Consumption is Emotional

Consumption was a very straightforward concept to me. It was just the process of using, buying, or eating something. In my mind, consumption did not have any deeper meaning to me, and that the concept of consumption was just that. However, in this current contemporary environment, we are living in, consumption has now become a phenomenon that drives our society, be it in terms of economic power or ecological impacts. Consumption has a lot of meaning and depth to it, and the quickest way to unpack it is evidently through shopping.

The bulk majority of my consumerism stems from online shopping. I enjoy browsing through the catalogues and adding things to my cart without a care in the world. Online shopping applications and websites are designed to keep customers satisfied and to develop our online shopping habits (Khalifa & Liu, 2007). If the platforms keep customers satisfied, there are bound to repurchase, which will increase product sales. The very concept of online shopping is hinged on a hedonic motivation, to provide convenience to customers so they will increase their purchases with the store. Online shopping is not practical, and it is not designed to be. How can customers willingly purchase products like shirts and dresses they have not tried before? That they have not even touched or seen it in real life? The risk of online purchases being traded away for convenience and the discounts most online platforms give to lure in more customers. The consumerism culture stemming from online shopping shows that consumption is emotional. People don’t go online to buy things because it is practical, they do so because it is convenient. As for myself, sometimes instead of making the 10-minute trip to buy my lunch, I would rather order with Grab Food and pay the extra charges, so I don’t have to walk. Purchasing lunch myself is practical, it is cheaper, and I get to squeeze in a quick workout, but convenience wins because I’m tired and lazy. Consumption is hedonic in nature for me.

Shopping is seen as a complex mix of both utilitarian and recreational activity (Timothy, 2005). There are four types of categories for shopping, ranging from utilitarian to hedonic activity. Quartermastering and technical shopping are classified utilitarian activities as shopping for functional uses, like buying groceries or essential items, usually requiring planning, decision-making, and information seeking (Timothy, 2005). Expressive and recreational shopping, however, is an activity for relaxation because it allows consumers to create their own identity (Timothy, 2005). While shopping provides a dichotomous relationship between functionality and leisure, I think online shopping is all leisure (Timothy, 2005).

There are talks and proofs about how shopping malls are designed to trap shoppers and to make them purchase more things than they intended, but there is a very little buzz as to how online shopping platforms are doing the same thing. Online shopping platforms always open with discount banners and offers. They always reward you with points and shower you with additional perks like free shipping or a gift. Whenever you add something to your cart, 5 more recommendations pop up that are related to your recent purchase. The search engine integrated into the platforms is all carefully tailored towards your preference, always suggesting things based on your previous searches and purchases. As shopping is a leisure activity, something one does to take their mind off things, customers always tend to add whatever they want to their cart without thinking about it. Online shopping is hardly a utilitarian activity, especially since the moment you opt for online shopping is you giving up the practicality to touch, feel, or test out the product before buying it, and choosing to give in to more expensive prices instead.

Take eBay for example, the platform developed a community by providing a private ordering function that builds trust among customers (Jarret, 2006). The site gives their space for commercial advantages to help build a “sticky site” that will constantly draw customers back for re-engagement (Jarret, 2006). eBay appeals to customers by making them feel secure in their transactions and entices them to stay on the site by putting advertisements that will draw them in. Online shopping is an experience created to expand our feeling of comfort by providing convenience, and it rings true to consumption being emotional. The same concept can be found in souvenir shops, no matter the significance behind a historical monument, there are shops set up to capitalise on consumers feelings of freshness and nostalgia (Rowan, 2004). Historical sites have become a part of capitalism, a place where government can create an image of the country based on its sites and sell related souvenirs. Emotions drives consumption, and this statement is relevant to me because almost all of my consuming decisions are made based on my feelings.

