False urgency, shame-based messaging, and selective success stories may increase sales while making it harder for buyers to make informed decisions.

Scroll long enough on social media, and don’t be surprised when a business coach questions how badly you want success or shares a testimonial about a major revenue result without saying how common the outcome is. Your inbox may continue the pressure with an email warning the price disappears at midnight. The offer starts demanding an emotional response before you have time to make an informed decision.

Online business owners have seen some version of these tactics. Many have also been taught to use them.

Jenae Thompson, a marketing strategist and fractional CMO, describes one of the biggest problems as “emotional hijacking.”

“It’s the subtle art of making people feel inadequate so they’ll buy something to fix that inadequacy or insecurity,” Thompson said.

The tactic appears through false urgency, guilt-based stories, and marketing that identifies a customer’s pain before pressing on it repeatedly. Thompson refers to the last approach as “mean girl marketing.”

Another version questions a potential buyer’s commitment. Someone who hesitates to purchase may be told she does not care enough about her dream or lacks the courage required to build a successful business.

“Marketing is psychology at the end of the day,” Thompson said. “This is the evil twin of what folks like you and I try to accomplish. It evolves into pressure.”

Conversion does not settle the ethics question

Thompson believes the line between persuasion and manipulation became harder to recognize as online entrepreneurs copied tactics based on visible sales results.

“Early online marketers learned what triggered clicks and garnered attention, good or bad, and everyone else copied and pasted the format without questioning the ethics because they saw screenshots of success,” she said.

Over time, effective marketing became closely tied to conversion. Less attention went toward how the sale was earned or how the customer felt while making the decision.

“Now we’ve got an entire culture of entrepreneurs trying to sound ‘high converting’ instead of sounding human and acting in a way that supports the heart behind their purpose,” Thompson said.

Her concern comes as trust holds growing weight in buying decisions.

The 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report surveyed 17,688 people across 15 countries. Eighty-nine percent ranked trust as important or a critical deal breaker when choosing a brand. Quality and value each received 88 percent.

The report also found 41 percent of respondents said comments from people who were not paid by a brand had the biggest effect on their willingness to trust it. Brand messaging, paid endorsements, and AI recommendations ranked lower.

Trust has become part of the buying decision alongside the offer, price, and promised result.

Common tactics require a closer look

Urgency remains ethical when a deadline, price change, or capacity limit is genuine. Pressure enters when a business invents scarcity or resets the countdown timer for every visitor.

Speaking to a customer’s problem also serves a valid purpose. Good marketing helps someone recognize a challenge and understand a possible solution. Repeatedly using shame, insecurity, or fear to force action takes the message in another direction.

Testimonials provide useful proof when they reflect a client’s experience accurately. A carefully cropped success story may create a false impression when it leaves out key details.

Federal consumer-protection rules draw firm lines around several deceptive practices.

The Federal Trade Commission has identified fake countdown timers, disguised advertisements, hidden fees, and buried purchase terms as examples of digital dark patterns designed to interfere with consumer choice.

The agency’s Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule, which took effect in October 2024, also addresses fake reviews, false testimonials, undisclosed insider relationships, and incentives tied to positive reviews.

Legal compliance provides one standard. Ethical marketing asks entrepreneurs to consider the buyer’s freedom, emotional well-being, and ability to understand the full offer.

Faith language raises the stakes

Christian women entrepreneurs also have to consider how faith appears in their sales messages.

A message may encourage a buyer to pray about an investment or steward her business well. Pressure begins when the seller treats hesitation as disobedience, fear, or a lack of faith.

Thompson believes Christian women have spiritual discernment to help them recognize the difference.

“Strong marketing empowers and invites one into clarity,” she said. “Manipulative marketing invites pressure.”

She describes anxiety as a stream of “what if” questions. Intuition recognizes what is happening and considers the next response.

“Manipulative marketing forces you into a decision that feels tight in your chest,” Thompson said. “One expands you. The other contracts you.”

Her suggested gut check is direct.

“If you have to create panic or shame to sell it, can it,” she said. “If you feel panic or shame when considering a product or service, can it. If you’re helping someone make a confident, informed decision, boost it. That’s integrity.”

Ethical marketing still makes a strong offer

Values-driven marketing does not require vague copy, quiet calls to action, or an apology for selling.

Thompson describes ethical marketing as honesty, accountability, and transparency about the offer. A buyer should understand what the offer includes, what it helps accomplish, who will benefit, and who should choose a different option.

“Qualifying and disqualifying language is extremely important and ethical because it restores autonomy to the buyer,” she said.

Clear disqualifying language may cost a business a sale from someone who lacks the time, money, experience, or support required to benefit. It may also prevent disappointment, refund requests, and damaged trust later.

“Consumers are looking for people to know them and restore choice,” Thompson said. “Using emotion to connect as opposed to a control tactic. When you give people the full picture and not this cropped highlight reel, that’s ethical marketing in practice.”

A direct call to action still belongs in ethical marketing. So do emotion, compelling stories, deadlines, and strong sales copy. Each tool should help the buyer understand the decision rather than corner her into one.

“You should be able to write a strong call to action and honor someone else’s agency at the same time,” Thompson said.

Relational trust offers a different path

Thompson hopes online entrepreneurs move away from what she calls “hustle theater,” including fake urgency, performative success, and promises of earning “six figures in six minutes.”

She wants relational trust to take its place.

“Marketing is a love language,” Thompson said. “It should be a conversation that requires two parties to be engaged and locked in with one another.”

Such a relationship takes longer to build than a panic-driven sales campaign. It also gives customers a reason to remain connected after the promotion ends.

“The future belongs to brands and entrepreneurs that lead with truth, emotional intelligence, and genuine service,” Thompson said. “When you build your business that way, you don’t have to manipulate people into buying. They’re in your world. They’re rocking with you. They want to buy because they trust you.”