Have you ever wondered why we all buy so much stuff? Well, I have. It doesn’t matter if you’re a subscription hoarder, a fashion addict, an new-iPhone fanatic, an aficionado of buy 3 get 1 free, a serial slipper-in adding an extra and very irrelevant item to the bag, and so on, we’re all guilty of the same thing—buying what we think we need, not realizing just how little, in fact, we need it.
Just look at how brands, their marketers and advertisers have nailed techniques to convince us to spend money, purchase things, and fuel the already prospering modern American consumerism. One online destination that takes this logic to a whole new level is the “Didn’t Know I Wanted That” subreddit.
According to the group’s description, “this subreddit is the perfect place to find all products you didn’t know existed, but suddenly want, right after you’ve seen them!” With a whopping 1M members, the sub shares things that verge on the border of totally useless to somewhat genius, and it’s hard to tell which one is which.
#1 Sonali Bag
Image credits: reddit.com
To find out more about what’s going through our minds when we feel an urge to buy things we don’t need or don’t have money for, Bored Panda reached out to professor Michael R. Solomon who happily shared some insights into consumerism and our behavior in relation to it. Michael is a professor of marketing in the Haub School of Business at Saint Joseph’s University, as well as renowned international speaker and multiple book author. Check out his recent book “The New Chameleons: How to Connect with Consumers Who Defy Categorization” which gets into some of these issues discussed in the article.
#2 Also For Long Web Series, Movie Franchises And Zoom Meetings
Image credits: rob_sheridan
#3 Look Close…. I’m Hoping My Wife Won’t Notice
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#4 Nice View
Image credits: nenapadnzirafa
Michael argues that in a typical day, consumers are exposed to thousands of commercial messages. “We don’t pay attention to the vast majority of these, and we don’t immediately act on most of them, either. However, some of this information still gets stored in memory, and it can be activated later if we encounter some kind of ‘trigger event’—that could be the appearance of a new need or want, a conversation with a friend, or perhaps exposure to a similar message on another day,” he explained.
Moreover, we don’t buy until a need is activated, the consumerism expert said. “But today a lot of that activation is vicarious, as we watch online posts by others whose opinions we respect (rightly or wrongly) as they advocate use of a product or service. This activation may reflect a genuine need or want that we weren’t aware of—or it could just be FOMO.”
#5 Finally, Something For Everybody
Image credits: reddit.com
#6 I Got New Playing Cards That Are Matte Black. Unless You’re Looking Directly At The Card, It’s Basically Impossible To See What They Are
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#7 Their, There, They’re
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Interestingly, the particular things we consume may reveal a lot about us. “There’s a lot of research support for the notion that our purchases reflect our personalities and inner needs—an extravert may choose a flashier car or color than an introvert, for example,” Michael said.
He explained that indeed, “in many cases these products are part of ‘the extended self’; important personal possessions and linkages to social groups like political parties or music subcultures are part of our self-concept. We have expressions like, ‘you are what you wear, eat, drive, etc.’ and there is a lot more truth to these than most people think! Our consumption choices—food, apparel, music, etc.—often are an expression of our values, priorities, and personalities.”
#8 Chameleon Tape Measure
Image credits: I-Just-Shidded
#9 Sandwich Crime
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#10 Just Gonna Leave This Here
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But our urge to spend on particular things also depends on more profound things than just exterior influences, like the ads we see. This has to do with a person’s self-concept which, according to Michael, is a work in progress.
“It constantly gets fine-tuned, as we measure our worth or proficiency on different dimensions such as intellectual ability, athletic performance, body shape, etc. But these judgments can only occur if we compare ourselves to some standard—for example, my self-assessment of my skill as a tennis player depends a lot on whether I play a novice or a professional athlete.”
“That’s why the process of social comparison is so important, Michael told us, “as is our choice of whom we compare ourselves to.”
#11 My Husband’s Fully Reflective Iridescent Rain Set
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#12 Leave Me Alone
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#13 I Dont Mean To Boast, But I Never Burn My Toast
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However, he argues that the problem is that the media often provides a comparison point that is unattainable and so we’re on a constant quest to get closer to a standard that may not even exist in real life. “For example, research shows that when young girls spend just a short time looking through pictures of women in fashion magazines, their assessments of their own appearance go down markedly. But typically the women they compare themselves to literally don’t exist—they are digitally altered to be flawless so that the models don’t even look like their photos!”
#14 Credit To Nic On Twitter. Nothing Gets Me Moving Faster Than That Awful Sound
Image credits: NicfromO
#15 Door With A Hidden Built-In Kitty Door
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#16 These Fan Pull-Strings
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Michael added that “again, social media exacerbates this process because a lot of it is about sharing a plethora of idealized images of attractive people doing glamorous things. Then that good old FOMO kicks in and we may invest in new items (cosmetics, clothing, travel, etc.) that we believe will bring us closer to this (impossible) ideal,” he concluded and added, “so the cycle continues…”
#17 I Saw This Pic On Fb, A Rocking Chair Built With Children In Mind
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#18 No More Squinting At The Measuring Cup Labels
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#19 Magnetic Goose, Peace Was Never An Option
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#20 Epic Dog Toy
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#21 I Want That
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#22 I’d Buy This Just Cause Of The Packaging
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#23 Cabbage Umbrella
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#24 Luxuriating
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#25 This Is A Game Changer
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#26 This Is Ingenious
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#27 Forallthebooks That Haven’t Been Read In 2020
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#28 This Faucet Gives You The Illusion That The Water Is Appearing Out Of Literally Nowhere!
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#29 My Shirt Has A Microfiber Sewn On The Inside To Clean Glasses
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#30 A Terrarium Coffee Table
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#31 This Ceramic Mug
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#32 Door Knockers From The Movie Labyrinth
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#33 I Want The Octopus Kites
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#34 Rook Tower Pack-Away Chess Set
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#35 I Like To Make Art Out Of Playing Cards. This Took Over 20 Suicide Kings All Cut With An Xacto
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#36 Switzerland Has Mini Jacuzzi Boats
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#37 One For The Pranksters
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#38 Printed A Sisyphus Statue To Push My Tp Up A Shelf For All Eternity
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#39 Mini Whacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man
Image credits: reddit.com
#40 I Don’t Need It. I Don’t Need It
Image credits: wriedenabook
#41 Who Doesn’t Need A Nachosaurus?
Image credits: TheMalnourishedMoose
#42 Didn’t Know They Made These Huge Shower/Bathtubs In The First Place
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#43 Artoo Deco
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#44 An Inflatable Water Chill Place
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#45 The Only Time I Wanna See Morpheous In A Bathroom
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#46 Built-In Water Pitcher
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#47 Wheelchair Made For Holy Roman Empress Elisabeth Christine Of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, 1740
Image credits: EhabAlwi
#48 Another Great Use Of Storage Space Under The Stairs
Image credits: 5_Frog_Margin
#49 I Don’t Know Why This Exists But I Need One Right Now
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#50 From Drink To Drunk
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Author: Greta Jaruševičiūtė