Are We, as Consumers, Being Fooled?

Elizabeth Lowry
EL210905@ohio.edu

I CAN RELATE...
After reading the article, "Paid to Pitch: Reviews By Bloggers Draw Scrutiny," not only did I realize I was being fooled, but also realized, I was not alone. Like many people, I frequently resort to checking out products online before going out to a retail store. I can relate to Salwa Mbarouk, who purchased a book, basing her purchase on information from a sponsored post, and then realized that the blogger in fact never read the book.

PROFESSOR RATINGS?
I have actually researched on several occasions, which professor to take for a certain course and have resorted to looking at several websites that are all "biased opinions." I had no idea that I had to look for a seal, which is supposed to alert readers to whether the writer is expressing an unbiased opinion. Every review I got was obviously based on the particular student, how often they went to class, how much effort they put into the class, and also, their final grade.

Because many people who post comments are anonymous, I often have found the comments to be misleading once I have actually taken the class... or maybe my opinion too is biased, just like the rest of the comments?

PERSONALITY LEADERS?
I thought Rita Arens made a great point, that many famous people can be huge opinion leaders, like Oprah, for example. I admit that I have often watched her show and based my purchase of a book, on her personal opinion, without even researching online first.

THE DIET OBSESSED INDUSTRY


While I was reading this article, and read that many mommy bloggers were given gift cards in exchange for product mentions, I kept thinking of one thing, the diet industry. How many commercials have you seen that promote diet pills and have a before and after picture, that reads, "How to lose 30 pounds in 30 days?" And then show a person claiming, that he or she has done it, so we can too! Then it shows a before and after picture, in the before picture the person is very depressed with no make-up in an unflattering pose, and then in the after picture they are glowing, make-up and for all we know have been altered through computer modification? Then, what gets me the most, is that at the end of the commercial, a line in very small print lies on the bottom of the screen says "Results Not Typical." It's completely ridiculous!