Better Living Through Shopping

". . . people were investing more of their incomes into consumer goods . . . the list of articles people regarded as necessities was beginning to expand . . . . The need for stylish or novel items might easily overcome normal restraint. Not surprisingly, people also went deep into debt to cover consumer goods they thought they needed."

This quote seems, doesn't it, to describe the picture of current consumer spending and debt in America that we've discussed in recent Ways of the World articles. It's that all right, but it's far from current. These sentences come from Consumerism in World History by Peter Stearns, and he is referring to the "emergence of consumerism" in Western Europe in the first half of the 18th Century! In that era, many of the attitudes and practices about spending that concern us today found their beginnings – almost as soon as the products became available to a wider public. To be sure, this "wider public" had not nearly the universal scope of the present mass consumerism, but much of the opportunity for greater spending was in place well more than two centuries ago.

Even much longer ago than that, people acquired and used things they didn't need. Archaeologists and anthropologists report finding articles of personal adornment, bangles and baubles and decorated pots and cave paintings from millennia ago. It's a human characteristic, which we in our day have carried on to an extreme.

Justifying Our Purchases
As we previewed last time, market researchers have explored in some detail our reasoning for acquiring things. Pamela Danziger, president of a research firm called Unity Marketing, has conducted extensive studies using discussion or "focus" groups. In her book Why People Buy Things They Don't Need, she describes the process people use to give themselves permission to acquire more possessions.

In these focus group studies, common themes kept coming up. The most frequent is improvement in quality of life. Analysis of participants' responses indicates that people want to live better in five ways: intellectually (through a book perhaps), physically (moisturizing lotion as an example), spiritually (votive candles), emotionally (scrapbooking materials) and socially (a set of wine glasses). The participants said they also buy things that help them relax (a massage), relieve stress (an alarm system) and facilitate the pursuit of hobbies (craft materials).

According to Danziger's studies, we also purchase things to make a planned enhancement to our lifestyle (adding a deck to the house), to replace an old item (a broken lamp, maybe), as gifts for others – and often ourselves too – and simply on impulse when walking through a store.

Self Expression in the Home and in Our Clothing
Danziger's work highlights the centrality of our homes as outlets for self-expression through style and decoration. Furnham and Argyle, the psychologists we've met before in their book The Psychology of Money, agree with that. They also see this role of self-expression in our choices of clothing: specific items or styles become a statement of identity with a group in society or, conversely, a statement of independence from that group. Finally, Danziger notes the role of "status". In her surveys only 30% of participants said they buy things to "show off". But she herself is skeptical of their responses. In an era of political correctness, she suggests, people aren't about to admit how important social status is to them.

Shopping Itself Is Important
As we make all of our purchases, we really have two experiences: owning the item and shopping for it. In many cases, Danziger writes, the shopping holds the greater significance. People told her about the pleasure they enjoyed in anticipating a purchase, researching the products or services and going on the actual shopping excursion. The acquisition itself gives them a great feeling of triumph and excitement.

Shopping for pleasure started with the advent of the department store around 1850, according to Stearns, the historian. Its innovations included attractive displays of a wide variety of merchandise; the expanse and openness of the stores established them as a location for socializing in the community. The extrapolation of the trend came to a kind of climax with the shopping mall; in particular Stearns cites the Mall of America near Minneapolis. With its 520 stores, 96 restaurant and food services, 14 movie theaters, Ferris wheel, roller coaster and dinosaur museum, it intentionally wants people to be entertained so they will spend more freely.

Been There, Done That! What's Next?
All this is great fun. But some weeks after we get our new set of pottery, we knock two pieces together and a plate cracks. Or someone sets a hot cooking pot on the new Formica countertop, leaving an unsightly brown ring. We've e-mailed the pictures of the Disney World trip to so many people that they're thinking the shot of Johnnie with Goofy is just goofy. The new has worn off and we're bored. What can we do now?

I know! A cruise to Alaska. Even the kids should enjoy that adventure. And look at that, would you? The pottery outlet where we bought the now cracked plate has matching beverage glasses and place mats. We go out not only with the replacement plate, but a set of iced tea glasses and those place mats too.

So when the new wears off – and it will – we have to find something else that excites us. We have to keep reaching and grasping. It's not really that we're greedy. It's more that we're seeking and striving for some preconceived notion of a "better life". There's a social science term for this: it's called the hedonic treadmill. We keep walking and running to find something better, but we just stay in the same place.

What We Really Value
Furnham and Argyle give another spin on our relationship with possessions. They explore what people really value among their belongings. It's not the new cocktail blender or the in-ground gunite swimming pool. What we really care about are the old family pictures of Grandma and Grandpa on their wedding day and the original framed house blessing Father Tim Kavanagh presented when they moved into their first real home down in Mitford. These things have little monetary value – indeed now they are priceless – but they keep us in touch with who we are and where we came from.

As circumstances would have it, just when we are writing here about people's quest for better living through shopping, the Episcopal Church calendar prescribes the reading of the Sixth Chapter of John. This summer, it is coming to us simultaneously at the Sunday Eucharist and in the Daily Office lessons. Listen to what Jesus tells us there (vv. 27, 32, 48-51): "Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. . . . it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread . . . I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread . . . ."