By Mia Hanuska
Click onto any website, video, television program, or even just drive down a highway, and chances are you’ll see an ad. Advertisements are too prevalent in society, everything you see is influenced by what can make a company the most amount of money and gain consumers. A commonality in these ads are so called “statistics” to make their marketing more effective. Companies use statistics because they are easier for consumers to digest—with data, it’s easier to compare effectiveness of products—and that’s the problem. Consumers don’t suspect malintent with facts and take them at face value, when in reality, the majority of the “statistics” used to advertise a product are altered, or used in the wrong context and therefore untrue.
Statistics can be altered in multiple ways, but the most common are separated in three main categories: bias, contortion, and comparisons. Advertisements typically use improper comparisons the mos, but they can get tricky because companies must ensure the surroundings are the same before making a comparison. Changing measures, such as changing definitions, record keeping, or locations with places of different cultures and population sizes greatly impacts the end result of a statistic. For example, a corporation could use facts about abuse, adoption, or increased sales that are outdated or have multiple variables changed. A statistic from decades ago compared to a statistic from today about something as serious as abuse simply is not correct—now the term “abuse” includes mental, verbal, and physical when previously it did not. Similarly, correlation versus causation often trips people up, especially with the global pandemic. Many companies fail to take into account that less people were purchasing products or supporting services during COVID-19, and market their services as having “grown x%” when in reality, people just began buying more once the pandemic ended. Comparisons across categories can also be a failure point—it is unfair to sell a product as “better than xyz’s product!” when they have different uses, genres (if it’s a book/movie/music), or definitions. For instance, you cannot compare two books saying one is more successful than the other when they are from different genres with different audiences. (If you’d like to learn more about how statistics are used to deceive you, I recommend Damned Lies and Statistics by Joel Best.)
Many are aware of these faults of statistics, but believe they can tell when a fact is true or not. However, without truly researching into the study where the statistic was found, one can and will still be manipulated by these giant corporations betting on consumers’ inability to inspect their facts. When you see any statistic on television, social media, even on the radio or billboards, never take it as fact. Companies are creating these advertisements to deceive possible buyers and they will continue as long as no one notices. Always check facts before spreading them, and don’t believe everything you see on the internet—especially in advertisements.