SURVEY SAYS…….
“According to a recent survey”….blah, blah, blah. I’m so tired of hearing those words on the news, in commercials and in conversations. Stop eating that, don’t play this, drink more of this instead of that and on and on. I wonder who takes these surveys. Are they educated in the product or service they are giving their opinion on? The fact is survey data is usually biased because it depends on the subject’s motivation, honesty and expertise. Also important is the agenda of the survey designers to sway public opinion for or against a product or service. It’s known that if you can get as little as 10% of a social network to strongly commit to an opinion, that it is enough to rapidly convert the uncommitted 90% to adopt their point of view. This is called the “tipping point” after which the entire social network does the job of converting everyone else toward being a believer.
When the agenda is to “manage” and “control” people through fear or false promises then it becomes dangerous. The pharmaceutical industry, for one example, is guilty of “fear marketing” using survey data to scare potential customers into thinking they must take certain medications. Their data states they can prevent future conditions and better cure others than what they are taking now.
Then there are the food and drink scares. One year they warn not to eat butter, drink coffee or eat spicy foods. The next year butter is good and margarine is bad, caffeine is beneficial and spicy foods are good for circulation. All this based on stats, data and surveys. I would accept this data easier if the facts were listed and by who then I could draw my own conclusions.
Unfortunately the usual agenda is product marketing. It’s good to know what potential harm or options are available. But, when the general public are used as puppets and led like lemmings to the money pit it becomes manipulative. Next time you hear “a recent survey states” ask yourself where they are coming from and what are they trying to sell. If you see a competitor in the shadows who will go down if those 10% sway the 90% then you can make your own conclusions.
Anyoneteachone 