“All’s fair in love and marketing,” for that’s where the world has come to today as the business of foolery is in complete bloom. What’s more surprising is the high amount of people who blindly fall prey to these deceptive industries, and at times, don’t even realize that they’ve been fooled.
There are a few enlightened people, however, who know that the glamour these industries portray is just a facade and gushed to answer the question, “What industries are built on intentionally misleading people?” Some of them, you might be aware of, while some might shock you. Just scroll down and check them out for yourself!
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#1
Did anyone write US Health Insurance yet?
Image credits: ohnoyoudidnotjust
#2
Religion.
Image credits: Prahlis
#3
MLM’s- Amway, Mary Kay, Pampered Chef, Monat, Herbalife etc. If anyone approaches you and says they have a great business opportunity for you: RUN.
Image credits: prosperosniece
As you go through the list, you will realize that most of these industries are making millions by mooching off of people’s oblivion or even greed. It definitely makes you wonder why some folk still get deceived by them even after being aware of their real intentions.
Well, to get a deeper insight into the human psyche when it comes to these deceptive businesses, Bored Panda got in touch with Eden Lobo, a counselor and psychology professor. She said that when people invest time, money, or emotional energy into a brand, they may experience cognitive dissonance when confronted with evidence of being misled.
“To reduce this discomfort, they may rationalize their continued trust in the brand by downplaying the misleading behavior or convincing themselves it was a one-time occurrence,” she added.
#4
Diamonds.
Image credits: cyclejones
#5
Those detox drinks. You have your liver and kidney(s).
Image credits: MihalyDumitruShilage
#6
Plastics. They are not nearly as recyclable as the industry wants you to think, and they cause immense damage to our natural world as well as both known and unknown harm to human health.
Image credits: ataraxia77
We also spoke to our expert about the psychological principles that are most commonly exploited by industries to mislead people. She noted that these principles often target cognitive biases, emotional responses, and decision-making processes.
Prof. Lobo explained, “The scarcity principle is one such trick, as people perceive scarce or limited resources as being more valuable. Another one would be social proof when herd mentality takes over and people tend to follow the behavior of others, especially in uncertain situations.”
Another aspect she stressed was the fear of missing out, aka, FOMO, as people fear losing opportunities or experiences others are enjoying. She elaborated that industries use language like “trending now” or showcase users seemingly living better lives through their products, creating pressure to conform and buy in.
#7
Flushable Wipes.
No.
No they are not flushable.
Stop it.
Plumbers and city sewer workers despise these things.
Image credits: Gems789
#8
The timeshare industry. It’s highly predatory and they sell it as if you’re getting this amazing deal that’s an “investment” that you can pass to your kids. Everyone I know who has bought one has regretted it and they’re almost impossible to sell.
Image credits: A911owner
#9
Politics.
Image credits: Radiant-Community467
Prof. Lobo also explained how industries often use emotional triggers to influence consumer decisions because emotions are powerful drivers of behavior and can override logical reasoning.
She mentioned that people want to fit in, be admired, or feel exclusive, so these businesses use people’s desire for status or belonging to their benefit. Hope, as per her, is another emotion that appeals to aspirations for a better life, success, or happiness, that can be used to exploit people.
“Some other emotions that these companies leverage are: nostalgia (evoking fond memories of the past creates positive associations), love (the need for emotional bonds is leveraged to sell products tied to relationships), self-doubt (highlighting perceived flaws pushes consumers to seek solutions), or curiosity (unanswered questions or teasers drive engagement),” Prof. Lobo added.
#10
Payday loans.
Image credits: Pleasant_Scar9811
#11
Fitness. As someone with credentials in the industry, I can tell you it’s a disgusting cesspool of misinformation and gurus/companies preying on the ignorant masses without any care for their health.
Image credits: Tempting78Babe
#12
“The beauty industry – ‘This cream will make you look 20 years younger!’ Spoiler: it won’t.”.
