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Researchers find inverse correlation between advertising and life satisfaction

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Re: Researchers find inverse correlation between advertising and life satisfaction

#151

Post by bsanr2 »

slumdev wrote: post #112
tombert wrote: post #39

I was the first person in my family to do the "cord cutting" thing, where I only had an Amazon Prime and Netflix account, and a bunch of DVDs and Blu-Rays (around 2012). People asked me why, and I said that I think it's dumb to pay money for advertisements, and that I think ads are bad for you. My brother-in-law is overall a smart guy, but he works at Taco Bell full-time, making minimum wage in NYC (~$15/hour). He de…

These stories are too common. I would guess that the median* wage on HN is probably around 5x what your brother-in-law makes. And I would also guess that many of us are perfectly content with old phones, old cars, and generally reduced consumption. Hell, I buy clothes at thrift/resale shops when I find something nice that fits. What are people of means (relatively) seeing? Is it because we have more leisure time and…

>Is it because we have more leisure time and can afford to filter the media we consume?

More or less. Cash, wealth, and access to credit afford you a number of avenues to avoid trouble, or else get out of it when you realize that you're in it. Time infused with money also usually returns more than bare time, as anyone who can hire a personal trainer vs spending hours trying to put together an effective training regimen can attest to.

Re: Researchers find inverse correlation between advertising and life satisfaction

#152

Post by darkarmani »

nickelcitymario wrote: post #28

I'm gonna take the contrarian viewpoint here. Full disclosure: I'm in advertising. The researcher states that increasing "aspiration" (their term) leads to dissatisfaction and more unhappiness. Sure! But aspiration is also why we invented the wheel, harnessed fire, founded fancy schools like Harvard, try to be good parents, etc. I don't disagree that ambition and aspiration can make a person unhappy. But it's also wh…

> Therefore I don't agree with the notion that advertising is inherently bad because it raises people's expectations for themselves.

It's more nuanced than that. They are using advertising as shorthand for commercial advertising. The aspirations they are encouraging are for products. This want is what is causing the unhappiness. They could increase aspiration for positive things, but that is not what advertisers are doing.

Re: Researchers find inverse correlation between advertising and life satisfaction

#153

Post by JohnFen »

nickelcitymario wrote: post #106
JohnFen wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I've given you the knowledge of a solution to your problem. But you've given a "solution" (that involves separating me from my money) to a problem that you created in the first place. I don't see how that's a good thing. > And yet, I'm willing to bet you wouldn't consider those ads to be evil, would you? "Evil" isn't the word I'd use. "Immoral" is. If a charitable organization is using ads that are intentionally tr…

> But you've given a "solution" (that involves separating me from my money) to a problem that you created in the first place. When did I create a problem? Yes, some advertising invents nonexistent problems and I thought I was clear that this shit is evil. That's a different thing from saying "that headache you have sucks, doesn't it? here's some tylenol" > No, you wouldn't, because doing so will make people unhappy,…

> That's a different thing from saying "that headache you have sucks, doesn't it? here's some tylenol"

It is indeed different. I was responding to this:

> 1. If I'm successful in getting you to want the product, I've created (or emphasized an existing) dissatisfaction. That's not good. But:

> 2. I've given you the knowledge of a solution to your problem.

Where you appeared to be justifying creating dissatisfaction on the basis that you are providing a solution to that dissatisfaction. I'm sorry if I misunderstood your point here.

> Way to miss the point, dude.

I suppose that I did -- and I still do, because I don't see how my reply was unresponsive.

Re: Researchers find inverse correlation between advertising and life satisfaction

#154

Post by miah_ »

xtracto wrote: post #8

This reminds me of an anecdote a friend told me: This friend dedicates his time in going to very rural areas/towns here in Mexico to implement government programs. At some point in the past he got to a town were the cantina had just gotten the only TV in town... apparently people in the town were generally happy, and they had everything they needed... so in their view they were not poor. But once they started watchin…

Sounds a lot like the Chinese film 'Ermo'.

"Ermo is a hardworking village woman in the northern province of Hebei, who makes noodles to feed her husband and child. When her neighbor buys a brand new television, she is consumed by dreams of owning one herself. Desperate to own the largest television in the village, she becomes obsessive in her desire to earn money, eventually leaving the village to work in town. Her efforts to earn enough money damages her health and her relationship with her family."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ermo

Re: Researchers find inverse correlation between advertising and life satisfaction

#155

Post by bduerst »

Title is misleading - the inverse correlation is between advertising spending and life satisfaction.

This could be indicative of ads causing unhappiness, but it could also be indicative of increased social media use, which also causes unhappiness.

Re: Researchers find inverse correlation between advertising and life satisfaction

#157

Post by JohnFen »

tartoran wrote: post #102
JohnFen wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I started my first business, a mentor gave me advice along these lines: identify the two or three pieces of equipment that are truly key to your business, and go high-end on those. Everything else should be as cheap as possible.

Generally I agree. It is important to know though, that there's a thin line between high end and luxury-brand where you pay a lot of money for the latter.

True. By "high end", what's meant is genuinely high quality, not necessarily flashy or luxury brands.

Re: Researchers find inverse correlation between advertising and life satisfaction

#158

Post by thewebcount »

hadiz wrote: post #32
xtracto wrote: post #8

This reminds me of an anecdote a friend told me: This friend dedicates his time in going to very rural areas/towns here in Mexico to implement government programs. At some point in the past he got to a town were the cantina had just gotten the only TV in town... apparently people in the town were generally happy, and they had everything they needed... so in their view they were not poor. But once they started watchin…

Now everyone has a TV in their pockets with infinite ads. IG, FB, Tinder, etc.

It's interesting that you think that. I have a TV in my pocket with no ads. It's what I always dreamt of!

Re: Researchers find inverse correlation between advertising and life satisfaction

#159

Post by kerkeslager »

whatshisface wrote: post #91
kerkeslager wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but what are you giving up to do that?

Video games and Netflix, for most people. I really don't think the trade-off between Netflix time and house cleanliness is a false perception synthesized by advertisers.

> Video games and Netflix, for most people.

"Most people"? Even if that's true (which I don't think it is) you have to admit that there's a significant portion of the population for whom that isn't the tradeoff.

I probably spend 1 or 2 hours a week on Netflix, and I haven't spent a significant amount of time per week on video games in years, so your proposed tradeoff isn't the tradeoff in my life.

> I really don't think the trade-off between Netflix time and house cleanliness is a false perception synthesized by advertisers.

Really? You haven't seen any ads for video games or Netflix? I go to fairly extensive lengths to avoid seeing ads and I have seen both.

Re: Researchers find inverse correlation between advertising and life satisfaction

#160

Post by kerkeslager »

whatshisface wrote: post #130
wutbrodo wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Netflix and videogsmes are very passive activities, and time cleaning your house presumably isn't fungible with them, from a mental energy perspective. I'm not in the habit of watching TV, but my sister is a good example: over the course of her medical education and early career, her Netflix addiction has tracked pretty directly with how mentally exhausting her workload is. If she was at full-enough capacity during N…

Studies on ego depletion have failed to replicate, which means that the idea of a limited supply of mental energy may not be true.

Studies on ego depletion have nothing to do with the post you are responding to.
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