“I see it. I like it. I want it. I got it”, the Ariana Grande lyrics that I feel everyone should live by but not when it comes to making a purchase.

When it comes to pretty much anything in life, we always seem to want what we can’t have. Relationships, a job or even a friendship.

If something or someone is in high demand, we want it and we want it now.

Remember on last years Love Island when Dani and Jack only ended up together as Dani realised she really liked Jack after seeing him talking to someone else?

It even trickles down into materialistic items. If there is a waiting list for a new product we want to be on that list.

I remember walking past a long line outside a building in New York and asked why everyone was queuing and not one person knew why.

They just saw everyone else waiting in line and felt it was something they needed to be a part of too.

You will all be pleased to know I carried on walking and wasn’t about to be a part of something that I had no clue what it was and the fact that I absolutely hate waiting in line played a huge part in this.

Even though it is now just a distance memory, I do still often wonder what was actually happening there and did I miss out on something special?

Whether it was a new product line, a celebrity meet and greet or just a social experiment that clearly went down a storm, I will sadly never know but I feel it absolutely proves my point.

So in hindsight I did get a little bit caught up in it all just thankfully not enough to hang out on a random New York street for hours.

When it comes to celebrity products everyone is so quick to jump on the band wagon and make a purchase just because who is fronting the brand.

Yet, when it comes to small, local business that may be run by a family member or a friend our interest seems to be lacking.

Think of a brand that is run by someone you know, if you saw it appear on your favourite celebrities Instagram would it make you more likely to go straight online to make a purchase?

Or if there was a bit of a waiting list would we automatically think that this must be a good product/service and we need to be a part of it as well?

Why wouldn’t we want to be a part of it just because it’s a friend’s business? Why do we seem to need a seal of approval from a higher source to part with our cash when in hindsight it’s a damn good purchase to make?

Our brains seem to be automatically triggered by items that are out of our reach.

If something is out of stock, we leave the store feeling a little sad and deflated and find ourselves wanting that particular product even more.

Whereas, if a product we fancy is in stock we may leave the store for a moment or two and have a think about it.

If the sales advisor informed us that it was the last one, how many of us would actually buy it there and then?

I can answer for most when I say absolutely. I used to be a sucker for this, but now I have learned that they are probably lying to make you buy it and as I am extremely stubborn I will not buy into their lies.

Whenever Kylie Jenner launches a new product line or even new colours the internet goes wild, resulting in her products being sold out within minutes.

I can guarantee that if a local business was launching an extremely similar product they would sell almost nothing compared to Kylie Jenner.

Yes, she has a huge social media following but it really comes down to who she is and the fact she is a celebrity.

There are so many clothing brands available today that have started to hire celebrities to front their campaigns or even design a line for the brand themselves.

The latter always makes me question just how involved the celebrities actually are.

Thankfully due to Instagram we are able to have an insight into what actually goes on behind the scenes of designing and creating a clothing line.

However, these are still the only parts that the brand actually wants us to see.

I am not saying that all of the celebrities we see designing clothing lines have hardly any input, there are a small number of them that actually work super hard on their lines from start to finish.

There are a number of celebrities that are just in it for the money and couldn’t care less about what product they are actually selling.

Gemma Collins has released a book and recently stated on a TV show that she doesn’t know what it is about as she didn’t write it and hasn’t even read it.

At first I thought she was joking (I really hoped she was joking) but she really didn’t seem to be.

I am all for making money but for all the people in her team to allow this to happen is shocking.

Why would she even want to release a book in this way? Plus, if she hasn’t even read it herself how can she expect others to read it.

Although, we all know they will because they have been sucked in by her name.

I am a huge fan of Gemma, so this isn’t about hating on a celebrity, but I do hate on the fact that the book is totally meaningless to her, yet someone who is trying to achieve something as great as this may never get their chance.

People prefer to give their money to someone who in this case let’s face it, really doesn’t deserve it, rather than to someone who just a single purchase can change their whole day.

We as consumers don’t always seem to be interested in the actual product or service, it is all about how in demand it is.

Thankfully not all celebrities behave in this way, and although we shouldn’t always buy into whatever it is they are selling just because of who they are, sometimes it is their dream to launch these products just as much as it is anyone else’s.

We have all been guilty of this including myself, and it always makes me so confused.

It is just because everyone else wants it and we feel we need it too. Or is it because a celebrity we love is selling it? Or is it a mixture of the two? Will we ever stop buying into celebrity fronted products and focus more on helping our friends and family’s new business venture?

Giving the direction in which social media is continuously heading I honestly do not think that we will stop buying products just because of who is selling them.

However, maybe we can use the same approach as we do towards creating a sustainable wardrobe and only purchase the products we actually do really need or love and stopped getting sucked in by a name.

Words by Nikki J

Nikkijstylingandretaildesign.co.uk
@NikkiJDesign

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