Fortunately we are not like that, are we?
It's very strange though, don't you think, that advertising is such a rich industry...especially if most of us are buying only what we need? You would think that most sensible businessmen wouldn't pay huge sums to advertise their products... that advertisers wouldn't waste all that time researching different lifestyle, checking target audiences and categorising people...that papers, magazines and television companies wouldn't continually be chasing advertising revenue... After all, how many shopaholics can their be......?
The thing is, although we may not all be shopaholics, neither are we the sensible shoppers we believe ourselves to be...and compared to our grandparents and great-grandparents we are probably down right gullible. So, before the next shopping trip, let me show you some of the potential pitfalls.
Built In Redundance
Some products are especially designed to become unwanted before they wear out. A noteable example of this is high-fashion clothing. Such items do not wear out. Nothing that becomes unfashionable in one season has time to gain much wear and tear. Although other fashion items - like cars, jewelry, ornaments, furniture, garden design - might last a little longer, they also tend to be discarded when the next trend comes along.
High-tech equipment does not so much become unfashionable as outdated. Before you have even taken that computer out of the box, it seems, there is another more powerful and cheaper one on the market. The rule of thumb here is that a computer will double in power and halve in price every eighteen months. Unless you want to be continually in debt, you have to know when to get off the merry-go-round.
Finally there are the ultra-cheap products which become unusable far too quickly...the cheap shoes that look shoddy within 6 months...the cheap chairs that start to rock because of the badly made joints...the cheap cabinet that begins to slope to one side the moment you put anything into it, etc.
The Lifestyle Trap
Next there is the lifestyle trap. Unfortunately, everyone can be slotted into a lifestyle. Just ask yourself a few simple questions. Who are you? What are you like? What do you want to be? What are your hobbies? What are you interested in?
"Ah, business. Right you will probably want a briefcase then and one of those nice little PDAs for keeping all those contact numbers, perhaps a laptop computer and a mobile phone, business clothes - let me see - 6 suits perhaps, smart casual clothes for those more relaxed business occasions, then there is your
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