Comments on: The Personal Anecdote as Sales Pitch

By: eiskrystal

eiskrystal — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 09:10:21 +0000

There are currently 7 people in line to get a new iPhone 5 at one of their stores, 8 days early.

All 7 of them are advertising something and trying to garner free publicity.

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/iPhone-5-Line-Camp-NYC-Vibe-Gazelle,news-40050.html

…and now someone else is trying something similar.

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/iPHone-5-Queue-Cancer-Research-Charity-Fundrasier,news-40068.html

Advertising is evolving into some very strange and disturbing forms.

By: SteveA

SteveA — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 11:20:29 +0000

ccbowers: “Amazon is commonly used for reviews, and there is an option to indicate that the purchase was actually made through amazon (verified purchase). This seems to be a good approach, and other reviewers/customers are pretty good at identifying either bogus or unfair reviews.”

As you’re probably aware, there’s recently been a noisy ‘sockpuppet’ scandal in the publishing world where various authors have been outed for trying to manipulate the Amazon review system (buy buying favourable reviews, for example).

I’d support a verified purchase approach, though the effectiveness of this is limited where products (such as self-published ebooks) are sold cheaply.

The point about people being able to identify bogus reviews is moot – we can suspect, but how can we ‘know’, one way or another.

A review system where people had to use their real name might be a step in the right direction.

By: rokstatue

rokstatue — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 08:29:02 +0000

I work at a pharmacy as a tech and when they come to the back looking for these products, our pharmacists just show them where it is. They don’t really care since they’re too busy checking rxs and making calls. To what extent can a pharm tech legally discourage these types of products?

By: locutusbrg

locutusbrg — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 23:19:27 +0000

They’re trolling the wrong blogs with the sales pitch here.

By: ccbowers

ccbowers — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 20:37:49 +0000

“This disrupts the purpose of genuine reviews and online discussion, however. I don’t know of any way to stop it. We just have to remain vigilant to minimize it.”

NPR had a brief piece on this very topic just a few days ago, and the guest speaker talked about some ways that companies deal with this issue. He mentioned that Expedia only hosts reviews by people who have purchased through Expedia. It seems that that approach would pretty much eliminate fake reviews, but would also inhibit legitimate reviews from the broader population.

Amazon is commonly used for reviews, and there is an option to indicate that the purchase was actually made through amazon (verified purchase). This seems to be a good approach, and other reviewers/customers are pretty good at identifying either bogus or unfair reviews. There are also red flags for bogus reviews including a limited or no review history and the use of cliche and hyperbole. In the end you can usually get a good sense of a product by spending some time looking into various sources

By: DOYLE

DOYLE — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 17:39:12 +0000

How is it still possible to confuse the idea,that the global economic model
is concerned with producing,that which is surperfluous,narcissistic and fraudulent.Nature abhors a vacuum,and likewise with marketers and advertisers.

By: Jacob V

Jacob V — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 17:04:52 +0000

Given we make most of our important life decisions based on our own experience and the anecdotes of our friends and family, as well as our emotion/feelings and personal taste, it really isn’t that hard to see why people often have a strong tendency to do the same thing when it comes to health care choices. However these uphill battles are worth fighting!