>But not everyone realizes that Amazon is also the king of online product search. By offering a huge range of products – almost <a href="https://www.scrapehero.com/how-many-products-are-sold-on-amazon-com-january-2017-report/">400 million</a> – Amazon entices more than half of online shoppers to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-27/more-than-50-of-shoppers-turn-first-to-amazon-in-product-search">bypass the usual search gatekeepers</a> and start their product hunt directly on its website.</p>
<p>Whole Foods will now have exclusive access among grocery retailers to this enormously valuable search engine. And it will be near impossible to compete with a company whose products and grocery delivery services can be <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffreydorfman/2017/08/25/amazon-and-whole-foods-merger-to-introduce-cross-platform-selling-and-lower-prices/#677924c412f8">ordered directly through a website</a> that America already uses for nearly half of its online shopping. </p>
<p>That is bad for consumers because it means that Whole Foods may come to dominate the grocery world not by offering better products for the best prices, as you’d find in a well-functioning market, but because of the promotional advantage that comes from its tie-up with Amazon.</p>
<p>Congress passed the <a href="http://gwclc.com/Library/America/USA/The%20Clayton%20Act.pdf">Clayton Act</a> in 1914 to handle just this situation. The act <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/18">tasks</a> antitrust regulators with blocking acquisitions for which “the effect … may be substantially to lessen competition.” You might therefore have expected the FTC, which reviews mergers in the grocery industry, to take a special interest in this deal. </p>
<p>You’d be wrong, of course, because since the early 1980s antitrust regulators at the FTC and Justice Department have taken a narrow approach to merger enforcement, generally treating only <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=3535564822158216845&hl=en&as_sdt=0,11">large deals between direct competitors</a> as a potential threat to competition. </p>
<p>That explains why the FTC approved the Whole Foods deal with <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-23/amazon-s-whole-foods-deal-wins-fast-track-u-s-antitrust-nod">lightning speed</a>. Since Amazon had <a href="http://www.investors.com/news/amazon-fresh-grocery-threatens-wal-mart-kroger/">almost no presence</a> in the grocery industry when it inked the agreement, it didn’t qualify as a direct competitor.</p>
<p>In the 1960s and ‘70’s, however, things were different, as I show in <a href="http://ssrn.com/abstract=3027662">a recent paper</a>. During that time, the FTC fought a remarkable campaign to prevent companies from using promotional advantages to colonize new markets. Among the FTC’s victories in its battle against such “<a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=17099653873917998840&hl=en&as_sdt=0,11">predatory promotion</a>” were its reversals of household products giant Procter & Gamble’s <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=17605714045622526127&q=procter%27s+acquisition+of+clorox&hl=en&as_sdt=80006">acquisition of Clorox bleach</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=7491871295013379985&q=ftc+v.+general+foods&hl=en&as_sdt=80006">General Foods’ purchase of S.O.S.</a>, the scrub pad maker.</p>
<p>Like Amazon, both P&G and General Foods acquired companies in markets in which they were not yet direct competitors. Like Amazon, both could leverage their vast product lines to offer their new acquisitions a massive promotional advantage. The difference is that back then P&G and General Foods had a sizable advantage in television advertising, rather than online search traffic, because their extensive product portfolios allowed the companies to <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=7534880275645364220&hl=en&as_sdt=0,11">negotiate bulk discounts from the major networks</a>.</p>
<p>The legal precedents created by those cases give the FTC a basis for unwinding the Amazon Whole Foods deal but have been ignored for decades by federal antitrust enforcers.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183525/original/file-20170827-27564-1gje02x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183525/original/file-20170827-27564-1gje02x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183525/original/file-20170827-27564-1gje02x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183525/original/file-20170827-27564-1gje02x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183525/original/file-20170827-27564-1gje02x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183525/original/file-20170827-27564-1gje02x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183525/original/file-20170827-27564-1gje02x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The FTC convinced the Supreme Court that Procter & Gamble’s purchase of Clorox in the 1950s violated antitrust law.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Mary Altaffer</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Lessons from the case against P&G</h2>
<p>The FTC’s <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/commission_decision_volumes/volume-63/ftcd-vol63july-december1963pages1407-1506.pdf">case against P&G</a> is particularly relevant today. Filed in 1957 shortly after the Clorox purchase closed, it established for the first time that, as the Supreme Court put it, an acquisition that creates “<a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=17605714045622526127&q=procter%27s+acquisition+of+clorox&hl=en&as_sdt=80006">huge assets and advertising advantages</a>” can violate antitrust law. </p>
<p>P&G’s product line was <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/commission_decision_volumes/volume-63/ftcd-vol63july-december1963pages1407-1506.pdf">so large</a>, extending from Ivory soap to Duncan Hines cake mix, that it was already the nation’s largest national TV advertiser. This allowed P&G to negotiate bulk discounts on advertising time that it could pass on to Clorox. </p>
<p>The FTC feared that those discounts would give Clorox privileged access to the dominant marketing platform of the era. When Americans tuned in to the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLaDfQF3YKc">Big Three television networks</a>, they would see Clorox, and only Clorox, for sale, much as when Americans use Amazon to search for groceries online, they will see only Whole Foods groceries available for delivery.</p>
