This is the second post in a series called Commercialism and Faith, in which I will explore the relationship between the language of our culture (commercialism) and how we view and relate to God.
Advertisers often play on something psychologists call Loss Aversion. Loss Aversion is an aspect of Prospect Theory, a theory that seeks to determine why people make certain decisions. Loss Aversion suggests people are more motivated to avoid losing something than they are to acquire something new. For instance, in a study done on a street in Las Vegas, passers by were given a twenty-dollar bill and then given the opportunity to double their money by betting on a single card. They could walk away with the twenty, or double their money. Most participants chose to walk away from the game, keeping the twenty-dollar bill they had just been given. But when the game was changed and the participants were given forty dollars, only to have twenty taken back a moment later and then given a chance to win back the twenty taken from them, nearly all participants decided to take the same risk and get back what they had lost. In other words, when they had something and lost it, they were more inclined to try to get it back.
It isn’t only advertisers who play on this psychological phenomenon, it’s politicians and talk-show hosts and nearly anybody trying to convince anybody of anything. How many times have you heard the phrase “take back our country” or, within the church “take a stand for Biblical theology” or this kind of language. The idea is to convince a group of people they are losing ground. This creates a powerful response in whatever demographic feels like they are losing something. Environmentalist motivate us by emphasizing the loss of physical paradise, and the conservative right motivates us by emphasizing a loss of freedom. Regardless of where you stand, we can all agree these are powerful motivating forces.
Loss Aversion is the reason we keep the gym membership even though we don’t use it, it’s probably the reason you voted the way you did in the last election, it’s the reason people hoard material possessions and stay in bad relationships. The idea is that losing something costs you more happiness than gaining something gives you.
What I am curious about, though, is where the psychological phenomenon comes from in the first place.
What if Loss Aversion comes from actual events in human history? What if there was once a paradise where man and woman, who were designed to interact with God, actually did interact with God, and that paradise has been lost. What if intuitively every human knows, not only that life isn’t what it is supposed to be, but that it was actually once something completely different and great? What if this is where the psychological phenomenon of Loss Aversion comes from?
So this begs certain questions. What are we really missing in life? And can politicians deliver that something to us? Are political ideas causing us to lose paradise? Are goods and services actually going to return us to paradise? What is it that will bring us internal paradise?
If you think my answer is Jesus, you’ll be surprised to know it isn’t. Not really, anyway. I’ll get to my answer on Wednesday. Wednesday’s topic will discuss how we think of Jesus as a product, rather than a living being.
But for now, I’m hoping to show how our theology actually explains why it is that advertising is so effective. By that I mean, Christian theology helps make sense of why we think and feel the way we do, and why we are all longing for something different and better, and why it is that a suggestion we are losing or have lost paradise, and must get back to it, is a powerful human sentiment that advertisers as well as leaders use, to sell products and ideas.
Ideas for reflection:
- Do you find yourself believing that certain political ideas are threatening paradise? If not, what is really, truly being threatened? What should an appropriate emotional reaction be in light of what is really being threatened?
- Do you intuitively believe there is a paradise out there that you are missing out on?
- Would you be more happy, or more sad, to know with absolute certainty you will never find paradise on earth, not in products, money, or relationships? Is this a frightening thought?
The next article in this series will post on Wednesday. When the series is complete, we will compile the series into a downloadable booklet you can use for your small group.
Several years ago, the BBC ran a series called The Century of the Self. In a particular episode, they address the effect of marketing and advertising on the way we live. I found it interesting as it relates to our series. I’ve posted it on this site as supplemental material. You can find it here.
The most striking (and I think true) statement in this blog: “we think of Jesus as a product, rather than a living being.” In order to have worth, every thing must be packaged pleasingly and have a price tag on it. The more expensive the better.
makes total sense. And how powerful, then, is a gospel that says “hey, come die. just lose it all up front?” Kind of a genius way to lead people to life and freedom. Thanks for reminding me God is smarter than I give him credit for
Interesting post, Don. Being involved in marketing, I’ve been familiar with the concept of lost aversion. I do think people are generally more motivated by fear of a loss than the opportunity for a gain. But this is the first time I’ve heard anyone propose that it might have something to do with the Fall.
I work in marketing and at times I sense this conflict that my toolbox is full of the instruments that play to man’s self-pleasing desires. It’s a delicate balance for a Christian to create advertising that is true and honest and doesn’t encourage the wrong things in the people it touches.
Your series is reminding me of one of my favorite authors dealings with faith and culture. The radio talks of CS Lewis.
Keep up the good work.
