> If you intentionally discount a product based on the fact that they advertised it to you, you’d be making a decision based on some property not intrinsic to the product, which means that you might not purchase the optimal product.
Very true, I've considered this many times. What it comes down to is that I value companies that prioritize investing in their product rather than their advertising, so on the whole I'm more likely to get what I want if I stay away from products advertised to me.
> This would all be ok if the tradeoff was a strong signal to the seller that advertising has a negative impact on sales, but I’m positing that the impact of that one sale is negligible and well within the noise threshold of an extremely noisy process. For all you know, if the seller notices at all, they might conclude that they didn’t advertise to you enough.
This argument kind of ignores the whole underpinning of economics. Let's consider a different situation and apply your argument. Let's say a company sells a toothbrush that doesn't clear plaque away very well. Over time, as I use this toothbrush, I'll find that I'm getting cavities on my back teeth. So I stop buying that brand of toothbrush. Under your argument, my doing that would be a weak signal, because it's just one sale lost for X dollars spent on advertising. The seller doesn't notice, and keeps on pumping out toothbrushes, and lots of people get lots of cavities. I know this is not analogous to the situation you're talking about, but it's still a plausible situation, and if your argument is correct, it should be correct across most situations it's applicable to.
And thanks, I do enjoy your confirmation of my power.
Very true, I've considered this many times. What it comes down to is that I value companies that prioritize investing in their product rather than their advertising, so on the whole I'm more likely to get what I want if I stay away from products advertised to me.
> This would all be ok if the tradeoff was a strong signal to the seller that advertising has a negative impact on sales, but I’m positing that the impact of that one sale is negligible and well within the noise threshold of an extremely noisy process. For all you know, if the seller notices at all, they might conclude that they didn’t advertise to you enough.
This argument kind of ignores the whole underpinning of economics. Let's consider a different situation and apply your argument. Let's say a company sells a toothbrush that doesn't clear plaque away very well. Over time, as I use this toothbrush, I'll find that I'm getting cavities on my back teeth. So I stop buying that brand of toothbrush. Under your argument, my doing that would be a weak signal, because it's just one sale lost for X dollars spent on advertising. The seller doesn't notice, and keeps on pumping out toothbrushes, and lots of people get lots of cavities. I know this is not analogous to the situation you're talking about, but it's still a plausible situation, and if your argument is correct, it should be correct across most situations it's applicable to.
And thanks, I do enjoy your confirmation of my power.