<p>The FTC filed suit to unwind the deal, arguing that P&G would drive competitors from the market, not because those competitors offered an inferior product – all bleach is chemically identical – but because P&G had a promotional advantage. Similarly, Whole Foods will be able to use Amazon’s website to swallow up market share, even though its rivals also offer similar services and products, such as <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/business_insider/2017/03/27/kroger_s_organics_are_threatening_whole_foods_popularity.html">organic produce</a> and <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/30/online-grocery-sales-set-surge-grabbing-20-percent-of-market-by-2025.html">online ordering</a>. </p>
<p>After <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=6839327024219684325&q=ftc.+v.+procter&hl=en&as_sdt=80006">an initial setback</a>, the FTC <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=17605714045622526127&q=ftc+procter+and+gamble&hl=en&as_sdt=80006">won its case</a> in the Supreme Court in 1967, establishing a precedent for the first time that mergers that create massive promotional advantages can violate the law, even when there is no direct competition between the target and acquiring companies. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183526/original/file-20170827-27532-1b3vbrp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183526/original/file-20170827-27532-1b3vbrp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183526/original/file-20170827-27532-1b3vbrp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183526/original/file-20170827-27532-1b3vbrp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183526/original/file-20170827-27532-1b3vbrp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=585&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183526/original/file-20170827-27532-1b3vbrp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=585&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183526/original/file-20170827-27532-1b3vbrp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=585&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">After his election victory in 1980, President Reagan remade the FTC, ending its campaign against predatory promotion.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Rusty Kennedy</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Reversing course</h2>
<p>President Ronald Reagan <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1982/01/16/cereal-maker-antitrust-case-is-dismissed/f343e32f-5217-43af-978c-2d5fe553fc83/?utm_term=.6c09d67be912">cut short</a> this campaign against predatory promotion in the early 1980s by <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1984/09/26/pertschuk-exits-ftc-with-guns-blazing/5e9c7df9-e639-41af-8c8c-202fcdb55eca/?utm_term=.e882292421a3">appointing new officials to the FTC</a> who argued that promotion is good for consumers, regardless of whether it confers an advantage on a particular competitor, because it provides consumers with <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/commission_decision_volumes/volume-103/ftc_volume_decision_103_january_-_june_1984pages_204-373.pdf">useful product information</a>. The idea has proven immune to subsequent changes in administration.</p>
<p>In <a href="http://ssrn.com/abstract=3027662">my paper</a> I counter that this argument rings hollow in the information age, because consumers can now get all the product information they need from myriad sources online. Making Whole Foods’ groceries searchable on Amazon’s website doesn’t increase the internet’s cache of product information – consumers can already get that on the grocer’s <a href="http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/online-ordering">website</a> – but it will steer consumers squarely toward Whole Foods’ products.</p>
<p>The FTC can still reverse course and <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/public_statements/consummated-merger-challenges-past-never-dead/120329springmeetingspeech.pdf">block the deal after it closes</a>, as it did in the forgotten P&G case. </p>
<p>If it doesn’t, then your only option for buying anything could one day be Amazon. And if that happens, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=tkIeAAAAIAAJ&dq=inauthor%3A%22Alfred%20Marshall%22&pg=PA180#v=onepage&q&f=false">textbook economics teaches</a> that those avocados won’t stay cheap for long.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/83063/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ramsi Woodcock does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The deal escaped scrutiny because the two aren’t direct competitors, yet Amazon’s huge marketing platform will help Whole Foods steamroll rivals. In the past, the Supreme Court has said this violates antitrust law.Ramsi Woodcock, Professor of Legal Studies, Georgia State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/549832016-03-02T11:21:02Z2016-03-02T11:21:02ZOnline ads know who you are, but can they change you too?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113451/original/image-20160301-31056-1q6a5m4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Do advertisers know us better than we know ourselves? </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Fingerprint via www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Do you ever get the sense that advertisements you see online know more about you than you might expect? Have you ever wondered why you’re being shown an ad for a product, only to realize later that you might actually be the kind of person who would want to buy it?</p>
<p>If so, it’s likely that the ads appearing on your screen have been behaviorally targeted.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.marketing-schools.org/types-of-marketing/behavioral-marketing.html">Behavioral targeting</a> uses information about nearly everything you do online – clicks, searches, social media, what you’ve bought and browsed – to select ads that marketers think will appeal to you based on your unique online behavior.</p>
<p>Our recent research shows, however, that these ads do more than reflect your past or future preferences. They can change how you see yourself in fundamental ways.</p>
<h2>What kind of person are you really?</h2>
<p>What makes this practice unique is that it does not involve advertising the exact things you have already shown an interest in, as is the case when ads for the shoes you bought two weeks ago follow you around online. </p>
<p>Instead, behavioral targeting predicts what you might like based on a profile of you that was created by tracking your online actions. To adopt Hollywood parlance, behavioral targeting typecasts you.</p>
