Culture of materialism drives business…

Towards the conclusion of Rob Walker’s delightful new book Buying In that explores among other things, consumer behavior and our relationship to the things we consume, he locks onto something very revealing about people and commerce generally.

Walker recites an interesting quote from Robert Kalin, the founder of the Internet shopping site Esty that sells predominantly handcrafted products: “You are what you surround yourself with.” Buying In continues on to explore what behaviorists refer to as “Terminal Materialism” — a sort of unending quest to acquire products and services. Underneath is a mental process that causes us to ascribe special meaning to our purchases. Kalin’s point being that products and brands can evoke some sort of ‘mirror on our souls.’ In a manner of speaking, brands work to help us define who we are.

Fascinating stuff.

‘Next Big Thing’ Consumer Culture

Walker talks about what psychologists refer to as adaptation – humans possess a remarkable ability to get used to things, both good and bad. A subcategory of this phenomenon has to do with boredom — our love affair with things we buy can slip away after a period of time. And so the bright and shiny iPod eventually gets taken for granted; the visually intoxicating high end kitchen appliance simply becomes your stove; and the expensive Gucci shoes finally hit the back of the closet.

Novelty of the new fades. And it appears we are miserable at factoring into our purchase decisions just how long our fling with the new thing will last. The world of over-choice works to feed this pleasure adventure because there’s always a new choice to spark the sense of “anticipation” when consuming.

Walker writes: “We know customized sneakers or a new car or deodorant can’t really make us more of an individual; we know that mutual admiration of the same T-shirt brands or opportunities to tout Proctor & Gamble products to your neighbor aren’t really forms of community. But they’re easily available, salient options… As one contemporary agency executive has put it: Few stronger emotions exist than the need to belong and make meaning. And brands are poised to exploit that need.”

What do you think?