Are We Buying Products? Or Status Symbols?

[Luminis]

Hello everyone,

after just watching an interesting documentary about people's behaviour in regards to purchasing products, I wanted to discuss this whole thing for a bit.

The bit that stirred my interest was about the iPhone. I would assume that most of us came to realize that the iPhone is not exactly a product that is purchased by most people based on what it actually is. It's about buying a status symbol, it's about having the newest iPhone - it's about being part of a 'group', so to speak. A thought that has crossed my mind several times by now.

The second, equally interesting part was the strategy to release a half-arsed product. Partially because anually updates make developing a proper product all but impossible. And partially because it makes for a good reason to sell a product again with just minor updates. You know, pick a feature the iPhone 4S had, remove it from the iPhone 5, sell the iPhone 5S with that feature again.

I would think that that's no suprise to anyone. It's plain as day to see for most of us. That's what I'd like to think, anyways, that you'd have to be raather blinkered to not see it. However: If the whole thing works so well that it spawns documentaries about this very business model, I have to wonder: Are there really that many people who actually care more about purchasing a status symbol than a product of high, or at least decent, quality?

This whole question is a bit worrisome to me. A lot of people I know are like that. They're not buying a good product, a sensible product, or a product that suits their needs best. They'd rather try to get the newest, most advertised product. The one that could be considered a status symbol. If that means they'll have to take out a loan, so be it. It's hard to admit, but I know quite a few people who would be willing to get themselves into some financial trouble to buy a product that's way beyond what they could afford - even though there are affordable products that would satisfy their every need. Aside from being a status symbol, of course.

To summarize, the documentary asked the following question: Are we still buying the products we need and want, or are we merely doing precisely what the companies want us to do?

So, what I would like to discuss: How important is the status associated with a product? Does it influence your decision on which product to purchase? Is that kind of behaviour something you've noticed in your environment? Have you been doing something like this yourself? Should or shouldn't this whole thing continue?

Personally, I consider this to be a rather interesting topic. And one that has me worried about where our society is heading, really.

 

[That90sGuy]

I think that, yes, society in general is more hung up in buying "the newest, the latest, the coolest, etc." It's all to do with how a company promotes a product to the point that a product may be associated with a certain type of social class, whether through marketing or by unintentional circumstance. I think this is very evident in the world of fashion, where buying Nike, Adidas, Puma etc., is a symbol of that dreaded phrase of "fitting in". To these companies it's all about brand association, and to get the right demographic to become obsessed with their brand, to the point where it does become a 'status symbol'. Stemming from that, not having a 'status symbol' is grounds to be outcast from a certain social group. I know the business of selling clothes is different to selling an technology like an iPhone, but I think in principal it works the same.

I am one of those people who is outside the social norm. What I have or don't have doesn't influence my decisions on what I buy. I don't know anyone who doesn't have a smartphone, except me, because, at them moment, a phone is not necessary for me. However I try sometimes, when shopping to stear clear of generic no-name brands, but that's more a quality thing for me.

Overall, I think this should continue, as that is the business model that some companies what to have. It's up to us not to buy a half-baked product, but if society doesn't care about the quality of the status symbol we are buying, then that gives companies a reason to keep creating a poorer quality product and to milk the profits of consumers through updates.

 

[King Something]

"Shiny objects."

Those two words are really all you need to know as to why people would rather by 'status symbols' over 'objects.' Everybody has succumbed to this bit of human weakness at least once in their lives, myself included, though some people are more willing and able than others to overcome this weakness and buy an object over a status symbol.

Of course, not every 'status symbol' sells well. Most people simply realize that some of the shiny objects for sale are exquisitely polished turds -- this is why iPhone sales are up and the latest edition of Modern Warfare is not selling as well as last year's version.

To an extent, it depends on the person's budget and their willpower. Someone who can afford ten iPhones is more likely to buy one than someone who can barely afford one, but another person with a big budget might pass on the iPhone and get a phone that is only very slightly inferior but costs less than half as much -- that last person might not need or want to get an iPhone, they might abhor the idea of having to buy the latest iProduct just to "fit in," or perhaps they just doesn't feel like spending over twice as much for only slightly more functionality.

 

[lbsf1]

Yes sometimes we do, not on all objects and not all of the buying is about a status symbol. Imagine I buy the iphone for example. I need a new phone at the moment so this purchase has actual use, and as argueably the best phone at the moment if would have the ability to use many applications and functions that would benefit me. However also it would allow me too show off to friends. Not the whole reason is for a status symbol however part of it is.

