How much of what we purchase is driven by acceptance/image/approval?

Whether it’s the clothes people wear, vehicles they drive, vacation destinations, places we shop, brands we purchase, places we go to eat, things we do, etc, exactly how much of it is driven by being accepted by others, receiving the approval of those we want the approval of, fitting in so you don’t stick out too much as being different from the herd, of fitting into an image we want to convey to everyone which is somehow synonymous with who we want to be seen as?


I watch a significant amount of reviews for products, and something that strikes me is how much of it, if not the first things that comes up is “who is this for”? IOW, what “BOX” does this fit in, because it would seem that if we can’t put something in a box, or a person in a box, then it scares us. It’s kind of a strange phenomenon when I think about how life drives people to their box and people go there without hesitation because we are so driven by what others might think of us.


If we are all being honest here, how much does this influence our own decisions in life? It’s not meant to be derogatory or anything, as we are all just humans in a system, but more of a reflection on how much that system influences our decisions in our daily lives.