Selected Methods of Psychological Manipulation in the Marketing of Financial Services

The main purpose of this article is preliminary identification of manipulation techniques and methods used in banks for staff relationship management. The empirical contribution of this article is to discuss the influence of immediate supervisor on the consumer’s consultants in the banking sector. The author has tried to answer the research questions, Are there any manipulation techniques used by bank managers? If, yes, what methods of psychological manipulations are applied by supervisors on to their employees. Data is gathered by using interviews with an experts’ group and by the critical reflection on the professional experiences of the author of the article. The initial results highlight some manipulation techniques used by bank managers on the consumers’ consultant, for example, the reciprocity technique, group technique, the contrast technique, authority technique, word manipulation technique, impression management technique and social manipulation techniques, such as the foot-in-the- mouth and dialogue, the door-in-the-face”, stressful situations, feelings of guilt. It is also worth noting that in opposition to techniques there are examples of psychological counteraction to manipulation, for example, the instinct to restrain aggression and empathy, change assessment into opinion, violation of the principle of reciprocity, self-esteem, personality and manipulation. The author also paid considerable attention to aspects such as rights and needs of the employee in the sales of financial services and his job satisfaction.