Fear is the Key

So much of our interaction with officialdom is based on fear. Our corporate, media and political masters like to keep us afraid, jumpy, nervous. They like to play on our fears to justify their actions, and to steer our behaviour. Whether it is eroding our rights or selling us electricity, the tactics are basically the same. And it's time we fought back.

Examples aren't hard to come by. Last week, a chap with a clipboard and gas meter key spent much of the afternoon wandering up and down the road outside my house. Only at dinner time did I find out what he was up to. Half way through cooking, there was a bang on the kitchen door. I answered it, spoon in hand, to be confronted by said chap, who identified himself as a representative of the Hydroelectric board. He was, he said, checking whether we were on the "correct" tariff. Oh, I replied, we're not with the Hydroelectric. Doesn't matter, said he. This is only about tariffs, not who you're with. He asked a couple of questions and tried to explain how I could change onto the correct tariff. Eventually he left, after I had for the third time told him that I was busy, and about to burn my dinner. He did promise to try and return, but hasn't yet.

Such a helpful young chap, representing a helpful company, worried that because of some administrative cock up I might be paying too much for my electricity and gas. But I wonder which company would have provided the "correct tariff" he was so helpfully trying to make sure I was on? Would it have been the Hydro board?

Now, I don't know if this was one over-enthusiastic employee, or if it represents the normal behaviour of Hydroelectric salesmen. The tactic is common enough, though. First the fear - you might be on the wrong tariff. Then the helpful solution - this is how you get on the correct tariff. The honest approach - you might save money if you switch to our tariff, here's the details - is presumably considered less successful. Yet any company that employs such inherent dishonesty does not deserve our business.

Another example from the last week was the text message I received claiming that it was important that I contacted customer services immediately, and gave an 0800 number. If you're a cynic like me, you'll be suspicious already. Just in case it was actually important, I phoned the number. Instead of a vital message from Orange, I got a representative of Global Promotions, who informed that I had won a prize in their free draw, and if I would just note down my claim number and call the premium rate phone number, I could find out I had won a voucher worth £100 off an over-priced holiday. Nothing important. Nothing to do with customer service. Just a nasty little fraud that has somehow not been made illegal yet. Oh, and if Global Promotions are reading, next time you try this, I'll be charging you for my time, at my usual consultancy rates.

The same tactics are used in both these cases. Fear is used to make people listen to the pitch, even regard it more favourably. I've complained about this before - when AOL decided to send advertisements disguised as important information for former subscribers. We need to fight back. We need to vote with our money, and make sure that companies engaged in this form of dishonest marketing don't get our business.

Yet, commercial pressures are minor compared to the same tactics being used in the political world. Today David Blunkett has claimed that the threat from Al Qaeda makes this one of the "extreme periods" of history, comparable to the second world war. This, he claims, justifies the suspension of civil liberties needed to combat the terrorist threat. But how much of a threat are Al Qaeda? World-wide, they have been responsible for thousands of murders, and will be responsible for many more in the future. But, without wanting to understate their threat in any way, from a purely British perspective, the threat is no greater than many others. Violent crime remains a greater danger to the average Briton than terrorism - car crashes a greater danger than both put together.

The threat simply doesn't justify the erosion of our rights. Terrorism, especially the Al Qaeda kind, makes big headlines. The government plays on those fears to introduce laws that would never be acceptable otherwise. Worse, Al Qaeda's entire strategy is based on headline grabbing atrocities, designed to make us terrified. By encouraging those fears for their own ends, the government is playing by Al Qaeda's rules.

Partly, the government's legislation is driven by the tabloid media. Fear sells papers. Al Qaeda sells papers. The media, wanting to sell papers, tells us, repeatedly, how scary the terrorists are. Which in turn puts pressure on the government to be seen to be making us safer. To an extent, the papers need to run these stories. We want to know, and we have a right to be informed. However, this is not always the case. Fear sells, but so does bigotry. The tabloids are driving a racist agenda, encouraging fears of asylum seekers and economic migrants from eastern Europe taking British jobs. The tabloids hope that by justifying their readers bigotry, they can keep their loyalty. Instead of working for an inclusive Britain, the tabloids are deliberately doing the opposite, just to sell papers. This is fear marketing at its most obnoxious.

Fear is the key of choice to manipulating our thinking. From electricity supply to legislation, too much is sold to us based on that little adrenaline rush of panic. If we don't want to spend our lives terrified and manipulated, we need to learn to recognise and resist that line of attack. Sadly, it is probably too much to hope that the fear marketing technique will be used less.

Graham Robinson. 25th February 2004.

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