<p>For example, if you spend your time online learning about environmental causes or donating to Greenpeace, you might see an ad for an eco-friendly clothing brand on your favorite gossip column. Someone else visiting the same website, but who has instead searched for luxury cars and symphony tickets, might receive an ad for an upscale restaurant. Different people receive different ads, even on the same site, because an algorithm has identified them as a certain type of consumer.</p>
<p>As a marketing practice, behavioral targeting is relatively <a href="http://behavioraltargeting.biz/history-of-behavioral-targeting/">new</a>. In 1999, DoubleClick and Engage were among the first to promote the idea that personal identifiable information collected across a network of websites could be used for ad targeting. </p>
<p>However, uncertainty about who would own consumer data and technological limitations led publishers to question the value of behavioral targeting and delay adopting it. Without a big enough group of publishers willing to share data with one another about what consumers were doing, the practice stalled.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113444/original/image-20160301-31050-185nvce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113444/original/image-20160301-31050-185nvce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113444/original/image-20160301-31050-185nvce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113444/original/image-20160301-31050-185nvce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113444/original/image-20160301-31050-185nvce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113444/original/image-20160301-31050-185nvce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113444/original/image-20160301-31050-185nvce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pregnant? Marketers may already know.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pregnant woman via www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Predictive power</h2>
<p>Behavioral targeting gained momentum over the following decade, thanks in part to advances in tracking and prediction. A <a href="https://www.google.com/patents/US7809740">patent</a> filed by Yahoo! in 2006 exemplifies how the behavioral targeting process was standardized to produce user profile scores based on recency, frequency and intensity of clicks, which in turn determine ads. </p>
<p>The predictive power of consumer data within marketing was brought into the public spotlight by, fittingly, Target. In 2012, the retailer <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/magazine/shopping-habits.html">predicted</a> that a customer was pregnant well before the young woman told her father. </p>
<p>Target did so by creating a model that tracked purchase choices and predicted pregnancy status based on specific items (e.g., multivitamins, lotion and cotton balls). While the tracking and advertising described in the article occurred offline, the story highlighted marketers’ ability to collect and use individual-level behavior to deliver marketing messages. </p>
<h2>Identifying behavioral targeting</h2>
<p>How can you tell that an ad has been behaviorally targeted? </p>
<p>Take a close look at some of the ads you see on your favorite websites, like Yahoo or Gawker (unless you have an ad blocker running). When you look at the upper right hand corner of the ad, do you see a little blue triangle? Maybe a tiny “AdChoices” script? If so, BINGO!</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.youradchoices.com/">AdChoices icon</a> is a symbol affixed to an ad denoting that it was selected for you based on your past online behavior. Although there is no legal mandate to disclose when an ad is behaviorally targeted, the <a href="http://www.aboutads.info/">Digital Advertising Alliance</a> – an industry group that enforces privacy practices – responded to <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/reports/protecting-consumer-privacy-era-rapid-change-recommendations-businesses-policymakers">Federal Trade Commission</a>-issued guidelines by promoting use of the icon among advertisers and by <a href="http://www.youradchoices.com/learn.aspx">trying to educate</a> the public. Both initiatives are aimed at addressing privacy concerns among consumers. </p>
<p>While marketers may like behavioral targeting because it results in <a href="http://research.microsoft.com/apps/pubs/default.aspx?id=80378">higher click-through rates</a> and <a href="http://www.forbes.com/2010/03/24/behavioral-targeted-ads-advertising-ftc-privacy-cmo-network-ads.html">increased conversion to sales</a> compared with ads that aren’t behaviorally targeted, consumer sentiment is less universally positive. </p>
<p><a href="http://thehill.com/policy/technology/265851-poll-most-dont-find-privacy-tradeoff-of-social-media-acceptable">Older consumers</a> tend to be concerned about protecting their privacy and are more likely to view this type of advertising as intrusive. In contrast, younger consumers, including most of the college students that we teach, think it’s great – if they have to see ads, they prefer those that are personally relevant.</p>
<p>If people don’t universally love these ads, why are they so common and effective? We hypothesized that when someone receives an ad they realize is behaviorally targeted, they may recognize that the ad carries information about themselves. If so, we wondered, would they then change their self-perceptions to match that information, consistent with what psychologists call <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labeling_theory">labeling theory</a>?</p>
<h2>Ads as social labels</h2>
<p>Social psychologists have long known that giving people a label can change their behavior. </p>
<p>For example, a <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0022103173900371">classic study</a> found that being called “charitable” after donating makes someone more likely to make a second donation than someone who isn’t called charitable after donating. We act consistently with who we believe we are, and labels from others can shape our identity.</p>
<p>In a series of studies recently published in the <em><a href="http://jcr.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/ucw012?ijkey=oVQEbEK11iMqdVu&keytype=ref">Journal of Consumer Research</a>,</em> we found that receiving a behaviorally targeted ad can shift a person’s self-perceptions to match personality traits associated with the product in the ad. </p>