However this idea isn't new. I was watching a documentary about 1930's england and people at the time would do as some do now, buying objects on finance to pay back over months all so they could have the latest appliance and to thus seem better than their neighbors.

 

[Luminis]

I think that, yes, society in general is more hung up in buying "the newest, the latest, the coolest, etc." It's all to do with how a company promotes a product to the point that a product may be associated with a certain type of social class, whether through marketing or by unintentional circumstance. I think this is very evident in the world of fashion, where buying Nike, Adidas, Puma etc., is a symbol of that dreaded phrase of "fitting in". To these companies it's all about brand association, and to get the right demographic to become obsessed with their brand, to the point where it does become a 'status symbol'. Stemming from that, not having a 'status symbol' is grounds to be outcast from a certain social group. I know the business of selling clothes is different to selling an technology like an iPhone, but I think in principal it works the same.

I am one of those people who is outside the social norm. What I have or don't have doesn't influence my decisions on what I buy. I don't know anyone who doesn't have a smartphone, except me, because, at them moment, a phone is not necessary for me. However I try sometimes, when shopping to stear clear of generic no-name brands, but that's more a quality thing for me.

Overall, I think this should continue, as that is the business model that some companies what to have. It's up to us not to buy a half-baked product, but if society doesn't care about the quality of the status symbol we are buying, then that gives companies a reason to keep creating a poorer quality product and to milk the profits of consumers through updates.

That90sGuy, I guess I'm in a similar situation to yours. My purchases are based on what I need, whether I can afford it and, of course, the quality of the product. Rather than purchasig a cheap product that's going to fail me sooner than later, I'll shell out more and get something I'm entirely happy.

And yes, I would also agree that this sort of marketing is as ingenious as it can be. There's nothing better, from a companies point of view, than people purchasing their products based on brand awareness alone. To be quite honest, I wouldn't do it differently if I was in that situation. If I could capitalise on that mentality of people nowadays, I probably would do so instantly.

No, the reason I'm shaking my head at this is the society's part in all of this. I'm wondering, why is it that people rely on brands so much in an attempt to 'be someone'? Yeah, I would say that I, myself, am quite the capitalist. But this is getting to a point where consumerism seems to be getting out of control, in a way.

To an extent, it depends on the person's budget and their willpower. Someone who can afford ten iPhones is more likely to buy one than someone who can barely afford one, but another person with a big budget might pass on the iPhone and get a phone that is only very slightly inferior but costs less than half as much -- that last person might not need or want to get an iPhone, they might abhor the idea of having to buy the latest iProduct just to "fit in," or perhaps they just doesn't feel like spending over twice as much for only slightly more functionality.

I would consider that to be thinking man's (or woman's) approach. A behaviour that seems somewhat more common with older people than it does with folks my age. One has to wonder, where is all of this leading? What's the next generation going to be like? I'm somewhat afraid of the thought that I'll have to purchase the iPhone 16S for my seven year old (hypothetical) daughter just so that she isn't shunned by the other kids in elementary school.

This is obviously a joke, to a certain extend, but I'm not too convinced that this isn't going to happen...

 

[Solo]

This is something we have been discussing in my psychology classes recently on the topic of evolutionary psychology. Its down to humans having neophillia, we get bored very easily and want to have new 'shiny' things to play with and show off. Its thought to come down to the basic need to reproduce and having new things is like a status symbol which can be attractive to the opposite sex.

So basically yes we buy products but more often than not we buy it due to the status it carries.

 

[That90sGuy]

No, the reason I'm shaking my head at this is the society's part in all of this. I'm wondering, why is it that people rely on brands so much in an attempt to 'be someone'? Yeah, I would say that I, myself, am quite the capitalist. But this is getting to a point where consumerism seems to be getting out of control, in a way.

I don't know if I can answer that question, as the answer is probably down to a number of complex reason. The best I answer I can give is that humans, when in groups, have a bit of a pack mentality and when this pack demands that everyone must have a certain product or thing to stand out, then to avoid being shunned, the group must buy that product to make themselves look desirable to their own social group and, in a way, to society itself.

 

[Moglet]

Many people will pay more for a logo than an actual product. The iPhone is a perfect example and cars are a good one too. Personally I prefer buying the underdog. It's usually cheaper for the same or better. See: iPhone 5/Samsung Galaxy S3

 

[Slash]

Yes and no. Some people do just because they can, others like me like certain features things have yet cannot afford it, and view it at the same time as "not a loss" if we don't have it.

