Do you know "The spoiled consumer" and what to do about "it"?

-The fashion industry has raised "a spoiled consumer" and now we begin to see the consequences. Find out why we have a problem and most of all -how we can fix it.

How did we create a spoiled consumer?

If we want to understand how a spoiled consumer is created, we need to take a look back in time. Let′s just say the 80′s, where I was born. At this time you could watch MTV and get some fashion inspiration or you could read a fashion magazine and dream about cool items from there, but it was difficult to get. I had to do research for weeks if I wanted a certain type of "baggy hip hop pants". But then the late 90′s came and I discovered Zara and Mango (on a trip to Lisboa). I was happier than ever before. Now I could get cool new things -and I could actualy afford it (during my cheap-ass period in high school). In the years to come the power dynamics between brands and consumers switched.

Now it was no longer the big brands playing "hard to get", now it was the consumer.

Why? Because we could have it all. We could shop 24-7 from all over the world, and it wouldn′t cost us a thing (almost).

Why did we create this annoying kind of consumer?

But why did we end up raising a spoiled consumer? Because of fear. The reason any parent spoil their child. As parents we have a fear of not being loved. The same problem can be found in the relationship between brand and consumer. But the concern isn′t about love. It is about money. Brands wants consumers to buy their products (of course), but

when we end up offering it all for no money, the value dissapears and also the respect about the product.

Time to raise your consumer

So what do we do? We begin to raise our consumer. We can′t do it alone, we have to support eachother. And here I am talking about the whole matrix around fashion: Brands, politicians, factories, suppliers and investors.

We have to educate the consumer.

Show them how things are made and what it actually cost. Teach them about quality and about the proces behind creating a new product. Because of Instagram we often tend to think that everything happens "instantly", but it doesn′t. Things take time -but the consumer take this for granted, ande the result is a consumer, who doesn′t want to pay.

So if you want the consumer to pay the price -you have to tell them (and show them) why.

I am (also) responsible!

I would love to blame the spoiled consumer on Netflix, Instagram and all the other technologies that gives us what we want when we want it, but....I am also responsible.

When I thought about this article, I also thought about my own role in this. And I found out, that I am responsible of the spoiled consumer as well. When I give brands advice about how to create growth, how to get into new markets and how to make the consumer fall in love with you -I tell them:

"The consumer is your starting point. No consumer -No business".

I have always had a consumer oriented focus -and always will, but we have to take new considerations into the calculation if we dont want to end up with a spoiled consumer.

So let′s try to agree on this. Let′s change how we talk about fashion, how we treat fashion and how we use fashion. Let′s make a great example, so our future kids of consumerism will understand what the perfect coat, jeans or dress is actually worth!

Written by Manou Messmann, Strategic Brandadvisor and expert in consumer behaviour.