How does Pinterest and Svpply reduce consumption?
I enjoyed this article by Chris Tacket in The Atlantic, which asks whether Pinterest and Svpply might in fact reduce consumption:
…counterintuitively, my experience with these services is that they actually help me cut my consumption and to direct my money at goods that more closely align with my values.
The crux of his argument is that adding a product to your profile is sufficient to kick in the endorphins:
…I have found that adding items to my Svpply page gives me a similarly pleasant rush of some pleasure-inducing chemicals
I agree with the sentiment, but for a much more simple reason that he doesn’t seem to touch on.
Fashion relies on consumers buying products as a proxy to convey an individual sense of style or taste to the outside world. But with services like Svpply and Pinterest, why would a consumer bother buying a physical product when they can simply project their taste to a vast audience at zero cost?
Comments — 2
Interesting debate, I think this sentence sums up it all:
“Now that our economy has declined, we have less money available for unnecessary purchases and more people are realizing they need to consume less for economic and environmental reasons, I think it makes sense that we are seeing a rise in social-media services that allow us to enjoy hunting and gathering behavior without financial costs.”
Maybe consumption will be reduced, and this can be good.
On the other hand I don’t know if all of this clicking “buy later” is always enough to prevent from buying.
I personally bought a lot of books on Amazon last month for having seen them on blogs, etc. and perhaps a fashion addicted consumer is now buying a lot of clothes for having seen them on Svpply too.
Couldn’t agree more, i also find things like Svpply have helped save me money purely because i use it as a comparison service. For example if im looking for some shoes ill look on maybe 10 websites and then ill add them to my Svpply page then decide on one pair from the 5 or 6 pairs ive found. Its allowed me to be much more deliberate in my spending habits.