Gotta Have the Latest Gadget?

Dec. 16, 2009— -- Jeffrey Vietri was a psychology student at Rutgers University when he realized there was one thing he desperately needed. A salad spinner.

"I was a grad student at the time, and every penny counted, so after a month of fantasizing about a salad spinner I bought one," Vietri, obviously a man of modest needs, said in a telephone interview. "I used it a few times the first week, and in a month it was pushed into the darkest recess in the darkest cabinet in the kitchen."

Sometime later, he recalled that bit of economic debauchery when talking with Gretchen Chapman, his faculty adviser, and Janet Schwartz, another grad student. The three decided to explore a question most of us wrestle with during the holiday season:

Are we really going to use that new widget on the top of our Christmas list as often as we think we are?

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After months of interviewing "several hundred" students, they came up with an answer. No way. Their study, published in the journal Social Influence, found that nearly two thirds of the time people overestimate how much they will use that must-have gizmo. They don't use it half as much as they thought they would, and a perfect stranger could have told them that, the study contends.

That may not surprise many folks, because we all probably have a bunch of things we never use, although there was a time when we thought we just had to have them. Despite the current economic problems plaguing the nation, we live in a time of relative wealth, paving the way toward conspicuous consumption, especially during the holiday season.

Vietri thinks that's a bad thing. "Buying a lot of stuff you don't need" is wasteful, said Vietri who is now an instructor of psychology at Albright College in Reading, Pa. Or, as the study concludes:

"Misguided purchases may have a considerable environmental impact. These under-used items have to be produced, shipped, and trucked to their destination, and then disposed of, often trucked to a landfill in a plastic bag.

While not a panacea, we suggest that a small step toward solving the problems of (insufficient) savings, clutter and the environment is to consult with others about our purchases, find out how much they think we will use any given item, and take their prediction seriously."