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A little cynical, and missing the point
July 24, 2008 by Anonymous, 1 year 15 weeks ago
Comment id: 31242
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as a low-income earner for much of my adult life, I maybe have more experience with these customers than a tenured professor :)
People don't buy an "investment", they don't buy "a chance out of poverty", although they may say that. What they buy is the momentary FEELING that any such end to the poverty could happen. Posted elsewhere on this blog is a study on the adaptive advantage of "dreaming big" and what you buy for $4 is not a mathematical probability, but a fantasy, a dream, a wish.
Where else can you buy a wish to end all your financial problems for $4? Sales figures show that economic depression also boosts the popularity of fashion magazines and happy-fantasy hollywood movies. Do people think they will be Norma Jean and get discovered and be rich and famous? No, not REALLY, although they may say so. What they buy for the price of the magazine or the price of the ticket is the dream, the myth, the IDEA that maybe, just maybe fairy tales do come true.