Definition:
Marketing is the process of making a particular sellable item, service, or experience more attractive to a particular group of people, so that they are more willing or eager to pay money for it.
What Does Marketing Have to Do With Addiction?
All addictive experiences -- whether caused by using an addictive substance or by engaging in an addictive behavior -- are marketed to people who are vulnerable to feeling that experience will eliminate their distress or complete them as a person, by those who profit from the money generated by selling that experience.
Hard to believe? Look at the symptoms of addiction -- one of the key symptoms of all addictions is persistence in the substance use or activity despite financial consequences. What are the financial consequences? Usually, so much of the addicted person's money is spent on the addiction, that they don't have enough left to pay for other things that they need. And where does that money go? Into the pockets of those doing the marketing.
Overt Marketing
Overt marketing is the marketing we see all around us, that we think of as advertising. And it includes the marketing of many addictive substances and behaviors. Some examples of the marketing of addictive substances include advertising of cigarettes, which contain the addictive substance, nicotine; the advertising of alcoholic beverages, and the marketing of alcohol sales through drinking venues such as pubs; and the promotion of beverages containing the addictive substance, caffeine, which is an ingredient of coffee -- with the incredible success of the marketing of gourmet coffee shops in recent years, energy drinks -- which are marketed to kids, and many other common foods and drinks containing caffeine.
Some addictive behaviors are also overtly marketed, including the advertising of gambling -- whether through casinos, lotteries, or scratchcards. All promote the spending of money on the highly improbable chance that you will win big in exchange for a small investment. Of course, most people don't win, so advertisers manipulate you into thinking you are the special, chosen one who will win this time. Yet they give the same message to everyone, and only a tiny minority actually do win, the others are simply buying a dream.
Video games are also overtly marketed. Often targeting kids, but increasing expanding their target market to adults who are seeking to escape a mundane or unfulfilling reality, video games promise excitement, risk taking with immediate rewards, and the fantasy of a super-self, more adept, skilled and competent than you are in the real world.
Covert Marketing
Covert marketing is more manipulative. Rather than advertising the addictive substance or behavior directly, covert marketing sneaks the selling in under the guise of offering something else.
Medications are a good example. Essential for the treatment of disease and the relief of pain, there is no reasonable argument against access to necessary medications for genuine ailments. Yet more and more people are abusing medications for the addictive side effects, when their painful condition would be effectively treated -- and often resolved -- through psychotherapy rather than medication. The promotion of medications to eliminate every potentially distressing human experience has emerged from recognition of the enormous profits that can be made by the pharmaceutical industry.
Work and shopping are two addictive behaviors that are covertly marketed. Work is an important part of life for many of us, but we don't have to become workaholics. Yet more and more people are losing their work-life balance as they pursue the "dream" of having enough. And shopping addiction or "retail therapy" takes over the time we spend when we are not at work, making us feel that we can buy happiness. Advertising tricks trigger impulse buying. These behavioral addictions are marketed by the money industry -- notably the credit card and retail industries.
Food addiction is the result of the marketing of food -- especially fast food, but also the restaurant experience, and the marketing of junk food -- as a source of comfort. The obesity epidemic in the United States is proof that the marketing of food has gone far beyond meeting our nutritional needs.
Similarly, exercise addiction has come about through the promotion of exercise as going beyond our meeting need for healthy exercise. In most cases, that can be met by simply going out for a walk. But exercise facilities, equipment and programs are big business and promise much more than good health -- they promise eternal youth and beauty, limitless energy, and the ever-elusive concept of "cool."
Marketing of Illicit Drugs
Many people who use illicit drugs believe they are operating outside of "the system." They don't understand that the marijuana, cocaine, meth, or heroin they purchase from their friendly neighbourhood drug dealer is the product of a complex, international network of organized crime. Their drug of choice had to be grown, harvested, manufacturered, possibly smuggled, cut and distributed through networks of drug lords and dealers before it reached them.
The marketing of illicit drugs is much more covert than other types of marketing, but it is marketing nevertheless. Much of it happens through word of mouth, also known as peer pressure. The mystique of drug induced experiences makes illicit drug users feel special and exotic, when in reality, they are being duped just as much as the gambler, or the cigarette smoker. And as with other addictive subsatnces and behaviors, the marketing of illicit drugs is geared towards giving the impression that it will free you from your most vulnerable weaknesses, or give you a more fulfilling life.
Pronunciation: mar-ket-ting
Also Known As: targeted selling
Examples: The marketing of video games has lead to huge profits being made by the gaming industry.