I think it’s wonderful that you’re presenting this information. As someone who leads worship but also teaching marketing, advertising, and organizational behavior on a college level, I find myself questioning why we do things and what motivates our behavior in the “church world.” I think a little more self-awareness can be enlightening.
You mentioned that you’re getting ready to write on Jesus as a product. I read an excerpt on a similar subject years ago that stuck with me. It was from a book called The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America. In Chapter 5: The Search for Self-Fulfilling Prophecies, it goes into talking about how God himself becomes a pseudo-event, rather than being spontaneous or self-created. Anyway, thought you might like it. I can email you an excerpt if you would like.
Don,
This is a great series so far. Well researched and some great thought provoking information. I can see how the consumeristic empire that we all so willingly serve in todays culture is very similar to the Roman Empire promise that the first Christians and Jews during Jesus’ day were trying to subvert. The false promise of Pax Romana is not much different then the false promise of Pax Fifth Ave if you will. Great stuff and keep it coming. Also any other thoughts on modern empire?
We all inwardly long for that prelapsarian state and that longing manifests in so many fallen ways. Just simple awareness of what that longing really is would tune our compass to true North. Great post Don!
This one is thought provoking. In a sense…advertising leads us to BELIEVE we are missing out on a big chunk of life. Funny, my husband still used his NOKIA phone which he used when I met him over 8 years and he is happy and content. New and latest doesn’t make life more of a paradise.
Blessings
I work with a small outreach team in an area of town riddled with prostitution, drug trafficking, abuse, violence…you get the idea. This is definitely at work there. The road off of South 9th Street is fairly simple but you actually get the feeling that people are scared to leave behind what has become normal for something new. There is a woman there who is a prostitute and our friend. She desperately wants to leave but each time she comes to the brink, she gets scarred and stays. This is so hard to watch.
That said, I know this is a major reason I do not make changes in my own life. I’m afraid of losing the familiar. Afraid of letting go. Living this out in the context of community is the only way I can let go of things weighing me down…walking it out with faithful friends. It’s really hard to see your life in ways, taking new risks. Thanks for the post.
good series ..looking forward to the next installment..
good series ..I am looking forward to the next installment
Awesome thoughts. I feel like many of my decisions have to do with getting my childhood back. I think that’s where Loss Aversion comes from, that’s the paradise that was lost. Maybe childhood naivety is a key way God shows us what bliss is like.
Not everyone has a perfect childhood (I didn’t), so who knows. It’s all deeply subconscious.
Refreshing challenges…thanks for jogging the mind!
yep… gonna have to read that again. and then possibly again. and then share it. good stuff!
I can identify with what JuliaKate said, I’ve had to read this several times today. I tell everyone I meet about you and your books and your blog. Such good stuff!!!
I feel very challenged by all your posts, but this one strikes a chord with me. I’ve been contemplating the issues I have with media images for a while now. Specifically, images of women on TV and in magazines. Buy this cosmetic! Jennifer Aniston uses this and look at her! She’s 41 and looks 30! Men will just fall in love with you at first sight and you’ll finally be happy! Take this diet pill! You will be the hottest thing at the beach this summer, every man will want you and you’ll finally be happy! Our culture is saturated with this stuff.
After reading your book and hearing you speak the other day, I know I can’t expect God to fulfill every single need I have inside, but I also know that material possessions – gadgets, cosmetics, clothes, diet pills – won’t fill up that hole inside either. Living a good story, for myself and my kids… THAT is what I want right now. More than anything!
“Advertisers often play on something psychologists call Loss Aversion. Loss Aversion is an aspect of Prospect Theory,”
I often really enjoy your posts but found this one problematic!
As you have suggested these behaviors exist in some but far from being a water tight theory on behavior there are those who do the opposite. ie problem gamblers, adventurer’s and those who think the grass is greener on the other side. This theory is often in conflict with those of an optimistic nature.
So before we all yell in agreement, let us take care to first look to the Bible before we run to secular psychologists. We may encounter the danger of trying to fit the bible into psychological theories.
Don your method of exegesis of taking a Psychological theory and then trying to develop some theology might short change the word of God. Making it a secondary source of truth, instead of the first and ultimate source of truth. May I suggest you start the other way around.
Understanding the correlation and relationship between marketing and faith is key to realizing important truths about Jesus.
Jesus never marketed himself. He told people to keep quiet. He let his actions speak for themselves; if only this were the prevailing attitude in our churches today.
Don, it’s been a pleasure to read your articles. I just finished A Million Miles and it has inspired me to become a character in the stories I encounter. You have awakened or at the very least, provoked me to live rather than get by.
Cheers,
Sean
An essay you should read: “The Delta Factor” by Walker Percy in the “The Message in the Bottle.”
