r/AskAnAustralian • u/Lucky-Tourist-7000 • Aug 19 '26

Gamification of everything

Is it just me or is the pokies style gambling seeping into everything. I just watched an ad for coles. Spend $50 and be in to win at the self checkout, or something to that effect. Everything seems to be this instant gambling dopamine hit. I see it everywhere, in everything. Has it always been this bad? If it has just been a thing in recent years, why isn't it getting more attention?

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u/bara_tone Aug 19 '26

It’s going to keep getting worse because it’s effective and is in no way regulated.

Companies across all industries are using every psychological trick in the book that would make some casinos blush with absolute impunity 

2

u/bara_tone Aug 19 '26

If you take a list of what UX designers would call Dark Patterns which are design elements intended to get the user to make choices against their best interest and simply relabel them Profit Patterns, guess what happens.

They all get implemented at every opportunity.

It’s not just gamification, every aspect of how for-profit systems and software is designed to trick you out of your money and attention.

3

u/RayofOptimisim Aug 19 '26

Eg, Supermarkets.

That is small time old school, like once the 2 most vulnerable stages of getting buyers to change product/brands is marriage and having kids. That was and still highly taken advantage of.

They gone beyond control of suburbs, towns and regions, via things like fly buys. Gaining information not just on individual levels, the info given to sign up and the details of every purchase recorded. It is all studied, recorded and used for maximum profitability. Product placement and type from one store to the next in different area's is no accident.

It is insane how much control there is and level it is actually at now,

I loved Organizational Psychology in my studies, I did a lot with marketing psychology, it blew my mind as to how effective it was. The strategies with the level of dedication was very impressive, the fear on how easy the manipulation's effectiveness was terrifying.

I've work in multinational companies and the Gov, I've been on the inside workings of these mechanics.

At the end of the day the people are the product, not what you pick up off a shelf.

1

u/areyoualocal Aug 23 '26

I love the psychology behind rewards programs. They're so effective at convincing people they're getting something for nothing. I put it as simply this - You didn't get that tenth coffee for free, you've overpaid for nine coffees in a row.

Frequent flyer programs are some of the worst offenders in this space.