Aspirational spending: How brands can leverage power of social currency

Imagine if you responded positively to everything you saw on social media? It's easy to dismiss the significance of the likes, comments, and posts we share on social media, but they really do make a difference. They speak to the passions, fears, and elations that make us who we are as human beings.

Have you ever made a purchase with the hope that it would bring you one step closer to adopting a new way of life? Perhaps you were thinking, ‘If I buy a luxury product, I’d be able to tap into the elite groups.’ This has given rise to the new buzzword ‘Aspirational Spending’.

Some people report experiencing a hormonal surge comparable to their wedding day after just 10 minutes of social media use. Social media brings with it the oxytocin-induced benefits of reduced stress and increased emotions such as affection, trust, compassion, and benevolence.

Therefore, people who use social media tend to have a more trusting disposition than the typical internet user. When compared to other internet users, Facebook users are 43 per cent more likely to agree that most people can be trusted.

According to reports, the average time spent on social media has increased from 5 hours and 37 minutes in 2012 to 6 hours and 45 minutes in 2018. Generation Z, comprised of people aged 16 to 24, has an even higher consumption rate than Millennials. Additionally, the daily average consumption time for these young people is 7 hours and 44 minutes. These results point to a growing trend of people from all walks of life spending more and more time on social media. Therefore, brands are also concentrating on making the most of this accessible audience.

There are numerous manifestations of aspirational spending. Someone wants to read more, so she goes out and buys more books, despite her lack of time to read. A person may choose to show off his wealth and success by purchasing a luxury vehicle or designer goods in order to appease his individuality or blend in with a select social circle.

Talking to Bizz Buzz, Rij Eappen, COO, and founding member, WYLD, said, “When we increase our stock by sharing valuable information, we gain social currency. 62 per cent social media users say they gain confidence when they receive positive feedback on their posts. How can companies generate value in the social media sphere? By bringing fresh perspectives to the table.”

And if they can't or don't want to be wealthy in the traditional sense, it seems that what they really want is to have a wealth of experiences. The brands that focus on the customer experience offer an additional route to wealth for people who value experiences over material possessions. Moreover, in terms of social capital, they give their listeners cause for smugness in comparison to those who couldn't make it, thus encouraging audience participation, he said. Wait, is social media currency and aspirational spending co-related? Well, it is. Social media has given birth to two buzzwords - one we already discussed and the other social currency.

It's a Saturday night, and you're out with your friends at the town's new 'IT' place! Gen-Z influencers are seen paying their bills with a cool card that 'encashes your influence'! Do you want to do the same?

There's no doubt that both brands and influencers have found success with influencer marketing. If you spend any amount of time on social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, or YouTube, you're bound to come across a wide variety of advertisements. Many of these are made by regular people, while others are more traditional ‘paid social’ advertisements or banner ads. User-generated content creators, also known as ‘influencers’, are on the rise.

That's why the number of companies offering ‘experience 2.0’ has exploded in recent years; it's an evolutionary arms race to provide the most multi-sensory, immersive ways to spend time and money. The term ‘micro influencer’ only emerged within the past few years. The term ‘nano-influencer’ has recently gained popularity. Is marketing through micro-influencers the way of the future?

In 2022, Google's advertising revenue was over $200 billion. Allow that to sink-in. It's not surprising that there are micro- and nano-influencers; what is surprising is how actively brands seek out these individuals. Once upon a time, it was expected that an influencer's following would number in the tens of thousands before a brand would pay for a sponsored post.

However, times are changing. Today, nano and micro social media users are the real market disruptors. Brands can leverage this new marketing channel by increasing awareness, facilitating the acquisition of new customers, and driving more revenue. The power of social media is exponential.

Furthermore, ‘aspirationals’ are 1.5 times more likely to have clicked on an Instagram ad and researched a product they were considering purchasing than the average internet user.

There are more than 200 million Instagram users in India, and 80 million of them have more than a thousand followers each. People are more likely to buy products that are discussed amongst their friends and family than those that are promoted by widely recognised but relatively unknown ‘influencers’, according to the theory.

Check for yourself – if you catch yourself making a mental list of the hottest places to visit based on where your social media circle goes – you’re definitely an ‘aspirational’!