Talk about the IQ tax paid in those years

When it comes to IQ tax, many friends will think of some products covered with so-called technology. For example, the "Quantum Fluctuation Speed ??Reading Method Training Course" that was hotly discussed on the Internet some time ago, or the common "cure all diseases" physical therapy mattresses that are specially designed to deceive the elderly and cost tens of thousands of yuan...

Also Some friends mentioned "IQ tax" products that are closer to daily life: the Starbucks cat claw cup that became popular in the past two years (the original price of 199 was hyped to thousands of yuan, and it is still sold out), the Internet celebrity " YSL lipstick" and so on. Marketing agencies will use this kind of consumerist chicken soup to tell consumers:

Women should be kinder to themselves/Women should learn to invest in themselves/Women should be financially independent, buy what they want, and spend what they want!

There is also a corresponding slogan for men:

A man can only love a woman if he buys her/ Men who are unwilling to spend money on their girlfriends are scumbags/ I am responsible for making money to support the family, and you are responsible for looking beautiful.

There are also some controversial "IQ tax" products, such as lottery, because the probability of winning is seriously unequal to the income. There are even some "senior" lottery players who study various probabilities and combinations in lottery shops every day after get off work. Therefore, many people think that buying lottery tickets is purely an IQ tax, but there are also different voices saying that in fact, buying lottery tickets is not an investment behavior, but should be regarded as entertainment and public welfare behavior.

No matter what product it is, whether it is an "IQ tax" or not, the benefits of the product will be vigorously promoted in advertisements. We keep saying that others pay the "IQ tax", which is actually a bit of a show of our own superiority, just like the chain of contempt that is common on the Internet. In real life, it is difficult for each of us not to be harvested by businesses. There are various advertisements, some pretending to be experts, some false discounts, and some using hunger marketing to capture people’s scarcity psychology. So is there any way to fundamentally resist the erosion of advertising routines?

Recently I read the book "The Psychology of Lying", which mentioned the principles behind why businesses use advertisements to "deceive" consumers. It also gave me a deeper understanding of the topic of "IQ tax".

This original text talks about how products lie to us. The principle behind this is the placebo effect . The placebo effect refers to the phenomenon that although a patient receives an ineffective treatment, he or she "expects" or "believes" that the treatment will be effective, thereby relieving the patient's symptoms.

We all know that if a product wants to gain recognition from consumers and sell better, what should we do?

The only way is to improve the quality of goods and reduce costs. In short, it is more cost-effective.

Then if the quality can no longer make a big breakthrough, the cost can no longer be reduced. The other way is to "deceive people" and use exaggeration to make users feel that the price/performance ratio is better - hence the advertisement. Advertising takes a wide range of forms, including television, posters, product packaging, and celebrity endorsements. These are all advertisements. (Of course, advertising also has other functions, such as spreading the word, increasing product exposure, etc. This article mainly discusses the impact of advertising on consumer psychology)

So according to the statement in "The Psychology of Lying" , advertising is used to deceive people - but this kind of deception, like placebos in medicine, produces a positive effect - consumers are really satisfied.

The book mentions that enriching the symbolic value of a brand through advertising is a more environmentally friendly way to improve a product than using more or better materials. Therefore, advertising can reasonably "deceive" consumers, and consumers are willing to be deceived. The key point is whether it creates satisfactory symbolic value.

Corresponding to the symbolic value is the functional value of the product.

A car that claims to be designed and produced for high performance, racing characteristics, and strong power. Is this symbolic or functional value? - Functional value, no doubt.

A car that is claimed to be designed, produced and serviced for high performance, with racing characteristics and strong power.

And we say that we are uncompromising in serving driving pleasure, our cars represent the highest technical level of passenger cars, and our brand concept is a symbol of successful men. Is this a symbolic value or a functional value? ——Extended symbolic value.

So we find that symbolism first has functional value as its basis.