<p>This is because behaviorally targeted ads act as implied social labels. When you receive a behaviorally targeted ad, it is the equivalent of a marketer saying “you are someone who cares about the environment” or “you have sophisticated tastes.”</p>
<p>In our studies, receiving an ad for an eco-friendly product or a sophisticated restaurant led consumers to feel more “green” and more sophisticated, respectively, when they thought the ad was behaviorally targeted, compared with a control condition in which they did not believe the ad was behaviorally targeted. Receiving a behaviorally targeted ad acts like a label because consumers understand that the ad is tied to prior behavior.</p>
<p>Receiving a behaviorally targeted ad can not only change how people see themselves, but also cause them to modify their behavior to be consistent with revised self-perceptions. Most directly, the ad implies that a recipient is someone who would like the product, and believing an ad to be behaviorally targeted increases interest in buying the product. However, this belief also affects additional behaviors. </p>
<p>In one <a href="http://jcr.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/ucw012?ijkey=oVQEbEK11iMqdVu&keytype=ref">study</a>, we found that receiving an ostensibly behaviorally targeted ad for an environmental product caused people not only to see themselves as “greener” and to be more interested in buying that product, but also to be more interested in donating money to an environmental charity.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113447/original/image-20160301-31053-1qienm7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113447/original/image-20160301-31053-1qienm7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113447/original/image-20160301-31053-1qienm7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113447/original/image-20160301-31053-1qienm7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113447/original/image-20160301-31053-1qienm7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113447/original/image-20160301-31053-1qienm7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113447/original/image-20160301-31053-1qienm7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Perhaps a sign you wouldn’t be interested in an ad for a sophisticated restaurant.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">TV dinner via www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Accuracy matters</h2>
<p>Our findings have good news for readers worried that behaviorally targeted ads might make them believe all sorts of things about themselves. The results of our studies reveal that targeting has to be accurate to significantly affect self-perceptions.</p>
<p>If you have never engaged in any behavior online that would suggest that you are interested in upscale dining (maybe you Google “how to microwave dinner” and “fast food restaurants”), an ad for an upscale restaurant isn’t going to make you suddenly feel like someone with extremely sophisticated dining preferences. While you may recognize that the ad is targeting such a person, you are likely to reject it as an irrelevant label because it’s not tied in any way to your behavior.</p>
<p>Because the accuracy of targeting matters, marketing managers hoping to profit from the use of behavioral targeting have a vested interest in making sure their algorithms are good at identifying what kind of person a consumer truly is based on their click-stream data.</p>
<p>For consumers, it means that your particular search patterns and whether you share a computer may determine how much behaviorally targeted ads shape your behavior. If you spend a lot of time seeking information for other people (e.g., buying work supplies, finding information about a partner’s hobby, searching for gifts), your search history may produce less accurate ads. Targeted ads on mobile devices may be more accurate and likely to shape how you see yourself because mobile devices are commonly single-user.</p>
<p>For those concerned about receiving ads based on their tracked behavior, the best solution may be to opt out entirely. As part of the campaign around increasing awareness of the AdChoices icon, the Digital Advertising Alliance has made it easy for people to <a href="http://www.youradchoices.com/control.aspx">opt out</a>. A few quick clicks can get you most of the way back to the age of anonymous (and often irrelevant) online ads.</p>
<h2>The power of advertising</h2>
<p>The bottom line is that behavioral targeting is not only pervasive and effective at increasing click-through rates and purchases but may also be powerful in previously unexpected ways. </p>
<p>The AdChoices logo, instituted in part to help consumers feel more comfortable with behavioral targeting, may be a large driver of these effects, as it’s only when consumers know that an ad has been behaviorally targeted that it has the power to change how they see themselves.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/54983/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New research shows that behaviorally targeted ads can do more than figure out what kind of person you are – they can also shape how you see yourself.Rebecca Walker Reczek, Associate Professor of Marketing, The Ohio State UniversityChristopher A. Summers, Marketing PhD Candidate, The Ohio State UniversityRobert W. Smith, Assistant Professor of Marketing, The Ohio State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/456762015-08-07T10:03:34Z2015-08-07T10:03:34ZCalvin Klein’s new sexting ads are not only unethical, they may not even be effective<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/90816/original/image-20150804-12028-3gr72l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Calvin Klein is known for its especially sexy ads.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/en321/3936917157/in/photolist-6ZTJj2-61UEpi-8rgjNs-8rdbCX-4zpyzY-2Dm5Dw-9ZtUJr-6oyFd-6ZTM9K-6ZXMVY-6ZTKCX-3XKEHo-5yzgUf-aBkna5-bot8J1-jUPiJT-4HE4ru-Lgi7z-ezHTG-7nAQn3-6525o7-RThVg-5Hni6K-6pvacC-7nxuFy-7ntzpM-RR64h-5HrBc5-7nwV9X-a5pjsB-a5scgf-Ka3ti-T3xD3-dDZoeQ-epidj-5dCqCC-6DQ6ea-7zmrTL-7ntAax-7nwVrB-7nAQem-d9SuKq-7nwVhr-7ntzcX-ezJ4e-d9SuhB-8PaHcA-7ntzPZ-RR5CU-5HnhA6">Susan Sermoneta/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A shirtless man lounges on a large couch while two attractive young women recline next to him. A text message appears: “Hahah a light threesome never hurt anyone.” Where might this scene be from? An adult novel, an X-rated movie?</p>
<p>No, it’s a new Calvin Klein ad. </p>
