Have you ever scrolled through social media and found yourself looking at a page where an influencer is showing off their lavish lifestyle full of sports cars, huge mansions, and expensive dinners? Then, tired of seeing this luxurious lifestyle, you walk out of your house for a quick walk, just to see your neighbors arriving home in a supercar and your friend carrying a designer bag. It can feel like the bag is staring at you with its diamonds, glistening off the reflection, almost like it’s asking you to purchase one too!   

          As a teen born in a stricter household, I’ve always wanted a smartphone to join in the social group, play games, and make new friends. Seeing my friends always on the internet without me, I felt a sense of disconnect and it evoked the urge inside me to buy a smartphone even more. This is the reality of consumer behavior, which can be influenced by the people around us, our emotions, our needs, and our motivations. Often, when it comes to our material desires, we risk our financial assets just for a short period of satisfaction; Only afterwards do we regret our actions and wish we had spent our budget accordingly. People are often fueled by their emotions, especially jealousy, that cause them to make purchasing decisions on a whim without thinking clearly. 

According to research, envy consumption is when a consumer purchases a product to rid their feelings of envy (Aydın & Oflazoğlu, 2016). In this case, it is not the desire for the product that only drives our consumption behavior but also, seeing other people with the product that appeals to our desire for status, wealth, or fame, thus eliciting envy(Manosso & Demczuk & Prado, 2021). How could we avoid the problem of being financially irresponsible? It is important to know the motives behind why customers make purchases that may be unnecessary or out of their budget because it will help customers be aware of their spending behavior and prevent emotions from taking over their purchasing decisions. 

           Usually, consumers decide to purchase things based on their needs. This follows the concept of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (Scarborough, 2023). According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, the order of importance of what humans need in life ranges from physiological needs, safety, love and belonging, esteem, and self-realization. Physiological needs include water, food, and the resources that fulfill our body’s needs (Wahome, 2022). Since these are resources relevant to one’s survival instinct, consumers will prioritize these when spending in order to ensure their survival. If people can’t secure their physiological needs, it is unlikely to spend lavishly because it could risk their safety. 

          The next need in the hierarchy is safety, which includes having a house to live in and having the right protection from the government (i.e. recognized as a citizen with rights) (Wahome, 2022). Everyone wants a secure place to live in when they are given that they are stable with food and water since it gives them a sense of belonging and a place to feel safe. The next need on the hierarchy is love and belonging, this can range from having a social life to being given affection from others. Humans are wired to have social interactions whether it may seem like it or not (Young, 2008). The same applies to being given affection, humans gain confidence, self-esteem, and motivation when they receive love and affection(Bailey, 2016). Your daily energy comes from the affection and social life around you, which helps make your behavior more positive (Bailey 2016). Esteem will target your confidence and a sense of self-respect (Langer, 1999). Esteem relates to the previous need for love, but it can be independently defined as an internally rooted source of strength (Langer, 1999). Love is an external factor that can not be controlled(i.e. unrequited love), so having a sense of self-esteem really helps motivate and bring positive energy. The final need in Maslow's hierarchy of needs is self-realization. Which is to realize one’s own potential (Wahome, 2022). Self-realization can be implied as being spiritually fulfilled where an individual has met maximum potential. This can be achieved by learning more about themselves and examining their true self.  

As a student who lives alone, I find it important to prioritize my basic physiological needs such as food and water while keeping my house clean. However, every time I go to the supermarket and buy groceries, I catch myself looking for unhealthy food, even though it does not provide any health benefits. This leads to other motivators that influence why individuals buy certain things. In my case, I tend to avoid the negative factors of buying healthy products such as higher prices and a worse taste. In reality, buying fast food is cheaper, it gives quick energy and is time efficient. Because of these factors, my desires take the best of me and I perhaps didn’t consider the positive factors of buying healthier food, such as the resulting better health, more energy, and improved nutrition. This is a concept called approach avoidant.  Individuals can make purchases based on an approach motivation (desire to increase the positive factors) or avoidant motivation (desire to prevent negative factors; Moss, 2016). Take an example, if you want to buy a car, an approach motivation would make you want to improve your time efficiency or give yourself more freedom. On the other hand, an avoidant approach to motivation would make you want to avoid depending on others to take you somewhere, or you could have more time to procrastinate and relax. 

           Consumption behavior has a variety of different motives. It could range from the social influence, emotions, needs, and motivations. By keeping in mind these factors, you can maintain composure and think rationally before making decisions. What do you think is the main factor in your consumption behavior?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reference:

Manosso, F. C., Demczuk, R., & Prado, P. (2021, October). Let’s talk about envy and its impacts on consumer behavior - researchgate. ResearchGate. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/355463208_Let’s_talk_about_envy_and_its_impacts_on_consumer_behavior 

Wahome, C. (2022, April 27). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: What is it? WebMD. https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/what-is-maslow-hierarchy-of-needs 

Young, S. N. (2008, September). The neurobiology of human social behaviour: An important but neglected topic. Journal of psychiatry & neuroscience : JPN. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2527715/#:~:text=Humans%20are%20inherently%20social.,organisms%20lacking%20a%20nervous%20system. 

Kaufman-Scarborough, C. (n.d.). Motivation Mood and Involvement. Consumer behavior motivation notes. https://crab.rutgers.edu/users/ckaufman/ConsumerbehaviorMotivationnotes.html 

Bailey, B. (2016, April 6). Motivated by Love. Wisdom Hunters. https://www.wisdomhunters.com/motivated-by-love-4/ 

Langer, E. J. (1999, November 11). (n.d.). Self-Esteem vs. Self-Respect. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/articles/199911/self-esteem-vs-self-respect 

Moss, D. S. (2016, May 22). Sicotests. / Dr Simon Moss / -. https://www.sicotests.com/newpsyarticle/Approach-and-avoidance-motivation