Proud shoppers buy watches, contented shoppers buy housewares

Proud shoppers buy watches, contented shoppers buy housewares: this according to a new Journal of Consumer Research paper. "If a retailer is selling products that allow the consumer to 'show off' to other people, this retailer may want to induce feelings of pride through store atmospherics or advertising. In contrast, a retailer selling primarily home furnishings might want to try to induce feelings of contentment." ,

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

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And if I buy a watch and housewares in the same trip, then I am proud and content? I suspect that if I buy a cup of coffee sometime during the same shopping experience, then I am a sleepy/addicted shopper? I can’t imagine the kind of shopper I would be if I bought a book too.
Loraan

I submit that truly contented people don’t buy anything. They just sit around and enjoy what they have. Which is why contentment is incompatible with a commercial society.