The environment gets the shaft for sure, but now studies are starting to show that if one
person start composting, their neighbors will too…
it’s like… an environmentalism arms race!
Environmentalism isn’t sexy.
We know from other DNews videos that if I say "Global Warming" some of you will perk
up but if I say, "Climate Change," you are out of here faster than radiation through
an o-zone hole…
BOOM, Now you’re back!
"Environmentalist arms-race" has that same effect, I bet.
Humans evolved to pay attention to things that affect THEM and climate change is EXTREMELY
difficult to get people to pay attention to simply because it’s so huge.
But there is one way to get everyone to pay attention, buy something flashy that shows
you care more than they do.
Think about it!
When people buy things to show off their status, like a Louis Vuitton bag, the latest game
console for their house, diamonds for their ears, necks, or hands, or latest mobile phone
to flash around… that’s called Conspicuous Consumption.
It’s a psychological term coined by an economist in the early 20th century.
We WANT people to think we’re classy, and we’ll buy things to show off our social
class.
Conspicuous consumption is tied to another American idiom: "keeping up with the Joneses."
The idea being, we don’t want to be left behind in our social group.
It’s an evolutionary tactic, chimps groom and make things, they show off and compete.
It’s a normal part of primate life.
The thing is, studies from Cal Berkeley, Universities of Minnesota and New Mexico and countries
around the world show there’s also an environmentalist version of this: Conspicuous Conservation.
This is where people gain status in their social groups by being MORE environmentally
conscious.
They buy a hybrid in a land of Hummers, start recycling in a place where people send everything
to a landfill…
It’s the green version of buying a designer suit, and they’re not mutually exclusive,
they’re inexorably connected.
Many brands know this now too, and design their environmentally friendly products to
fit with conspicuous consumption psychology.
A study from Cal Berkeley in 2012 found that the design of the Prius affects its sales.
The Prius is the most successful hybrid, in terms of sales, in part because it LOOKS like
a hybrid, they found.
People want you to KNOW you’re environmentally conscious, it’s a status symbol.
A study in American Psychologist looked at emotional behaviors around environmentalism,
and its pretty easy for us to get swept into smaller things like recycling plastic bottles,
but denial of environmental problems — like climate change — will overwhelm any beneficial
impacts.
Psychologists are working to discover more ways to help people feel good about helping
the Earth, but the question is, even though we know this is part of our evolution as a
social species, and part of a group mentality, are we actually helping the environment??
Some argue that this is just conspicuous consumption under a different name, which doesn’t help
anything; while others argue that buying greener products is good, regardless of motivation.
But what do you think?
If we end up making the world better in order to keep up with the Joneses is that as good
as making it better because we wanted to in the first place?