Consumer Basics

How to Be a Smart Consumer

An introduction to common deceptive marketing tactics

Bait & Switch Advertising

Bait & Switch Advertising

Advertised deals get consumers in the door but not necessarily the price or product they wanted.

Celeb Endorsements

Celeb Endorsements

Why is your favorite celebrity attracted to that specific product?

Engagement Marketing

Engagement Marketing

How companies get us to engage and form a relationship with the brand or product they are selling.

Guarantees

Guarantees

Watch out for loopholes in those guarantees.

How Causewashing Deceives Consumers

How Causewashing Deceives Consumers

For decades, brands have been supporting causes — or rather pretending to support causes — to boost sales.

Infomercials

Infomercials

What to know before you bite on that revolutionary infomercial product.

Product Placement

Product Placement

Products that pop up in movies and television shows are often there for specific advertising reasons.

Rebates

Rebates

Rebates are often unredeemed.

Sales, Bargains, Discounts

Sales, Bargains, Discounts

Shoppers face fictitious pricing, perpetual sales and more when trying to decipher a true bargain in the aisle.

What is Industry Self-Regulation?

What is Industry Self-Regulation?

Self-regulating organizations can have varying impacts on the standards that are set for the way industries do business.

Puffery – A Marketer’s Right To Lie

Puffery – A Marketer’s Right To Lie

Ads can legally lie to you as long as the lie is so obvious an exaggeration that you know not to take it seriously.