So are you,probably.
Don’t feel bad-we can’t help it.And people who can help it come off as know it alls who we secretly hate because they make us feel stupid for not being as aware as they are.
Branding is what the big companies call it when we little consumer ants recognize and therefore want or do buy a product simply because somehow it’s gotten in our heads that this is a good product for whatever reason.This may sound vague to you and it is vague.Can you state clearly and simply the subconscious reasons you bought that sweater? Probably not.
If you realize that you must have something–that your life just might be better if you have that something-then you play into the hands of consumer branding. It isn’t for nothing that Advertising has long studied the psychology of the consumer.Believe me-they have the drop on us.And as Americans we are subject to constant branding assaults merely by being alive and somewhat aware in this society.
I say somewhat because of the insidious nature of this assault.We as consumers are required to be only somewhat aware, being too aware threatens the house of cards.
No doubt you took a course in college related to this subject.If that was some time ago,your edge has probably dulled by now.
Mine certainly has. I try to look at television with a sceptic’s gaze but one can’t be 100 percent vigilant against all of It.
It has a way of getting in.
For a rather innocuous example: my recent spending spree in Sephora. A long time ago I realised that most make up was like shampoo and therefore it didn’t need to cost a lot to do it’s job which was to make you look cute.So I stopped exclusively buying my makeup in department stores and instead bought from drugstores. I went from Clinique to L’Oreal and never lacked for dates.
I was able to live my life happily despite the fact that I owned no expensive warpaint even when all around me women I knew were showing off their latest 20 dollar mascaras.
I succumbed when Sephora opened it’s doors.
Of course it isn’t their fault that I love makeup! They just want me to be able find and buy it more easily.Aren’t they nice? But there is still the fact that drugstore makeup that I used for years is still just as good as the fancy stuff in Sephora.
I mean, didn’t I just buy an 18 dollar concealer by Benefit even though my Max factor one at a quarter of the price works just fine? If not better because the 18 dollar one makes my skin look drier? Yikes. I’ve been had,right? All because I wanted to be a little fancier.You get what you pay for? Not always.Sometimes you pay too much for something that doesn’t work as well as it’s cheaper cousin simply because it’s branding is sexier.
Here’s another burn: I bought a 75 dollar perfume because it was by Fresh despite the fact that there was a 25 dollar one that I smelled,loved and passed on simply because it wasn’t by Fresh! So what happened? All I can say is I was surrounded. They beat me down. I’d never heard of the 25 dollar one before.It’s that simple.