Every Tuesday after school, my 9-year old daughter asks me for money. I should be prepared, but it surprises me every time. Probably because I never know what day of the week it is.
But the scenario is always the same. After she walks home from school and sets her backpack down by the closet, she’ll ask me for a couple dollars.
“What do you need the money for?” I’ll ask.
And she’ll respond, “Dad, it’s Tuesday. The ice cream truck is coming today.”
One of the benefits of being a kid in Phoenix is that the ice cream truck is available all year long. For our street, it’s Tuesdays. And apparently, when you are 9-years old, the appeal of the ice cream truck is too much to ignore.
I mean, it’s ice cream, in a truck, who could possibly resist?
The first time I ever considered the relationship between accessibility and consumerism was during a panel discussion with Graham Hill and Halina Brown on HuffPost Live. It was a simple connection—one I probably should have made earlier, but I hadn’t.
One of the reasons for rampant consumerism in our society is low prices (fast fashion, for example). But another, equally important reason for the steady rise in consumer purchasing is accessibility.
As more and more retail stores appear on more and more street corners, consumerist habits become more difficult to overcome.
My daughter would eat less ice cream if the truck didn’t visit our street each week. My son would make fewer trips to the convenience store if it wasn’t within a bike ride of our house. And we’d all shop at Target less if it wasn’t so easy to get to.
Some companies have built an entire business model on accessibility. Walgreens comes to mind. So does Starbucks. As does Amazon.
Amazon, actually, is a perfect example of how accessibility impacts consumption.
The New York Times once wrote, “Jeffrey P. Bezos, Amazon’s founder, ‘has been on a mission to eradicate every conceivable obstacle to shopping online since the 1990s when he patented Internet ordering with a single mouse click’.”
And now, with the invention of the Amazon Dash Button, they have made shopping even more accessible. Without leaving your pantry or laundry room, you can place your order for consumer products with the press of a button… like an ice cream truck permanently placed inside your home.
Accessibility drives consumption. At least in these cases (and many more).
It is important for us to notice how accessibility impacts our behavior. Because the principle extends beyond shopping.
In life, whatever is accessible, gets utilized.
Unhealthy accessibility shapes unhealthy habits in our lives:
- Keeping sweets in the home makes us more likely to eat them.
- Having televisions conveniently located throughout a home results in more watching.
- Placing your cell phone on your nightstand encourages late night browsing, early morning email, and even sleep texting.
But equally powerful, accessibility has opportunity to spur healthy habits as well:
- Keeping fresh fruit and vegetables in your home makes healthy snacking more likely.
- Having educational toys available for your children spurs learning.
- Spending more time together as a family encourages conversation.
- Removing vices from your immediate surroundings (tobacco, sugar, alcohol, television) is the first step in overcoming them.
What healthy habits are you trying to develop in your life? What unhealthy habits are you hoping to break? And how is accessibility influencing your behavior?
Jill D says
So, so true. Sad but true. I declined to renew my Amazon Prime this year because it was clear that the “free shipping!” wasn’t so free after all. ;-}
Stacy says
AMEN!! The shipping is in the price of the product. I cancelled mine also. I will still order hard to find items on Amazon occasionally but found the Prime items always were priced higher and often the item would not arrive in 2 days. Amazon Prime is a scam in my opinion.
Amanda says
Hi Joshua, interesting article as always. I’m an aspiring minimalist/essentialist, and currently work in advertising. So, life is a hot mess of contradictions these days.
You are on point here as theory on brand growth (and I’m simplifying here) suggests that in order for brands to grow their market share they need physical availability (or accessibility as you outline above) and mental availabilility … frequent and/or targeted enough messages that bring that brand to the top of your mind.
Your lovely suggestion to work on healthy habits is also a mindful way to shift your mental availability away from consumption.
Best wishes, Amanda
Angela @ Setting My Intention says
I’m trying to go to the grocery store less and use up the things in the pantry- good for our budget and good for our meal planning! I love YouTube which has so many free workouts that it makes staying healthy affordable and accessible.
Deitra Lawson says
This is something I often forget about because of the convenience that comes with consumerism. I do try to keep fruit in our fruit bowl to encourage healthy snacks. We also go on family walks to spend time together. Now that the weather is warming up that will be more frequent.
Laura says
Indeed… I’ve had a start/stop relationship with Netflix for a long time until I finally gave it the heave-ho. Same with Facebook.
But there’s something more to it than accessibility I think. Because even after removing the access, there was a powerful draw to flood my (now) free time with other mindless jargon.
I think the end of the post is right though… Kind of like the “one in, one out” mantra of some minimalists, maybe when we remove a time-suck, we should replace it with something healthy.
Anna Celestino says
I totally agree. Veering off just slightly, I woke up this morning thinking about negative habitual thoughts – also very accessible. They’re always right there. So I declared today Anything’s Possible Day. Making positive thoughts more accessible than limiting ones just for the day. We’ll see how it goes. Maybe it will turn into Anything’s Possible Week. Thanks Joshua.
Tony W says
What I have been doing to promote healthier eating choice is eating three meals a day. Eating enough in each meal to avoid snacking in between.
I found when I did not eat enough during meals I would eat unhealthy snacks often. Living around and often visiting New York City daily unhealthy snacking choices are available 24/7.
Heather Mason says
Thank you for this great article. I Have been trying for some time to make healthy food choices. Like you, I realized that having sweets in the house was too hard for me to consistently ignore. So I am making better choices at the grocery store. However, even though it is a bit more effort, I can quickly whip up some cookies or quickbreads etc. The proximity technique brought me closer to my goal, but I’m struggling to figure out the rest. I do have willpower but it fails me when I need it most- when things get tough.
Hilda says
Hi Heather, You are not alone. Temptation seems to follow me also despite the Strawberries & Bananas I leave in plain sight. So I just go out and buy the very accessible cookies, cakes & pretzels…:) Congrats on taking the first step of foregoing ready made!
Stephanie L says
Having four-legged walking partners always accessible – and willing! – keeps us at a pretty good pace for getting outside, taking time away from a screen, and getting steps in. Minus a storm, a dog isn’t ever going to turn down a walk.
My work being constantly accessible via phone and laptop is a problem. I’m working on it.
Stephanie says
This post was fresh air! I agree 100%! Thank you for sharing.