[geysersam]

It's not conspiratorial to assume marketing influences behavior. That's its purpose.

Size of the impact is up for debate. But consider how many large business sectors have advertisement as their primary income.

It's not for nothing.

[mf_tomb]

Marketing does influence behavior. However, reward loops don't need marketing, just like heroin doesn't need marketing. I've sank 100s of hours into idle games that look like a spreadsheet and have 0 marketing budget.