Let’s take another example. A car claims to be cheap, spacious inside, convenient for transporting people and cargo, and also provides 7/8 seats. Is this a symbolic value or a functional value? ——There is no doubt that it is also functional value.

Then the manufacturer declares: Our cars represent the highest technical level of domestic passenger cars, and our brand concept is a symbol of successful men. Does this advertisement have symbolic value? ——That’s the statement, but it has no value because no one believes it. You can carry people to pull goods, so how can you get involved with a successful man?

The car in the first example is a BMW, a BMW advertisement. The symbolic value of a "successful man" is extended and matched by the functional value of its creation or display. The second example is Wuling Hongguang's advertisement. Its functional value determines what value it will develop toward?

Based on the above, let us summarize the knowledge extracted and integrated in this chapter of the book:

1. Symbolic value must first have functional value as the basis, and this functional value is consistent with The former must be matched and related;

2. The purpose of advertising is to create the symbolic value of the product, so that consumers can believe and identify it and be willing to use it;

3. The symbolic value can Let consumers produce a placebo effect after using it - it obviously has no effect, but it produces the expected effect.

In summary, take it apart for your own use. If you value functional value more, then when you are struggling to shop around when buying something in the future, you can think about what you want to get behind the function? Which product makes you feel this way more?

For example, I used to be a person with "severe difficulty in choosing takeout". Every time I was at home alone, I would order takeout because I was too lazy to cook. But Meituan often switches between Ele.me and looks at it for more than half an hour without deciding what to eat. Later, after reading the book "The Psychology of Lying" and understanding the concept of symbolic value, I suddenly understood the reason why I struggled with ordering food. I don't know what I want to eat. The essence is that I don't know what symbolic value I want to get. Later, I looked at the things I had ordered in the past - each time I ordered something different, and each time I ordered strange dishes that I had never eaten before - I finally understood that the symbolic value of my ordering takeout was to be a person seeking novelty. , people who seek adventure and excitement. So I didn’t worry about ordering takeout anymore. I just tried whatever I hadn’t tried before, without thinking about the consequences of it being unpalatable or ordering the wrong thing.

On the other hand, if you value more symbolic value, then when you buy something in the future, you should check whether its function can keep up with its claimed symbolic value.

Also give me an example of your own. In the past few years, I was very keen on buying all kinds of good-looking notebooks, such as annual planners, clock-in notebooks, reading notes, time management notebooks... But each book only had a few pages written, and then it was left on the desk to collect dust. . After analyzing it now, I realized that I attached too much importance to the symbolic value of "being a self-disciplined, planned and organized time management expert" - but I didn't understand that these books did not help me in essence. The functional value of improving time management and getting rid of procrastination.

Of course, one point not mentioned in the book is that advertising can have legitimate reasons to "deceive" consumers, but in reality too many unscrupulous businesses take advantage of this to trick consumers and deceive them. , to implement the real cheat without double quotes.

Going back to the "IQ tax" case mentioned at the beginning, whether it is cat claw cups, popular lipsticks, physical therapy mattresses, or quantum wave reading methods, are the contents promoted by these products really produced? What about symbolic value? Do they have adequate functional value? As "placebos", do they really make consumers feel better, or do they harm them like poison?

Therefore, in addition to applying the above two shopping principles of symbolic value, another inspiration this book gives us is to look at commercial advertising critically. For example, we all know that physiotherapy mattresses are actually a scam for the elderly. But do many elderly people really not know that they are false and exaggerated? Maybe they just lack the care of their children, and use the only way they can to make up for the symbolic value of this inner desire - at least I still have some money, so that people can care about me.

The same goes for lotteries. Most people will despise people who buy lottery tickets, saying that this is a proper IQ tax. But there are many ordinary blue-collar workers who don’t smoke, drink, whore or gamble. You can buy at least two days of happiness and hope for ten or eight yuan in lottery tickets. If you can buy happiness and hope so cheaply, What’s wrong with symbolic value?