I don’t know about you, but I’m a bit tired of (and frustrated by) declarations that collecting is bad; that it’s materialistic, and nothing more than bad consumerism. You know that I’ve ranted and raved the opposite, but in my desire to better separate collecting from poor consumer habits (and the related anti-consumerist movements and organizations) I figured you needed more than just my words. Or maybe I just needed to be validated. Anyway, I went looking for an expert.

And I found one: Professor Marina Bianchi.

Professor, please give us a brief biography of yourself.

I graduated in Rome, Faculty of Philosophy, with a thesis on the problem that things often have a particular value for their users that is not matched by their value (price) in the market. Very soon I was appointed as a researcher in the Faculty of Economics in Rome, La Sapienza. Now I am professor of Economics in the University of Cassino, where I teach Microeconomics and Industrial organization. I visit often The United States where my husband teaches Economics at Duke University. At the moment we are both teaching a course in Venice entitled The Economics of Creative Goods, where we explore the characteristics of both the production and the consumption of creative goods and activities (from movies to fashion, from videogames to books).

Please describe your work/study.

I was always interested in the problem of the choices individuals make: whether they are efficient (or rational as economists say), how learning and skills affect hem, and how they change through social interaction. At first I studied the role of entrepreneurship and competition in generating change and innovation. Later I discovered how important, though sadly neglected in economics, is the often innovative roles played by consumers. My theoretical tools mixed philosophy, game theory, psychology, and economic history.

I read your papers, but I would like confirmation that I am understanding them correctly… Would you briefly define/describe the following areas of your studies:

*consumer choice theory
*preference formation, the role of novelty in consumption & satisfaction

I soon realized that consumers too have entrepreneurial abilities. They take advantage of unexploited opportunities and create novel solutions to problems in the pursuit of their own wellbeing, just as entrepreneurs do in the pursuit of profits. Think of the re-discovery of past trends, or of quite fresh ways for dressing, that can come from the street; or of the original and unique ways one can combine elements in music, or furniture, or clothes and accessories. Think too of consumer-created products such as YouTube, Flickr, or MySpace. Consumers also adapt things made available by producers in completely unexpected, creative ways: for example, new model creation by fans of Lego; downloading and file-sharing via cell phones.

In studying consumer choice I try to emphasize the active role of consumers. In this process of creation of new alternatives on the part of consumers, I also stress how preferences change and become more refined. Why should change and innovation be the preserve of producers and be assumed to come only within the organizational framework of firms and corporations? Whereas most economists tend to assume preferences are given and explain choices as due to changes in relative prices or income, I posit a much more restless, exploratory role for consumers.

How & when did you find yourself specializing in the areas you do?

Individual choices are at centre stage in economics but, strangely, individual preferences and motivations are never analysed. Motivation and preferences have been left to others – psychologists, sociologists – to explain and document. They are considered too inscrutable and subjective for a precise and exact science as economics wants to be. But I was always curious about individual motivations and thought that there was something important missing here.

By looking at what other disciplines had to say about motivations I discovered why novelty, variety, complexity, surprise and even uncertainty play such an important role in choices. Take novelty, for example. Do we find the repetition of a single note in music pleasurable? No. Not that unbounded change and novelty is pleasant either. But novelty, within recognizable bounds, is associated with positive feelings of pleasure and the same is true with variety and the other properties I just mentioned. When you read a novel or watch a movie, or listen to a story, why do you like it so much? Because while the plot with its characters gives you the reassurance of a frame of reference, the unfolding of the plot with its suspense, surprises, and new twists gives you the thrill and stimulation of novelty. So it is with collecting: we organize our collections and constantly re-order them too. Each order we impose gives the items a sense or meaning; yet each additional item is new and exciting, whether it adds something different within an order or provokes a re-thinking of that order. This is why collecting can become such a passion.

I found you searching for something more positive on collecting and consumerism. Seems there are quite a few blaming consumerism for darn near everything, and other than a few concessions that collecting can be a good thing for its recycling points, most see collecting as a negative hobby or activity. Do you see collecting as a purely consumerist activity? Is all consumerism ‘bad’?

You correctly infer, from my writings but also from what I have just said, that I am very impatient with those who caste consumers in the role of victim – the dupes of advertisers – or active consumers as aberrant: going overboard in acquisition or exhibiting a kind of mania as collectors. Clearly there can be excess in the consumption of things as there can be in the imbibing of food or drink. But it is unreflective to take the pursuit of variety and change, as in fashion, as due only to a search for status, or to jump from observing careless or wasteful consumption to calling for a new era of frugality and restraint. I do not see consumption as an activity that destroys rather than creates and production as something nobler.

