The following is a guest post. Enjoy!
Each year, companies earmark billions of dollars for their advertising campaigns. Ads are pouring at us from every direction – they interrupt our favorite TV shows and sports, they greet us in the streets, on the sides of cabs and busses, they fill the printed magazines and online news outlets, and attack us from all directions on social media, constantly trying to convince us to buy, buy, buy. The ads, in turn, are not the only things that influence our spending on social media. A recent study cited by CNBC shows that comparing the spending habits of others with our own makes it harder to save, especially for millennials.
Millennials – A Financially Irresponsible Age Group?
Millennials are often seen as people having the strangest spending habits today. They are said to be extravagant spenders, paying too much for products and experiences while shying away from the traditional ways of wealth like owning homes, for example. At the same time, the study shows, millennials are pretty confident when it comes to finances, setting aside money for savings and retirement (and more than half of them consider the latter to be a basic necessity, much like a house or food).
Enter Social Media
Social media has been called in the study “the millennials’ Achilles’ heel.” According to the survey, more than half of the respondents (55%) have reported experiencing one of the most widespread effects social media has on the modern man: the fear of missing out (FOMO). And this, as you might expect, is having an impact on their spending habits, too – 57% of the respondents have reported spending money or planning to do so because of what they saw on their social media feeds. Seeing the others’ carefully curated updates about their dinners, parties, vacations, gadgets, and clothes makes them compare their wealth and lifestyle with that of the others (for 88% of the respondents) and many of them (61%) of them feel inadequate about their situation as a result of this comparison.
“Millennials are finding innovative ways to build their financial strength and are becoming more confident because of these actions,” said Paul Kelash, vice president of Consumer Insights for the company behind the survey. “But, more than any other generation, social media and the allure to spend beyond their means could have long-term negative effects on their finances if they’re not careful.”
Social media is said to have a series of adverse effects on our lives with its constant updates, notifications, requests, and such, not to mention the subtle but perceptible ways it affects our psyche. Social media also changes the way we spend – one more reason to dedicate as little time as possible to it.
