Deception in the Marketplace: The Psychology of Deceptive Persuasion and Consumer Self-protection

This is the first scholarly book to fully address the topics of the psychology of deceptive persuasion in the marketplace and consumer self-protection. Deception permeates the American marketplace. Deceptive marketing harms consumers’ health, welfare and financial resources, reduces people’s privacy and self-esteem, and ultimately undermines trust in society. Individual consumers must try to protect themselves from marketers’ misleading communications by acquiring personal marketplace deception-protection skills that go beyond reliance on legal or regulatory protections. Understanding the psychology of deceptive persuasion and consumer self-protection should be a central goal for future consumer behavior research.

The authors explore these questions. What makes persuasive communications misleading and deceptive? How do marketing managers decide to prevent or practice deception in planning their campaigns? What skills must consumers acquire to effectively cope with marketers’ deception tactics? What does research tell us about how people detect, neutralize and resist misleading persuasion attempts? What does research suggest about how to teach marketplace deception protection skills to adolescents and adults?

Chapters cover theoretical perspectives on deceptive persuasion; different types of deception tactics; how deception-minded marketers think; prior research on how people cope with deceptiveness; the nature of marketplace deception protection skills; how people develop deception protection skills in adolescence and adulthood; prior research on teaching consumers marketplace deception protection skills; and societal issues such as regulatory frontiers, societal trust, and consumer education practices.

This unique book is intended for scholars and researchers. It should be essential reading for upper level and graduate courses in consumer behavior, social psychology, communication, and marketing. Marketing practitioners and marketplace regulators will find it stimulating and authoritative, as will social scientists and educators who are concerned with consumer welfare.

David M. Boush is the head of the marketing department and Associate Professor of Marketing at the Lundquist College of Business, University of Oregon. He was previously a visiting professor at ESSEC, in Cergy-Pontoise, France, and has taught e-commerce classes in Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Santiago, and Bogota. Professor Boush’s research on trust, consumer socialization, and brand equity has been published in the Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Business Research, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Sciences, Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, and the Journal of International Business Studies.
Marian Friestad is the Vice-Provost for Graduate Studies at the University of Oregon, and Professor of Marketing in the Lundquist College of Business. She was previously Dean of the Graduate School at Oregon, and a visiting scholar at Stanford University. Professor Friestad’s research on persuasion and social influence has been heavily cited and won a best paper award from the Journal of Consumer Research. Her work has been published in the Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Psychology & Marketing, Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, and Communication Research.


Peter Wright is the Edwin E. and June Woldt Cone Professor of Marketing at the Lundquist College of Business, University of Oregon. He was previously a professor and head of the marketing department at the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, and a visiting scholar at the Harvard Business School. His work has been published in the Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, Management Science, Journal of Marketing, and Journal of Applied Psychology.

Preface. 1. Deception in the Marketplace. 2. Theoretical Perspectives on Deceptive Persuasion. 3. Marketplace Deception Tactics I. 4. Marketplace Deception Tactics II. 5. How Deception-Minded Marketers Think. 6. How People Cope with Deceptiveness: Prior Research. 7. Marketplace Deception Protection Skills. 8. Developing Deception Protection Skills in Adolescence and Adulthood. 9. Teaching Marketplace Deception Protection Skills: Prior Research. 10. Societal Perspectives: Regulatory Frontiers, Societal Trust, and Deception-Protection Education. References.