It is true that in order to be more enjoyable and creative consumption must be skilled consumption: you must know the goods and experiences you are consuming. But, the more consumption will be thought of as inferior or wasteful, the less prepared we will be in acquiring the skills necessary for creative consumption. Fortunately things are changing, and fast. The communities of interacting consumers that form through the internet in a variety of new and ingenious ways are very important for the creation of skilled consumers. And in many ways we see them leading producers and opening up new potential for living lives of satisfaction.

Do you yourself collect anything?

Yes. In the past I collected ‘forties dresses and costume jewellery. More recently I have developed a real passion for bakelite bangles. It started by chance and soon I discovered how infinitely combinable and variable they were. Unfortunately for me many others have discovered the same so that they have become very expensive. But this is the destiny of many collectables and it does not destroy the possibility and the joy of finding a never-before-seen piece at a price that you are willing to pay. Moreover, extraordinary substitutes are being used in creative ways by designers, which introduces new consumers to the pleasure of this pursuit at more affordable prices.

Fundamentally, is there much difference between ‘research’ and ‘collecting’?

I think that between intellectual or scientific research and collecting there are many things in common. In research, as in collecting, we have a frame of reference that provides the organizing guide and that gives shape to problems or challenges and tells us where to look for possible solutions. And also in research the aim is to conquer something new that reshapes one’s organizing framework and opens new paths. But collecting is more playful, light, and pleasurable in every phase. Enjoying your collection is as pleasurable as when you are searching for a new addition to it, and the difficulties you meet only increase the final enjoyment. Buying an already made collection would destroy half the pleasure. Research is more costly in terms of intellectual efforts and discipline, but, yes, the principles are the same!

So there you have it, folks: Collecting isn’t bad. As a collector you can be an educated consumer, be helping the economy, be creative, and, actually be living a satisfying life. Who knew? Well, actually, we collectors already knew that. But now you have some research to back you up.

Steven contacted Collin regarding a psychology course assignment on collecting and hoarding. Since Collin and I had just been discussing this very subject, Collin directed Steven to contact me as well. I thought it might be more fun (and embarrassing), as well as helpful to Steven, if I replied to his questions here. Feel free to put your answers in the comments (or contact me via email and I’ll put you in touch with Steven).

When did you first start collecting? Around what age was this?

I can’t recall a time when I wasn’t collecting in some sense… I come from a family of collectors/dealers; similarly I’ve been buying to keep and sell (including buying to keep for a bit then sell), even as a child.

Would define your collections as being orderly? That is they are clean, relatively tidy? Are most of your other possessions organized or just your collections?

There is little tidy & organized in this house. Things may be grouped (books by subject, figurines together) yet covered in dust… or just as easily, things shelved or boxed, but not with any real organization other than “stored”. Even household things, I fear, are similarly so: dishes in cupboards, but mail in piles on the counter; books on shelves, but also open and read on tables and nightstands; for all the vintage sewing patterns correctly stored, there are sewing projects “in process” on the sewing machine. This household consists of interesting, active people who live, create and collect more than we clean & present.

Around how much, estimated, do you think you’ve spent on your collections? That isn’t to say the total value (because some things may be found or accepted as presents) but how much you personally have spent in total. Also perhaps a monthly expenditure.

I’d have no real idea on this in terms of total… Not only is it a lot of years, but we buy things at auction in lots, keeping a few items for ourselves and selling the rest… Also as we have a very tight budget, we have no set amount for spending. When we have $20 we head to book sales, rummage at thrift stores, auctions etc., but it’s strictly what money is available to “blow”.

Have you ever gone in debt because of collecting?

No.

What would your reaction be if your home were broken into and your collections were stolen?

It would be similar to the loss of photo albums and family scrapbooks for many of my collections. Some, however, are less important. But who would want to be robbed of anything?

Along the same lines, what if your family sold off some of your collection.

Are we talking a truck in the middle of the night — while I am alive?! That would not be acceptable. If after I pass, well, I’d hope the kids would keep what held memories (some of my favorite pieces, those on display they remember fondly) and that they would at least know there is value in the items and consider museums and private collections rather than donating or even undervaluing it at a sale on the front lawn… But I don’t expect all of my things to carry the same weight with anyone else as they do for me, even my kids.

Would you sell your collection for a reasonable amount of money?