<p>The brand known for risqué promotion has adapted its advertising for the digital age with a <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/style/calvin-klein-takes-on-sexting-tinder-to-promote-125357644583.html">new jeans campaign</a> that features young people sexting, or sending sexually explicit text messages. </p>
<p>Each ad in the campaign contains a provocative picture, the words of a sexually charged text message and a tempting tagline: “raw texts, real stories.” </p>
<p>There’s little question from the ads that the company endorses more than denim.</p>
<p>In comparing ads from 100, 50 and 25 years ago with ones like the current Calvin Klein ads, it’s easy to see that sexual content has become more explicit. You also may have noticed that the number of such ads has risen. For instance, a <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10641734.2012.675566#abstract">2012 study</a> from the University of Georgia that looked at advertising from 1983 to 2003 showed the share with sexual imagery almost doubled.</p>
<p>Such ads raise two questions: one, are they effective? And two, even if they are, do they cross a moral line that shouldn’t be crossed? </p>
<p>Through a 25-year career that’s spanned industry and higher education, I’ve had many opportunities to consider how marketing and ethics interact. Based on my experience, I’ve come to believe that what’s best for business and what’s moral are not mutually exclusive. </p>
<p>Rather, organizations can excel both economically and ethically. In fact, the two goals are often complementary. For instance, <a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ethical-companies-shown-to-be-more-profitable-over-time-56555987.html">Corpedia’s Ethics Index</a>, comprising publicly traded companies rated high for ethical behavior, outperformed the S&P 500 by more than 370% during a recent five-year period.</p>
<h2>Does sex sell?</h2>
<p>First off, does more carnal creativity mean that “sex sells”? Not necessarily. For example, a <a href="http://econtent.hogrefe.com/doi/abs/10.1027/1016-9040/a000016?journalCode=epp">2010 study</a> from Texas A&M International University did find that people were more likely to remember commercials that contained sexual or violent content. But that doesn’t mean they were more likely to make a purchase. </p>
<p>Memory doesn’t always predict purchase intentions or other positive behavior. While people remember positive experiences, they also remember things they’d rather forget, like car accidents, relationship breakups and kidney stones. Memory only leads to sales if it’s tied to a compelling reason for purchase.</p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/3151194?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">classic study</a> conducted by Baker and Churchill in 1977 found that advertising models’ physical attractiveness increased viewers’ attention as well as their positive evaluations of the ads. But at the same time, it found that sexual content in ads did not affect respondents’ deeper cognitions, thus rendering physical attraction ineffective in gaining the target market’s acceptance of the advertising message.</p>
<p>Similarly, <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/acp.1325/abstract">Parker and Furnham</a> in 2007 realized that sexual ad content had no effect on viewers’ abilities to recall details of television commercials. The study also found that women recalled ads without sexual content better than they did sexualized ads. </p>
<p>A more <a href="http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2015/07/sex-violence.aspx">recent study</a> conducted in July at Ohio State University discovered an even more conflicting effect. Violent and sexual content in ads again succeeded in grabbing attention, but it also overshadowed other important aspects of the marketing effort, including the product being promoted. As a result, the researchers concluded that sex and violence in ads actually impeded product memory and lessened purchase intentions. </p>
<p>But what if sex does “sell” for some companies? Maybe erotic advertising is effective for Calvin Klein and certain others who continue to use it for their target markets. Although companies may find exceptions for what works, there are no exclusions for what’s ethical.</p>
<h2>Why ethical advertising matters</h2>
<p>Unfortunately, some advertisers and other marketers have spurned morality for decades to the detriment of the industry.</p>
<p>For instance, when asked to “rate the honesty and ethical standards” of individuals in various fields, respondents to a <a href="http://www.gallup.com/poll/1654/honesty-ethics-professions.aspx">December 2014 Gallup poll</a> placed advertisers near the bottom of the list, only above car salespeople (another group of marketers) and members of Congress. Such disrepute, however, shouldn’t be the case. </p>
<p>Of course, most people don’t want to be thought of as unethical, so such a reputation can discourage morally minded people from entering the discipline. Also, people generally don’t want to do business with individuals they don’t trust.</p>
<p>Although I know <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/dorieclark/2014/09/24/why-mindfulness-is-the-next-revolution-in-marketing/">many others</a> share this conviction, marketing unfortunately has lacked a common paradigm for identifying and addressing the field’s moral issues. For instance, each year Ethisphere announces its selections for “<a href="http://ethisphere.com/ethisphere-announces-the-2015-worlds-most-ethical-companies/">The World’s Most Ethical Companies</a>,” which many of the winners are eager to promote. The organization’s <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2015/03/19/the-worlds-most-ethical-companies-2015/">140-question application</a>, however, is hardly a tool that marketers can readily use to help make daily ethical decisions.</p>
<p>This absence convinced me last year to develop a straightforward model of marketing ethics called <a href="http://mindfulmarketing.org/">Mindful Marketing</a> to evaluate marketing strategies and tactics, including morally suspect ones like sexualized advertising. </p>
<p>Simply put, to be considered “mindful,” marketing practices must be two things: effective, that is, they accomplish their marketing-related objectives; and ethically sound, that is, they don’t invite any obvious moral compromise.</p>
<p>Together these two goals form the foundation of what I call the “<a href="http://www.mindfulmarketing.org/mindful-meter--matrix.html">mindful matrix</a>,” a visual representation of the concept and its four categories of marketing: mindful, single-minded, simple-minded and mindless.</p>
