I'd argue that companies do this are actually your enemy. Most people would agree that stealing and lying is wrong, but this isn't far removed from that.
The socioeconomic system that selects for such companies is actually the enemy. We accept and even encourage and glorify lying and cheating, as long as it's made for monetary gain.
Yes, but also consider what you are saying, this “companies” are really just a group of people, many of those people who engage in or support these types of rather pernicious and arguably evil patterns of behavior are here and all around us, and they likely all rationalize their involvement with some kind of “I just implement what I’m told” or “I’m under pressure to increase revenue” or “if I don’t do it someone else will”.
Companies are just people, a collection of people selected often to engage in rather evil, sneaky, and hateful behaviors in many cases, including the gaslighting about “hate” that many engage in as a means for manipulating an increase revenues … “we are about love … so you will give us more of your money.”
Some companies have discovered happy customers keep paying. They still want your money, and are not your friend - but they will keep you happy so you get paying.
However a lot of companies have discovered keeping customers happy is hard/expensive and so they instead look for ways to trick you into paying more now knowing that either way you won't be back once/if you figure out they don't care to keep you.
What doesn’t surprise me is that this is one of the comments.
Yes, we all intuitively expected this, but so what? Seeing it in a study with real numbers has value. The study isn’t just a title, it contains a lot more information.
This attitude of crossing your arms and saying “we all know this, it’s how the world works” is a specific kind of giving up which only empowers the bad actors. You’re engaging in the exact attitude that ensures nothing ever changes.