Reasonable being relative, that’s pretty difficult to answer. Some, yes; others no… Well, everyone has their price, I suppose, so it might be more accurate to say that there are some collections or items which could only be sold at above market prices.

Do you think you will ever stop collecting?

No.

However, part of my collecting is research oriented and I can’t imagine a day when neither the hunt for the object nor the desire to learn more about something ends. I think losing such interest and desire would literally mean the end of me.

How do you feel when people take a negative tone towards collecting?

One one hand I feel sorry for them — they miss thrills I adore. On the other hand, that means less competition for me. lol

But I also think lots of people aren’t aware that they are indeed collectors… They would rationalize a shelf of books as research, a stack lot of postcards as documentation of the town’s history, or a box of things as preserving family history — but still not say they are a collector.

How would you feel if you were classified as having OCD? Do you think there is a relationship between hoarding and collecting?

Having a special needs child, I’ve spent hours & hours in waiting rooms & reading about mental illnesses, and I am of the opinion that it’s all on a continuum. In this case, the need to collect and store is rather normal and the trait has direct ties to human survival. We see this in food mostly clearly.

While my boxes of junk are less important in that vital sense, accumulation with a purpose (from warn fuzzy memories to the soft and fuzzy definition of one’s collection) is very natural. Many, including myself, would say that these sorts of collections are about preserving history, culture, and the story of humankind; which is our collective survival in a sense. Yes, even if it is silly toys from your childhood or plates depicting pop stars.

I think the distinctions for a real mental illness have to do with awareness, perception, and how much this affects your life, particularly in a negative way. In the case of hoarding, the clinical distinction is made when a person not only feels too much pain to part with something they can’t state a need for, let alone a reason for having it, but also cannot see how this has negatively impacted their lives — or if they have, cannot find a way to part with the objects. In Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, the action just replaces the object. (Grossly over-simplified, but the general gist.)

Sometimes the distinctions can be as tricky as “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” For example, have you ever seen Conspiracy Theory with Mel Gibson & Julia Roberts? In the film, Mel’s character confesses that he often is compulsively driven to purchasing copies of The Catcher In The Rye. He’s never read the book, but he finds purchasing a copy is one of the few things that makes him feel normal.

On one hand, this compulsion is odd, and certainly outside of his control; but on the other, his “habit” isn’t ruining him financially or otherwise. If it is but one symptom, it’s likely not such an issue. If combined with others, or taken to such extremes that buying multiple copies of books not read (nor likely to be read) affects the ability to pay rent, hold a job, interact with others etc., then it’s “a problem.” And I don’t just say that as the owner of books she may never read, including multiple copies of such books; I’m not rationalizing. It really is a matter of degrees.

Do you know of others who may have taken collecting too far?

I think we’ve all met people who have priorities different than our own, and it’s difficult to really know what “too far” is… If children aren’t being fed, if a collection has better storage facilities than people have shelter, then I’d say there’s something out of whack. But if a person prefers 500 salt & pepper shakers rather than the newest car model, or a vacation; or 300 figurines to stocks, or art another would call “an investment”; who are we to judge how they should spend their money?

Any final thoughts?

I’ve joked about all this, even wondered about it (for) myself somewhat seriously. I mean, what’s the point of all this stuff I have? Is it selfish? Is it crazy? But I’m beginning to believe that it’s none of those things because no one suffers for it. Not even me.

I can part with things; even if it’s only to sell one thing to have the money or space for five other things. I know the old line, addicts saying they can quit anytime they want to — they just don’t want to, but I feel in this case it’s true. If I stopped hunting for things and their stories, I’d be bored, and a lot less interesting. And I’d only read more to get that thirst sated. Who’s to say reading as escape, or researching in books, is any more important than questing for objects? Either way, your brain, soul, and shelves are full.

And I don’t mean, in any way, to imply that one collection is better than another — that comic books are less than non-fiction tomes, or that new action figures are less important than documents. Because the way I’m beginning to see things is that the act of collecting is about questing… It’s about finding more than objects, but answers.

Perhaps what we’re all doing, ultimately, is seeking the answer to “Why do I collect this?” And that answer is individual, unique. My answer will be different than your answer — even if we covet & collect the same “junk”. The joy is in finding that answer. Which is why collectors often change collections — they’ve answered one question and are off on a new question, a new quest. And this simply refutes the idea of a mental illness; for what can be more healthy than self-knowledge?

Now, Steven, Collin & myself would all love to find out what you think; so post your comments.