ABSTRACT
Discussions surrounding manipulation in advertising are often one-sided, focusing solely on the mind of the consumer. This chapter aims to broaden the scope of such manipulations, proposing the concept of chain-effect mind engineering whereby both advertisers and consumers fall prey to mind engineering tactics. In examining the advertising process holistically, advertisers assume the role of consumers during the media buying process. Media buying involves advertisers purchasing ad space on platforms – such as radio and television – provided by media firms. For the sake of revenue generation, media firms are motivated to engineer favorable perceptions in the advertisers’ minds regarding their platforms’ capabilities of reaching desirable consumer markets. The role of media buying thus provides a foundational basis for which chain-effect mind engineering occurs. Lack of discussion surrounding media buying results in oversight of the intricacies of the advertising process that allow advertisements to reach consumers in the first place. The chapter explores the concept of chain-effect mind engineering to address such oversight by synthesizing empirical data gathered from professional media sales experience with literature on advertising criticisms and mind engineering techniques.
