#Let's Talk Impulse

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

proud axle
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Recently I've been thinking a lot about if companies/ corporations should manage themselves around people's lack of impulse control. Everything from video game cosmetics, to flash deals, to casinos. Im just curious what people's thoughts are.

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And to be clear the video game cosmetics is in response to Minecraft emotes, there are over 100 of them, some that are 4 dollars. All in classic mobile game/ casino fashion of converting the money to currency X, and then you are spending X in the store.

drifting sierra
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I mean the best way to earn money as a video game company, for instance, is like things that are limited time and also mass amounts of skins for small amounts of money. Its an impulse to be like oh it only cost 4$ but if I do it 100 times youve made 400$ off me

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I dont agree with it but its a good way to rob without robbing people

echo kraken
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I personally only really have a problem with it when when it’s targeted towards children, I’m a big fan of counter strike which is probably the most popular game when it comes to pricey cosmetics and gambling and honestly I think it’s both pretty cool and fun, just think it should be limited to 18+ with some sort of verification.

drifting sierra
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mhmm

light fractal
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I have this thought a lot - not just about video game development. It's hard because on one hand individual autonomy is important but so is being ethical. If someone wants to gamble/impulse buy things that is their choice but at the same time I know these marketing mechanism are designed in such a way to prey on people.
I agree with Cully on the age limitation mostly because they don't understand the consequences of their actions. Then again some adults don't either...

proud axle
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Enough time has passed where I will put my thoughts. I think children don't have money, or at least not much of it, and if they go to their parents every Tuesday to get the new Fortnite thing or whatever and they are given the money then that is a failure of the parent. Yes the game is targeting children but they simply don't have the resources to be exploited without outside help.

A store like Kohl's for example will have items on sale for 50% off 80% if the time. What that really means is that 20% of the time they charge an extra 50%. Id say its scummy and is obviously made for you to buy it and feel good about saving 30 dollars on an item that isn't even really on sale. You feel like you made a deal. I know some stores intentionally leave in loopholes and what not to have college students feel like they are pulling one over on them, I believe Chipotle is one of them. Obviously these are to maximize profit and not to make the consumer feel good, however id say in cases like these there is a case where its at least neutral. Yes its scummy to charge an extra 30 dollars on an item, however people need to feel like they are making a deal in order to have an enjoyable shopping experience. JCPenny has shown that one. So because these things are required to keep a corporation going, I would say they are ok overall.

Casinos are designed to exploit every bit of your brain they can from maze like designs, to no clocks, to often not even having windows. Not to mention the bright flashy colors and sounds. They have designed a near perfect environment to have people get dazed and confused. To allow people to empty paychecks into a machine just to feed an addiction. Casinos are structured so well that I have heard talks of grocery stores adopting maze like designs instead of aisles, meaning it is safe to say that if that goes well retail stores will follow.

I'm a lot more mixed on this. As much as I am against big business on some hand you cannot blame them entirely.

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However they are very intentionally targeting people. I wouldn't say casinos are as bad as let's say Nestlé, but I would say due to the amount they prey on certain kinds of people, I would say that some blame has to be pushed onto them. However under no circumstances could a corporation be at a complete fault. Even if manipulated you should have the self awareness to know that you fall for these kinds of things easy and used to spend 300 dollars a month on mobile games 2 years ago. Id say its more mixed and that neither party can be completely at fault or innocent.

ocean parrot