Manipulative marketing has become ubiquitous today, targeting vulnerabilities in human psychology to prompt unintentional purchase decisions. Here are three psychological hacks that dominate modern-day advertising and propaganda to engineer your actions against your will.

1.) Fearmongering: This method fosters worry, apprehension, and dread in consumers through visual cues and rhetoric to incite self-preservation instincts. Marketing then offers relief via problem-solving products—creating false needs we believe must be addressed immediately.
2.) Comparison to "ideal" versions: Another ploy compels us to compare our lives to “perfect” models depicted in adverts. When confronted with physical “flaws,” individuals feel shame and buy beauty treatments/cosmetics; this comparison strategy even influences consumer electronics sales.
3.) Scarcity and urgency: Lastly, time constraints trigger impulsiveness and scarcity creates fear of missing out. You hear pitches like “Only five left in stock! Act now!” which heighten perceived risk of loss and increase desire to obtain scarce items rapidly.

Overall, media manipulation strategies play upon primordial emotions: fear, jealousy, greed, excitement, lust, hope, sadness, ambivalence... all leading to subconscious consumption. Once made conscious, however, we realize that we actually have far fewer real problems requiring attention. Therefore, stay mindful; observe how you feel after seeing marketing material and ask yourself whether it truly serves your authentic needs. Ultimately, the purpose of life isn't accumulating things that won't matter once we die anyway.