PROFESSOR JACOB ÖSTBERG

The Misery Machine

Why we try to find material solutions, to existential problems

We met up with Jacob Östberg, Professor of Marketing, to talk about serious matters: how did we become the consumer society we are, what role does advertising play - and are humans really rational beings? Befitting of the gravity of the conversation, we asked the renowned academic to wear ASKET sweatwear to his work, in the great halls of academia at Stockholm University.

Have you always taken an interest in fashion?

My interest in fashion is purely academic. I started My PhD in Marketing at Lund University back in 1998. I was reading about consumption and how it finds its way into virtually all aspects of human life. Yet as a society, it's not part of the school curriculum and we don't talk about it enough. I wanted to explore the symbolic elements of goods and consumption. The basic idea being that most of the stuff that we consume, we consume not because of its necessity or physical need - but because it serves a symbolic function. It tells us something about ourselves and it’s a way to make sense of others. Fashion in that way, becomes a good example of that.

Was there a pivotal moment when we became a consumer society?

It’s rather been a gradual process. From the Middle Ages and onwards, we see early traces of how wearing certain clothes would give you benefits in a particular social setting because they were of a style that signalled that you knew things or had the means to acquire the items. While in small circles, it started a fundamental mind shift in fashion, where individuals started to ask themselves what others were wearing and contextualised it. Then with the effects of industrialization, we started producing much larger quantities of products. But I would say that it took off at an incremental speed after WW2, that's when it boomed.

What role does advertising play in the fashion industry?

On an aggregate level, all advertising functions in the same way - which is to produce a lack of something in people. It’s about convincing us that the life we're living right now is just a pale version of the life that we could live if we only fulfilled ourselves in various ways. That fulfilment, of course, would then come from purchasing goods and services from certain companies. In a way, I think of advertising as the great misery machine: It's always happy people dancing in the moonlight and so forth. But those happy people are supposed to make us feel like we are not wearing the right things, not smelling like we should smell or our teeth not being white enough or that we didn't drive to the party in the right car. When it comes to fashion, I think it's quite straightforward, that your life would be better if you wore the things which are being marketed.

What are your hopes for the future of the fashion industry? And do you remain optimistic about it?

To be honest, I don't remain very optimistic. I tried to cling on with a feeling which is not utter despair. There is a common fantasy that consumers will somehow change. A lot of my colleagues at universities around the world as well as a lot of governmental agencies like to measure people's attitudes. But generally speaking, attitudes are a very bad proxy for understanding behaviours. There's a real attitude-behaviour-gap - and a delusional fantasy that this gap will eventually be closed, solving many problems. The thing is that having a gap between attitudes and behaviours is what human existence is all about. Virtually all art deals with the agony of knowing what you should be doing, but doing something else. People are not going to change by themselves. What does make me enthusiastic is the political initiatives taking shape both in the EU and globally. I think that's the only place where we can see large-scale changes happening.

You have written literature on the consumption habits in the Nordics, would you say there is a significant difference in how we consume depending on the country?

Maybe if you go back a couple of decades you might see some differences. Looking at Sweden, there have been some changes in going from a welfare state where the Social Democrats had the power for most of the 20th century to a political context where the power has been shifting back and forth. Regardless, we are still a large public sector and high-tax society. Even if Swedes have less disposable income in comparison to countries where you are your private provider of healthcare and education, this paradoxically makes us even more into a consumer society. Because the money we have left in our pockets, we can spend on ourselves.

“Of course the clothes we wear and the houses we live in are not without consequences for how we feel. But fundamentally, the solutions typically lie elsewhere”

Out of all your research, what fact has made the most impact on you?

The work I have carried out over the years has led me to the conclusion that humans try to find material solutions to existential problems. It’s a disease that a lot of people are suffering from: The belief that whatever problems we face, socially or existentially, the easiest solution would be found in material things. If you look at a company like Ikea, they would argue they sell furniture, but in practice, they sell you the vision of “the good life”. Of course the clothes we wear and the houses we live in are not without consequences for how we feel. But fundamentally, the solutions typically lie elsewhere.

Are there any overarching themes in your work that have maybe baffled you?

The kind of work I do is always a gradual process. There are rarely any dramatic turns. That being said, over the 20-plus years that I've been doing research in this field, I have dramatically changed my view on the conventional idea that humans are rational beings. I think most people carry a belief that humans, especially themselves, are rational in some sort of technocratic sense. I don’t regard individuals as irrational per se, but I would say our rationality is rooted in humanism. Meaning that we're all about forging social bonds with others, being part of the social context and agonizing about our futures. In those processes, there is a humanistic rationale involved, that runs counter to technocratic rationale. When buying into the latest trend, you might only wear the item two times during the summer before it’s out of fashion. That's quite stupid and it makes no sense from an economic or environmental standpoint, but it's perfectly rational from a more humanistic perspective.

“Even if Swedes have less disposable income in comparison to countries where you are your own provider of healthcare and education, this paradoxically makes us even more into a consumer society.”

Do you have a favourite item in our permanent collection that you return to?

In my profession I almost exclusively wear The Chinos - sometimes to the ridicule of my colleagues. But I think my favourite garment for a long time has been The Sweatshirt. As a matter of fact, I'vw worn it so much that it looks like it's falling apart. These days my kids complain when I wear it. So I guess it is about time I bring it to the revival program.

How did your relationship with ASKET begin?

Almost 10 years ago a good friend told me that the little brother of a friend of his was about to start a clothing company, but doing it completely differently to the conventional way of running a fashion brand. At that time, you only had the t-shirt in your offering. Since it’s one of my research areas, I purchased one of the first edition T-shirts early on and I have been following ASKET since.

Location AULA MAGNA by RALPH ERSKINE at STOCKHOLM UNIVERSITY. Text SIRI TEURNEAU-FORSLID. Photo MIKAEL LINDBLAD. Styling KARIN SMEDS. Hair & Make TONY LUNDSTRÖM.