Stupidity is buying utility products as a status symbol.
Why I am saying this because in India we can observe this very frequently.
People buy stuff more because of status and less because of need.
A lot of us still buy things keeping what others will think of us in mind.
You will buy the best crockery, best dining, etc so that your guests feel great.
Kunal Shah in a podcast mentioned while talking to one of his friends he realized “People in India spend lavishly on living room things way more compared to their bedrooms”
They will have the best sofas, best TVs, best architecture, best Chandelier, etc so that their living rooms look great.
Whereas in the west, it is the exact opposite, people spend lavishly on their bedrooms.
Isn’t that insane?
The best example to support my argument will be Tata NANO.
Why did Tata NANO fail?
It failed because it was bragged and marketed as the world’s cheapest car.
No, it didn’t fail because nobody wanted to own the cheapest car but they didn’t want other people to think that they are so poor and could only afford a NANO.
If you see it from an objective point of view, NANO or any other car for that matter is there for utility purposes.
That is to take people from place A to place B.
What car to buy should depend on mileage, comfort, ease of driving, budget, etc unless and until you start seeing it from a status point of view.
This showcases when how marketing is a lot dependent on perceptions.
When you market things in a manner that the inherent urge of humans to increase their status is fulfilled or perceived to be fulfilled, chances are that the marketing campaign will perform superbly well.
Something to ponder upon?
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