Personal Engagement Manipulative Techniques
Personal Engagement Manipulative Techniques are practices that seek to change a persons behaviour through manipulation and deceit. Here are a some concepts that explain this often very personal process, which can used as a sales technique, but can also be used much more insidiously, to convince a person they are ill, for example, even, to make them ill.
Manipulation: This is a broad term that refers to influencing someone in a clever or unscrupulous way. It often involves deceit or coercion to achieve a desired outcome. It may be a sad thing to understand that most people deceive themselves and others on a daily basis. Often, those lies start as a coping mechanism. For example, most people wear a different Personality Mask, when at work, compared to when at home with their families. And those masks can be very different, and oppositional. For example, someone that seems very happy and confident at home, may be a very different, far less confident, and stressed individual at work, and a different person again, when out, alone, and also, when out, with friends.
A large part of this is often natural, and supposed to be short term – for example, most people in new jobs develop some form of Imposter Syndrome. However, if that individual never learns enough to gain confidence in what they do, they may well develop and over-reliance on deceit and manipulation. Perhaps at first, in order to present a confident and capable face at work, and then later, to gain promotion without actually being qualified. Then it is likely that this situation may well develop into some form of personality related dysfunction. And this may mean they will increasingly and unconsciously, need to let off steam, to release their true feelings and emotions that they have suppressed all day. Often, this results in their family getting an oppositional back-lash. The fun democratic (clueless) boss at work, becomes the tyrant perfectionist at home: Demanding total compliance to a home environment that is toxic to all involved and sometimes akin to torture and slavery.
This behaviour can get worse over time, and a serious issue is, if that individual is clever, they can introduce additional abusive practices slowly enough for their victims to normalise their abuse into acceptance, and continue to endure that abuse in the name of tough love. Society is not geared up to provide that family any real assistance, and the tendency is, to deny the problem is that great, and to gaslight the victim back to the family home, and more abuse, rather than try to help the victim escape their plight.
As explained in the opening text. Many of these practices are used for sales and marketing, and often, “legitimate” marketing techniques, are extremely similar to what in other circumstances would be called “Sharp Practice“, or fraud, coercion, even indirect murder, or long-term mental damage.
Deceptive Marketing: This involves misleading practices where individuals or companies promote products under false pretences, such as pretending to be independent when they are actually receiving kickbacks. This is seen all the time in social network marketing: Unrealistically low pricing offers create click-bate for the gullible leading to hacking attacks or rapid increases in price. Often the product price offered, becomes a pipe-dream based on misleading assumptions. And in order to find a product option that actually delivers what appeared on offer at the previous lower price: Portable power supplies, for example, powerful to power a kettle, but, just the once, without the expensive extender battery. Not to mention those numerous offers of instant wealth via Crypto.
Astroturfing: This is a specific form of manipulation where individuals or organizations create a false impression of grassroots support for a product or idea, often through fake reviews or endorsements. Crowdfunding is often a classic example of this. “Great” ideas with no hope of success without huge funding, are promoted by social influencers that seem to be able to dance between these false offer that never deliver, without ever losing their audience. This is because often, they have planted “sub-influencers”, in their audience, posing as ordinary people telling fellow “fans”, about amazing false results or product performance. Similarly, all those false product endorsements on volume sales sites, increasingly written intelligently, by AI.
Social Engineering: This term refers to psychological manipulation to trick people into divulging confidential information or making decisions that benefit the manipulator.
Kickback Schemes: While this term is often used in a business context, it can apply to personal interactions where someone receives a benefit (like a commission) for recommending a product without disclosing their relationship with the seller.
These behaviours can be harmful, yet often there is societal bias, due to the needs of Capitalism, for example, to overlook the individual harm, leading to further gaslighting of individuals as scapegoats. This creates a society with a growing undercurrent of helplessness and unease, or, dis-ease. They exploit trust and can lead to significant consequences for the individuals involved. Yet, society finds these issues the hardest to prosecute.
This article focusses on the more personal techniques, often used by small groups that target key individuals. Those that often find themselves being described as “targeted individuals”, for example. Here are two examples of how these techniques in different types of circumstances, to see how a sales approach can seem acceptable, yet is applied to personal manipulation it would be very unethical, and damaging.
The Proxy Tease
The “proxy tease” marketing technique is a somewhat controversial approach. It involves using a third party to create a façade of credibility and trustworthiness, allowing marketers or scammers to make enticing promises without directly associating themselves with those claims. Here’s a breakdown of how this technique typically works:
Third-Party Endorsement: The use of a third party—such as influencers, celebrities, or even fake testimonials—creates an illusion of legitimacy. This can make the promises seem more credible to the target audience.
Indirect Messaging: By not stating the promises directly, the original marketer can avoid accountability. This allows them to craft a narrative that can be misleading without facing direct backlash.
Step-by-Step Grooming: This technique often involves gradually building trust with the target. Initially, the messages may be subtle, but over time, they can escalate to more significant promises or offers, making it easier to manipulate the target’s perception.
Psychological Manipulation: The strategy often plays on psychological triggers, such as fear of missing out (FOMO) or the desire for social validation, which can lead individuals to act impulsively.
Ad Fraud connection: Interestingly, this technique can overlap with various forms of ad fraud, where dishonest publishers or marketers use deceptive practices to inflate their traffic or engagement metrics. For instance, they might employ tactics like domain spoofing or click fraud to mislead advertisers about the effectiveness of their campaigns.
While this technique can be effective in the short term, it raises significant ethical concerns and can lead to long-term damage to brand reputation if consumers feel deceived.
The Failed Proxy Tease
The concept of the “failed proxy tease” as a method for social control is quite intriguing It revolves around the idea that certain interactions, particularly those that appear to be friendly or benign, can actually serve to manipulate social behaviour and perceptions. Here’s a breakdown of how this approach might work:
False Friendship Offers: Individuals or entities may extend friendship requests or engage in seemingly friendly interactions. These offers can create a sense of trust or community.
Failed Scams: When these interactions lead to failed scam attempts, they can leave the target feeling wary or suspicious. The experience of being approached with a scam, even if it doesn’t succeed, can create a lasting impression.
Behavioural Conditioning: The repeated exposure to these failed attempts can condition users to be more cautious in the future. They may become less likely to accept friendship requests or engage with new connections, fearing ulterior motives.
Social Control Mechanism: This tactic can serve as a form of social control by shaping how individuals interact online. By instilling a sense of distrust, it can limit the openness of users to new relationships, effectively controlling social dynamics within a community.
Psychological Impact: The emotional aftermath of these interactions can lead to increased anxiety or scepticism about online relationships, which can further isolate individuals and reduce their willingness to connect with others.
This approach highlights the complex interplay between social interactions and psychological manipulation. It raises important questions about trust and safety in digital spaces.
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