Is black friday just a marketing trick to nudge people into wasting money?

[noname223]

I think probably yes. Though I admit as usual I made two buys at black friday. I buy Fifa and the playstation online subscription. Both is reduced at this time of the year a lot. I know electronic arts should feel ashamed to rip people of with Fifa. Barely imporvements and they demand a lot of money. I won't go into details why I still bought. it. To make it short I enjoy soccer video games a lot. But I don't waste money on this disgusting pay-two win system.

Though I think many or most people buy things at black friday which they don' really need. Or at least they only buy it because it looks like a great deal. They don't really enjoy having it but it is a dopamine boost when one buys it. I think this is deeply integrated in our capitalistic culture. The notion of wanting to reward you. The notion of you deserve it. The notion of be smarter than the other people who spend way too much for this product. This janus-faced notion of wanting to belong to a certain group (which this product allows you to be part of) and at the same time the notion of expressing your individuality by buying certain products. Then there are products which shall give you a good conscience. Buy bio-products and save the world. Pay more for a flight with CO2 certificates which is similat to selling indulgences.

I read on average the people in my country save 4-5% of money on black friday deals. When they were asked they estimated 20%.

But I am probably not that much better. There are people who can live in poverty and still enjoy life. I am already planning to kill myself when this happens. In a certain way I admire people who can live in poverty without many complaints. But for me no I cannot stand that. I need to kill myself. And the new welfare reform in my country is a fucking joke. They gave me hope all for nothing. It is in many aspects very cynical. How the media reported about it and that the leftwingers did not even want to fight for it. So when I kill myself the disappointment about politics will be a part of it. Though of course I have way bigger problem than that. But it was a naive dream of mine that the reforms could change something.

 

[locked*n*loaded]

That's how a lot of stores make a large percentage of their money for the year, at least brick and mortar stores do. I think everyone has bought things they don't really need. Nothing new there. I suppose receiving some perceived deal makes it easier for one to justify a purchase. Here in the US I think you can save a lot more than 20% on something on Black Friday, but what is 20% savings, or more even, if you don't really need what you purchase? In that case you really haven't saved anything. I guess Black Friday is good for gift buying if you can find a deal if you were going to buy something anyway.

 

[lebrodude]

Absolutely.

I think people are conditioned to lose their minds over Black Friday and end up buying things they normally wouldn't because it's on sale. Fear of missing out if you will.

 

[BruhXDDDDD]

It's a marketing trick but I don't think anyone behind it cares whether or not you're wasting your money.

 

[sserafim]

I think probably yes. Though I admit as usual I made two buys at black friday. I buy Fifa and the playstation online subscription. Both is reduced at this time of the year a lot. I know electronic arts should feel ashamed to rip people of with Fifa. Barely imporvements and they demand a lot of money. I won't go into details why I still bought. it. To make it short I enjoy soccer video games a lot. But I don't waste money on this disgusting pay-two win system.

Though I think many or most people buy things at black friday which they don' really need. Or at least they only buy it because it looks like a great deal. They don't really enjoy having it but it is a dopamine boost when one buys it. I think this is deeply integrated in our capitalistic culture. The notion of wanting to reward you. The notion of you deserve it. The notion of be smarter than the other people who spend way too much for this product. This janus-faced notion of wanting to belong to a certain group (which this product allows you to be part of) and at the same time the notion of expressing your individuality by buying certain products. Then there are products which shall give you a good conscience. Buy bio-products and save the world. Pay more for a flight with CO2 certificates which is similat to selling indulgences.

I read on average the people in my country save 4-5% of money on black friday deals. When they were asked they estimated 20%.

But I am probably not that much better. There are people who can live in poverty and still enjoy life. I am already planning to kill myself when this happens. In a certain way I admire people who can live in poverty without many complaints. But for me no I cannot stand that. I need to kill myself. And the new welfare reform in my country is a fucking joke. They gave me hope all for nothing. It is in many aspects very cynical. How the media reported about it and that the leftwingers did not even want to fight for it. So when I kill myself the disappointment about politics will be a part of it. Though of course I have way bigger problem than that. But it was a naive dream of mine that the reforms could change something.

Yeah it is, under the guise that people are getting a "good deal". Honestly all of the holidays are just marketing schemes that exist for people to spend money. If you buy something just because it's a good deal and don't actually want or need it, you're wasting your money.

It's a marketing trick but I don't think anyone behind it cares whether or not you're wasting your money.

They want your money though, they want you to waste your money.

 

[oneeyed]

I used to work retail. It 100% is. Out of all the "deals" there's maybe 1 or 2 items that really are at an amazing price, the rest are usual prices from previous specials. Slap on black Friday on it and suddenly people have never seen 'x item' so low!

There's a whole field of "retail psychology" to better understand human habits to exploit and raise profits. For example, department stores/malls will always have music playing over the intercom. Listening to music alters most people's perception of time, while listening to music more time passes than you realize. The more time you spend in store, the more likely you are to spend more money. Hence the music playing.

 

[Kattt]

*Anything that is truly worth having, doesn't need someone to sell it. Those things are quite capable of selling themselves.
*It's not a bargain unless you were going to buy it anyway.
*Advertising is the most unscrupulous, insidious, unethical business of our time. It exists to make people believe they want/need things they neither want, need or can afford. If people only bought what they really needed, most of these companies wouldn't exist.
*When somebody says that advertising doesn't affect them, you know it's doing its job. The goal is for the consumer only to know that they want the product. Not to question why or what for, just that they want it.
*Nobody is immune to advertising. Our most basic human, evolutionary instincts are provoked, over which we have little power. Neural marketing techniques would not be permitted (the ethics are severely criticised) if we were aware of it's presence.
*If you don't think advertising is effective, consider the $856 billion spent on it last year. That wasn't because it's ineffective.

 

[deadtomorrow]

100% and it attracts stupid consumerists, i know a local store that just sold the things at the original price but in black friday they'd write a bigger price claiming it was the original price.

 

[ClownWorld2023]

I think there are some good deals sometimes, but it's rare.

I bought a NVMe SSD at the time for a decent discount (30%).
This was when they were expensive compared to now.

 

[I Can't Say]

You know what the etymology of "Black Friday" is, right? It means a chance for struggling businesses to get "into the black ink" by racking up sales. Barefacedly a money-making proposition.

 

[Forever Sleep]

Yes. People go crazy for sales. I used to work in retail. They were always running sales and then they'd wonder why people weren't buying stuff at full price- because they're waiting for you to put it in the sale- duh!

Anyhow, once the main sale had ended, they would shove all the crap that was left in one messy corner. When the shop opened, people would be running in to get there first.

One woman brought something to the till and asked- 'How much is this?' So- I told her. Then, she was like: 'What is it?' Seriousy- all they see is a bargain. It could have been a plastic bag full of manure. I think it was some kind of undergarment actually. She didn't buy it but yeah- sales are like feeding frenzies- they mess with people's heads. It becomes kind of primal too. A kind of battle of the fittest/ most ruthless. I never saw an actual fight but it got close at times. People feel like they're entitled to stuff and they won't let others encroach on that. When they all believe that- there are problems.