Life in a subscription-based world

According to the New York Times, for a system developed to sell periodicals back in the 17th century, subscription-based commerce is remarkably current. It works still to choke-hold us into cell phone service, cable TV and Internet connections.

Yet the real beauty of subscriptions is how they take the psychology out of making repeat purchases, something we’re – now more than ever – terrified of doing.

“It is amazing how inertia takes over,” says marketing prof Peter S. Fader, noting how the one-off feat of goading someone into a subscription accounts for a months-long revenue flow.

Though while none of this information is exactly blowing you away, the Times does connect dots that help explain why the economy is in such rough shape.

The paper places blame on a societal subscription-mentality for the recent collapse of North America’s housing bubble:

“What exactly were homeowners doing when they bought a house for little or no money down with the intention of holding it for two or three years before upgrading to a better? They were treating an investment in real estate as though it were just another consumable product, to be disposed of with the same emotion one shows in recycling a monthly magazine.”

Indeed, our subscription-based consumerist world has its ups and downs, and not everyone can figure out how to conquer the idea once and for all (see: newspapers, online).

If one thing’s for sure, however, it’s that when business can get them into play, look out.

“It’s hard to initiate subscriptions,” Fader tells the Times, “but once you get (customers) over that hurdle, great things happen.”

By Jason Buckland, MSN Money