Black Friday: The Epitome of Consumer Excess

by **Ponee** Fri Nov 29, 2013 9:27 am

Black Friday: The Epitome of Consumer Excess

“Are these things really better than the things I already have? Or am I just trained to be dissatisfied with what I have now?”

Chuck Palahniuk, Lullaby (also the author of Fight Club)

It’s that time of year again. You know. Black Friday. The day that epitomizes consumer excesses. It’s odd that on Thursday, Thanksgiving, we reflect on what we are grateful for. We’re grateful for our family, our friends, the Thanksgiving feast we’re about to eat. But then on Friday, err, I mean Thursday evening, we ditch our friends and family on Thanksgiving to immediately wait on line to buy big screen TVs, tablets, clothes, or whatever it is that we apparently need. I thought we were grateful for all that we have, so why the need to do a 180 and buy things that we probably already have. Is more better?

As explained so eloquently by the little girl in this AT&T commercial: “We want more we want more, like, we really like it, we want more”

But ask yourself. Do you really need a television in every room? Do you need another outfit that you’ll probably only wear once? Do you really need to upgrade to a newer generation iPhone when your older iPhone has essentially the same capabilities and features?

Buying things often doesn’t serve a functional purpose. We buy food because we’re hungry and we need to eat. We buy a GPS navigation system so we don’t get lost. Now, it seems consumers buy things just for the sake of buying things, or buying things that serve no real purpose.

Excessive consumerism is like a drug. Sure there is a bit of a high when you get that brand new iPad or flat screen T.V. But that high usually wears off as it is just temporary. You’ll eventually have to go shopping again to attain that high. You end up in a vicious cycle of buying and spending. You may think that buying more things will make you happier, but that rarely happens. Money doesn’t buy happiness and buying stuff with money doesn’t make you happier. Marketing and ad agencies have spent millions if not billions of dollars trying to convince us otherwise.

“I was part of that strange race of people aptly described as spending their lives doing things they detest, to make money they don’t want, to buy things they don’t need, to impress people they don’t like.”

― Emile Gauvreau

I read an interesting interview with Tim Kasser, a professor and chair of Psychology at Knox College in Illinois, regarding consumerism and values. Through Kasser’s research, he found that people who cared more about goals for money and possessions were less happy. He explained that people have two types of goals: “extrinsic” (materialistic goals) and “intrinsic” goals.

Extrinsic Goals

Extrinsic goals involve trying to make a lot of money so they can have lots of fancy possessions. These possessions, they believe, give them the type of image they want to be popular and seen as high status. These are “extrinsic goals” as the focus is on an external rewards and other people’s opinions of you. This seems to happen to many people trying to keep up with the Joneses.

Intrinsic Goals

On the other hand, intrinsic goals involve such things as personal growth, accepting yourself, having close relationships with family and friends, and contributing to the community. These are “intrinsic goals” as they satisfy inherent psychological needs that psychological theories suggest all people have.

Everyone has both extrinsic and intrinsic goals. Kasser’s studies reveal that the more people prioritize the intrinsic goals relative to the extrinsic goals, they were more happy, satisfied with their lives and felt more alive and experienced pleasant emotions during their day-to-day lives. They are also less likely to suffer from depression and anxiety, and less likely to abuse drugs and alcohol.

While the extrinsic goals are not as healthy as the intrinsic goals, it is human nature to want others to accept you. It is fine to want material possessions sometimes, as long as those extrinsic goals don’t overtake your intrinsic goals. So for this Thanksgiving, be grateful for all the things you already have, and instead of jumping immediately to acquire more material possessions after your feast, slow down and think about how you can attain happiness without buying more things. Try to focus on your intrinsic goals rather than your extrinsic goals. That’s where you will find the true source of happiness and contentment.

by **Ponee** Fri Nov 29, 2013 9:27 am

I would love to hear YOUR THOUGHTS on BLACK FRIDAY. Do you shop it?

by **rick152** Fri Nov 29, 2013 10:28 am

Never on black Friday. Too many basically ruthless people, all seeking out "deals" that really can be had on other days while retailers gouge prices to make some think the prices are better or, having not many of the "sale" items out so one will buy higher priced items just because....

Black Friday: The Epitome of Consumer Excess

Black Friday: The Epitome of Consumer Excess

Re: Black Friday: The Epitome of Consumer Excess

Re: Black Friday: The Epitome of Consumer Excess