A friend of mine confessed to me that her mother had purchased from just about every magic juice MLM known to man. Xango, Noni, you name it. “Coming from a sales background has made her really susceptible to sales techniques,” my friend confided.

My first inclination was to scoff. After all, what kind of salesperson allows themselves to be undone by the very tactics that they should be familiar with?

However, yesterday as I filled up at Chevron, I started to wonder why I insisted on paying several more cents to go to Chevron, as opposed to gas stations with cheaper prices. And then I realized that I was EXACTLY THE SAME AS MY FRIEND’S MOTHER. Turns out that all Chevron’s marketing, what with the happy, clean colors, cute car mascots, and all that talk about top-tier gasoline and Techron additives has worked on me. I’m a Chevron customer, bought and paid for. And why? You would think that as a marketer I’d recognize the tricks and schemes that they use to convince people to pay more for a gallon of gas. Nope. In fact, it’s because I like their marketing so much that I continue going to Chevron. I feel good about using a brand I trust and like, and that feeling is totally worth the extra 50 cents at the pump.

So to make a long story short, I think I’m a way bigger sucker than I previously suspected.