Stephanie Rosenbloom reports that we’re moving from conspicuous consumption to calculated consumption:
On the bright side, the practices that consumers have adopted in response to the economic crisis ultimately could — as a raft of new research suggests — make them happier. New studies of consumption and happiness show, for instance, that people are happier when they spend money on experiences instead of material objects, when they relish what they plan to buy long before they buy it, and when they stop trying to outdo the Joneses.
“People are happier when they spend money on experiences instead of material objects.” It’s not that simple; the experiences and the objects are connected. You buy a boat, usually, because you want to have the experience of boating, not just to own the object.
“Stop trying to outdo the Joneses,” but the attempt to outdo the Joneses, as executed by the college-educated and status-hungry, is at least as likely to involve spending on experiences as spending on objects.
From what I’ve seen, people buy the boat for the experience of boating and end up just owning the object.
Only a small percent of consumers will move into a mode of calculated consumption. The majority of consumers are hooked on spending much as a drug addict is hooked on meth. It feels good, thus they spend. In addition retailers are great at selling. They know more about the individual consumers’ buying habits than the consumers know about the product they are purchasing. The consumer is outmatched.