Think of your last purchase of something you wanted. I’m not talking about the groceries or the gas you just bought but that last thing you purchased that you didn’t need, what was it? Why did you buy it?
I often ask myself this question as a marketer- I also often ask my fiance this question but that’s an entirely different story.
My last purchase of something I wanted was as simple as beef jerky from a local butcher shop called Ray’s Butcher Shop. So why did I venture 20 minutes out of my way to drive to Ray’s to get beef jerky when I could have gone to any gas station or grocery store around my house to buy some? Sure, at Ray’s they make their own beef jerky but to be honest it isn’t that much better than what one can buy at the gas station or grocery store, not enough to go 40 minutes round trip to get it. Ray’s is also double the price of the jerky one can find at a grocery store. So why did I go there? Why did I want beef jerky?
The answer to both of those questions is “I was able to tell myself a story I believed.” I get to tell myself that I am going out of my way to Ray’s to get my jerky because I care about helping out a small business. That I am doing what is right by the community as we don’t want to lose this ‘little gem’ that is one of the few mom and pop deli’s left in our area. But I am lying to myself, I’m believing the story that it is worth my time and extra money to purchase homemade jerky from Ray’s. It isn’t.
So why did I pick jerky? Was I hungry at the time? Not really. It was on father’s day and I was with my fiance and I felt like doing something ‘manly.’ So- what’s manlier than beef jerky??? Nothing I tell you! Is beef jerky good, well yea… but is it? Well… to be honest if you take away the teriyaki or peppered flavor it tastes a little cardboardy… well a lot cardboardy. It tastes like cardboard made love to a steak and had a tough/chewy baby. But by buying and eating the beef jerky I was able to do something manly. I was able to eat meat with my hands, it’s very primitive if you think about it.
The story/lie I told myself of ‘Eating beef jerky will make me feel more like a man’ resonated with me. That’s why I purchased beef jerky from Ray’s Butcher Shop. So- what was your last purchase? What story did you tell yourself to justify the purchase?