Avoid Buying Products that Only Serve as a Social SignalsteemCreated with Sketch.

in #psychology6 years ago

If you don’t know what social signaling is, basically it is when you have something that has a sole purpose of showing other people that you are valuable. Want to show the world that they should value you? Then buy Versace, Lamborghinis, Ferraris ect. Im not saying that you cant enjoy those things, for example if you are a car guy and wanted a Ferrari for your whole life and you can afford it, then get the Ferrari. However if you couldn’t care less and are buying one just to show people how rich you are, don’t.

People who social signal end up blowing massive amounts of money and gain little benefit in the long run from wealth. Our society on television constantly shows people who care only about social signaling blowing millions of dollars, which is why when people become rich, they spend it on stupid things. You are better off living your life like a normal person and buying nice things that have more function. Live your life following the idea of buying products that have function over form, don’t buy a 100k car when one at 40k will work just as well and last just as long.

In many other ways social signaling is just a way to try and signal that you are superior over someone else because of the money you have. Lets be honest, many people who have become very wealthy in the crypto space (me included), are not incredibly intelligent that we saw this great investment before anyone else, in many cases we just got lucky when we did and liked the idea. This doesn’t make me better than anyone else, it simply makes me fortunate and even if I become more fortunate, I am never going to use the money to shove in people’s faces.

Ill be honest, im not 100% comfortable in my skin to the point where I don’t care about what anyone thinks of me, but im trying. Im only human, I do have desires to social signal with nice things and have people like me. However I know that the things I buy and the cool gadgets I show to friends isn’t going to help me have any deeper relationships. I want to have relationships with meaning and in many cases, money and wealth gets in the way of that.

There are exceptions, but people for the most part who social signal aren’t secure in their own skin so they try to influence outside people to like them by showing they have cool stuff. The friends you make when you social signal are the first to disappear if anything goes wrong and the first to leave you high and dry if you become broke. Don’t make the mistakes that many people have learned the hard way and burn your money on stuff that doesn’t matter. The importance of financial freedom is being able to go after your passions and support your family, not to signal your superiority.


Thanks to @Elyaque for the badges

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I really never felt the desire to do this, I guess it comes down to personality type, I'm a bit of an oddball and don't really try and 'fit in' with others. Don't get me wrong, I like people but I can't conform to make friends, take me or leave me.

For example as a man, I don't talk sports hardly ever, not because I don't like sports but because I find it becomes a proxy for not really saying anything. Id rather hear someone's opinions on 'conspicuous consumption' or social signal buying.

Second as I had a career as a buyer, the excitement of buying things has well and truly been knocked out of me, I look at purchases in terms of value. The formula for value is attributes/price, if it has lots of attributes with a low price that equals high value. Your message could be constructed as; be wary of assigning items with an attribute of impressing others, and therefore making it appear more valuable.

I can really identify with that second paragraph. Conversations that are just 'small-talk', as you said usually about sports when between men, always seem so void of meaning.

Very true man. People buy stuff to impress people they often also dislike :)

But ok Im also only human and catch myself sometimes showing this behaviour...

The quote you are trying to say here is:

We buy things we don't need, with money we don't have, to impress people we don't like.

Dont tell me what I want to say :) If I wanted to use that quote I would have used it !

I do it as well sometimes, I try not to, we are human though. The best thing to do before an expensive purchase is to take a step back and say "do I really need this or am I using it to fill some empty hole I feel from lacking something else?"

There's the old trick of keeping your credit card frozen in a block of ice, so you have to wait a few days to retrieve it for a major purchase.

I remembered a quote from Fight Club after reading your post

We buy things we don't need with money we don't have to impress people we don't like.

Good one @vallesleoruther. I had forgotten about the quote. There was a lot of anit-social-signaling in that movie.

Yeah there were a lot of it haha, one of those mind fuck movies but it was great, one of my favorite movies.

Once of my favs too, but I don't talk about it..... I never talk about it..... In fact, you should not be talking about it..... @calaber24p you should not be talking about it either..... ;)

Hahaha always remember the first rule. You are right @buckydurddle lol.

I love this quote :) also the obligatory "Youre not your fucking khakis"

Haha yes that one too.

Ah, someone was faster ^^

It is older then Fight Club, but who I am to say something against something intelligent in a film? Nice if it happens at all!

That's a great message but I have one exception I think worth mentioning. If you are buying higher priced goods that, actually, do something good.

You could buy a deisgner $100 tshirt or a pack of tshirts for $10 or you could spend $25 and get a Krochet Kids tshirt that is made by a non-profit working to improve the lives of women in developing countries.

I personally hope that companies truly making a positive impact, beyond just selling a nice widget, becomes the new form of social signaling.

I agree, I also dont disagree if you want to look fashionable and like spending money on clothes, just there is a point where things become ridiculous. You can get nice fashionable clothes, the problem is when you start spending thousands and peacocking everyone trying to get them to say "oh hes rich I like him"

i think everyone splurges every now and again, the questions to ask before a splurge is "do i really like this product?" or "Am i doing this just to show off?"
i like a really nice watch. i don't need 10 watches, but 1 really nice one will suffice. i also like gym shoes, hats, retro throw back gear to name a few things. But my sole purpose in buying the mentioned items is because "I" like them.

Yeah like I said some people like certain things, if you like an expensive watch, have the money and you are a watch guy, definitely go ahead and buy one. Doesnt mean you need a thousand or a diamond encrusted tie clip and cufflings.

Agreed! 👍✌️

I'm hoping this doesn't come across as rude, but isn't this common sense?

I mean I feel like most people don't follow this, but in the back of there minds they know this.

You would be surprised how many people dont. Even if they do, a reminder doesnt hurt especially because many in this space have found wealth.

Common sense is surprisingly uncommon.

It boils down to this:
You can either try to keep up with the Joneses (who are often broken Joneses) or you can be a millionaire.

The choice is yours, take which one you want.

Yeah, look at Warren Buffett living in his modest, sub $300K house. And then there's those people who win the lottery and end up deep in debt a couple years later.

When I see someone with a flashy car or a bunch of expensive toys, all I can think about is the lifetime of debt and obligation looming before them. But social signalling doesn't work on everyone the same way.

"There are exceptions, but people for the most part who social signal aren’t secure in their own skin so they try to influence outside people to like them by showing they have cool stuff."

And then you have a picture of all your little badges right below? Hahahha, well, good job having 5000+ SP, right? And "top 50 rank."

Oh humanity.

Oh, all the signalling when someone says "I don't have all that signalling stuff!"
;)

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