You’re at the gift shop of the botanical garden. The store has vaulted ceilings, natural light, and the soft sound of water burbling over smooth stones.
You wander to the personal care section. The gift shop carries perfume, lotions, and different kinds of soap: some look like rocks, some look like fudge, some are crusted with lavender buds and sugar crystals.
One lotion announces its scent as the rare, elusive essence of an endangered flower.
What’s your reaction?
- Ooh, I’ve got to buy this lotion! It’s a rare scent, which means it’s special and way more unique than lavender or jasmine. Besides, it’s endangered. This might be my only chance to own this precious scent!
- Huh. If this flower is endangered, maybe it should be left alone instead of bottled into a lotion? Or maybe it’s like bison: you’re supposed to buy bison meat because that makes its economic value go up which means more will be bred, so the species will grow?
The first reaction is eager. Marketing a product as rare or endangered confers a sense of urgency and scarcity. It might make you feel special to think that you could wear something unusual, especially if this is your only chance to buy it.
On the other hand, some people are put off by words like “endangered.” It has a negative association that could make you feel guilty for buying the product, or too depressed about climate change to buy anything.
Are we all walking bundles of 60% water and 100% unpredictable emotional reactions to the stimuli in our environment?
Is all marketing manipulation?
