There is always something that we can improve. Our skin could be clearer, our bodies could be stronger, our schedules could be more organized, and our days could be more productive. Conveniently, there is always a product promising to help.
Scroll through TikTok or Instagram for a few minutes, and the pattern becomes clear. A skincare brand promises to fix your complexion. You will achieve your dream body taking this new supplement. A planner will transform your life. Even an aesthetic water bottle can shift your mindset, getting you closer to that unreachable optimal self.
These advertisements are everywhere. Combined, they reveal a concerning marketing strategy: convincing consumers that they need to be fixed. Brands capitalizing on our desires to look, feel, and perform better is not a new concept. However, how closely advertising is woven into our daily habits is. Through social media algorithms and personalized ad content, consumers see traditional ads and influencer partnerships that seem to directly fit their needs. We are constantly exposed to carefully curated versions of how our lives could or “should” look.
The Beauty Industry
The beauty industry is a prime example of translating insecurities into sales. From anti-aging serums to products promising fuller lips or better hair, beauty advertising often begins by highlighting something about ourselves that we wish we could change. Their product then becomes the solution.
Consider the growing popularity of extensive skincare routines. Brands push their 30-step routines as the only way to achieve that glowing, air-brushed look. Seeing these filter-wearing influencers showcase their sponsored skincare routine makes consumers feel like their routine is lacking or incomplete.
Interestingly, some brands have publicly denounced the “capitalize on our insecurities” strategy that so many others have reinforced. Dove’s Real Beauty campaign challenges unrealistic beauty standards and promotes universal beauty. Its messaging encourages consumers to embrace their authentic beauty rather than chasing unreachable ideals.
However, even messages of self-acceptance can fall into a marketing strategy. Dove still sells beauty and self-care products. The irony poses a fascinating question: can brands genuinely challenge insecurities while profiting in an industry that thrives on them?
What The Products We Buy Say About US
Not every insecurity is physical. In recent years, consumers are being sold the promise of a more “together” and productive life. Brands and their partnered influencers show us that there is always an opportunity to be more efficient. Apps, organizational systems, and stationery are sold as tools to help us take control of our lives and reach our full potential. When we see this “togetherness” all over the internet, we buy products that we feel will give us a sense of agency.
With social media and virality, products can become our personalities. The products we use and the way we spend our money have become statements to the world about who we are, who we want to be and what we care about.
For example, the Stanley Quencher is an insulated water bottle that has become associated with wellness, fitness and a certain aesthetic. Stanley used influencer marketing, colorful releases and social media exposure to position the Quencher as something to show off. They shifted their marketing towards women and everyday lifestyle.
The strategy worked, and people not only buy their product for its purpose, but now to carry the symbol Stanley has created. Marketing is extremely powerful. Here, Stanley didn’t even need to solve a problem – real or not. They simply needed to represent an image that someone wants to become.
The Business of Never Being Finished
What connects these marketing examples is brands making consumers feel like they are a work in progress. If we do not feel the need to improve our looks, lifestyle, or image, then this strategy no longer works. There will always be a new product to buy, routine to adopt, or lifestyle change to make.
Social media reinforces and intensifies this cycle through transforming people’s carefully curated moments into seemingly everyday ones. When an influencer with perfect skin, a strong body, a nightly wellness ritual, and hours to spare promotes a product, that product looks like it is key to having their perfect life. The products an influencer uses or promotes become associated with their lifestyle itself.
This shows that advertisers do not always need to point out what is wrong in our lives. Showing us what others have that we may not is enough.
Not every purchase is driven by insecurity, and brands aren’t always to blame for every consumer trend. Some products genuinely improve our lives and solve problems. This issue lies in the promotion of constant self-optimization and making consumers feel like buying something is a prerequisite for being enough.
The most effective advertisements may be the ones that convince us that we need to change something about ourselves. In a society where self-improvement is always highlighted and for sale, there will never be a shortage of products promising to get us there.