Short-Term Pleasure, Long-Term Burnout

Even though we have been raised with the advice of our culture to “stretch your legs according to your comforter”, some of the things we spend today push the limits of this comforter to the limit. In particular, spending on technological luxuries has become a status indicator rather than a necessity.

Academics explain this behavior with the concept of “doom spender”. This term is used to describe individuals who are addicted to spending and often consume luxury goods for emotional satisfaction or to gain social status.

The Password to Visibility: Brand Power in Technology

According to sociologists, brand addiction in technological luxury products has become a form of self-expression. According to a study, prestige-oriented shoppers aim to make themselves “more visible” in their social circles, especially by choosing high-priced technological products.

Especially expensive smartphones, headphones, and wearable technologies are perceived as status symbols. As a matter of fact, Nielsen’s 2023 report, which points out that 68% of consumers find brand value and image more important than the functionality of the product, significantly confirms the theses put forward.

Technology: Need or Status Indicator?

Some scholars emphasize the impact of luxury consumption on social status and identity construction. In particular, the concept of “brand addiction” offers a serious framework to explain such shopping habits.

Brand addiction means that an individual identifies the image and status offered by a brand with their own identity. Buying a flashy product creates a short-term feeling of superiority. However, since this feeling is not permanent, the person enters a spending cycle again. In other words, the pleasure that doom spender individuals feel while spending unfortunately provides a short-term satisfaction.

Conclusion

To summarize; the consumption habits of doom spender individuals are a reflection of the individual’s identity construction and search for social acceptance in modern society. However, although this cycle starts with the promise of achieving a satisfying status, it often ends in material and emotional exhaustion.

This shows that the pursuit of visibility in the age of technology can cause individuals to overstep their boundaries and move away from their real needs. As a result, we need a modern version of the advice to “stretch your legs”: “Don’t darken your true self to shine on the outside.”