Tuesday, February 22, 2005

Why People Buy

Marketers have long studied consumer buying habits and identified the top ten reasons why people buy things. (This is the list after you get basic food, clothing, and shelter needs addressed.) In descending order, the motivations are:

1. Make money
2. Save money
3. Save time
4. Avoid effort
5. Increase comfort
6. Increase cleanliness
7. Attain fuller health
8. Escape physical pain
9. Gain praise
10. Be popular

Hmm...

I accept this list as the state of fallen Man's motivations. It's empirically demonstrated -- just go to Walmart and see how many cleaning products there are!

Here's a thought challenge for you. What would the list of motivators look like for completely Christ-transformed hearts? How would you rank these things on the list of motivators for spending [investing] money:

Desire to glorify God
Compassion for others
Desire to see others renounce sin and come into fellowship with Christ
Experiencing true joy
Understand more about God's ways
Deepen relationships with loved ones
Meet physical needs of others

Can you think of other motivators?

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