 

[Luminis]

As a little disclaimer, I'd like to mention that I'm not trying to bash anyone's opinion or am attempting to have the last word on the matter. But I like being the advocatus diabloli, mostly as an attempt to facilitate an ongoing discussion

This is something we have been discussing in my psychology classes recently on the topic of evolutionary psychology. Its down to humans having neophillia, we get bored very easily and want to have new 'shiny' things to play with and show off. Its thought to come down to the basic need to reproduce and having new things is like a status symbol which can be attractive to the opposite sex.

So basically yes we buy products but more often than not we buy it due to the status it carries.

Neophilia is a good explanation for what's going on, I agree. However, I would like to think that, with the whole hunters and gatherers thing, humans should have a tendency to make the best out of the resources they have.

This might be a thing of conscious decision vs. natural instincts as much as anything else, however, I feel as if the whole thing has been more pronounced than it is with older people. That might very well be due to the environment those folks grew up in, which caused them to rely much more on their conscious decisions than on their instincts. It's peculiar, in my opinion, that this is getting worse. If you can call it worse, of course.

I don't know if I can answer that question, as the answer is probably down to a number of complex reason. The best I answer I can give is that humans, when in groups, have a bit of a pack mentality and when this pack demands that everyone must have a certain product or thing to stand out, then to avoid being shunned, the group must buy that product to make themselves look desirable to their own social group and, in a way, to society itself.

A very good point. What's getting to me is that I don't know whether thhis is actually inbred human behaviour, or whether it is what we have been made by companies trying to maximize their sales.

Yes and no. Some people do just because they can, others like me like certain features things have yet cannot afford it, and view it at the same time as "not a loss" if we don't have it.

Getting it because one has money to spare is a very valid reason, I agree. However, I would assume that this is a rather rare case.

An example of this would be a close friend of mine. He's had to get a second job to make ends meet, but he'd rather do that than not drive a brand new Audi or forgoe his Galaxy S3. In both cases, there would be option that would work well enough an be much cheaper - but due to them not being status updates, he'd rather work 65 hours a week than to go with the 'lesser' option.

I do respect that, no questions asked. Because, I do know that a lot of people would usually just take a loan out and be done with it. Okay, that's what my employer is making his money with and what I am essentially being paid with, so I shouldn't complain. It just seems baffling to me that people would go to such lengths in an attempt to obtain these status items.

 

[Exorcet]

Yeah, I took a class on advertising once and it made zero sense to me. In a sentence, the point was that you don't sell a product, you sell a lifestyle. Good luck getting me to buy a lifestyle, all I see is your product. I can made irrational decisions of course, but those irrational decisions are also product driven.

I don't not care for status or any of that non sense. I actually like to remove myself from that. One thing I hated about my old laptop was the design. For one thing, it was more impractical than I thought it would be. For another it looks like the kind of computer that someone who cares about the aesthetics of a computer would buy. Someone even commented about this once, and I was quick to point out that the look had no influence on my decision to buy (it was price and performance only).

Neophilia is a good explanation for what's going on, I agree. However, I would like to think that, with the whole hunters and gatherers thing, humans should have a tendency to make the best out of the resources they have.

But what's better for survival? Making do, or looking for something better. The latter provides a strong motivation to improve the quality of life, and hence survival.

This might be a thing of conscious decision vs. natural instincts as much as anything else, however, I feel as if the whole thing has been more pronounced than it is with older people. That might very well be due to the environment those folks grew up in, which caused them to rely much more on their conscious decisions than on their instincts. It's peculiar, in my opinion, that this is getting worse. If you can call it worse, of course.

I think one of the issues with the older generation is that they're less adaptable. The older members of my family have their own ways of doing things and they don't see very much that is intuitive about new things, like computers. I recently tried to help someone save a file from the internet. It was desired that the file be saved in two places, so I suggested saving, creating a new folder, and then copying. This was apparently "overly complex".

I guess as you get older, you're not looking for new things because you're comfortable with what you know.

 

[Carlos]

I don't mind people buying things for their coolness, what bothers me the most is that they (people who buy things for being cool) judge me on that basis, and lately it seems to be getting a lot worse.

