How to Avoid Being a Target Audience

As we have already mentioned, there are a lot of businesses out there that prey upon those that don’t think for themselves. These businesses all spend their time on elaborate marketing, each with a specific person in mind.

They tell you that if you buy their product, you will be able to run faster, or longer, or your hair or teeth will be prettier, or you will have more friends, or a happier life.

This product “gives you wings” that product “tastes like the rainbow”, this product promises that all of your problems will be solved if you have prettier teeth. When you read it in this kind of context, you can probably think of a few more catch phrases that come to mind, and the products behind those promises.

If you have ever been a part of the ‘target audience’, then it is also likely that you fell into the trap of purchasing whatever the product may be to make your life that much easier.

You bought it, you opened it, and with high hopes you applied it. And waited. You may have noticed some differences, you may not have, but all in all, you find that your life stays mainly the same.

But you did everything that the company said you should, and you even bought their product to achieve whatever it was you wanted to achieve. So what went wrong?

You bought into a gimmick, and became a part of a social group. You bought what you were told to buy, without much thought to the actual results or consequences.

Don’t misunderstand, we are not saying that you can’t purchase things that you see advertised, or that you can’t find things that are going to work for you. What we are saying is that you need to think about the purchase, and think about the advertising.

Be a critical thinker when it comes to your purchases, and make wise decisions. If you don’t, you will lose a measure of self-esteem and self-reliance as you only follow what you were told to follow.

How to purchase a product and not be a part of the target audience.

There are some people that take this concept too far… they feel that they can’t purchase anything without succumbing to the trap that corporate businesses set forth.

There are actually a few things you can do to ensure that you are thinking critically about your purchases, and that you are able to shop without just mindlessly buying what you are told to buy and shopping where you are told to shop.

Follow this list of questions and apply them to the things that you want to buy. You may want to buy something that is popular, or that there is a lot of advertisement for, and that is perfectly fine.

We are not telling you that you can’t ever do anything that is popular, or anything that anyone else is doing, what we are telling you is that you need to think about what you are doing before you do it.

You may want to buy something that is popular and that a lot of other people are buying, or you may not. You can think about it critically, and make a decision based on what you feel you need in your life. If that happens to be the same thing that other people are buying, then that’s fine, if it doesn’t, that’s fine, too.

So here is the list of things that you need to ask yourself when you are buying anything. You can do this when you are at your home before you are even at the store, or you can do it before you make an impulse buy. Either way, it is important that you ask yourself these questions before you buy anything, and you will be thinking critically.

1.What is the marketing of this item?

Before you buy anything, ask yourself how the item is being marketed. If you see that there are a bunch of happy people, and that the implication is that you need the item in order to be happy, then you may want to consider walking away from it.

You don’t need anything that you don’t currently have to be happy, and the marketing companies will play off of the fact that you want to be happy in order to draw you into their schemes. At the end of the day, they don’t care if you are happy or not, they just want to get your money.

Be smart when it comes to the packaging of an item, and ask yourself if you want it, or if you want what they say you will get if you buy the item.

2.What is the company behind this item?

Remember that big name brands are good at what they do, and that they are only after your money. To them, every dollar counts, but they don’t care about the individual people that are dealing with the items.

The big name company could care less if you have whiter teeth or if your dog’s coat is shiny, but what they do want is more steady customers. Do your research when it comes to the company behind the product.

Ask yourself if there is a better company that you could be buying from, or if you really do have to get it from them. If you are diligent with your research, you are going to find that you have better choices elsewhere, almost every time.

3.Am I happy now, without this item?

If you are purchasing an item to make you happy, you may as well pass it up right now. There is nothing on this planet that is going to make you happy if you have to buy it, only true happiness comes from within.

There are impulse buys that look shiny at the store, and if you stand there for a few minutes, you are apt to think that you will be happy if you but it, but the reality of it is you are just as happy without it as you will be with it, you just have to find that happiness yourself.

4.Do I think that I need this item?

There are two different kinds of needs on this planet. There is the genuine need that you have to have something in order to survive. Clothes, medication, food, shelter… these are all genuine needs.

That new outfit that you think is cute… not so much. There is nothing wrong with purchasing an item merely because you want it, but don’t get stuck in the thinking that you need to have the newest and latest and greatest, when the only true needs are very basic.

5.Is this an impulse buy?

If you didn’t have any intention of purchasing an item when you went into the store, then it is an impulse buy. There are times when it is fine to purchase something on impulse, but you have to be careful when it comes to these purchases.

You only have a certain amount of money in your bank, and a certain amount of space in your home, so do you really need that statue that you didn’t even know existed before earlier today?

Make sure you are certain about the purchase before you make it. Save time, space, and money.

6.Can I live without it?

This goes along with the same idea of deciding whether or not you really need the item. There are all kinds of things that you will encounter that look bright and shiny on the outset, but you need to think about them before you purchase them.

Again, it isn’t wrong to buy something just because you want it, but you would be surprised how many things you mindlessly buy in your week all because of the good marketing that you become subject to in your daily life.

7.Will it make me happy?

There is nothing that you can buy that will make you happy if you are not happy right now, so stop trying, and stop buying into that gimmick.

There are things that you can buy that will be fun, and things that you will have good times with, but there isn’t anything you can pay for that is going to bring you lasting happiness.

That is something that you need to have all on your own, and even though the marketing companies all promise that you are going to be happy if you buy this, that, or the other thing, it is all a ploy that they are using in order to get your money.

Don’t fall for it.

8.Who am I trying to impress?

Sadly, there are way too many purchases that we make to impress other people. This may be friends, family, our boss, our partner, and the list goes on.

Ask yourself, before you buy anything, if you are buying it because you want it, or if you are buying it because you think it is going to make someone else impressed with you or like you better.

If you have to purchase things to make other people like you, you need to re-think the people that you are hanging around. The real friends in your life aren’t going to be impressed with what you buy, they are going to like you for you.

9.Will I regret it?

Buyer’s remorse is something that a lot of sellers have to deal with, but you can ensure that you will never have to deal with that in your life if you are careful with what you buy.

If you think about what you are buying before you buy it, then you don’t ever have to worry that you are going to regret the purchase. You may need to return it for a different reason, but that is different than you just didn’t want it anymore.

Think carefully about what you are buying, and don’t be that person that has to think of a reason to return your item.

10.Should I be using the money elsewhere?

There are a lot of people that spend money with other things they need to be buying. They get caught up in the trap that if they buy this or that they are going to be happy, regardless of other things not being paid.

You need to realize that you have your other responsibilities, and no matter what else you buy, you will still have to pay for these as well. You are going to be in a lot more trouble if you buy things on impulse when you still have other things that need to be taken care of, so think these purchases through carefully before you buy them.

Of course you are going to need to make this list your own, and ask yourself questions that are more suited to you, but this is a great list to get you started. Even better, at the end of the day, you have to decide what the answers are, and whether or not those answers mean that you should purchase the item or not.

You might have a rule that says if you answer ‘no’ to any of the questions that you need to walk away, or you may have another system worked out. Whatever the system is that you are using, you need to make sure that is what you are sticking to when you are purchasing an item.