<h2>Like a bad case of food poisoning</h2>
<p>So where does sex in advertising fall within the mindful matrix? As mentioned above, there may be times when sexualized ads are effective at accomplishing their marketing goals. More often, however, the sensual promotion fizzles, distracting target market members from product benefits and failing to create stakeholder value. </p>
<p>In terms of societal values, the erotic images that such ads often employ undermine decency and respect by objectifying individuals (usually women), fueling unhealthy sexual appetites and reducing human existence to the satisfaction of sensual desires.</p>
<p>Yes, sexually charged advertising grabs attention, and it is often memorable, but so is a bad case of food poisoning. Like other mindless marketing, oversexualized ads leave an ill feeling for many consumers and may sicken an entire society.</p>
<p>Will there come a day when advertising is automatically considered honest and marketing tops the list for trustworthiness? That remains to be seen, but right now <a href="http://www.mindfulmarketing.org/">Mindful Marketing</a> invites marketers and consumers to share in this vision of ethical exchange and to help move forward to such a future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/45676/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Hagenbuch is the founder of Mindful Marketing (<a href="http://www.mindfulmarketing.org">www.mindfulmarketing.org</a>) and Professor of Marketing at Messiah College where he teaches marketing and ethics courses, integrating the Mindful Marketing paradigm. He offers consulting services in the areas of marketing and ethics, often to nonprofit organizations in partnership with his students.</span></em></p>Studies show sexualized advertising often isn’t effective, and may even have adverse consequences for the product being promoted.David Hagenbuch, Professor of Marketing, Messiah CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/367222015-01-28T17:40:19Z2015-01-28T17:40:19ZNet expansion driven by mobile presents risks and opportunities for marketers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/70286/original/image-20150128-22299-h6n5od.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Internet growth shows no sign of slowing.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">WeAreSocial.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A study of 30 major world economies reveals how worldwide internet use continues to expand to more than three billion users, but it also demonstrates also how this growth is being driven by mobile phones and social media, particularly in the developing world.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://wearesocial.net/blog/2015/01/digital-social-mobile-worldwide-2015/">report</a>, from marketing agency We Are Social, contains fascinating details comparing countries worldwide. Canada, for example, has the world’s highest penetration of internet users at 93%, while South Koreans enjoy the fastest internet speeds – which, at 25.3Mb/s, are almost six times the global average of 4.5Mb/s.</p>
<p>Many individuals own more than one device – total mobile subscriptions top seven billion, while the number of unique users is just over half that (3.65 billion). Of these, 39% of the mobile phone connections are classed as broadband, meaning 3G or 4G. </p>
<p>This growth means there are 185m additional mobile users compared to 2014. Given this trajectory it’s easy to predict that quite soon there will be a mobile subscription for every man, woman and child on the plant. </p>
<h2>Mobile in the driving seat</h2>
<p>Globally, in the past five years alone the proportion of web pages served to mobile devices – phones and tablets rather than laptop or desktop computers – has grown from 0.7% to 33%. In the same period the data downloaded per user to mobile devices has risen from roughly 4MB to 900MB per month. </p>
<p>In India, more than 70% of web pages served are to mobile devices, perhaps explained by the roll-out of mobile rather than fixed-line networks across the vast country. This “leapfrogging” of a technological generation – from no phone services, skipping past landlines directly to mobile networks – is common across the developing world. However, cultural and social reasons also play a part: take Hong Kong, which has mature fixed-line telephony but a mobile social networking rate twice the global average. Or Russia, where only 12% of web pages are served to mobile devices.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/70299/original/image-20150128-22322-uzs6a7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/70299/original/image-20150128-22322-uzs6a7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70299/original/image-20150128-22322-uzs6a7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70299/original/image-20150128-22322-uzs6a7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70299/original/image-20150128-22322-uzs6a7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70299/original/image-20150128-22322-uzs6a7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70299/original/image-20150128-22322-uzs6a7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Developing countries eschew fixed line for mobile telecoms.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">WeAreSocial.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But while <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-31012410">peaks</a> can be caused by new product releases – such as Apple’s iPhone 6 causing <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jan/27/apple-record-quarterly-earnings-report-iphone-6-plus">record-breaking profits</a> – mobile subscriptions generally follow a pattern of <a href="http://www.ccsinsight.com/press/company-news/1884-slowdown-hits-uk-smartphone-and-tablet-sales-tough-competition-looms">maturity and decline</a>. In the UK, mobile subscriptions are at 117% of population (74.8m) which is a decline of 9% since January 2014. However, our reliance on them has increased, where usage per device has risen by 20 minutes per day to 1hr 52m. One explanation is that the increasing availability of free Wi-Fi in cafes, shops, stations and other public places has allowed users to get by without a mobile data subscription for their second devices.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/70290/original/image-20150128-22325-1m37i5i.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/70290/original/image-20150128-22325-1m37i5i.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/70290/original/image-20150128-22325-1m37i5i.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70290/original/image-20150128-22325-1m37i5i.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70290/original/image-20150128-22325-1m37i5i.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70290/original/image-20150128-22325-1m37i5i.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70290/original/image-20150128-22325-1m37i5i.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70290/original/image-20150128-22325-1m37i5i.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">More people are online, more of the time, buying stuff.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">WeAreSocial.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Risks and opportunities</h2>