 

[SlipZtrEm]

This sort of thing has come up a lot for me this year, since my courses are split between graphic design, and advertising. Naturally, a lot of my professors swear allegiance to Apple, and I can hardly fight it (with iPhone 4 in hand), but an interesting, semi-related story from the first week:

My packaging design professor went around the room, asking people what their favourite brands were and why. Of course, Apple came up a lot, with no hesitations, but the reasonings began to get murky. There was a fair amount of advertisement parroting; "it just works" or "it does things a PC can't", and some just loved their design. I said Apple, but my reasoning was that they have power over their consumers in a way very few companies have had before. I haven't heard about people lining up two days in advance to buy the latest Android phone, even though they have a perfectly functioning current model. I don't know people who sell their PC laptops when a new one pops up a few months later. Meeting a non-militant Apple fan is an increasingly rare occurrence, and from the advertising/psychology angle, I find that very interesting. I have my iPhone because it was a $0 Boxing Day doorcrasher last year, and I realize there are better-equipped mobiles out there.

Of course, then I get into the possibly hypocritical reasons thanks to the graphic design aspect of my life; I like minimalism, and I like how uncluttered my screen generally looks on the iPhone. But, I got this over the 4S, and have no plans on upgrading for a very long time, because it does everything I need it to do. My requirements aren't insanely high, and this phone satisfies them. What really mystifies me are the people who rush out to get the newest version, but then only really use it for phoning, texting, and games. Why?!

It's certainly a strange development in human behaviour, and it's especially interesting to bring up the basic "want versus need" aspect here; the majority of us are self-described "car enthusiasts", and I'm pretty sure just about every one of us lusts after a car that is far more "want" than "need"

 

[That90sGuy]

A very good point. What's getting to me is that I don't know whether this is actually inbred human behaviour, or whether it is what we have been made by companies trying to maximize their sales.

I have a feeling that it's a bit of both. The instincts of humans are tapped into by advertisers and marketers, which fuels desire for the product as a must-have thing.

Meeting a non-militant Apple fan is an increasingly rare occurrence, and from the advertising/psychology angle, I find that very interesting. I have my iPhone because it was a $0 Boxing Day doorcrasher last year, and I realize there are better-equipped mobiles out

I'm kind of like the same as you. The house I live in is littered with Apple products, however, while I prefer Apple over a PC, that's my personal preference and not a status symbol. If I was in the market for a new computer or phone and an Android or Windows device appeals to me more, I will buy it. I'm not one who would upgrade to the latest models of things everytime they're. For example, I'm writing this message on a 1st generation iPad that still has the iOS that has Google Maps in them.

I'm not sure how far this desire for everything that's new will go, but hopefully we've reached the peak, but I doubt it.

 

[Slash]

As a little disclaimer, I'd like to mention that I'm not trying to bash anyone's opinion or am attempting to have the last word on the matter. But I like being the advocatus diabloli, mostly as an attempt to facilitate an ongoing discussion

Neophilia is a good explanation for what's going on, I agree. However, I would like to think that, with the whole hunters and gatherers thing, humans should have a tendency to make the best out of the resources they have.

This might be a thing of conscious decision vs. natural instincts as much as anything else, however, I feel as if the whole thing has been more pronounced than it is with older people. That might very well be due to the environment those folks grew up in, which caused them to rely much more on their conscious decisions than on their instincts. It's peculiar, in my opinion, that this is getting worse. If you can call it worse, of course.

A very good point. What's getting to me is that I don't know whether thhis is actually inbred human behaviour, or whether it is what we have been made by companies trying to maximize their sales.

Getting it because one has money to spare is a very valid reason, I agree. However, I would assume that this is a rather rare case.

An example of this would be a close friend of mine. He's had to get a second job to make ends meet, but he'd rather do that than not drive a brand new Audi or forgoe his Galaxy S3. In both cases, there would be option that would work well enough an be much cheaper - but due to them not being status updates, he'd rather work 65 hours a week than to go with the 'lesser' option.

I do respect that, no questions asked. Because, I do know that a lot of people would usually just take a loan out and be done with it. Okay, that's what my employer is making his money with and what I am essentially being paid with, so I shouldn't complain. It just seems baffling to me that people would go to such lengths in an attempt to obtain these status items.

Yet it happens.

I don't mind people buying things for their coolness, what bothers me the most is that they (people who buy things for being cool) judge me on that basis, and lately it seems to be getting a lot worse.

Agreed.

Yeah, I took a class on advertising once and it made zero sense to me. In a sentence, the point was that you don't sell a product, you sell a lifestyle. Good luck getting me to buy a lifestyle, all I see is your product. I can made irrational decisions of course, but those irrational decisions are also product driven.

