Illusional Marketing: The Use of Storytelling, User Experience and Gamification in Business

Abstract

Digital platforms know how to “hook” consumers and keep them glued to the screen. These products were developed based on psychologists’ research into the way the human brain works. These are new weapons in the marketing toolkit that will become even more effective when combined with nearfuture enhancements like augmented and virtual reality. As the children of Generation Z and its successor Generation Alpha meet the internet at life’s earliest stages, the likelihood they will develop addictions to such devices seems very high. These illusional marketing techniques offer new weapons for commercial brands; their efficiency has been proven over and over. They give marketing managers powers to alter behavior and to turn inclinations into habits by manipulating the unconscious mind. At this point, marketing professionals need to take significant responsibilities because illusional marketing practices that do not serve a meaningful cause may bring about dangerous outcomes. A system that is only designed for the sake of making more money will serve the interest of no party in the long run, while using the tools of illusional marketing in a positive manner could serve humanity. In our current era, exposing these techniques along with their positive and negative aspects becomes a vital and highly significant task, one best fulfilled by academia.