A T-Shirt and The Diderot Effect
How to recognize and overcome it!
I went to a consignment shop yesterday. I met the last of my deadlines in the morning, and since a new “fun money” budget rolled over on the 1st, I thought I’d go have a look around.
I didn’t have anything particular in mind that I was looking for but once there, I saw a silky midi skirt, a couple of pairs of jeans and a few tops that were cute. But there wasn’t anything that I loved enough to try on.
As I was walking toward the exit, I decided to have a quick look through the men’s section to see if I could find any nice stuff for my husband. He’s the complete opposite of me - he cares very little about clothes shopping. Sure, he wants to look nice, but he will shop only out of necessity.
He really wears his clothes - if he’s wearing something “nice” and decides that he wants to build a table, he’s going to build that table in whatever he’s wearing, no changing required! As it’s been a while since he’s bought new clothes, a lot of his stuff is in need of replacing.
Luckily, I found 3 pairs of shorts, a linen/cotton button front shirt, a linen t-shirt and a pair of jeans. Out of the 6 items, I only need to return 2, so it was a good shopping trip for him.
The T-shirt
I also found a t-shirt for myself in the men’s section. All of a sudden, I had a vision of the t-shirt paired with the silky midi skirt that I had seen just a few minutes before and a pair of sneakers. So, I went back and found the skirt and since I was going to the fitting room, I figured that I might as well try on all the other items that I’d seen.
And while I liked the skirt with the t-shirt, I knew that if I bought both of those items, that would be it for my low buy purchases for the month. So, I just bought the t-shirt, making it purchase 1/2 for the month and 12/25 for the year.
As I was making a matcha this morning, I started thinking about yesterday’s shopping trip and why I even bothered trying on those items when I wasn’t even that interested in them to begin with. Then I started thinking about my second purchase for the month.
But here’s the thing that’s annoying me - I don’t have anything in particular that I want to buy. I’m simply reacting to the expectation that I’ll buy something else. And yesterday, I was reacting to the idea of an outfit. I even started looking at bias midi skirts online last night.
That one purchase is having a snowball effect on my shopping behavior.
When I take a minute to think about my wardrobe, I’m feeling pretty content with what I own at the moment. Which got me to thinking about why this one purchase was setting off a desire to purchase something else, even though I don’t really need anything.
The Diderot Effect
Figuring that there was some psychological reason for this, I did a little research. My search query was you buy one thing and then want to buy more phenomenon and sure enough, there is a psychological explanation for this and it’s called The Diderot Effect, after Denis Diderot, a famous French philosopher.
Diderot spent most of his life in poverty and came into a large sum of money later in his life when he sold his library to Catherine the Great, who was the Empress of Russia. It was around this time that he was gifted with a new dressing gown by his friend. This gown was in great contrast to all of Diderot’s other possessions so he started upgrading his life to match the luxury of the gown, which he wrote about in “Regrets on my old dressing gown: or Advice to Those Who Have More Taste Than Fortune” (1769):
“No more coordination, No more unity, no more beauty between my current robe and my items!” - Denis Diderot
According to James Clear:
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.
I can see The Diderot Effect playing out in my own life at the moment. Before I found the t-shirt yesterday, there wasn’t anything that I wanted to buy and I was content to leave the shop empty-handed. But as soon as I found the t-shirt, I immediately started to think about other items that I could buy and how I was going to fill that extra purchase that I felt entitled to.
And I wonder how many times in the past have I been susceptible to The Diderot Effect?
I bought a new dress, so I bought a new pair of shoes.
I bought a white skirt and then needed skin-toned underwear.
I bought new running shoes to start running, so I bought a new pair of shorts, a top and some socks.
I added a floral dress to my wardrobe and started to replace all of my clothes with more feminine items.
I bought a new perfume, so I got the travel size for my purse and the matching body lotion.
I took up sewing so I bought a bunch of sewing tools and fabric.
I bought a new phone so I bought a new phone case.
I painted the bedroom so I bought a new set of curtains and a duvet.
I had to buy a new washing machine, so I bought a matching dryer that I could stack it on.
I bought Christmas decorations in colors that didn’t match the other decoration so I bought all new decoration for a new “theme”.
It’s easy to see how this effect plays out in our everyday lives!
How to Recognize and Overcome The Diderot Effect
Looking at my own past, and present, shopping behaviors, I think this effect influences our buying habits more than we realize. And don’t you worry, marketers know this, which is why there are matching sets, limited time collections (hitting us with the double whammy of needing to have the entire collection + FOMO), and “related items we might enjoy”!
So, how can we recognize when we’re about to fall victim to The Diderot Effect and put a stop to it?
Be mindful - Take a pause before each purchase to question if this is truly something that will add value to your life, or are you just caught up in the thrill of the dopamine rush?
Examine your motivations - What are your motivations for this purchase? Are they your motivations, or someone else’s? Are you being influenced or marketed to so that you feel like you need this item?
Similar items - When you find yourself looking to buy something to go with a new purchase, ask yourself if you have something similar that would make this item a redundant purchase?
Match the vibe - Does this item fit in with the other items that you own, or will it stick out amongst your belongings?
Cohesion isn’t necessary - If you buy something that’s not typical in your life, appreciate it’s in-cohesiveness without needing to develop a new self-identity around it.
Self-identity - Recognize that you are not your things. Just because you buy something that doesn’t align with your perceived identity or personal style, it doesn’t mean that you need to reinvent yourself, your wardrobe or your home.
Set limits - This could be in the form of a spending budget or only allowing a set number of items to be purchased over a certain time period.
For a little over $8, I’ve become painstakingly aware of how buying one thing can lead me to buy other things and also, how often I’ve fallen for this buying pattern in the past.
And while I’m sure I’ll fall for it again in the future, I believe that this awareness will make it occur less frequently!
I completely understand the concept but had never known there was a name for it. I thrifted a t-shirt dress this week that may send me spiraling down the Diderot road. It needs *something* but I’m not sure wats yet.
My life makes sense now.
Also, that painting of Diderot is beautiful and his new dressing gown *was* pretty magical indeed.