Retail therapy

A popular web based encyclopaedia defines happiness as “a mental state of well-being characterised by positive emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. A variety of biological, psychological, religious, and philosophical approaches have striven to define happiness and identify its sources.” There are approximately seven billion people living on the planet. Each and every one amongst us defines happiness in their own unique way.
Living in the 21st century has bombarded our lives with a media explosion. For marketers, this era is heaven on earth. Marketing requires different forms of propagation in order to be effective. “Channels” as they are referred to, are the oxygen necessary for marketing to breathe. Using these different channels, marketers get their messages across to their audience (consumers). One of the foremost functions of marketing is need creation or to create an image in the consumer’s mind that a certain product/service is necessary for providing “satisfaction” in the context of a person’s life.
We see advertisements all around us. We watch movies, television series, and talk shows, etcetera. To the average Joe, all of this is “entertainment” or at most an attempt at making people aware of the choices they can make when it comes to buying different products. But there is a deeper connection between this “entertainment”/media and our lives. What we repeatedly see, starts defining who we are. We start identifying ourselves with a certain kind of lifestyle which comprises certain products that bring happiness to our lives. We see different television shows that portray the ideal “happy family” as having a huge house, an expensive car and access to designer wear and expensive accessories. We subconsciously define success as the ability to afford certain products and we do that because of what we repeatedly see on different media channels.
Almost all of the advertisements being shown on prime time television all over the world use the concept of happiness in conjunction with marketing their products. What this does is define happiness and joy in our minds as being something related the ability to obtain those products or objects. We are shown the “ideal life” and we aspire to be able to live it.
This concept of happiness that is defined by marketers for us and which all of us are now slaves to gives rise to another question. If certain products/objects equal happiness then the wealthier a person is, the happier he may be? The answer, dear readers, is very simple. Wealth or the acquisition of certain products does not automatically lead to happiness. It may lead to a feeling of “well being” and satisfaction in the short run but that feeling will never be long lasting. “Retail Therapy” or the positive feelings associated with the purchase of different products is a good way to lift one’s mood when the chips are down but it is only for a short while. It is like an energy drink shot to a tired person. It might give you extra energy and focus but that will not be long lasting. You will have to eventually go to sleep in order to feel refreshed and energized.
This concept of “Marketing Happiness” has truly changed the way people look at their lives. Is money all that is needed in order to be happy? If that was the case then certainly every cancer patient suffering from depression after a dose of chemotherapy would go out and buy a new sofa or a new television set. Happiness comes from within. Everyone defines happiness in their own unique way. A family of four for example (husband, wife and two kids) may be happy even if they go to town on a motorcycle whereas a similar family of four riding in a BMW car may still be unhappy.
The world today is facing a financial crunch. Employment opportunities are drying up. People simply cannot afford to buy products at the same rate that they were buying before this financial crisis. Therefore we need to focus on the little things in life in order to be happy and understand that it is not the objects that bring happiness in one’s life; instead it is people and our relationships with them that give us true joy. Marketers will always do whatever is necessary to sell their products in greater numbers. What we need to understand is that happiness is defined within us and not by someone for us.
The writer is a business administration professional and has done extensive research on subliminal marketing. He can be reached at [email protected]