Manipulation in Advertising: The Marketer's Dream

Written by Michelle Munro (chelle-at-cyberbeach-dot-net), December 9, 1999

The novice at advertising frequently gives the public credit for too much intelligence.
Eric Clark
Manipulation Defined
One of the most widely held criticisms of advertising is that it manipulates the consumer. Those responsible for the advertisements often fiercely defend this statement mainly because the word manipulation carries with it a connotation of negativity, and corruptness. To remove these characteristics an accurate definition for the purpose of this report follows. Manipulation is defined in Webster's dictionary as to influence especially with the intent to deceive. To influence is defined as the act or power of producing an effect without apparent force or direct authority. And to deceive is to cause one to believe an untruth. The combination of the above three definitions yields the following:
Manipulation: To have the power of producing an effect without force or direct authority espec...