American Consumers and Their Need for Control

The psychology of American consumer behavior is fascinating.  A recent article in the Wall Street Journal about Americans' use of laundry soap was one of the most titillatting trips down the bunny hole of American consumerism that I've come across in a while.  It was interesting on so many levels. 

From a sociological perspective, we've become so ingrained in our laundry habits that we disregard the directions on the product and more often than not, improperly dose our washing machines.  After some rather intensive market research, Method Products Inc., a San Francisco-based company which makes eco-friendly household products found that 53% of consumers don't use the recommend amound per washload.  In fact, Method just launched a product to help train its consumers in proper laundry etiquette.

Using too much detergent has several deleterious effects, not the least of which is that it is ruinous to your poor machine that is desperately trying to keep up with the suds.  Even worse, if the product is not eco-friendly, it is ruinous to the environment.  Over sudsing wrecks havoc on clothes and often leaves them as dirty (if not dirtier) as they were before they found their way into the washing machine.  Some people may not particularly care because they either love the "Spring Fresh" scent of  their preferred product, or they don't intend to keep that shirt more than a year anyway.  We won't even talk about that logic mousetrap for now.

It is fascinating, however, to think about how habituated we have become in certain aspects of our daily chores.  We are all convinced that we have perfected the right recipe for doing things, despite clear label directions which tell us otherwise.  How odd is that?

Europeans have developed very different living habits.  Have you ever seen the size of a refrigerator in England?  They are basically the size of the ones college students use in their dorm rooms.  Europeans also don't really have much of a "soap" dilemma.  The reasons are fairly obvious; they tend to be more "space" conscious and less wasteful primarily because a) they have less space and b) they can't afford to be wasteful because they have less space.

It seems to be that our habits are symptomatic of an eclectic intellectual fabric which is partly our heritage Manifest Destiny and partly our profound sense of entitlement.  We want what we want, and we will do what it takes to get it.  We are an odd lot in many ways.  Many people around the world admire us for our unique achievements and determination. Many condemn us as well for those very traits and accuse us of being greedy and overly consumptive.  The laundry item, however, just struck me as just plain funny.  We ignore directions at our own peril because we are convinced that our approach is best. 

I wonder if this also applies to dishwashers?  I also put a little extra in the secondary holding area but I alwasys assumee that was ok.  Why else would it be there?  It's always worked for me in the past and I like my dishes to be really clean.

Oops, there goes that need for control.  I should probably go read the label and find out if I am in fact making my dishwasher work harder or ruining the environment.