It’s not that propaganda doesn’t work on them, I see those types falling for neo-nazi shit all the time because they know how to appeal to them. It’s just that they process the world in a fundamentally different way, so a lot of the psychological tricks that propaganda relies on simply doesn’t work on them. It’s kind of like how the early days of white supremacy had a hard time getting women because all their propaganda played to mysogyny. Once they figured out that they can rewire their hatred of women to be a good thing (the trad wife) that’s when they started jumping on board and really driving their influence into the american culture.
I have autistic relatives, and while marketing tricks generally don’t work on them, FOMO and rule of cool absolutely do. My brother is on the spectrum and constantly has to have the latest Apple devices (he can afford to, he’s got a great job and he’s super smart). My dad was too and he was constantly buying any new gadget he saw.
So I don’t remember either of them ever being swayed by a specific commercial or marketing campaign, but a photo and a description could be enough, which is sometimes worse.
On top of that, their microfixations, like my brother’s with Apple, means they spend an inordinate amount of money on the thing they feel is too cool to pass up.
When my father died, he and my mom had a household full of junk- not a huge mess like a hoarder’s house, just a ton of stuff in the attic and garage and closets and so on- and most of it was technology no one would want. Like a keyboard that would put title graphics on a home video designed for CRT TVs. Or the multiple VHS-C and Hi-8 camcorders he bought. Like my brother, he could afford to do it, but what a waste of money.
So while autistic people don’t often get swayed by advertising, they can, in my experience, still spend way too much money on the cool new thing.
I’m autistic and I’ve always felt I had a certain gullibility. If I’m reading an article, and an argument sounds rational. I’m more likely to fall for it. Even if it contains a ton of bad premises. I’d like to think as I’ve gotten older and more mature, these kinds of things work less on me. But honestly I’m not sure.
the article is propaganda btw! many autistic people are still affected by marketing and the like! NO ONE IS IMMUNE
Yes, no one is immune to propaganda in the sense of misinformation.
Ads on the other hand… The often quoted subconscious working of ads just doesn’t work on me: i choose my müesli based on parameters (like texture, taste,…), not on whims! So ads go on one side in, out on the other.
Did you make a blind test on your Müsli? Get several different brands and eat them blind.
There’s health a big consideration, since it’s something almost daily. So 5-corn with wholewheat flakes and fruit it is. Next convenience store has only one brand of it.
Ok if dug that deep into details there is no need for a test.
What “detail”. Average 20’s to 40’s person cares too less for their health and are then suffering and expensive when they get old.
Well I don’t care about my food that much that I choose my cerial on most healthy option. I eat what I want when I feel like it. As long as I don’t eat only unhealthy food this should work out. And if I get to 100 or only 80 because of tthat I don’t care.
Advertisements work opposite for me. If I see an ad, I hate the company. I adamantly will only choose materials based on personal research and the suggestions of my peers. Any suggestion by a corporate entity or otherwise paid method will only serve to brew hate. Beyond that, I will go to just about any means to get rid of ads. I often refuse to deal with a company if their ads show up when I don’t want them to, or if their ad annoys me. There is no good ad.
only choose materials based on personal research and the suggestions of my peers.
And how do you know what to choose from? Ads.
You may not like it but advertisements work on you. They just need to be more subtle. You are fooling yourself if you think you are immune.
Here’s the link to the referenced article.
The short of it is that people on the spectrum focus on the details, and ignore ‘extraneous’ information. The typical emotional appeals–such as the choice of certain fonts, colors, graphics, emotional language, etc., is going to be largely ignored by people on the spectrum, while they focus on the details that are directly relevant to the use of the product.
I’ve noted this tendency in myself (and yes, I"m on the spectrum).
Obvs. that doesn’t mean that all advertising falls flat, just that the kinds of emotional appeals that are more typical in advertisement are going to be less effective.
Oh, and I do block ads across all platforms.
Here’s the article Psychology Today references, which delves into the methodology of the research.
ppl who caption memes with article headlines should off themselves. like seriously let me read the goddamn article you illiterate fuckhole
and if u, catatonic comment reader, don’t think that this shit is a problem then just click the down arrow and go. don’t try spread your stupid to me
Is it really just autistic folks? I see marketing material all the time that frustrates because they tell me nothing about the product I’m trying to research.
Like a phone product page saying things like “our camera helps you capture the moments that matter”. Well, duh, I know what a camera does and everyone has a camera, but is there anything particularly nice about your camera? Marketing material wastes so much material on uselessly vague stuff. Extra madness when their web design hijacks scrolling to pause my scrolling to change it to advancing some animation…
It’s not just autistic people, no, but autistic people appear to be better at filtering than neurotypical people.
Imagine two cameras in boxes. One is in a white box with black text that lists camera specs. The other is a brightly colored box that has examples of the photos taken with that came, along with a more sparsely populated list of specs. Which are you more likely to buy? Most people–not all, but most–are going to gravitate towards the more appealing packaging unless there are pretty gross differences in specifications that make it less desirable. People might be willing to pay somewhat more for the appealing packaging, as long as the specs appear roughly similar. Autistic people are supposedly better at filtering that kind of information out.
I am immune to propaganda. Yes.
Autistic people fall hand over foot for propaganda.
Marketing just isn’t adjusted to people with autism because they are only a small part of the population.
They can definitely manipulate you if they so desire.
No, no they can’t esp when I block all ads
I feel like about 4% of all the comments on Lemmy are just people telling each other they use an adblocker
Between not watching TV & the pihole router cleaning our internet feed, I may not be immune to ads, but I sure as fuck don’t see them.