Image credits: dazzlingMoonnFlam25
We also sought some help from Prof. Lobo to help recognize and resist misleading tactics. She claimed that it requires a combination of psychological awareness, critical thinking, and practical strategies. Here are a few tips that she emphasized:
- Cultivate emotional awareness: Misleading tactics often exploit emotions like fear, greed, or guilt. Recognizing when emotions are being manipulated can help you pause and reassess.
- Understand cognitive biases: Familiarity with biases (e.g., scarcity effect, or social proof) makes you less likely to fall for them.
- Slow down decision-making: Many misleading tactics rely on urgency to prevent thoughtful consideration.
- Ask critical questions: Scrutinizing claims reveals inconsistencies or missing details.
- Practice media literacy: Understanding how information is presented helps identify manipulative framing or exaggerations.
Lastly, she concluded, “By understanding these and other psychological tools, people can develop greater resistance to misleading tactics and make more informed, deliberate decisions. Awareness and practice are key to becoming a savvy consumer.”
#13
Astrology, tarot cards, crystal healing and various other forms of woo.
Image credits: PuzzledFortune
#14
Chiropractors. “Adjusting” your spine does not prevent or cure disease. I have taken care of several patients in my career who have had strokes due to carotid or vertebral artery injuries from chiropractic “manipulation”.
Image credits: getridofwires
#15
Homeopathy.
Image credits: donkey_loves_dragons
When you understand the psychology behind the deception, it really boggles your mind about how far these industries can go just to make money. Well, our expert definitely helped highlight how you can fight back.
So, misleading industries, give me your best shot, I am sure I will be able to resist your deceptive punch this time around. What about you? Which industries in the list have fooled you before? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
#16
Ever seen a car advert? Almost always cars driving in the mountains or speeding through an empty traffic free city.
Image credits: bisikletci
#17
Unpopular opinion but in the last 5 years, some trades and pivoted away from How can we beat help our customers? to How can we extract the maximum amount of money for the least amount of lowest quality service… I am in the Garage door industry and I am watching some companies build literally mathematical models on how to extract the most money and what sales tactics drive it. HVAC and roofing have been it as well.
Folks – for the love of God, try to get multiple quotes and focus on smaller local businesses.
Image credits: Firebolt164
#18
Gambling.
Most of the ‘health and beauty’ industry. Makeup is what it is and gyms do what they say on the tin it’s all the BS stuff in between that sells false promises: beauty treatments, supplements, weird exercise tools, diet plans, detox plans, weird programmes that try to weave astrology etc into health…. There’s a lot of stuff that’s at best useless and harmless but quite often useless and harmful.
Image credits: cewumu
#19
Rent to own stores. Aaron’s, Renta Center.
Image credits: cymccorm
#20
Finance.
Source: I worked in finance for two years. It could be a lot easier to understand, but if it was you wouldn’t accept terms on their conditions.
Image credits: fearthe0cean
#21
Anything to do with essential oils, a 24 billion dollar industry based on lies.
They smell good. That’s it.
Image credits: Resuscitate_Sanity
#22
The magic industry! Where the hell did the bunny go? It was in the hat, and now it’s gone!
Image credits: 000-Luck
#23
Food commercials.
Image credits: RoseCinn
#24
Anyone selling Superfoods, total bs.
Image credits: shroooooomer
#25
(sun)glasses. No way a titanium wire and some glass cost the same as a new iPhone with its super high-res screen, incredible processors, crazy cameras, GPS, high speed networking, video and audio playback and on an on.
Image credits: sergedg
#26
Tech. After the mbas and all bros takeover. Crypto, AI rush, social media, ads and so on.
Image credits: Confident-Alarm-6911
#27
Before the ride-sharing apps like Uber, the taxi industry was pretty much a mafia.
Image credits: NY_Skater
#28
Recycling.
Image credits: Connect-Pie-4681
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