Roasting 12 Sweet Norman Rockwell Paintings to Hell and Back

5 Scientific Contradictions That Decide Who You Like

‘King of the Hill’ Fans Are Convinced That Cotton Hill Is in This ‘70s Steak House Ad

40 Random Bits of Celebrity Trivia Harvested From the Trivia Mines

50 Funny Movie and TV Tweets Worthy of a Five-Star Letterboxd Review

34 Psychological Hacks That’ll Turn You Into a Marketing Wizard

Could 10,000 customers be wrong? (Yes, absolutely)

34 Psychological Hacks That’ll Turn You Into a Marketing Wizard

February 11, 2024

Any time you make a purchase, just know that entire think tanks and scores of professionals have dedicated their time and effort to getting you to the checkout aisle with their product in hand. Basically, when you buy that pack of gum, somewhere there’s a boardroom full of suits fist-pumping and high-fiving.

Click right here to get the best of Cracked sent to your inbox.

34

Upbeat music makes you more likely to make impulse purchases. CRACKED COM And classical music makes you more likely to linger longer and walk slower. — Source

33

Staples like bread and milk are kept in opposite areas to keep you lookinng. CRACKED.COM If you're just making a quick run to the grocery, you'll have to look through more food. — Source

32

Flowers are displayed first in grocery stores SO you associate the store with freshness. FREESIA 499 Tim RANUNCULUS 10 STEM 5,99 KIAS CRACKED.COM It's an effective psychological ploy! — Source

31

Grocery stores move merchandise around SO you have to look more. CRACKED.COM The more time looking, the more likely you are to pick up some extras. — Source

30

The clearance rack is intentionally in the back of the store. CRACKED.COM Plus it's messy so you're more likely to buy something full-priced.

29

Cereal mascots' eyes look down to meet children's eyes in the store. - 4.49 3 SVA SALE Kore S ФЛИДА CHOCOLATE COVE JAPA FAMILY SIZE LY SIZE Save NEW! FREE Kellogg's Kellogg's gg 100 U adidas - NO 100% Honey Nut FROS PO Krave CINNAMON FRO - IVe FROSTED FLAK FROSTED FLA I FLAKES FLAKES the are JACKS BETE is CHOCOLATE zem CHOCOLATE adidas 599 There might be limited stock, - 4.49 99 FR CRACKED.COM rg27 but either way it encourages you to buy. — Source

28

The mall is kept SO shiny SO you think that items are more valuable. 50 Jahre CRACKED.COM Our lizard brains are quick to associate shiny with precious. — Source

27

Retail stores have cluttered aisles SO you have to walk slowly. SOLDES Tella CRACKED.COM The longer you linger, the more likely you are to buy something else. — Source

26

25

A per-customer limit tricks you into believing a product is scarce. Attention Customers To help serve as many members of the community as possible, we respectfully ask you to limit your purchase to 1 per item Thank kyou for understanding CRACKED.COM It encourages you to buy, whether or not there's a limited stock. — Source

24

Food samples make you hungrier. CRACKED.COM Taking a bite or so gets your gastric juices flowing. — Source

23

Stores use fragrances to influence you you buy more. GRACKED.COM In swimwear aisles, you might smell coconut. And by baby clothes, baby powder. — Source

22

If a price doesn't include a $ you're more likely to buy. 50 1 GRACKED.COM Removing the dollar sign makes the number more abstract. — Source

21

This technique is called Hey, dude. Can I borrow $100? Door In The Face Starting out with an What? No! outrageous request you're sure to refuse. Oh. Ok. Then immediately following How about $10? up with a more reasonable one you're now more likely Hum... That's to agree to just not to be a ok, I guess. jerk who keeps saying no. CRACKED COM — Source

20

If a person is showering you with an inordinate amount of affection, you might be the victim of love bombing Love bombers mold themselves as that perfect someone or that family you never had to open up a victim to their influence. This a tactic commonly used by cults and emotional abusers. GRACKED.COM — Source

19

With this product, Without this product, you will be able to... you won't be able to... The pleasure of gaining something that you don't have is less intense than the fear of losing something that you already have. By talking about the possible losses, people will get more motivated and willing to take risks. GRAGKED.COM — Source

18

When people are unsure of what to do, they look to what everyone else is doing. Saying something as simple as 10,000 people have already bought often pushes an individual to do the same. Another popular way for advertisers to phrase it is 10,000 people can't be wrong! (even though, realistically, they absolutely could be wrong) GRACKED.COM — Source

17

ASSUMPTIVE CLOSE Would you like assumes that the customer wants the regular offer or our popular deluxe to buy the product by asking package? questions that do not include the option of saying 'No' This could be used to set appointments like 'Would you rather meet with our sales person on Tuesday, 3pm or Friday, 2pm?' Variations can include situations where there are choices to be made and the phrasing of the closing question redirects the customer's mind towards choosing between two Yes' options rather than between yes and no GRACKED.COM — Source

