What was the last thing you purchased? Usually, whatever it was, it’s bound to be something you needed or wanted, right? Well, this summary is here to explain to you why it was not. No matter what reason you have in your mind, the real reason for our purchases is to get people to perceive us in a certain way. Even if you don’t believe that is what you are doing, psychology and evolution can prove you wrong.
At the very centre for our purchases lies that need to be seen in a particular way and it has been present, generation after generation. Still sceptical?
In this book summary readers will discover:
- The three forces that influence your decision making
- The price of being cool
- The biological need for social belonging
- Consumption and the emergence of new cultures
Key lesson one: The three forces that influence your decision making
We all know that our brains work in amazing and mysterious ways. It makes decisions for us daily even though we are not conscious of it. This includes what we buy. However, there is not just one action in work – there are three pleasure machines within our brains that affect our behaviour subconsciously. These are the survival, habit and goal survival pleasure machines.
The survival pleasure machine is activated quickly. It works according to the reflexes we exhibit without thought. As it happens quickly, these actions are usually inflexible. An example of this occurs when we sit down to dinner and start filling our plates with food. As food is one of the factors for survival, we don’t even consider how much we place on our plates. We are just aware that we need to eat in order to survive.
The habit pleasure machine is focused on the routines you have in your daily life. These routines or habits develop slowly over time. They are the ones that unconsciously dictate your behaviour. Just consider your morning cup of coffee. Many people are unable to function without it and for some, it has nothing to do with the caffeine and more to do with the routine they start their days with.
Lastly, the goal pleasure machine represents the conscious and rational force. You evaluate your options, considering the advantages and disadvantages of each, before coming to a decision. An example would be your choice of cereal may be the same out of habit but when you got to the store, another cereal is being promoted. You evaluate both of them in terms of price, flavour and size before deciding on one. The important here is that the goal pleasure machine also has a social component. Included in your evaluations is how you see yourself and how you think others see you. Thus, you may choose the cereal which was locally produced because you want to be seen as someone who supports local businesses.
Key lesson two: The price of being cool
We all know the feeling of having something new, cool and trendy to wear to school when we were younger. That feeling of walking into class and having people compliment your new jacket. But there were also those moments when we feared that they would not like it and we would be labelled uncool. As adults, that is the exact reason why we buy things. It is the need for social recognition and the fear of being uncool.
As early as the 18th century, economists saw that people consumed more than what was needed to survive. Consumption was and is more a form of social assertion. Cool products are not necessary for our existence. Take sneakers for example. Chuck Taylors are not popular because of their contribution to sport or orthopaedics. They became popular because they gave people street cred for being cool.
But how does the brain decide on what’s cool and what is not? It’s the job of the medial prefrontal cortex. It is responsible for thinking about yourself and evaluating how others think of you. Thus, even though you think you are buying a pair of Chucks because you like the way they look but what your brain is actually telling you is that the shoe will make you look cool to others. This in turn will make you feel better about yourself and ultimately happy.
Key lesson three: The biological need for social belonging
So, now that we know that we care about how we are perceived socially, where did this need come from? Obviously, it is an issue of status. We want to be seen as we have some status which is why we purchase things. The answer, however, depends on who you ask.
Economist Thorstein Veblen believes that the pointless competition for social status drives consumption. His opinion is that people purchase products that are actually seen as trophies. The need to buy something new is influenced by you seeing someone else with it. Richard Easterlin, another economist, has a slightly different view. He believes that consumption is an attempt to gain position in society as compared to others. But if we continue to purchase more than we need in order to gain social status, is it not just an irrational waste of resources?
Another view comes from evolutionary biology. It states that the need for status is instinctual and helps us connect to others. Throughout evolution, humans have been competing and cooperating to strengthen the likelihood of survival. The purchase of material products in modern society is essentially the new way of communicating with others about ourselves. To explain this simply, just like how a peacock would use its tail to attract a female, humans use cool purchases to receive a positive response from others. Humans are social animals, we always have been and need positive feedback for our general well-being.
Key lesson four: Consumption and the emergence of new cultures
If the need for social status drive consumption, what happens if you can’t gain status in a particular group? Do people just give up and resort to being uncool for the rest of their lives? Of course not. If people are thought to be uncool and fail to gain the interest of a particular group, they will find an opportunity to join another group that will give them social status. This is the basis for the formation of new cultures.
When new cultures are formed, consumption becomes somewhat of an opposition to the current social order. If you buy a certain brand but not the others can put groups in a position to form new cultures. An example of this comes from the simple emergence of blue jeans and leather jackets in the 1950s. This type of attire was seen as an escape from the conformity of being a formal suited businessman which was the main culture at the time. Obviously, brands saw this shift and began producing these items and marketed them as being part of the cool crowd. This resulted in a myriad of styles of jeans and leather jackets – each of which defined a different kind of cool and social status. This is when you goths, rockers and punks emerged.
If you analyse this behaviour, it is actually similar to Darwin’s theory of natural selection. Natural selection states that species diversify in order to beat the competition and survive. Thus instead of competing for the same resources, they look for others. Similarly, instead of competing for status, humans break into subcultures that are an opportunity to be recognized. Over time, what is considered cool also changes depending on society. Punk rockers are not considered as cool today as modern tech geeks who are considered cool because we are obsessed with technology and education.
Contemporary cool is all about developing a better society. So, unlike before where consumption was driven by status and rejection, it is now all about being innovative, creative and unconventional.
The key takeaway from Cool is:
The reason behind why we buy the things we do is one that not everyone recognizes. It is the need for social status and influences the way others perceive us. However, what is really interesting is the way in which this need to be cool develops and changes over time. Consumerism drives humans more than we could possibly realise. From our ideas of what is cool to the formation of new cultures, consumption plays a rather interesting role.
How can I implement the lessons learned in Cool:
Pay attention to your purchases. Why do you choose a particular brand or style? Is it a preference, current trend or is it because you truly like it? The more you ask yourself these questions, the more you realise you have a lot more than you actually need and the core reason behind these purchases.
