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I have known from the beginning that the key to my off-consumption experiment is to be happy most of the time, because being off-consumption means you cannot resolve to self-gifting to snap out of sadness –
The problem with being off consumption is that you can no longer buy a ‘treat’ for yourself in order to snap out of a bad mood. Being off consumption means no comfort food, no self-gifting, no temporary postponement of pain by the rush of adrenalin triggered off by that perfect purchase.
But I knew that when I went off consumption. I knew that, to resist the temptation to buy, I’ll basically need to be happy all the time. I also knew that I’ll face my first big test as soon as I hit a bad day.
Now, I have scientific research to back up my hunch.
According to a study published in the June edition of Psychological Science magazine, Misery Is Not Miserly: Sad and Self-Focused Individuals Spend More (via WSJ via Chhavi), the emotional well-being of shoppers can affect both their eagerness to buy and the prices they’re willing to pay –
Research subjects who viewed a “sad” video of a boy mourning the death of his father offered to pay four times as much for an item than those who were shown a “neutral” nature video.
People can’t and shouldn’t go shopping when they feel down — when we’re feeling sad, we may be making really unwise decisions financially… The short-term benefits might be offset by a longer-term cost if you get into debt and that might make you feel more down … and more likely to buy more stuff.
So, sad shoppers spend more than happy shoppers, but shopping doesn’t really make them happy either.
As an individual, I have already learned the lesson that buying things won’t make me buoyant.
As a marketer, I’m asking myself if there is a way for a brand to make sad people happy, and benefit from it, without asking them to buy anything.
In a world that will soon be driven by the “economics of free”, that may not be a trivial question anymore.
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