16

CRACKED.COM YOU CAN INFLUENCE HOW PEOPLE THINK BY BUSTING A DOPE RHYME! THE RHYME AS REASON EFFECT MEANS THAT A STATEMENT IS SEEN AS MORE ACCURATE WHEN IT RHYMES. WHEN A STUDY PRESENTED A RHYMING STATEMENT (WHAT SOBRIETY CONCEALS, ALCOHOL REVEALS) AND ITS NON-RHYMING COUNTERPART (WHAT SOBRIETY CONCEALS, ALCOHOL UNMASKS), THE ONE THAT RHYMES WAS RATED AS MORE AGREEABLE. NO WORD ON WHETHER OR NOT MIC DROPS CAN INFLUENCE ANYONE'S OPINION, THOUGH. — Source

15

Would you like to take our poll? YOU CAN SAY NO. The But You Are Free technique (or BYAF for short) involves emphasizing your freedom to either accept or reject a request. Research has found this raises your likelihood of giving yes for an answer. GRACKED.COM — Source

14

? Okay Jim. Meet me there 7 minutes past 12. The Pique Technique can be used to surprise and force people to pay attention to you. Making an unusual request piques a target's interest, making them more likely to comply and agree with you. CRACKED.COM — Source

13

Making tiny favors sound legitimate and useful is called the legitimization of paltry favors technique and makes people much more likely to give For example: Please donate, every penny counts! Who could say no to giving just a penny? (Of course, not unlike potato chips, no one actually gives just one...) GRACKED.COM — Source

12

I know what you're thinking right now. It's a bit pricey. And you're right, but let me tell you why it's worth it... Getting people to think that you can read their minds will get them to believe that you know a lot, and more importantly, that you know what you're doing. Thus, they will be more likely to listen to you and accept any offer you may have. CRACKED.COM — Source

11

CRACKED.COM ALTERCASTING IS ABOUT FORCING YOU INTO A ROLE SO YOU'LL FEEL COMPELLED TO ACT ACCORDINGLY. SURELY A RESPONSIBLE PERSON LIKE YOU WOULDN'T BE WITHOUT AN ALARM SYSTEM. It comes in two flavors: MANDED ALTERCASTING is TACT ALTERCASTING is about outright telling you who you are playing a role to cast you into supposed to be: a concerned the natural counter-role. For example, someone needing help parent, a good Christian, an ambitious young man, etc. puts you in the role of helper. — Source

10

I have a dream.. Repeating key phrases in carefully spaced intervals makes an argument more persuasive, and may lead to a better reception and agreement of the listener. A good example of this would be Martin Luther King Jr.'s I Have a Dream speech. CRACKED.COM — Source

9

GRACKED.COM THIS CAR GOES FOUR MILES ON A QUART OF GAS. HUH...? IT'S A GREAT MILEAGE! HUH... YES, IT IS! DISRUPT-THEN-REFRAME (DTR) First you are told something in a slightly confusing or nonsensical way to throw you off balance. Then, while your thought processes are still disrupted, they are reframed with a suggestion you're now more likely to accept. — Source

8

People like you and me... By using inclusive language, the speaker is creating a sense of solidarity and responsibility. GRACKED.COM — Source

7

LISTEN UP &@%# IT! Light swearing in a speech can help to influence the audience Swearing makes a speaker sound more passionate about the subject, which leads to more effective persuasion. GRACKED.COM — Source

6

suck in your GUT apply a FAKE TAN switch out your clothing for a more SLIMMING color improve your POSTURE ZOOM out the camera spread your LIMBS and SMILE YOU TOO can achieve INCREDIBLE WEIGHT LOSS IN 15 MINUTES http://tinyurl.com/k6rv2ao CRACKED.COM — Source

5

GRACKED.COM SCOTCH- GARD. PANCAKES lend & upholutary PROTECTOR Regular - - - FABRIC PROTECTOR IS SPRAYED ON PANCAKES TO KEEP THEM FROM ABSORBING SYRUP. — Source

4

GRACKED.COM How about some fresh 10W-30 on your pancakes? — Source

3

want to take amazing pictures of insects? simply place them in the fridge for a few hours, the cold will slow them down, so you canget a good professional shot. GRACKED.COM — Source

2

Soapy Milk

To make milk look freshly poured, food stylists add dish soap bubbles to the surface just before the shoot. This works for coffee and other drinks, too. CRACKED.COM — Source

1

A little shoe polish or Marmite gives meat that perfectly charred look we see in photos. Yum! CRACKED.COM — Source

Tags:

Visual

Scroll down for the next article

Must Read

Science & History

40 Hidden Truths and Closely Guarded Secrets From Around the World

Trivia & Jokes

12 Accountants and Their Darkest Secret

Trivia & Jokes

42 Random Bits of Trivia That End Up Saying the Wrong Thing at the Wrong Time

Trivia & Jokes

45 Scrappy Bits of Trivia That Are Just Itching for You to Open Their Cage

Science & History

36 Petrifying Paranormal Tidbits That’ll Trigger A Fight-or-Flight Response in Every Cell in Your Body

Trivia & Jokes

25 Funny Bits of Drama Going on Between People’s Pets

VIRAL ON CRACKED

1

39 Spooky Monster Facts and Legends From Around the World

2

5 Ridiculous Lies That Fooled The Whole World

3

18 Actors Who Really Spilled The Beans

4

5 Inexplicably Horrifying Episodes of Classic Comedies

5

27 Lesser Known Celeb Heroic Deeds