Our Wants & Needs wrapped in a Scarlet robe : The Diderot Effect

In 1765, Denis Diderot, a famous French philosopher, acquired a beautiful new scarlet robe. All of a sudden, after having lived almost his entire life in poverty. Diderot’s name, however, was well-known as the writer of Encyclopédie, one of the most comprehensive encyclopedias of the time. At 52, Diderot needed money for his daughter's wedding, but could not afford it. When Catherine the Great, the Empress of Russia, heard of Diderot’s financial troubles she generously offered to buy his library from him for ￡1000 GBP, (~$50,000 USD in 2015 dollars). Suddenly, Diderot had money to spare. The Empress also didn't need those books in a hurry, so he could keep it for as long as he needed it and would be paid for his services as the empress's personal librarian.

Shortly after being recipient of some genuine generosity, Diderot acquired this new scarlet robe. That's when something unexpected started to happen. The robe was beautiful. So beautiful that it seemed out of place when surrounded by the rest of his common possessions. In his words, there was “no more coordination, no more unity, no more beauty” between his robe and the rest of his items. The philosopher soon felt the urge to buy some new things to match the beauty of his robe. His old rug was replaced with a new one from Damascus and his “straw chair was relegated to the antechamber by a leather chair.” He bought beautiful sculptures, a better kitchen table came and a new mirror to place above the mantle. Rather than making him happy, it made him miserable, he said in an 1769 essay titled "Regrets on Parting with My Old Dressing Gown".

These reactive purchases have become known as the Diderot Effect. The Diderot Effect states that obtaining a new possession often creates a spiral of consumption which leads you to acquire more new things. As a result, we end up buying things that our previous selves never needed to feel happy or fulfilled. McCracken's, who coined the term "the Diderot effect" is the result of the interaction between objects within "product complements", or "Diderot unities", and consumers. A Diderot unity is a group of objects that are considered to be culturally complementary, in relation to one another. We as consumers, strive towards unity in appearance and representation of one's self-image and social role. However, it can also mean that if a beautiful object deviant from the preferred Diderot unity is acquired, it may have the effect of causing us to start subscribing to a completely different Diderot unity.

Read on here https://insightscafe.org/the-diderot-effect-why-we-want-things-we-dont-need-and-what-to-do-about-it/