I don't not care for status or any of that non sense. I actually like to remove myself from that. One thing I hated about my old laptop was the design. For one thing, it was more impractical than I thought it would be. For another it looks like the kind of computer that someone who cares about the aesthetics of a computer would buy. Someone even commented about this once, and I was quick to point out that the look had no influence on my decision to buy (it was price and performance only).



But what's better for survival? Making do, or looking for something better. The latter provides a strong motivation to improve the quality of life, and hence survival.



I think one of the issues with the older generation is that they're less adaptable. The older members of my family have their own ways of doing things and they don't see very much that is intuitive about new things, like computers. I recently tried to help someone save a file from the internet. It was desired that the file be saved in two places, so I suggested saving, creating a new folder, and then copying. This was apparently "overly complex".

I guess as you get older, you're not looking for new things because you're comfortable with what you know.

This agreed as well. I tend to treat myself to something every so often, but I feel as if I'm not missing out if I don't buy something. That said, I really don't like touch screens.

 

[Danoff]

So this is fairly well known outside the apple community - that purchases of apple products are usually about status and less about practicality.

It does suck for the 1% of people who genuinely have a good reason to buy apple (100% of them think they are in the 1%). Same goes for BMW, certain clothing brands, some houses, and, if you're poor, whether or not you have a sticker on your hat brim.

 

[sumbrownkid]

I must be one of the few Apple customers (iPhone 4) that doesn't really care that they have an Apple product and must shove it in people's faces about.

I just wanted a good, reliable phone.👍

Status symbols are always going to be intertwined with the products we buy. Why buy a BMW when a Hyundai can get you to your destination?

That said, who in the right mind will choose a Hyundai over a BMW in reality?

 

[Leicht]

Status symbols are always going to be intertwined with the products we buy. Why buy a BMW when a Hyundai can get you to your destination?

That said, who in the right mind will choose a Hyundai over a BMW in reality?

It's like why do you want to buy a Lamborghini Aventador if Nissan GT-R R35 can offer the same performance with a less expensive price tag

OR...

Why do you want to buy a branded bag (i.e Louis Vuitton) if you can buy a counterfeit version of it for your wife?

OR..

Why do you want to buy a branded watch (i.e Tag Heuer) if you can buy a $20 watch that works the same?

TBH, I bought my current Macbook Pro because of:
(a) status symbol
(b) been a windows user all my life until now

 

[Danoff]

I just wanted a good, reliable phone.👍

...lots of lower cost options.

 

[Joel]

I got suckered in by apple when I was 14, dropped 1400 on an imac desktop that I want to sell now so I can buy a PC for half the price and triple the functionality. I cringe at all the mac zealots I see at school, "macs are good for university!". All you "need" for school is MS Office, and you can get a laptop for $500 that will do that and handle facebook and youtube (which is all the mac people I know do). I just don't get how people can dish out $1500 for a laptop so they can do word processing and youtube. "It just works!".

People spending big money on a gaming computer is different, it's spending money on functionality to run certain games, whereas macs are about dropping big money for SHINY.

 

[Leicht]

I got suckered in by apple, dropped 1400 on an imac desktop that I want to sell now so I can buy a PC for half the price and triple the functionality. I cringe at all the mac zealots I see at school, "macs are good for university!". All you "need" for school is MS Office, and you can get a laptop for $500 that will do that and handle facebook and youtube (which is all the mac people I know do). I just don't get how people can dish out $1500 for a laptop so they can do word processing and youtube. "It just works!".

People spending big money on a gaming computer is different, it's spending mon

I wish iMac are reasonably equipped according to it's (new) price tag.

You forgot to add tumblr there.

 

[Signal52]

Macs are good for certain things. If you don't need those certain things, they're far too expensive.

 

[Leicht]

People spending big money on a gaming computer is different, it's spending money on functionality to run certain games, whereas macs are about dropping big money for SHINY.

TBH, the first thing that came to my mind when I saw the new iMac is "it's so beautiful" and I want to buy it but when I look at the specs, it is way underpowered compared to my laptop.

 

[Joel]

It's not just macs though, a friend of mine dropped $1900 on an Alienware laptop that is equivalent to a lenovo ideapad y580 in performance, which can be had for $849 (or just over 1k with a 1080p screen). It's about alienware being a "gaming" computer (and it's shiny and the keyboard lights up), while lenovo is most well known for thinkpads (durable business laptops).

