Consumerism and Brands Conclusion

The economic principle I examined was consumers responding to incentives in predictable ways.  There are many situations where this economic principle can be applied to the real world. For instance, while studying high-end brands and consumerism, I found many examples of this policy. First, I examined why people feel different if they wear a high-end brand. My research shows that people feel more confident and more relatable when they are wearing a high-end good. Therefore people's incentive to want them are higher. This indicates that their motivation to buy was higher when it was a better brand. This can be predicted, therefore proving that economic principle.

Second, I researched why people feel the need to buy higher-end goods. I looked up the psychology behind it. I concluded that the consumers don’t consider the trade-offs they can get in exchange for brand name items because they only consider the immediate satisfaction consumers get when they splurge. Even if a product isn’t better than the generic one, as consumers, we feel convinced that the higher end one is superior. This demonstrates that people feel better about themselves if they purchase a higher end good. Therefore, their incentive to buy it grows as the price goes up and the brand gets better known.

Third, I researched how companies and sellers convince the consumers to buy more. I concluded that because institutions are the “rules of the game” that influence choices, moral principles, superstitions, and cultural values influence people’s decisions. In this situation, the consumers take values and morality and become heavily influenced by the culture and environment of the stores. Sellers have tricks they use to make consumers buy more. They predict that the incentive will be higher to buy when they install these tricks. This means that the predictions they make when using these tricks work because it does improve the numbers of items sold. Overall, you can see that incentives are raised when the brand is better known and the companies can predict how the consumers will react when they make the company appear a certain way.