Do you need what you buy?
First, Let’s See Why We Buy Things
- we want to feel better and move away from pain/suffering.
- We want to feel better and move closer to pleasure.
The basic things we need in order to exist we take for granted: food, electricity, shelter, clothing, freshwater. You no longer have to fight predators for your food. Set traps and wait for hours. Risk your health by eating raw meat
You simply go to the grocery store and you buy the desired ingredients. Even if you’re broke, you can still relatively easily find food and drinkable water.
But according to statistics, the majority of our expenses are not directed towards acquiring the essential things we need to survive. We’re maxing out our credit cards to get something else…
Basically, we’re trying to solve all of our problems through the act of buying.
How Companies Convince You To Buy Things From Them?
First: They Move You Away From Pain
As we all know, drug commercials all start the same. A short story of a person feeling some sort of pain is presented. Then, they glamorously introduce their product and explain how it will magically cure you while a small script flashes through the screen with light speed telling us that there is a huge chance that the above might not happen actually.
The drug in this commercial is the superhero. The thing that will cure your pain.
Second: They Move You Closer To Pleasure
Tech companies like Apple, for instance, are building products that satisfy other needs – products that will move you closer to pleasure. Their commercials are of high-quality, focused on details, and slick as hell. They want you to feel that when you get their product you will be a better person. That you will now belong to another group of people. Much cooler group of people. In these commercials, the product is put on a pedestal.
And you know what? It works!
Every year there are thousands of people waiting for hours to get the iPhone
Main Reasons We Buy Things We Don’t Need
1. Media Influence
I worked with quite a lot of marketers before and I learned a thing or two.
See, large companies know that a single commercial during your favorite show won’t do the work. You will either skip the channel or you will pay zero attention to the products dancing on your screen.
That’s why corporations put commercials everywhere: on all of the shows, banners on the streets, social media, sites, etc. Their goal is to instill their product in your brain. Then, the next time you go to the store and search for diapers, the product you’ll end up buying will be the one you saw previously on TV.
But there is more.
The average modern person is exposed to around 5,000 ads per day. From The New Your Times: Anywhere the Eye Can See, It’s Likely to See an Ad
This means that after a certain time, even if you don’t need a new TV, you’ll most probably get one. You may not need it. But you’ll surely get a new bigger, slimmer, slicker TV. That’s what happens when you see for a thousand times over how this new TV will supposedly make your Sunday’s a lot better. Whether we understand it or not, all commercials influence us
2. Peer Pressure ( social pressure)
Peer Pressure is the effect on individuals whose attitudes, beliefs, or values are changed by their peers in order to conform to those of the influencing group.
Causes for Peer Pressure
Weak personality
Peer pressure is quite effective on people who have not developed a stable personality yet. The weaker the personality, the easier it is for groups to influence individuals to behave in certain ways.
Fear of rejection
Many people in our society are also quite fearful of rejection and are therefore afraid to have their own opinion. If this fear of rejection is too strong, it may lead to a point where the individual gives up all his values and beliefs just to conform to the attitudes and value systems of a group.
Social acceptance
Some people also feel the need to fit into our society and our common cultural and sociological value system in order to be socially accepted. However, fitting in also requires individuals to give up many of their own beliefs and traits.
Avoidance of bullying
People who haven’t developed a strong character yet are also often victims of bullying activities in school. In order to get out of all of this, people who are afraid to become victims of bullying might join groups or gangs in which they feel safe and protected.
Humans want to be liked
As humans, we generally want to be liked and valued. However, this is a big weakness that might be exploited by people knowing about this weakness of human nature. If you do everything to be liked, you have to give up most of your personality.
Bad parenting
Parents have a huge influence on the mental development of their children. If parents install self-esteem in their children from an early age, chances are that those children are less vulnerable to peer pressure since they may have developed a strong enough character to value their own opinion more than the opinion of others.
Cultural values
Cultural values may also be a significant cause for the development of peer pressure. If you live in a quite conservative environment and there may be strict cultural rules which everyone is obliged to follow from an early age on, chances are that you will be forced into certain actions due to peer pressure and unconscious manipulation.
3.Discounts, Sales, Promotions
According to the economic effects of price discounts, a price discount provides a monetary gain, an incentive to encourage consumers to purchase the product. Consumers perceive a higher level of savings for a product when a higher price discount is provided, and this relationship was confirmed by many previous studies
4.Lack of Control (compulsive buying disorder)
Compulsive buying disorder (CBD) is characterized by repetitive, excessive purchasing, and results in mental, social, occupational, financial, and often legal problems. CBD is associated with significant psychiatric comorbidity. The appropriate classification continues to be debated.
Compulsive buying is similar to behavioral addiction, such as binge eating and gambling (Lawrence et al., 2014).
Compulsive buying is not listed as an addiction in the DSM-5. However, the impulse problem appears to share certain characteristics common in addictive disorders
1. Impulse purchase. Compulsive buyers often purchase things on impulse that they can do without. And they often try to conceal their shopping habits. Spending without adequate reflection can result in having many unopened items (boxes of shoes or clothes) in their closets as they continue the cycle of buying. Compulsive buyers may develop into hoarders later in life after their products have accumulated with time (Mueller, 2007).
2. Buyers high. Compulsive shoppers experience a rush of excitement when they buy. The euphoric experience is not from owning something but from the act of buying it. This rush of excitement is often experienced when they see a desirable item and consider buying it. And this excitement can become addictive.
3. Shopping to dampen unpleasant emotions. Compulsive shopping is an attempt to fill an emotional void, like loneliness, lack of control, or lack of self-esteem. Often, a negative mood, such as an argument or frustration triggers an urge to shop. However, the decrease in negative emotions is temporary and it is replaced by an increase in anxiety or guilt (Donnelly et al., 2016).
4. Guilt and remorse. Purchases are followed by feelings of remorse. They feel guilty and irresponsible for purchases that they perceive as indulges. The result may be a vicious cycle, that is, negative feelings fuel another “fix,” purchasing something else.
5. The pain of paying. Paying with cash is more painful than paying with credit cards (Ariely and Kreisler, 2017). The main psychological force of credit cards is that they separate the pleasure of buying from the pain of paying. Credit cards seduce us into thinking about the positive aspects of a purchase. In fact, CBD is only prevalent in developed countries where there is a system of credit and consumer culture.
3Things to Consider Before Making a Purchase
1. Appreciate what you already have.
One reason we break down and buy more stuff is that we don’t really appreciate what we already have. When you find yourself considering a new purchase, ask yourself, “Do I already have something that will fulfill the purpose?” If the answer is yes, then ask, “Why do I need another thing to fulfill the same purpose?” Most of the time, you will not find a valid reason. So instead of buying something new, focus on the item you already have. This allows you to appreciate that item more.
2. Weigh the costs.
How much do you have to give up in order to get what you want? Of course, the immediate answer is money. But it goes deeper than that. You’re also giving up time. Money only comes with time. When we spend money, we have to work harder and longer to recoup our loss. This not only steals our time, but it takes time away from our loved ones and our passions. Is the new gadget really worth it?
3. Study your options.
This might not work for everybody, but it often works for me. When you really want something that you don’t need, you should study your options. when you study your options, you'll reconsider what you already have. then weigh the costs of the possible purchase. Often, you will discover that there are too many choices for new products. This allows you time and space to reconsider the purchase.