Astroturfing
What is Astroturfing ?
Astroturfing is a marketing strategy known for its controversial nature of deceiving and hiding the reality of a particular product or service; with marketing, it looks acceptable and convincing. The term itself means a brand of artificial grass, which implies that companies define authenticity and hide their financial and business associations between the company and the message.
Generally, astroturfing, by creating a fabricated yet appealing image, can cause certain issues, such as the spreading of false news and information and misleading public opinions. Thus, these strategies could fully satisfy the vested interests of a particular company and hinder public perceptions and opinions regarding their product.
You can find instances like the following where astroturfing is fully involved;
- Product reviews by company-employed bloggers who may make it look unbiased.
- Creating fake personas on sites like Reddit and 4Chan and sharing ideas that seem to be popular.
- Luring independent bloggers with gifts and trips to cover positively.
- Using these to attack the competitors instead of marketing their product.