Categories: uncategorized
Date: 22 September 2005 07:37:53
Today on the radio they talked about how what we consume defines who we are. People buy things in order to show to their peers (and everyone else) what kind of person they are.
It's an interesting idea. I know it's true. Maybe less true for some people than others, but true nonetheless.
As I see it, you can look at it two ways:
1/ People spend money on things they like, so by seeing what they buy you can see what they value and draw conclusions about what sort of person they are. For example, Elicia and I recently put a large dinner table on layby. You could conclude that we have people around often, we have a large family, large dinners or too much space in our kitchen. Hmm.
2/ People want to have a certain image, so they buy things that project that image to the world. This is where marketing comes in - if you want to appear stylish, you'll buy a jaguar, if you want to appear more the earthy type, a landrover. People who see you driving your car will associate it with things they know about the product and brand, and draw conclusions about what you value. We drive a 1985 Holden Gemini. Small and yellow. Double hmm.
Self is a funny thing.