This is a great protein product that has NO half-truths or partial disclosures, in my opinion. But, a sales person at a GNC did not tell me the whole truth. He disclosed (on 6/28/06 at the GNC Vista Ridge Mall retail store) that "heat can affect protein". This is a half-truth, as the manufacturer told me that while once mixed with liquid you can not excessively heat protein, the powder form of their protein is NOT affected by heat in the shipping process as long as the container is sealed. In fact, the manufacturer (Nature's Best) told me that they themselves don't even concern themselves with heat in shipping protein powders.
That GNC salesperson may have been misinformed, but he was trying to justify me paying a higher price than I could buy it from Amazon.com , who also would not charge me sales tax like he would have to. He said GNC's trucks/warehouses are climate controlled, and planted a seed of doubt/fear about buying it from Amazon.com. He said Amazon's vendor probably wouldn't climate control ship, but he wasn't sure. I had to research this rather than take advantage of an expiring 25% discount on that product. The bottom line is that even with that discount (incl. tax) GNC's price was about $41. Amazon's price (incl. shipping) was $35.74!
I was almost led down the "buy now!" and "buy delivered quality" path, however my consumer advocate gut said to "Stop, Think, Research (a little), and then Buy (or "Click"). Half-truths are very powerful, since they are the most believable. Deceptive websites can use them by intentionally misleading, partially disclosing something, and even by burying the full disclosure deep withing a very lengthy privacy policy or terms of service.
Let's look at another analogy to a deceptive website's path of half-truths & partial disclosures.
Not too long after college, I sold Bain De Soleil sun tan lotion for Charles of the Ritz to drug and department stores in Palm Springs, California. I was taught to "stack it high, and watch them buy" by building up "end caps". There may have been no sale price, but only the massive "in your face" display that you probably had to walk by. There was a sign with a price that, I assume, many believed to be a "sale price". That misleading end cap display, as part of a planogramed path, was very effective at moving that product vs. its many competitors on the shelf.
That same "path" (or "Webogram - Planogram") methodology is utilized with many websites. As Bryan Eisenberg says in his "Do You Want to Inform or Persuade?", "The focus is persuading visitors to take action." He goes on to say "...the layout of aisles, and the location of products on shelves are all planned to attract attention, gain interest, stimulate desire, and persuade you to navigate the store the way retailers want you to." Please keep in mind that these merchandising and marketing techniques are not ethically bad in themselves. In fact, Bryan's ideas can actually help consumers in saving time by effectively (better navigation) educating consumers to a good opportunity, and then making it easy for them to buy. It is the nature of the intentions of the owners' of the websites in using these techniques that can be harmful to consumers.
"Key Retail Merchandising Traps & 9 Tips for Consumers to Avoid Them" is great, and the "9 Tips" (really 8, as I count them) can be applied to watching out for deceptive websites' half-truths & partial disclosures. The author says in tip # 2: "Develop a ritual every time you enter any type of retail store that will remind you NOT to get duped into buying anything you didn't need,.." This is the same as "Stop, Think, Research (a little), and then Click (I added "Research" to the FTC's "Stop - Think - Click" slogan). If you do need to buy something, read the FTC's "Online Shopping" section.
Tip # 4 says: "Don't try samples. In fact, abstain from interacting with products in any way, unless it was a product on your list,.." This is the same as not being tempted to give your e-mail address or any personally identifiable info just to try a "free sample" of some service, unless that service is definitely what you wanted. Even then, Google "'company name' complaints" quickly, and look through the first two or three results pages for possible complaints about that website.
Tip # 5 says: "Try NOT to ask employees for help -- or be prepared to resist their smiles and your guilty emotions when you do." This is a little different online as you do not have "face to face" contact. However, I strongly suggest that if you can NOT EASILY find the answers to all your good, common, logical questions on any website, that is a RED FLAG! For example, Classmates.com does not really tell you how their ENTIRE service works until you give them your personal information. In fact, it can mislead you with tricky wording into thinking that their entire service is free. Just remember, NOTHING IS ENTIRELY FREE in this world when it comes to products and services! There are usually direct or indirect costs associated with everything.
Tip # 6 says: "Don't be tricked into buying something you didn't intend to because it is 'on sale' (and definitely don't be fooled by rebates, which are often giant scams). You'll save even more by not buying it at all." To me, this is the same thing as always remembering that most sellers don't sell below their costs. Most will mark things up to full retail at first, in order to mark it down to a still profitable sale price (as GNC did in my example above with their expired 25% discount). However, sometimes a seller just needs to turn inventory, and will sell at cost or below. This still is no excuse for impulse purchases that you really don't need, but only want, in my opinion.
Tip # 7 says: "Never go grocery shopping on an empty stomach. Never go mattress shopping when you're exhausted. Never go puppy shopping when you miss your kids." Deceptive websites that use half-truths & partial disclosures will be more successful with you if you are "psychologically in urgent need" of anything! I know it can't be done all the time, but try to plan ahead for what you really do need to buy. The less time you have to get the product or service may mean that you have to pay more for it (including overnight shipping charges), and you may not have enough time to research the best overall value for yourself.
What other tips can you think of to put yourself "onguard" to doing things with deceptive and misleading websites that can bring trouble to you down the road?
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