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Subscribe to RSSFinally, science explains the scrunchie, parachute pants and those Silly Bandz the kids today are crazy about: You bought them (and your kids are buying them) because the cool kids have them. A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research confirms what we already suspected -- people will buy really weird things in their quest to fit in.
"Social exclusion is a very painful experience, which makes it a strong motivator," explains Tyler Stillman, a visiting sociology professor at Southern Utah University, who is one of the study's co-authors.
In one experiment, researchers paired study participants with a partner who left midway through the study. Some of the participants believed their partners left because they didn't like them -- and those people were more easily talked into buying a silly school spirit trinket. In another study, people who felt excluded were more likely to say they were willing to try cocaine. Researchers say their findings could have real-life implications.
"I think people experience the threat of exclusion when they move to a new area, start a new job, or start college," says Kathleen D. Vohs, a marketing professor at the University of Minnesota. "My hunch is that people in these circumstances are more likely to buy products that enable them to connect to their new social circumstances."
For example, for new college students, that could mean buying and wearing a hoodie with the name of the university on it.
"This trend is probably especially pronounced among people who experience difficulty gaining social acceptance in their new environment," says Vohs.
So, does it ever work? Can you really buy your way into a group of friends?
"Ha, well -- I do think it works sometimes," Vohs says. "We know from decades of data, that when people want to fit in, one great strategy is to mimic or be similar to others with whom they would like to be friends. So showing a would-be friend that you have the same spending patterns (tightwad or spendthrift) as she does is a great way to show her that you are similar, which is a generally effective strategy to be likable."
What's the dumbest or priciest (or both!) thing you've ever bought in a misguided attempt to fit in? Did it work?
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This is most evidenced not by what people are willing to buy with money, but how they are willing to sacrifice principle and common sense in politics and "buy" into what integrates them in the group people think will make them "popular" or on the "winning side." One need only see a "political" rally or demonstration to see just how absurd people will act to fit in. It goes far to explain how people can seemingly eschew any semblance of reason and class when it comes to fitting in a "political" group and being the "winners."
I don't care if people blow their own money trying to fit in; it's when these people bring their personal emotional neediness into the public arena that it becomes a problem.
Thanks for the thoughtful comment, Jim. Any recent examples you care to share?
A contributor to the problem also lies in the reverse of it.....if someone doesn't look or act like the majority, they have trouble making friends, getting a job, etc. I'm sure I've had some applications turned down because I still wear my hair 70s length, and "society" no longer finds that acceptable. For my part, however, I don't really give a damn, I'm here to be who I am, not to be pleasing to your eye.
I bought cigarettes and yes, it worked.
Amazing! Science confirms that we do things because the cool kids do it and we want to fit in! Seriously? Why are studies constantly being conducted on crap we already know from living through middle and high school?
I joined the Harley-Davidson crowd. Can't afford to be here but I do enjoy the bike if not the company.
How funny -- that was exactly the example one of the researchers used to illustrate the point. Except you say you "do enjoy the bike if not the company," which, I guess, is exactly the opposite of the study's findings!
I never tried to fit in. I was proud of how I differed from the mindless drones all copying each other, and I made friends that respected that, and were likewise unique in their styles, behaviours and/or activities. And I wouldn't have given up a single one of them for all the preppy drones in the school.
Never worked well for me, probably b/c I was still too different. I wasn't willing to give up EVERYTHING that made me who I was!
How is a scrunchie weird? They've been around forever, and many people like to keep their hair from flying away. If a scrunchie is weird then hats must be pretty strange as well!
I'm sure hats were strange at one point. Especially if the scrunchie really was considered weird at some point. You gotta think, everything had to start somewhere. So wwwaayyy back when some fella came out of his home wearing this thing on his head that his wife made and insisted he wear to protect from the sun (or whatever), I'm sure at the time that was bizarre.
Has anyone noticed that it's not just us 'common folk' that try this? I'm noticing it more and more with celebrity trends, especially in hairstyles. For example, I've seen women have long, flowing, curly hair on one side of their head, but cut right to the scalp above the ear on the other side. That was something that, to me, looks so stupid but unfortunately seems to be catching on. There's such a thing as not following a crowd and being your own person regardless or what everyone else is doing. But then there are those doing something that's extraordinarily unusual just so they can say 'Hey, look how cool and edgy I am. I did something you're all too scared to." And suddenly everyone's on the bandwagon and it becomes 'trendy.' I respect other people's opinions and they can do whatever they wish, but i'm the kind of person that avoids fads and doing things just for the sake of fitting in.
I agree, people can do pretty much whatever; and I'm not going to get upset as long as it's not obscene. But, it kind of loses its "edgy-ness" when it becomes trendy! LOL!
I grew up in the 70's in fla dad was stuck in the 50's i had to keep short hair and grew up with the waltons family values (Dad and mom were originally W.VA hillbillies) . Boy did i rebell they won most of the battles and now that i am older i am glad they did there gone now and all the kids i grew up with are old like me only most of them are not as well off, as far me.
Well , I am only trying to please myself and my wife i wear my hair short i wear t-shirts with pockets and bluejeans( some things don't change) ..Oh and i don't go back home no more perfering my new residence between mayport and ceder key florida life is good !
I did try to fit in but it never worked for me, i spent more time trying to make sure i was like them that it just made me stand out more. eventually i gave up and i here i am. though sometimes i do consider starting smoking. anyone eles notice how smokers always have so many friends? i know its bad for you but at least someone would talk to me.
Don't count on it. It's not the smoke that makes people talk to someone. I never fit in either, though for a while I tried. My sister even tried to tell me how. I just would have had to give up pieces of myself, and I couldn't do that. I used to wonder what horrible thing was wrong with me! It was when I found a group that accepted me for who I was that things turned around for me. Now I'm just myself-some people don't like it, unfortunately; but I can't help that. I stay polite and all that, but not everyone is going to like you unless you are a cardboard person with no opinions of your own. Many people do like me. If they don't talk to me, I will go up to them and start talking to them.