Why do we buy things we don't need?
18.3.2019
Translation: Eva Francis
A NES Classic that you play with for an hour and never touch again after that. A hat that you like the look of but never wear. Or a megaphone that’s stored away in the attic in its original, unopened box. Why do we buy things we don't need?
Somewhere in my home, there’s a NES Classic. I was so keen to get my hands on this thing – and I loved playing with for a while. A short while. After a few hours, the fun was over and I never used my new mini console again. Don’t get me wrong, I love my NES Classic and I wouldn’t go without it. But I don't use it. Maybe for the same reason as user Anonymous? He bought walkie-talkies even though he doesn't need them. Why? He thinks it’s because he never had any as a child.
Here’s the video version of this review (in German):
I decided to get to the bottom of this irrational consumer behaviour.
Psychology of purchasing
From an economic perspective, the goal of any purchase is to maximize the value derived from the available money. This concept known as utility maximisation is, however, nothing more than wishful thinking for most people. Why? Because, from a psychological perspective, products always have a subjective value for buyers.
In the case of my NES Classic, that’s definitely true. I associate many joyful hours of Original NES gaming with this device. Anonymous seems to associate walkie-talkies with a longing for something he missed as a child. This probably also applies to everyday products such as my favourite tomato variety «Berner Rose» or the smell of a certain type of liquid soap, which reminds me of my childhood home.
Scientific literature on consumer behaviour often refers to purchases made based on emotional reasons as impulse purchases. But putting down the purchase decisions of Anonymous and myself to impulses only wouldn’t be true. He’d buy his walkie-talkies again and so would I with my NES Classic. Plus, I thought very carefully about whether I should invest my money in this retro console. Therefore, my purchase was anything but spontaneous.
Of hedonists and utilitarians
But if my NES Classic and Anonymous’s walkie-talkies aren’t impulse purchases, what are they? In line with the economic and psychological perspective, scientific literature speaks of utilitarian and hedonic purchases. Hedonism is an ethical/philosophical school of thought that strived to maximise pleasure and avoid pain. Utilitarian purchases, just like economic ones, are purposeful and based on usefulness, practicality, functionality, and fulfillment of basic needs.
During my research, I came across the concept of «emotion regulation consumption», ERC for short, by Elyria Kemp and Steven W. Kopp. This concept argues that we buy goods that reinforce, weaken or maintain emotions in the short term. The positive emotions that are reinforced are joy or satisfaction, for instance. Negative emotions such as sadness or fear, on the other hand, are weakened. In other words: we make hedonic purchases to give our emotions a positive boost.
Anonymous and I bought walkie-talkies and the NES Classic to regulate our emotions. In my case, I was looking to maintain a positive feeling of joy – the joy of gaming with the NES as I used to. Anonymous, on the other hand, wanted to weaken the negative feeling of not owning walkie-talkies as a child. Makes sense to me, even though I don't like the thought of being called a hedonist.
Spocks and hedonism bots
The alternative to hedonism, utilitarianism, is no better. Spock's «The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few» is profoundly utilitarian. And who’d want to be purely logic-driven with no aspect of humanity?
To be honest, this all sounds too much like black and white thinking to me. In the end, our purchase decisions are probably rarely based on purely hedonistic or utilitarian reasons, but are a combination of several factors. And what about altruistic consumption? Is it non-existent in the eyes of economic sciences?
Here’s a fun fact: In their study, Kemp and Kopp also explain which buyers have a tendency to make purchases based on «emotion regulation consumption»: those who don’t have the cognitive abilities to reassess purchases. The authors refer to these people as «low cognitive reappraisers». Thank you. I've never been called stupid in such an eloquent way.
Kevin Hofer
Senior Editor
kevin.hofer@digitecgalaxus.chFrom big data to big brother, Cyborgs to Sci-Fi. All aspects of technology and society fascinate me.
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