 

[hawkeye122]

Macs are status symbols, unless you're using Final Cut Pro. I have yet to find a better video editing software.

 

[Joel]

Macs are status symbols, unless you're using Final Cut Pro. I have yet to find a better video editing software.

Yeah, there's certainly a use for them, but as danoff mentioned with the iPhone, 100% of mac users think they're the 1% who "need" it.

 

[JediRage]

What's amazing about all of this is that barely 6 years ago, Apple was the underdog and MS was the 'big bad'. Now that Apple has become the 'big', the 'bad' is slowly being appended to it. Apple's computers' main draw has always been that the software is made for the hardware and vice versa which lets it get maximum performance out of each.

All it comes down to, in the end, is getting what you want. Switch up the products you buy from time to time for a bit of variety. Brand loyalty is just ... self-defeating.

Buying a the same product every year is unhealthy, yes, and it is no different from buying a new FIFA or COD every freaking year. I think that should have been the focus of the documentary.

 

[Omnis]

Everything is just economics.

 

[homeforsummer]

iPhone owner here.

Not bothered about the "status", particularly. It doesn't give me any particular sense of glee to know I've got the same product a billion other people have. It'd be like being full of yourself for having ears.

I very rarely have the latest gadget. It took me several years to buy a PS3, even longer to get an HD TV, and the first iPhone I got was a 4. I tend to hang onto phones for as long as a contract lasts. My last phone was a Samsung Tocco Lite - basically, an early touchscreen one, which was as crap as you'd think. It convinced me that I quite liked using a touchscreen phone, but also convinced me that my next phone had to work well.

As a result, I got an iPhone. I've owned an iPod before (4th-gen Nano) so an iPhone allowed me to hang onto the stuff I'd got used to (such as iTunes), and at the same time I got a damn good phone into the bargain. Incidentally, the iPhone is only my second-ever Apple device, which isn't bad considering how much the market is saturated by them.

It's also better supported for apps than anything else, which is handy. I like photography and it has a good camera (plus masses of apps again), which is also handy. As a first-tier platform it also has a lot of hardware backup - everything from in-car connections to standalone speaker things... which is also handy.

And I'd hate to pull out the old chestnut, but it just sort of works. I like tech but I'm not majorly geeky on it, so something that does what I expect it to do without me having to faff about so much is right up my street. It's all very well having something technically superior but I'd need some sort of tangible benefit to convince me to buy it.

Edit:

As for the "selling a lifestyle" thing, I'd say that an iPhone has added usefully to my life - I certainly get plenty of use from it, and since my job is entirely internet-based it's quite handy when I'm not near my computer - but it's certainly not made me cooler/a better person/got me laid.

And really, it's an area that Apple has clearly got a jump on everyone else. While everyone else was geeking it up, Apple made a product that people wanted. And what do you see in everyone else's phone/tablet computer adverts now? That's right, people whose lives are being "enriched" by said product in some way. Nobody who owns any of those products can really say they've not been taken in, in exactly the same was as the equivalent Apple customer.

 

[Minty]

This is something I notice a lot. People buy stuff for looks and for flash value more than performance. Like they buy it more for the benefit of others than themselves. My RAZR was the price of a 4S when I bought it a year ago, yet twice as powerful and with a faster, dual core, processor. It also has a larger, OLED, display. Its a better thing in every respect and yet most of my friends chose the iPhone because it looks nice and because the commercial did a great job at showing off all the things it could do. And no matter how much I explain and prove that my RAZR does all of that and more they're convinced the iPhone is better because I didn't have the presentation Apple does. Same goes for beats, you can talk about how Pioneer or Sennheiser have higher frequency response and smoother bass for half the price of a $300 set of Beats, or that for the same price you can get an unbelievable pair of Pioneers, but people will buy Beats anyway because of some "b yourself" BS they have in big bold letters next to some famous guy wearing them.


Some of these companies could probably sell literal piles of crap with how their ads tap into the way people think about what they want. Apple's marketing team could probably sell bottled air for $100 if they set their minds to it.

And people would proudly display their 12oz $100 bottle of iAir and argue that its better than normal air because Apple said so. This isn't exclusive to Apple or Beats, they're just the easiest examples.

Seems most of the times this works by advertising that buying the product makes you stand out with slogans like "think different" and "b yourself", so they're not even shy about marketing themselves as a way to make yourself seem more noteworthy than those around you.