Blog post #4: Stop Being Gullible Consumers
I came across Jessica‘s post that focused on social media and how it has always been a huge way to impact on purchaser’s decision to buy a product or not. I agree that “people are looking for connections” and that is why many people nowadays are seen with mobiles on their hands and scrolling through twitter, and other forms of social media to keep them updated.
Easiness of deceiving consumers through the web/social media (Taken from Flickr by Alan Garden)
However, audiences of social media should be smart users and not just gullible users. We should be skeptical of everything we read on the net. This is because companies can be posting fake reviews in order to boost their reputation, and also in order to trick customers into thinking that their products are of best quality and are good. In other words, it is a way on how companies can cheat their way through to make higher profit. According to an article from CNET.com called “Companies to pay $350,000 fine over fake online reviews”, demonstrates how companies posting fake reviews is a form of fraud and if caught, they would have to be fined by large amount of money.
Another example to build upon Jessica’s post is rumour on how Facebook would start charging users. I first saw this article on my Facebook wall and fell into the trap of thinking that Facebook was going to start charging its users, but after researching about it I realised that it was a big hoax. Thus, shows how whatever is posted on the web is not always reliable, and consumers should always be skeptical with what they read on social media.
Here is an interesting current article related to the topic:
“Fake online reviews: 4 ways companies can deceive you” – Megan Griffith-Greene
Articles Used Links:
“Companies to pay $350,000 fine over fake online reviews” – Lance Whitney from CNET.com
http://www.cnet.com/news/companies-to-pay-350000-fine-over-fake-online-reviews/
“Facebook not going to charge users any fee: Reports” – IANS from TheEconomicTimes.com