It’s not uncommon for the average American to associate themselves with some sort of corporate group. It doesn’t matter if it’s their favorite brand of computer, the producer of their MP3 player or their favorite car maker, they still do it.

The surprising thing to learn about this is that marketers rely on customers identifying with the maker of a product. They not only rely on it to guarantee that products sell upon the next big release, but they rely on it so that these customers make their friends and family part of the “corporate family”. This psychological trap ensures that profits keep rolling in and products keep shipping out.

When you really begin to think about it, the marketing behind some of the world’s most popular products is similar to the way that a cult indoctrinates its members. If you were to follow the following of any major brand to any documented cult, you’d begin to see that there are more than just a few similarities.

Source: Psychology of Cults and Marketing