Brett,
I encounter your argument all the time, but I am afraid it’s deceptive. It’s a “lets look to the bible instead of psychology” and then you don’t exactly explain what you disagree with. Do you disagree that man once lived in paradise and that paradise has been lost? Because that is the only point I have made. Please clarify before you give vague and misleading criticism. Thanks.
Don
I really didn’t want to post anything because I couldn’t come up with some deep thought prevoking response. I’m just not that smart. But then I thought, maybe I could just tell Don how much I enjoy his books and his blog. So there, I just did.
Wholeheartedly agree, and looking forward to reading your analysis of Jesus as “product.” Adding to the consumer nature of our faith is the tribal nature. Most people (at least where I live and worship) use faith as an insulator from the world, rather than a vehicle to engage the world for positive change. More at http://bit.ly/csJ9Uh
Blessed are the poor….
makes sense.
Very interesting thoughts, Don. Having come from a legalistic upbringing, the ‘take a stand’ thing really hit home with me. This was emphasized over and over again. I never before saw it the way it was presented in the article. Then as I thought more about it, I recall the results: branding (having that specific ‘look’), exclusitivity (‘us vs. the world’ mentality) and pride (God needs me to stem the tide and if I don’t do it, it doesn’t get done). It created teamwork of ministerial elite and pulled away from doing justly, loving mercy and walking humbly with our God.
Thanks again! Looking forward to the rest of the series!
I think all the loss-aversion “noise” in our culture (both Christian and non) distracts us from the true depth of the loss we have experienced. If someone is telling me that the chasm in my soul is caused by poverty or politics or bad relationships or whatever, then I can imagine that I feel less pain than I really do, and I’ll think that smaller solutions can solve the problem.
I’m glad you brought up the Garden of Eden. Have you ever thought about the reality that Satan lied to Adam and Eve and about the reality that the pair had never heard a lie prior to that? They were sitting ducks for the skillful con-artist, but God was ready for what happened and went to work on His plan to bring His Son into the world. What the human race lost in the Garden, Christ set the remedy in motion when he died on the cross.
We are not going to find what we lost in the realms of politics, advertising, business, or even religion. We will find it through faith, through a real dependence on God. My prayer is that we will work to grow our faith, so those around us will find shelter in the absolute love of God.
Recreation. I feel recreation happening within me, like N.T. Wright talks about points of “heaven” piercing through to this reality until God eventually slams both realities together. Not that things are always rosy, but there is a hope, a sometimes painful and sometimes joyful expectation, that carries us forward so we can look past the loss of paradise to the glory of the completed new creation. Already but not yet. And nothing here can threaten or stop its coming.
Quote: “Would you be more happy, or more sad, to know with absolute certainty you will never find paradise on earth, not in products, money, or relationships? Is this a frightening thought?”
Don, I understand what you are saying, but I think this way of saying things discounts the power of the resurrection and the second coming of Jesus. One day we will live on an earth made right and we will find paradise here. Not in some kind of ephemeral cloud city which is what heaven is normally thought of as if we will only admit it, but in a REAL world made new and made right. A place with soil mud dirt plants trees etc… I think this is the real glory and longing of the human heart, not for some other platonic unchanging realm but for earth the be made back into the paradise we have lost. I firmly believe this will happen some day and then yes we will find paradise here on earth.
Don,
In RE Bret’s comment. I think he was saying that loss aversion is a psychological theory that does not hold true for everyone. That there are people who this theory would not be true of, and if this came from a primal loss of the garden of Eden it SHOULD be true of everyone.
Bret seems to think you started this post thinking about loss aversion rather than about our loss of the garden of Eden and your theology is thus being formed to fit the bible around the psychological theory of loss aversion. If this is not so and you started with the theological idea of our having lost paradise and simply used the psychological theory to illustrate this then all is well, if as Bret seems to think it worked the other way around, then all may still be well but it is something to keep in mind.
Just my 2cents.
Hi Don,
I love the way you handled the topic of loss aversion and it has raised some significant considerations in my own life. I’m currently reading “A Million Miles…” and have already seen the concept of living and loving story apply to various situations since beginning the book.
I am extremely curious about your next post, having just read Skye Jethani’s “The Divine Commodity” and I was wondering if you had picked it up by any chance.
Anyway, thanks for the inspiration to think deeper and tell a story worth engaging in.
Ryan
One thing you haven’t addressed re: ads is the constant implication that everyone else already loves this car/beer/toaster/air freshened already, and you’re pretty much a loser if you dot go buy it RIGHT NOW. This today from Scientific American seemed to relate: http://bit.ly/aCzO6Z
jay
This is intersting, especially since I’m always worked up on our freedoms being taken away.
