Conspiracy theories and marketing: are there common grounds that can help startups?

• DOI: 10.22533/at.ed.3272220105

• Palavras-chave: -

• Keywords: conspiracy theories, marketing, advertising, social networks

• Abstract:

  In a world where brands find increasing difficulties to communicate their message, in part due to the splitting consumer’s attention and in part due to the difficulty in having consumers believe their messages, we also notice everyday growth of conspiracy theories in many fields (politics, health, social relations, …) who seem thrive and find it easier than ever to enter peoples lives and gather believers.

  Can marketing learn something from the success of major conspiracy theories and their facility in reaching people’s attention and earning their trust? Should it?

  Should marketing fear the success of conspiracy theories as they seem to result from decentralized and uncontrolled forms of communication and tribe creation?

  This paper sets up to start these discussions by gathering information about the way people see both phenomenon and how they judge their information sources.

  The generic conspiracy beliefs scale is used to characterize a sample’s tendency to believe in conspiracy theories and then their attitude toward advertising is measured using a previously tested scale.

  Then an analysis was made about the way people talk about some specific issues on Twitter.

  Conclusions are drawn for brands’ guidance, both in effective communication and in ethical behaviour.

• Número de páginas: 12