FAMILY & FARM • Supplement to the Pioneer, Herald Review, River Valley Shopper & Pioneer East Shopper • MARCH 2020 9
New products in the news:
Are you reading a sales pitch?
Knowing when an article is really an advertisement can help you make smart decisions BY BENJAMIN PHILLIPS AND MARISSA SCHUH, Michigan State University Extension; AND ZACHARY HAYDEN, MSU Department of Horticulture Advertising can help us find good products to consider. However, most of us also understand that advertisements exist to sell a product, and accordingly, we consider claims with a grain of salt. Do you always know when you’re reading an advertisement? From social media posts to trade journal articles, new marketing strategies can create ambiguity between product effectiveness and simply a sales slogan. While these postings should contain words like ad, sponsored or partner, this isn’t always the case. Sometimes articles in trade journals and other outlets discuss the novelty and benefits of a product
without making it clear what role the company played in producing the article. The content often sounds authoritative, impartial and backed by science, but this impression can be misleading. Why is this a problem? Confusing a sales pitch with unbiased information can affect decisions you make, impacting invested time as well as productivity and profitability of your operation. Of course, this is not limited to agricultural products. You would interpret the claim that “coffee is good for your health” differently if it came from an impartial health researcher versus a coffee advertising executive. Sponsored advertisements disguised as guest columns occur in many magazines and newspapers, including industry and trade publications. Rooting them out and identifying them for what they are is a broadly applicable skill that can
help you make the smartest purchasing decisions for you and your business. What to look for Conflicts of interest Who authored the article? Who is quoted? Are they employed by the company selling the
product? Do they have an incentive or a vested interest in portraying the product positively? Are the results being misrepresented for financial gain? Scope of the claims Generally, if it sounds
too good to be true, it usually is. Nothing works all the time or everywhere. Can you find the original research or just a company summary? Are the authors extrapolating results from the greenhouse to the field Continued on Pg. 10
