PSYCHOLOGICAL MANUPULATION IN SOCIAL MEDIA ADS

AUTHORS – ARAVIND A* & SUGITHKUMAR RG**

* STUDENT AT THE TAMILNADU DR AMBEDKAR LAW UNIVERSITY, SCHOOL OF EXCELLENCE IN LAW, TARAMANI, CHENNAI

** PROFESSOR AT THE TAMILNADU DR AMBEDKAR LAW UNIVERSITY, SCHOOL OF EXCELLENCE IN LAW, TARAMANI, CHENNAI

BEST CITATION – ARAVIND A & SUGITHKUMAR RG, PSYCHOLOGICAL MANUPULATION IN SOCIAL MEDIA ADS, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 6 (1) OF 2026, PG.1103-1110, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344

ABSTRACT

          While, this has become a practise for businesses to connect with consumers, it also raised alarm bells about the psychological exploitation of end-users on social media. This paper investigates the emotional appeal to providing social media ads with targeted and personalized content to be transferred to consumer behaviour. By using psychological tricks appeal to emotion, human insecurities, the pursuit of pleasure and happiness or the desire to fit into society advertisers manipulate users’ fears to make them buy. The paper starts with a look at advertising psychology and explains that human emotions are fundamentally engaged in the decision-making process. It explains how social media platforms facilitate such manipulation through algorithms and data analytics that allow for ads to be targeted via granular individual-level information using emotional appeals. Here, several emotional vulnerabilities in the form of FOMO, body image issues, low self-esteem, and social validation seeking are researched, each an exploitation point for ad copy to inspire an emotional response or increase purchase. In this respect, the paper reflects quite a list of manipulative strategies advertisement players use to enhance emotional engagement, including: emotional targeting, neuromarketing, scarcity appeals, and storytelling. Although they might be effective in terms of attracting interest on the side of customers, such manipulative strategies contain many ethical issues, specifically concerning implications for already vulnerable target groups: youth and people with mental health issues. Arguing that current law and regulation cannot provide any check on manipulative practices, the paper examines the legal and regulatory framework in place for digital advertising. By stressing the need for greater regulation, increased transparency, and the education of the consumer to protect against emotional exploitation, this paper finally brings forth a balanced approach toward consumers without hindering technological advances in the advertising world.