Bait and Switch Marketing | Enshittification Files

Bait and switch marketing is an insidious business model that preys on some of the most basic human psychology, including the desire for savings, impulsive action on perceived opportunities, and habitual behaviors. Much like battered spouse syndrome, companies count on customers sticking with them, even after it becomes clear the relationship has become almost entirely one-sided and self-serving. But unlike said syndrome, consumers are waking up to the abuse; and they are not going take it for much longer.

Image: Enshittification c/o Bait and Switch Marketing

It was so simple back in the day: you paid for a product or service and received value for your money. If the value delivered was subpar, you could complain, return the product, demand a refund, write a terrible review, and likely turn to a competitor. The choice was clear because things were simple: value for money. The ask was upfront; the outcome, straightforward. So what happened?

Bait and switch marketing. Here’s how it works:

1. Bait customers with an offer of more value for less money upfront by applying advances in technology to deliver dramatic leaps in value, convenience, etc.

2. Undercut incumbents and competitors whose stale products/services/prices cannot match your brand’s sexy, new, technologically advanced value proposition.

3. Hook customers on the low cost, high value, ultra-convenient experience such that it becomes habit; makes ‘the old way we did things’ seem downright prehistoric.

4. Dominate the market, squeezing out incumbents, monopolizing while you can before competitors move in to copy/iterate on your model to get a piece of the action.  

5. Switch from your initial prosumer façade to your actual long term strategy, pricing model, and true value proposition.

Small incremental price increases combined with reduction in value. Additional service charges. Add-ons that are not value-adds but are marketed as ‘must haves.’ Service tiers added: what used to be included in the now basic service is available only at higher tiers. Steady stream of incentives to remain hooked. Discounts for locking into a contract at a higher tier. Threaten to leave? Irresistible short-term discounts to stay. And many more.

You know all the tricks…you’ve been taken in by them. We all have. From the great broken promises of Netflix, Uber, Air BnB, and others, to the predatory models of software as a service, freemium mobile games, and always online AAA titles, The first half of Klaus Scwabb’s prophetic promise has come to pass: “You will own nothing.” As for the second half, “you will be happy.” No, they won’t.

And they are catching onto the grift. What is more, they know how it works, who enables it, and they’re spreading the word. Take the following YouTube video on the topic, According to Nicole:

Video: The Rise of Bait & Switch Marketing According to Nicole

Consumers are cancelling subscriptions, returning to more traditional businesses offering them tried, tested, and true value for money. Clean and simple. You know what you’re getting ahead of time, you get what you pay for, and if it breaks outside of warranty, you have the right to repair it. You know, good ol’ fashioned, common sense, consumer-friendly business. It’s the new blue ocean, free of sharks—those killing machines whose insatiable hunger for quarterly earnings growth causes the waters to turn red with blood.

Maybe it’s time your company evolved. You can be nimble as a dolphin, remain at the apex as a killer whale, and even grow to become a gentle giant as a blue whale. The point is you can be friendly. Like whale watchers, people will be drawn to you. Out of fascination, free of fear, free from the feeding frenzy. Just breathe and let your imagined experience of that fill your lungs. Allow the tranquil waters of the blue ocean to flow from your head down to your toes. Imagine dominating the sharks not with blood red but with calm blue.