Good Question: Why Do People Want To Buy Things First?
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - If you were thinking about getting the new iPhone 6, it looks like you're going to have wait awhile.
Four million other people beat you to the punch over the weekend, selling out the phone before it even hits shelves.
So, why do so many people want to be first? Good Question.
If your iPhone 5 works just fine, you don't need the new one, but you might want it.
People will tell you their phone is broken or they have to have the bigger screen.
But experts say buying something first says a lot about who you are.
Yajin Wang studies the psychology of luxury branding at the Carlson School.
"Everyday we use products to signal who we are," she says. "It shows that you in the in-group, you are the insider of the brand."
She says some people can see the brand as part of themselves.
"iPhone users are this creative younger generation," she says. "Android users are a little more technologically oriented. Nerdy? That's not the right word to say."
And she says don't discount Apple's marketing genius.
"When something is a mystery, from a consumer psychology perspective, it [leads] people to be really curious, right?" she says. "People are waiting there, like you smell a little bit of the appetizer and you are just so hungry for the entree."
She likens the concept to when women line up for new designer handbags.
"That's also a status symbol, when something is rare and exclusive, we're all driven for status," she says.
These 4 million pre-orders were double what they were for the iPhone 5. Apple says it didn't expect this, but experts say that company is too smart to to think this wasn't coming.