Social media is a powerful advertising tool for everyone. Large and small businesses alike advertise to their target clients on social media to get people to buy their products.
But even if they don’t advertise directly to you, social media can have a great influence on your buying decisions. You may even catch yourself heading more often to a licensed money lender just so you can buy the things you see on social media.
With that, it pays to know the ways social media can affect your buying habits. Here are four of the most common ways.
Fear of missing out
Social media often has this effect on you. Try to remember the last time you saw your friends’ posts of holidays overseas, new cars, or new homes. Or even those friends who let everyone know that they’ve just bought the latest model of smartphone. Then you would want to have exactly what they have, too.
This is known as the “fear of missing out” or FOMO. It’s a huge thing that can lead you to spend on things that are completely out of your budget.
There is a hidden side to FOMO, though. On the other side of the screen, you don’t know if your friends can actually afford those things they show off. Often, they may be drowning in debt because of those things. What seems like ‘living the good life’ on social media is actually a stressful life in reality.
Maintaining an ‘image’
Some people want to portray themselves as rich, famous, and powerful on social media. A huge part of this is flaunting expensive stuff like brand-name clothes, jewellery, and expensive cars. Their social media posts may also comprise several portraits with fancy real estate as the background.
If you’re like this and maintaining an image on social media, it will cost you a lot. You can easily blow your budget just to make people think you’re rich. But in reality, you may be broke and sinking in debt.
Emotional advertising
Social media is filled with ads of all kinds. This is what pays for the costs of running these platforms. The most effective kinds of advertising are those that appeal to your emotions. When you see those ads, you would feel you definitely need the product or service shown.
If emotional advertising gets a hold of you, you may not be able to think anymore before making the purchase. Once you get what you paid for, you would then regret it. It’s the only time you would think of the many reasons you don’t actually need the thing you bought.
Peer pressure
Your social media friends also greatly influence your buying decisions. Word of mouth, especially from trusted friends, can instantly motivate you to purchase something that they also have. The effect is even stronger if they give you positive feedback about the product.
Some of your friends may even say, “you just NEED to have this” or something along those lines. One friend telling you that may already sway you to buy. What more if more than one friend tells you the same thing?
Here’s another example. Let’s say your group of friends are planning a holiday overseas, and they want you to come. You hesitate because of your tight budget, but everyone else is telling you how much they’ll be missing you if you decide not to come. Wanting to please your friends, you give in to the pressure. You book a flight and accommodation, but you also set yourself up for financial trouble once you come back home.
Conclusion
Social media can definitely sway your purchasing decisions, especially if the influence comes from your friends. With that, it’s wise to find something better to do than scroll for hours a day on social media. Without the endless posts of expensive stuff distracting you, you can better decide what to do with your money.
Better yet, choose your friends wisely. Unfollow anyone who makes you spend on things you don’t even want. Instead, be friends with people who want to achieve financial freedom and are doing what they can to reach that goal. Those are the kinds of people who should be influencing you.
