Free will: A Seller's Trick

“The free market is an economic system based on a continuous interaction between supply
and demand with little or no government control.” In essence, it is the framework enabling all
voluntary exchanges in a given economic environment.
Free markets are characterised by a decentralised order and arrangements through which
individuals can make economic decisions. Free will, on the other hand, refers to a person’s
will without coercion; it is not influenced by others. Now, how would one prove that humans
have free will? One approach would be to show that an action is not determined by an
external cause or prior event. Essentially, this would be a random act. However,
spontaneous efforts are neither appreciated nor liked by humans. The idea of free will
includes self-control, following rules, and making rational decisions.
Something like free will evolved in human psychology to accommodate new demands and
enable new ways of human social life, including cultural systems and economic markets,
which also built the abilities of self-control, rule-following, and intelligence involved in acting
arbitrarily as an individual.
The emphasis on free will is a “two for the price of one” strategy that convinces consumers
to use your product or service and makes a more ethical, socially aware, and altruistic
consumer base.
By emphasising free will, your business has the opportunity to create loyal consumers and a
better society. Who could ask for a better two-for-one deal?
That being said, the ultimate driver of businesses remains profitability, which may or may not
arise from a soft coercion of choices, albeit too subtle for even the consumer to realise. The
digitalised world we live in provides many tools for this, with cookies being the most salient
example. Now, what exactly is a cookie?
Instead of delicious biscuits, we are talking about data sets in the online environment. Like
the crumbs in popular cakes, these are very small. Cookies are stored in the user’s browser
so the web server can link requests and assign them to the respective user or device, be it a
computer, tablet, or smartphone. Cookies provide an opportunity to learn about users and
their behavioural patterns, allowing digital marketers to interpret users’ needs, thoughts, or
experiences.
Along with this ability, protecting users’ private information is, of course, also essential. If the
web entity tracks the user or violates security policies by implementing cookie-based
practices, this may affect the ranking of the web entity. Now, let’s think. Have you ever
noticed products on Amazon or any other e-commerce platform personalised just for you or
products you were searching for on the web? Yes? That’s because of cookies.
They allow a website to remember things that change the way it behaves or looks. Each
website you visit marks your internet-enabled devices with these cookies. And that’s why it
shows ads based on search behaviour.
Hence, the thought emerges: Are you buying a product of your choice, or with your free will?
The answer to that is somewhat complicated; it’s a yes and a no.
Yes, because no one can force you to buy a product; it’s by your “will” that you want to
purchase it.
No, because companies impel your “will” by psychological factors by showing you the
product on different pages as ads or recommending a product for you on your e-commerce
sites.
Data for any business is very influential; it makes each company or organisation fathom the
preferences of their customers better. In fact, even elections can be won with the above-said
data.
A Facebook executive claimed that the company was “responsible” for Donald Trump’s
election as US president. In an internal memo, Andrew Bosworth, a close friend of the firm’s
chief Mark Zuckerberg, made the remark in an internal memo.Mr. Bosworth said Mr. Trump
was not elected because of “misinformation” but because he ran “the single best digital ad
campaign I’ve ever seen from any advertiser. Period.” Later in the year, Facebook was
charged with a fine of 5 billion dollars, or around 36,000 crores, for undue influence on
people, not by force but by using human behaviour and tendencies.
In conclusion, an e-commerce business or any company in that manner runs on data
collected from you. They track your internet behaviour and analyse it to better understand
your requirements. Although this has led to tremendous development in understanding
human patterns and psychology, it also promotes brands that pay for advertisements,
helping them increase their client base by influencing people. While some may say they are
violating the tenets of an efficient free market that must be formed on the premise of free
choice, another point of view may also be that they actually promote greater efficiency by
providing an additional channel of communication between customers and businesses.