Why we always want more (The Diderot Effect)

It’s true what they say.

We are a collective of all of the experiences that come before us.

And through these experiences, we construct an idea of who we are, and how we like to present ourselves to the world.

To introduce ourselves with our presence before we utter a word.

The same is true with our customers, in the pursuit of creating their ideal self, they consciously and subconsciously make decisions to support this through their purchases.

As business owners, it’s important to understand why our people buy, and what's really driving the next move, the next purchase - and the story of Denis Diderot’s embodies this journey...

Diderot was a famous French philosopher, who was well known for co-founding and writing Encyclopédie, one of the most comprehensive encyclopedias at the time.

Despite his success in reputation, he spent most of his life in poverty and was unable to provide a dowry when his daughter was set to be married.

Hearing of his financial troubles, Catherine the Great, the Empress of Russia, stepped in and offered to buy his library for the equivalent of $50,000 USD, which as you can imagine, completely flipped his world around.

With his newfound opulence, Diderot acquired a new scarlet robe, and from there, a new identity (and consequential purchase behaviours were born).

In comparison to his previously poverty stricken lifestyle, his new robe was now out of place, and everything around it in his house looked dishevelled.

He now considered himself on a different level of society, and was drawn to decorating his home with beautiful sculptures, more decorations, a new leather chair, the list goes on…

So where am I going with this??

Think of this in the context of the modern day...

Think of the new job, that brings the new car,

… that leads to the new house,

… in the new suburb

Which leads to the new dining habits, the new clothes, the new partner and so on and so forth.

Sound familiar?

Identity is one of our most powerful motivators - and we buy things that allow us to express who we are.

Whether it’s the gym class we choose to take,

The car we drive

The clothes we wear

The logos we bear

The self-expressive benefits of a product or service can be some of the most powerful magnets in drawing us to the sale (article coming on this soon)

We behave in the way that we see ourselves, we make decisions from that place.

The identities we are trying to create demand our purchases, whether we’re consciously aware of it or not.

It’s the true driver of why we buy

If I can give you any takeaway from this story, it would be to understand the identity of your customers, and where you sit in terms of purchases that support this.

What do they buy before they see you?

What do they buy after they see you?

What experiences are they seeking?

And lastly, who are they striving to become?

It’s this level of understanding that is key in identifying opportunities and creating a map of messages that walks them through from cold prospect to a future advocate for your brand.

Zac