Hello, my name is Jessa and I'm a victim of emotional branding.
Hello, Jessa.
I always knew that, no matter how much I tried to deny it, advertising did have an effect on me. I knew I had five year old moments when i saw the newest electronic gizmo on TV and I just jump around the living room shouting, "I want! I want! I want!". But I've never had it rationalized to me why run out and buy over price stuff that I don't even need.
And yes I feel like I've been duped.
I don't think I'm that bad, but if you have a sticker on your product saying that you help starving kids in Africa, or poor, unfortunate abuse animals, I will buy that product in an instant. For example, I don't usually buy bottled water. It's usually just overpriced filter tap water, and I can get the same stuff at home for a fraction of the price. But if I go by Starbucks and am the least bit parched I will buy an extremely over priced "Ethos" bottled water. Why? Because some marketing executive know I'm a soft and will buy that overpriced water if you put a starving African kid on the poster by the water. Same thing with product (red), I will spend a little extra money clothes and other non-essential, if I think it is going to a worthy cause.
But I wouldn't donate to a charity I didn't look into? So why do I impulsively buy thing just because they say a portion of there profits go to a worthy cause? Maybe its because it us a (probably false) since of pride. While we indulged our consumerist ways, we also help some poor kid that, on my own, I wouldn't have the had the resources to help.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Fun opening, and thoughtful comments. I suspect that the pride issue might come into play as you said. However, you're probably also someone that gives of your time for causes you consider worthy, and if so, that's a great outcome of the "brainwashing" of the same marketing techniques that may dupe all of us from time to time. You're sincere in helping the charity of the item produced (ie: Ethos, RED) and what's in your heart is the core of who you are--even beyond any pride motivator that may be viewed as something negative. :-D
ReplyDelete