The Status Want

There’s a hidden hope behind a lot of people’s purchases. They might not tell you up front, or ever, but when people buy your thing, they might want status.

It’s tempting to think that a product serves a single, rational purpose. “When people experience this problem, of course they’ll come look for a solution.”

But we know that people hesitate, contort their thoughts, go back and forth in their minds with a mix of rational, emotional and functional pushes and pulls.

Secretly, when someone buys a product, even (and especially) if it’s a purchase they make for their job, they hold a hope that this purchase will bring them status.

—

“If I purchase this tool to help me build my stuff, I’ll be like my peers.”

“Surely, if I tell people I bought this, and I can recommend the purchase, I’ll be able to help others who are like me.”

“I’m not sure I want to be associated with this company. They have been deceitful in the past.”

“If I finalize this purchase, I’ll be able to have a win for my career, something to tell recruiters when applying for my next gig.”

—

The cynical take is that making a product for status is all marketing, and no substance. In a sense, that approach has been abused and overused.

At the same time, you also realize that a well-made product, a product (or a service) made with extra care, with extra character, even with a bit of whimsy, it gives status for free.

“I really like this product. Look, look what it can do!”

The person who gladly puts their own reputation behind a product they’ve discovered, enough to tell others, enough to risk their status, that’s a product that solved more than the utilitarian reason people bought it. It’s a product that solved a unique want, and also, the buyer’s status want.