According to research, our contemporaries, on average, have higher purchasing power than their predecessors, who lived half a century ago and earlier. Despite this, fewer and fewer people can call themselves quite happy. German psychologists call this phenomenon "the material curse of humanity." What is the essence of this phenomenon?
Scientists have found that over the past 50 years, people in Germany have become on average 400 percent richer, but at the same time, the number of those suffering from depression has increased by 38 percent.
According to experts, this is due to the constant stimulation of consumption. Perhaps the pioneers in this area were American car manufacturers. At the beginning of the last century, America was literally flooded with Fords, Buicks, Cadillacs and Chevrolets. But over time, the market became saturated and people stopped buying new cars. Sales dropped.
Trying to rectify the situation, marketers came up with an ingenious move: during advertising campaigns, they began to instill in the owners of old cars a sense of inferiority. Their example was followed by manufacturers of other goods - clothing, footwear, cosmetics …
This advertising gimmick is still actively used. If you need to promote a new model of a car, an iPhone or even a new kind of coffee to the market, potential consumers are taught that by starting to use the new product, they will be able to achieve what they previously could not achieve - to win competitions, get a prestigious job, put on a hand-written beauty …
Designers traditionally release new clothing collections twice a year. In principle, it is not so easy to wear out clothes in six months. But if you wear something that was fashionable last season, it is not comme il faut. And you, in order to keep up with fashion, will acquire things without which you could well do.
It's no secret that there are "status" things. They may not differ much in quality from their counterparts from lesser-known manufacturers, but many are willing to overpay for a well-known brand. If you cannot afford it, then your status will be assessed lower than that of those who are able to shell out a certain amount for one or another expensive brand.
First of all, teenagers and young people play into the hands of advertisers. It is important for them to dress fashionably and have expensive things in order to earn the respect of their peers. If a student or student cannot buy something that “everyone has”, he may feel truly unhappy and inferior.
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Gadgetomania is a separate topic of conversation. Perhaps the market for technical innovations is ahead of all other spheres of consumption, despite the fact that computers and mobile phones seem to be not essential items. Yes, today it is difficult to do without these things, but for calls and sending SMS, for example, the simplest model is enough. And you can write texts and send e-mail not on the most sophisticated computer. But we want to have everything to the maximum - let's say, so that you can take high-quality photographs, shoot videos, listen to the radio, and so on. Therefore, we are monitoring the appearance on the sale of the next new products, even more improved in comparison with the previous models.
Alas, the joy of a new acquisition passes very quickly. Soon after we buy a new car, laptop or smartphone, it turns out that there is an even cooler model on the market. And again we experience an inferiority complex. In short, life turns into a continuous race for a surrogate for happiness, which is numerous goods. If we cannot afford an expensive car or clothes, then this can become a reason for dissatisfaction with life or even in order to slip into depression: since this is not available to us, then life has failed …
German researchers estimate that multinational corporations spend $ 500 billion a year on advertising, while only $ 50 billion needs to be spent annually to tackle global hunger. But, unlike the money spent on advertising, these costs will never be profitable. While stimulating demand for goods will provide a constant influx of dividends, because people think that by buying this or that advertised item, they will feel better and happier.
IRINA SHLIONSKAYA