Why scarce goods can be psychologically more satisfying...

I have two girl friends who are constantly competing to see who can find the most desirable but rare item, be it a scrap of vintage lace, ethnic bangle or piece of studio pottery. 

The most prized purchase is, I’m afraid to say, always a one-off piece that the other hasn’t a hope in hell of acquiring. Both are stylish women, but neither is massively well-off. 

So their treasure-hunting requires time, ingenuity and a dose of deviance that consists of never, ever divulging where they got something from. 

Now forthcoming research* from the US sheds some light on this particular type of consumption.

Photo credit http://mrs-sun.deviantart.com/

When people experience economic hardship they attempt to alleviate the negative feelings this induces by acquiring goods that are hard to come by.                        Research published in the Journal of Consumer Research shows that financially deprived consumers prefer goods that are relatively unavailable to others, to offset the feeling that they are comparatively deprived. Many people judge how well-off they feel by comparing themselves to others. When experiencing financial hardship people render such comparisons impossible by acquiring goods for which there is no direct comparitor.

Social comparison is a powerful psychological force. How rich, attractive or successful we feel is always relative, depending on who we are comparing ourselves with, or whether we are comparing our present self with our past self. One person may be quite wealthy, but may actually not feel well-off because a) they are not as rich as their affluent friends or b) they are not as affluent as they have been in past times.

This is reflected in the questions asked in the Financial Wellbeing Index in the aforementioned study, reproduced here:

1. Compared to my financial position last year, my financial position this year is:

Much worse 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Much better.

2. In comparison to most of my peers, I am financially:

Much worse off 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Much better off.

3. Compared to my material possessions last year, my material possessions this year are generally:

Much worse 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Much better.

4. In comparison to most of my peers’ material possessions, my material possessions are:

Much worse 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Much better.

5. In comparison to last year, my ability to spend money freely is:

More constrained 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Less constrained.

Sharma & Alter (2012) used this scale to measure how deprived the participants felt and found that deprived consumers preferred scarce (vs.abundant) goods when those goods seem relatively unavailable to others in their environment. If you find yourself selecting low scores on these items you may have a tendency to over-compare.

Comparing yourself with others is clearly a dangerous process and one unlikely to have a happy ending. Rest assured there will always, yes always, be someone better off or more beautiful than you. 

Women’s magazines are a classic example – after being saturated with images of impossibly perfect airbrushed models the female reader inevitably feels worse about her looks. 

And when it comes to the state of our finances research suggest that consumers might seek scarce goods for retributive purposes. By acquiring goods that others can’t get hold of people can “get even” with their better-off peers. By consuming limited resources, they necessarily deprive others from enjoying the same privilege. Once girl friend A has snapped up that classic french 1920’s beaded clutch, there’s one less out there for girl friend B to chance upon.

The authors of the US study claim that deprived consumers acquire scarce products to set themselves apart from their financially superior peers. By stressing differences between themselves and those peers, consumers can mitigate feelings of self-threat, because after all evaluations based on social comparison are only meaningful when they are formed relative to similar peers. In other words, acquiring scarce goods might diminish feelings of inferiority relative to financially superior peers by creating the sense that those peers are no longer suitable comparison standards. Then again there's just that satisfying feeling that comes from being an individual and not being swept along with the masses.....

* JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Vol. 39 ● October 2012

The Psychology of...the Handbag!

'No, Alan, not like that, hook the handbag over your wrist and keep your palm turned upwards.'

Of all the directions I thought my career might take me, teaching Alan Titchmarsh to carry a handbag was not one I had imagined.
But I found myself doing just that recently, when recording a piece about handbags for the Alan Titchmarsh show (on ITV today, 3pm). 
Alan was such a good sport and minced onto the set carrying a gorgeous little snakeskin number, one of many designer and vintage handbags featured whose extortionate prices raised a few 'ooohs' from the studio audience.


We live in a time when the handbag has become the ultimate statement piece for women. And even in these days of austerity many women seem reluctant to ditch the designer bag. In fact for many, a touch of regulated self-indulgence feels more necessary than ever.

Why? 
Here are a few of my theories. Or what I call my 'handbagology':

Status symbols

“I loved all the admiring glances I got from my friends when I walked in with it.”

It used to be men who advertised their status,  with the flash car or expensive watch. Now women are earning more and competing at the top they too are signalling their status to others. They choose a bag  - usually a huge in-your-face tote - that says, I’m successful, I’m expensive, I’m chic. Many women at the top assess their own and other women’s status by the handbags they use.

Rule No 1: Your bag shouldn't weight more than you do.

Compensatory consumption

My research has shown that women spend more when depressed, believing a purchase will cheer them up. They might get a brain ‘buzz’ from buying it, but it may be short-lived and will not eliminate the cause of their negative emotions. Ironically, the harder the times the more women will seek solace in this way. And probably the bigger the bag the greater the void in their lives.  But beware. In the words of my friend Jessica Chivers, ‘Happiness is NOT a handbag!’

Celebrity worship

“I saw Beyonce with it in a magazine and so I had to have it.”

We’ve seen a huge rise in the cult of the celebrity and in the desire of women to emulate them. You may not be able to get the Beckham figure, millions or footballer husband, but you can get the bag. Or one like it. Some designers are cashing in on this and using celebrities to advertise their handbags, like Coach using Gwyneth Paltrow.

Rule No 2: Don't believe if you buy the bag you'll look this good

Believing a bag is an ‘investment’

I once heard a fashionista on Woman’s Hour declaring that she ‘invests in a designer handbag each season'. We delude ourselves if we view high-priced fashion items as an ‘investment’. Most aren’t. (Just to be safe, in case the bottom drops out of the handbag market or there’s a world clutch-bag crash, I’d recommend an ISA.)

Identity

“It’s a kind of passport into the business world. It says, ‘I’m worthy of a job in fashion’”

Humans have evolved to belong to a group, we crave to be seen by others and feel part of something. An expressive wardrobe is a way of signalling not just which group you belong to (teenage groups have their own cool trends which distinguishes them from others) but which you aspire to. Many feel a designer bag makes them seen and sends a message to others: I want to be one of the Gucci crowd, I’m a Prada girl. There’s even an optimal way of carrying it to show it off to the max. The logo is always displayed, the bag hooked over the wrist, palm held upwards.

Feeling fat? The bag always fits…

If women feel the urge to shop but are feeling fat they can buy a bag and it will always fit, whereas clothes are very figure-dependent. The same goes for shoes.

The power  - and cost - of the brand

"I know a lot of women who will starve to get a handbag. I’ve got a lot of friends like that.”

I came across the comment above on an online site (theartofthebag.org). Millions of pounds of clever marketing go into promoting and advertising designer handbags, and some women will even go into debt to have their bag of desire.

Creating scarcity

Luxury brand items are now more available – at airports, on the high street, online. So the marketers create a sense of scarcity by limiting the availability of certain items. This stimulates even more desire. Brain research shows we get huge pleasure not just from getting something but from anticipating having it. The luxury brands cash in on this by creating waiting lists, making women want it more and obliterating the difference between want and need.


All goes to show that a bag is so much more than somewhere to keep your purse and your keys!