Being able to become a frequent online shopper has since transformed into a mark of status. Even in a midst of a pandemic where people are probably strapped for cash, there is a rise of users for online luxury stores (Moore, 2021). This phenomenon proves that consumers’ chase for status still reigns superior even in a time of many unknowns. Not just with the increase with online luxury stores, even fast fashion brands like SHEIN which sells affordable clothes, has been caught up in a new frenzy where consumers are buying hundreds and thousands of dollars of their clothing just so they could film it and post it online (Nguyen, 2021). These hauls, largely taking place on TikTok, reinforce consumerist culture (Gan, 2021). The influencers see that haul videos get more attraction and engagement, so they will keep buying and making the same videos and play into the notion of consumption being emotional. They are not buying clothes because they need them, they are buying them, so they get the attention and validation they seek online. The thrill these influencers get is the same with consumers constantly chasing after affluence, the portrayal of an affluent lifestyle. Online shopping becomes a medium through which consumers can prove their status, and it aligns with consumption being emotional.

Contemporary consumption is driven by the need to fit into society and accelerated by advertising. Consumers chase after perfection, driving up consumption and showing once more that consumption is more emotional rather than practical. Advertising thus helped to create a world in which individuals are made to become emotionally vulnerable, constantly monitoring themselves for bodily imperfections which could no longer be regarded as natural (Featherstone, 1982). Another example is the number of sales made when sales are available. When products are being sold at prices deemed as a steal to customers, they start buying things even when they don’t need them, because it is seen as a plus for them. During sales, customers are likelier to buy things they want instead of need. The emotional gratification customers get when they manage to snag products at a lower price overrules their logical thinking. That is why consumers don’t realise when they buy products because they are 30% off, they did not save 30%, they wasted 70%. This ties into the driving force of online shopping, it is led by consumers’ emotions.

Mass consumerism became the way it did because of our narrowly materialistic worldview (Dhal, 2012). There is a need for validation, to fit in, to fulfil some part of one ideal self which in turn feeds into consumerist culture (Dahl, 2012). To create a society that is not consumption-based requires years of training to unlearn all the associations made from living a happy and successful life to the number of material things one owns. The chase of material things is described as affluenza. It is a phenomenon whereby the richer someone gets, instead of being free from financial burdens, they instead keep on chasing material needs and validation, keeping themselves tied to the machine that they are completely capable of getting off (Hamilton, 2005).

Through the course of learning about consumption, I recognise that my consumption is emotional. I don’t buy things because I need them, I buy them to feel good. This is something that I wasn’t taught, but with the influence of TV and social media relating the idea of buying to happiness, it became subconscious thinking. One of my favourite shows is Gossip Girl, and the show illustrates material things equals seniority, a higher position in society. The idea of material things and happiness has been propagated by media and society, and it requires a long time to unlearn. Learning about affluenza and consumers buying things to fit into society, to be satisfied with a part of themselves that society dictated clued me into the toxicity that comes with contemporary consumerist culture. I thought purchasing expensive things when you have the ability to is just a simple understanding, but I didn’t realise that the culture makes one more and more miserable. The high people get from increasing their consumption is immaterial and momentary, and yet people are still working themselves to the bone to achieve that state instead of enjoying the fruits of their labour.

As I said, I like to shop. I don’t have a preference for which brands I shop from, it can be from a site selling cheap products like Shoppe to a site that sells more expensive products like Par Violet, so my sense of self-identity isn’t linked to cheap or expensive products. However, I do take some sort of pride when I shop frequently. So, my sense of self-identity is linked to how many things I can buy, or how much garbage I can produce, like what Twitchell says (Twitchell, 1998). The more things I own, regardless of their price, makes me feel like I’m closer to what society deems as “financially stable”, simply because I can buy what I want. The study of consumption, however, taught me that most consuming decisions I make are through the influence of advertising and societal validation. So, to start my own rebellion on the consumerism culture, I need to start re-evaluating my purchasing decisions. Am I buying it because I want to? Or am I buying it because that is what the mass consumerism culture wants?