The Shopping Conspiracy: What Happens After You Click “Buy”?

You didn’t wake up today planning to buy anything.
But by tonight, there’s a good chance you will.

Somewhere between the ad you scrolled past, the “only 2 left in stock,” and the one-click checkout button, a decision got made, and it happened faster than you think. This session pulls back the curtain on the hidden machinery behind modern shopping: the science, the psychology, and the very deliberate design choices that turn a passing thought into a purchase before you’ve had time to question it.

A few things that might change how you see your next purchase:
•⁠ ⁠Some fast-fashion brands now release over a million new clothing styles a year. That’s not fashion – that’s a machine that never stops.
•⁠ ⁠13 million phones are thrown away every single day – most of them not because they broke, but because they were built to be replaced.
•⁠ ⁠Nearly a century ago, the world’s biggest lightbulb makers secretly agreed to make bulbs burn out faster – on purpose. It worked so well, the strategy never went away. It just got better.
•⁠ ⁠Less than 10% of all plastic ever made has actually been recycled. So what’s really happening to the rest of it?
•⁠ ⁠Every “free shipping over $25,” every one-click buy button, every countdown timer is tested and engineered to get you to buy faster, and think less.

Once you see how the system is built, you can’t unsee it – and that’s exactly the point of this session.

We’ll unpack how these tactics actually work, why they’re so effective on all of us (not just “other people”), and what it really costs, to us and to the planet, every time we click buy. This is a conversation for anyone who’s ever wondered: do I actually want this, or was I just made to feel like I do?
Come with your curiosity. Leave with a different way of looking at your shopping cart.

Venue: Google Meet

Meeting Link: https://meet.google.com/zvs-ykey-nvf

Register at: https://www.meetup.com/climate-within-meetup-group/events/315721723/?eventOrigin=group_events_list

Event details can also be found on our Meetup page.