The School of Real Marketing
Back to module
F11-02·F11 — Marketing Ethics & Regulation

Persuasion vs Manipulation — The Line

55 min read

The productive tension

Influenceandautonomy

marketing must move people, and must respect the people it moves

The synthesis

There is a real line between persuasion and manipulation, and it runs through autonomy-respecting influence: appeals that offer reasons the target can evaluate and would endorse on reflection are persuasion; appeals that bypass conscious reasoning by exploiting biases the target cannot defend against are manipulation.

Learning objectives

  • Distinguish persuasion from manipulation using the autonomy test
  • Apply Cialdini''s influence principles as ethically neutral tools and identify when their use crosses the line
  • Recognise common dark patterns and explain why regulators now treat them as unfair practices
  • Run the three-part persuasion/manipulation test on a UX flow, a creative brief, or a media plan

Members only

This lecture is part of a paid plan

The first lecture of every module is free — no account needed. The rest unlocks with a subscription. One price, all 120 lectures, both languages.