“failing home economics”: Buy Nothing Day
When Best Buy announced its latest sales figures last month, the company reported “an unprecedented drop in consumer buying of items like flat-screen televisions,” said Ori Brafman, a business expert and an author, with his brother, Rom, of “Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior,” out since June from Doubleday Business. “But when Wal-Mart released its report last week, there was a surprise. Consumers had increased their flat-screen purchases. Somehow, because Wal-Mart feels like a bargain store, shoppers who have deprived themselves of luxury items elsewhere rationalized their purchases at Wal-Mart as ‘getting a good deal,’ ” Mr. Brafman continued. “Granted, flat-panel TV’s at Wal-Mart might run a little cheaper than elsewhere, but no financial adviser would include one on his or her list of Items to Buy During Tough Times.”
Americans may be forgoing Starbucks and stocking up on Spam, but they are also making severe “diagnostic errors,” Mr. Brafman said. “They’re stressed out, and using the wrong information” — such as the belief that buying at Wal-Mart equals saving money — “to make a decision, and ignoring all other data that contradicts that decision.”
ah, what a perfect news report on irrational consumer behavior to remind you that this friday, the day after thanksgiving, is BUY NOTHING DAY. Participate by Not Participating.
consumerism isn’t going to save us. Buy Nothing Day can be the beginning of a new holiday for america: Buy Nothing Christmas. why not just celebrate?
(a small note to local designer and handicraft friends: i realize that many of you make a large percentage of your yearly sales during the holidays. however, i still do not believe in participating in a holiday that promotes buying things out of compulsion, whether locally made or not. that said, readers: if do buy things for your friends and family this christmas, at the very least buy from a local artist or locally owned store. sending our money overseas and into the hands of giant corporations isn’t helping anyone this holiday season.)
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