One For You.. Two for Me.. One For You...

While Christmas shopping last week, I realized that I have a really bad habit of buying things for myself when I'm out shopping for others. I'm a firm believer in the whole 'reward yourself' idea, but this is getting a little ridiculous. Go to Murdoch's to buy something for my dad and I walk out with a new scarf and shirt for me, and one shirt for my dad. Last year I went into Eddie Bauer to buy one of their super awesome First Ascent fleece pullover for my little brother, and walked out with one for him and two for myself (hey, they were on sale for $10!!).

If this lady is anything like me, half of that stuff is for her.

I believe my purchases can mostly be contributed to impulse buying - I don't plan on buying things for myself, and as soon as I see something for me that's on sale, I immediately purchase it. Grr. Then, 9 times out of 10 I feel really bad about it and return it. Retailers must really LOVE me.

The Increase of "Necessary Accessories"

With the improvements and advancements in technology and manufacturing, there are thousands of new products every year. A great example is a grocery store; there are about 3 times as many products in stores now than there were in the 50's. Another example of the addition of new products are the 'accessories' that are now considered necessary for activities that used to require only basic products. Take running for example - before, you really only needed some athletic shoes, shorts and a shirt and you were good to go. Now, with the improvements in technology and creation of new products, a runner might feel that it's necessary to own several pairs of running shoes, moisture-wicking clothing, a hat, polarized sunglasses, gps watch, iPod, and heart-rate monitor. Obviously the creation of new products can be beneficial, but in some cases it seems a little excessive.

Inertia

In my wiki page about brand loyalty, insistence, and habit, I talked about 'inertia'. The text described intertia as purchasing a specific brand or product simply out of laziness or habit, not because you actually feel a connection to the brand.

While walking to class yesterday, I noticed that people do a lot of things out of inertia - take for example the pathways through the grass and snow on campus. Even though the pathway was a solid sheet of ice yesterday, I saw several people staying directly on the path the entire way across the lawn. Literally a foot off of the path was grass. Did anyone venture off of the path onto the far less slippery and dangerous grass? No, except for me.



Another example of human inertia are the desks/tables that students sit at in class. I am definately guilty of this one - instead of moving to new seating positions within the classroom, many students often choose the same exact spot day in and day out - and, if someone sits in 'your' spot, you get upset.

Celebrity Endorsements

In class yesterday we discussed the 'balance theory' and how celebrities that endorse products could affect whether a person buys a product or not - the theory is that if you don't like the endorser, you can either change your mind about the person, or you can keep yourself in balance by disliking the product as well.

I started to think about products or brands that I dislike because I'm not a fan of the celebrity endorser. Pretty much anything with Kim Kardashian is big "dislike button" for me. I don't understand why she is famous and everything about her screams fake and scandalous. So, Sketchers and her Sears clothing line are definitely not for me. Paris Hilton is another celebrity that I strongly dislike - I will never eat a Carl's Jr burger (one because she endorsed it and two, that was disturbing).

I also started to think about brands that I don't like, and how, if a celebrity that I used to like endorses that brand, I sometimes feel disgust about that person. I don't want to open up a bag of worms with this, but PETA really irritates me. I'm all for the ethical treatment of animals - I have always owned a dog and the one I have now is literally like my child. However, the founder of PETA is an over-the-top, irrational, and arrogant woman who destroys property in order to make a point. Furthermore, I also believe that hunting animals for food is perfectly legitimate - PETA does not. So, when a celebrity that I like does an endorsement for PETA, I immediately feel annoyed with that celebrity.