Consumo Ergo Sum
Chances are that while you're reading this post right now, you're snacking on a bag of chips while laying on your bed. Maybe your newly purchased laptop nearby is playing parody videos on YouTube while you're wondering when this lockdown will end so that you can go to a restaurant and get a real meal, the real deal.
The point is that consumption today has become something as automatic as breathing, which really wasn't the case two decades ago. Granted, I may be that age myself, but I do remember that during my childhood, I would smile widely in delight when I got a metallic box of foreign chocolates from my relatives from overseas. Today, I probably wouldn't blink an eye. I could very well get my hands on those with a quick trip to the supermarket. Globalisation happened.
Of course, we tend to place quite a lot of emphasis on consuming things that are not tangible as well. The Internet is the greatest repository of knowledge in human history. Whether we use it for watching cat videos or a course on cognitive neuroscience, the sheer number of hours that we spend on websites a day has a huge impact on our state of mind and that decisions that we make in real life. Algorithms exist online whose only purpose is to gauge our inadequacies and dissatisfaction in order to generate ads and suggestions that are superficial in nature and have ultimately little to no lasting effect on our mental well-being. And so we run on the hedonic treadmill on and on and on hoping to get our hands on the product that will make all of our worries vanish, not realising that we have become a product ourselves.
Okay, so what exactly can we do about this? We live in a society where not consuming anything from external sources and staying away from the Internet is little more than a pipe dream. But there are certain measures that we can take and thoughts that we can bear in mind so that consumption doesn't entirely become our way of life. Here are some of the negative motivations for consumption, as stated in Rossiter and Percy's Purchase Motivations & Emotions:
Problem removal. Sometimes, we consume something that we don't need in order to simply alleviate an unrelated problem that we have on our minds. We might gulp down a bottle of cola just to distract ourselves from a recent argument we had with our friends.
Problem avoidance. This is similar, except the state of mind resembles a more intense state of anxiety or fear rather than simply momentary annoyance or anger. We might watch three movies online rather than studying for an exam we have the following day.
Incomplete satisfaction. This is when we believe that whatever we just consumed wasn't enough and so we add more to the plate. We might make ourselves a few bowls of ice-cream because the movies above weren't exciting enough.
One might say that we consume many unnecessary things externally because we are being consumed by something within, whether that is fear, doubt, insecurities, or anger. Seeking alternative activities that we deem as productive and healthy and being consciously aware of the impulses and avoidance strategies can allow us to maintain our mental health and serve other members of our community better.
Of course, we tend to place quite a lot of emphasis on consuming things that are not tangible as well. The Internet is the greatest repository of knowledge in human history. Whether we use it for watching cat videos or a course on cognitive neuroscience, the sheer number of hours that we spend on websites a day has a huge impact on our state of mind and that decisions that we make in real life. Algorithms exist online whose only purpose is to gauge our inadequacies and dissatisfaction in order to generate ads and suggestions that are superficial in nature and have ultimately little to no lasting effect on our mental well-being. And so we run on the hedonic treadmill on and on and on hoping to get our hands on the product that will make all of our worries vanish, not realising that we have become a product ourselves.
Okay, so what exactly can we do about this? We live in a society where not consuming anything from external sources and staying away from the Internet is little more than a pipe dream. But there are certain measures that we can take and thoughts that we can bear in mind so that consumption doesn't entirely become our way of life. Here are some of the negative motivations for consumption, as stated in Rossiter and Percy's Purchase Motivations & Emotions:
Problem removal. Sometimes, we consume something that we don't need in order to simply alleviate an unrelated problem that we have on our minds. We might gulp down a bottle of cola just to distract ourselves from a recent argument we had with our friends.
Problem avoidance. This is similar, except the state of mind resembles a more intense state of anxiety or fear rather than simply momentary annoyance or anger. We might watch three movies online rather than studying for an exam we have the following day.
Incomplete satisfaction. This is when we believe that whatever we just consumed wasn't enough and so we add more to the plate. We might make ourselves a few bowls of ice-cream because the movies above weren't exciting enough.
One might say that we consume many unnecessary things externally because we are being consumed by something within, whether that is fear, doubt, insecurities, or anger. Seeking alternative activities that we deem as productive and healthy and being consciously aware of the impulses and avoidance strategies can allow us to maintain our mental health and serve other members of our community better.
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