<p>Roughly a quarter of us regularly use mobile phones for watching videos, managing our money, or researching products we might purchase. And this presents a massive opportunity for marketers – when we are considering a purchase we might be open to an offer that can be used when in an actual shop. We might also have given access, through an app, to personal information. The fact that 18% of us bought something online from a mobile device in the past month suggests there’s potential. But there are complications.</p>
<p>First, according to <a href="https://hbr.org/2013/01/how-people-really-use-mobile">recent research</a>, 68% of smartphone use is at home – not, ironically, taking advantage of mobility when away from laptop or desktop computers, but even when in the same room. So while mobiles are key elements of how we research and shop for products, it is often as a “second screen” while we are at home watching television or using laptops, not in a shop preparing to purchase.</p>
<p>Second, while <a href="http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/press-room/2013/nielsen--earned-advertising-remains-most-credible-among-consumer.html">trust in mobile advertising</a> as a source of information has increased in recent years, in comparison with others – personal recommendations, for example – it still ranks among the lowest.</p>
<p>In the We Are Social report there’s evidence that <a href="http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/login.jsp?tp=&arnumber=5694070&url=http%3A%2F%2Fieeexplore.ieee.org%2Fxpls%2Fabs_all.jsp%3Farnumber%3D5694070">mobile location-based search</a> was used by 15% of respondents in the past month. This is where the search engine algorithm includes location data in its response: we search for the latest film release and the times for our local cinemas are included in the result. </p>
<p>This marks the approach of <a href="http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=775250">semantic search</a> which resolves the meaning of search requests, rather than simply keyword matching. Better semantic search boosts the usefulness of mobile devices even more, which firms can use with personalised offers to try and overcome their consumers’ trust issues.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/36722/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Archer-Brown does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A study of 30 major world economies reveals how worldwide internet use continues to expand to more than three billion users, but it also demonstrates also how this growth is being driven by mobile phones…Chris Archer-Brown, Lecturer in Information Systems, University of BathLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/301272014-08-12T12:45:09Z2014-08-12T12:45:09Z‘Fair trade’ cocaine and ‘conflict-free’ opium: the future of online drug marketing<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/56262/original/3v2n93dm-1407823122.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In a stark contrast to the conventional drug trade, some users in online marketplaces offer full or partial refunds for drugs that are intercepted by customs. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Customs</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In October 2013, US authorities shut down Silk Road, the <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/add.12470/abstract?deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=&userIsAuthenticated=false">world’s largest cryptomarket</a>. At the time, prosecutors claimed that the closure of the so-called “eBay of illicit drugs” represented the <a href="http://www.fbi.gov/newyork/press-releases/2013/manhattan-u.s.-attorney-announces-seizure-of-additional-28-million-worth-of-bitcoins-belonging-to-ross-william-ulbricht-alleged-owner-and-operator-of-silk-road-website">beginning of the end</a> for online drug distribution.</p>
<p>This assertion has since proved incorrect. Over the past ten months, drug trading on the “dark net” has recovered rapidly. It is now estimated to be at least <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-28242662">twice the level</a> it was at the height of Silk Road’s popularity.</p>
<p>A new generation of cryptomarkets is supplying the expanding online drug trade. They are populated by thousands of dealers who use digital encryption to communicate with clients, spruik their wares and conduct illicit transactions. </p>
<p>For dealers, selling drugs online offers significant advantages over face-to-face retailing. They have immediate access to a huge and steadily growing international customer base. They are also able to sell drugs without physically interacting with customers, thereby decreasing the risk of arrest by undercover police. </p>
<p>Perhaps most importantly, the anonymity and geographical separation of online drug trading eliminates the possibility of violence at the hands of rival dealers. This differs significantly from the conventional drug trade where organised crime groups use serious, often lethal force to eliminate competitors and establish control over drug-retailing territory and trafficking routes. </p>
<p>The inability of dealers to use violence is one of the most striking and potentially socially beneficial implications associated with the rise of the online drug trade. It also raises an intriguing question: how do drug dealers compete with one another when violence and intimidation are no longer viable options?</p>
<p>Customer feedback plays a crucial role in regulating online drug markets. As is the case with legitimate trading websites such as eBay or Amazon Market, all customers who purchase drugs via a cryptomarket are encouraged to leave feedback about the quality of goods received and the level of service provided by particular dealers. </p>