I yearn for a paradise, a perfect place but outside of heaven that’s imposible; yet when, on a good day, I can tweak my perception of my reality, it is a paradise. Sure I have a teenage son who has made some serious poor choices recently, yeah money is tight, and my car is in less than stellar condition; but on some days, a paradise none the less.
It is freeing to know money, things, people won’t make this life a paradise; I’ve tried those and they fail every.time.
Thanks for this series and thanks for your books.
Ahh good ole loss aversion! Gotta love it! I cling to the familiar, even if it isn’t good for me because it is comfortable and because I fear the unknown! Golly that frustrates me! We live in tension…the knowing that we can not have what our hearts truly long for on this side of heaven and not knowing what our hearts truly long for! Prime candidates to be led to something that we “believe” will fill the void and ease the tension, the complications, and the fear.
Probably when I was new in my Christian faith, I believed that a paradised existed that I was good enough, holy enough, basically enough to get into it! What a warped thought that creates more tension and feelings of inadequacy!?! Paradise is lost, I am sorry to say. It is not a reality! What I long for is a perfectly intimate relationship with God…to me that is paradise! All my crap and angst and fear and shame are no longer! That is paradise! Being liberated from all sin and deeply knowing God and being known by Him…awesome. This realization may sound heavy or depressing, but it is rather liberating!
Thanks!
G
Here is a unique story.
There was once a school master who took the children out in the bus for a field trip. Before the trip started he turned around to all the children seated and said; “Now if you’re all good, you can get ice cream but those of you who are bad will not be getting any UNDERSTAND”.
All the children nodded their heads in agreement and the bus set out.
Soon most of the children were being naughty, yelling squealing and throwing things out the window even after being repeatable told there would be no ice cream for the naughty kids.
There was only one exception, the bus drivers only son who sat quietly arms folded watching the rest of his class in dismay.
The school master then had an idea, he would send his son to sit amongst the naughtiest children to tell them in person about ice cream and those who would and would not be getting it, and once they saw his model behaviour it would be much easier for them to be good.
Just like all good plans on paper it turned out somewhat different in reality as all the other children just jeered and teased the school masters son. The pulled his underpants up and drew on his clothes. At one point they even threw his favourite lunchbox out the window so he would need to go hungry the rest of the day.
Finally they arrived at the destination and the school master pulled up the bus and turned around to face the children. “I told you that there would be NO ICE CREAM for ANY NAUGHTY CHILDREN yet you still disobeyed me”, thundered the school master.
The children all burst into tears and exclaimed how it wasn’t their fault; it was just in every child’s nature and once one started they couldn’t help themselves. They all really did very much want the ice cream but the trip seemed so long and the prize so out of reach that they couldn’t hold concentration and just gave into their nature.
“Very well”, said the School Master. “I suppose I have had you as my students since you where in first grade and in a way I’m mostly responsible for shaping and forming the way you behave, but even though I might have created your nature I’m not going to own up to it as I am school master and above doing wrong”
The school master sat and pondered a little while about how to shift the blame. If the parents caught wind of his less than perfect disciplinary skills they might pull their children out of his school, then there would be less money for his big block Camaro he was building at home.
Just then a fight broke out, all the children starting beating the school masters son shouting “It’s your entire fault. If you hadn’t come along and told your dad we would all be getting ice cream by now.” In a furious frenzy they all beat and kicked the boy until his body lay motionless.
Once the commotion had settled down a little girl turned to the school master and said “you could have stopped them at any time, now he is dead. Why would you do such a thing?” The school master just smiled and replied “well my dear somebody had to be punished for all this naughty behaviour and now they have been you can all have ice cream if we never speak of this again.”
The children all cheered and that day they learnt some valuable lessons. Firstly if you make a square wheel for your pushbike and it makes it impossible to peddle you simply blame the wheel for its square nature rather than take responsibility for how you made it.
Secondly you have no need to make it up to the people directly that you have wronged, you can just punish an innocent bystander and all the bad you did will instantly go away.
Nutty ideas wilt in the spotlight of knowledge, logic, truth and reason but bloom in the garden of ignorance, bigotry and stupidity.
Wow. I am absolutely unclear about which point in the story pinpointed the transition from the bus full of delinquents to the toddler pushbike production facility.
In seriousness, I regret the rage someone has filled you with. And there’s a subtle problem with your metaphor. Your schoolmaster tells the children to “never speak of this again.”
As I understand my Bible, it seems vitally, ridiculously important to God that we do just the opposite. He begs us to talk about it. Often. With each other, and with people who think we’re crazy. To ourselves. To write it down, act it out, sit quietly and play it in our head.
That point seems to be essential to him.
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