Do material goods and the choices made by consumers define an individual? It is no surprise that most of the buying decisions made by people effects how they think they are perceived by others. Why else would people spend thousands of dollars on designer labels and custom made furniture when they could simply go to Wal-mart as an alternative and spend a fraction of the price for a potentially more practical good? This doesn’t just apply to goods, in addition, people pay a premium for services such as luxury hair salons and massage parlors. Such concepts simply seem to be shallow and against what most of us have learned to be good and bad as children.
The desire to belong, and be wanted is a part of human nature. Therefore it makes sense that people use material goods to enhance their social status and/or to belong to a certain social group. For instance, when a teenager watches a TV ad on Nike in which his/her sports idol is sporting a certain brand of shoes, that individual will want to emulate that and has motivation to go out and make the purchase of that particular brand.
In the following blog: https://blogs.ubc.ca/keithfz/ Keith did a great job of pointing out that particular products aren’t always what people use to belong to social groups. During an immensely popular event such as the World Cup, this particular Nike commercial is not trying to sell a certain product, however it is selling an idea just as Keith pointed out. The main themes are multiculturalism and the use of football idols to appeal to people that this is how these famous football players behave. In summary, people want to be like their idols and in order to do that they adjust their behaviour and their consumer choices.