<p>This information takes the form of a rating out of five stars, as well as more detailed comments regarding the speed of delivery and the sophistication of “stealth” measures used to conceal drugs in the post. </p>
<p>Critically, dealers are unable to alter the feedback that their customers upload. This means that both positive and negative reviews are permanently recorded on a dealer’s publicly listed “seller page”. </p>
<p>Feedback therefore provides prospective customers with an objective indication of the dealer’s past reliability and the perceived quality of the drugs they have sold. <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0955395913000066">Research</a> indicates that this information is central to consumer decision-making when considering an online drug purchase. </p>
<p>The importance of maintaining a blemish-free reputation means that online dealers are often highly conscientious in cultivating positive relationships with their customers. Top-ranked dealers (those who have attracted the greatest levels of positive customer feedback) regularly communicate with their clients using rhetoric more familiar in the world of conventional corporate retailing. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Understand that your Feedback is the foundation of our business … If you have ANY problems, please contact us before giving us a bad rating. In 99% of the cases we are able to satisfy you! Please leave also your honest feedback, to help following buyers get an opinion about us :)</p>
<p>– Excerpt from seller page – Tormarket, accessed December 11, 2013</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Online drug vendors typically employ a range of corporate retailing techniques. This includes providing mission statements, “oaths to customers” and detailed “terms and conditions” advising international shipping times and purchasing procedures. In a further stark contrast to the conventional drug trade, many even offer full or partial refunds for drugs that are found to be sub-standard or are intercepted by customs. </p>
<p>Managing the expectations of existing customers is only part of the challenge for dealers operating in this new, hyper-competitive online environment. They must also create innovative marketing strategies to attract new customers. </p>
<p>Commonly used methods are bulk purchasing discounts, loyalty programs and periodic promotional campaigns on holidays such as New Year’s Eve and “International Pot Day”. Other gimmicks include “two-for-one” specials, lottery giveaways and free drug samples. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/56263/original/4733xttb-1407824042.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/56263/original/4733xttb-1407824042.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56263/original/4733xttb-1407824042.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56263/original/4733xttb-1407824042.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56263/original/4733xttb-1407824042.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56263/original/4733xttb-1407824042.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56263/original/4733xttb-1407824042.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Online drug dealers must create innovative marketing strategies to attract new customers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/April Fonti</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Even more intriguing is the use of marketing strategies that mimic corporate social responsibility initiatives. These may take the form of financial sponsorship of organisations likely to be viewed favourably by online drug consumers. For example, one Australian drug vendor recently advertised their enterprise as a:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Proud financial supporter of WikiLeaks and Bluelight.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>At the more extreme end of socially progressive marketing strategies used by online dealers are those that involve the promotion of drugs on the basis of supposedly “ethical”, “fair trade”, “organic” or “conflict-free” sources of supply.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We are a team of libertarian cocaine dealers. We never buy coke from cartels! We never buy coke from police! We help farmers from Peru, Bolivia and some chemistry students in Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. We do fair trade!</p>
<p>– Excerpt from seller page – Evolution, accessed December 28, 2013</p>
<p>This is the best opium you will try, by purchasing this you are supporting local farmers in the hills of Guatemala and you are not financing violent drug cartels. </p>
<p>– Excerpt from seller page – Evolution, accessed March 28, 2014</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Naturally, it is impossible to verify these claims. It seems unlikely that such descriptions are accurate given the myriad problems that exist certifying similar schemes in the conventional economy. However, the fact that online dealers are employing these strategies points to the creation of an increasingly gentrified online drug trade. </p>
<p>This digital alternative to street-based drug retailing rewards dealers for using innovative and non-violent methods of competition, and for providing quality goods and services. Drug consumers, meanwhile, are offered an unprecedented range of choice and information about products available. They are also treated with a civility that reflects their purchasing power. </p>
<p>While there remain serious dangers inherent to buying illicit drugs online, including the risk of <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/young-mans-death-highlights-the-tragic-reality-of-online-illegal-drug-stores-20140111-30nnp.html">lethal product adulteration</a>, the rise of cryptomarket-facilitated drug trading presents a range of advantages over the violence and exploitation associated with the conventional drug trade. </p>
<hr>
<p><em><a href="http://www.palgrave.com/page/detail/drugs-on-the-dark-net-james-martin/?K=9781137399045">Drugs on the Dark Net</a> is out now from Palgrave Macmillan.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/30127/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This article is based on research drawn from Drugs on the Dark Net recently published by Palgrave Macmillan. </span></em></p>In October 2013, US authorities shut down Silk Road, the world’s largest cryptomarket. At the time, prosecutors claimed that the closure of the so-called “eBay of illicit drugs” represented the beginning…James Martin, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.