I recently bought the book below. I have read this book before, and yet I felt the need to purchase it and add it to my library.
Yes, I will read it again, but that’s not why I purchased it. In fact it was a $50 impulse purchase.
On close inspection of the photo above you’ll notice this hardcover version of the book has beautiful embossing and a soft silken fabric cover. It’s tactile and premium. This book was an ‘ego’ purchase.
We normally associate ego purchases with items which are on display: Fast cars, haute couture clothing, funky sunglasses, golf clubs, Euro design kitchens and bathrooms, flying first class et al. Places where our consumption choices are on display. However, The Prince by Machiavelli will not be on display – only in my house and head.
The lesson for start ups is this: Our ego can be leveraged in any category. Even boring stuff like books. We’ll often pay more (which I did, more than double) because our ego isn’t an external thing, ego is about self importance, whatever that means to us.