This fall, a coffee shop chain near me posted a sign outside its store that simply read, “Pumpkin is a feeling.” Some may read this and simply conclude that it’s a mistake. Pumpkins are not emotions. It’s a plant!
But when it comes to pumpkin-flavored treats that are popular every fall, the most important thing isn’t the presence or absence of a particular plant. The important thing is to evoke emotion. Pumpkin puree is, of course, a key ingredient in many pumpkin-flavored treats, especially the iconic pumpkin pie. But when people want to be reminded of pumpkin pie, it’s often just as important to include pumpkin pie spice, a blend of nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, and cloves. There’s a reason Starbucks named its signature fall drink the Pumpkin Spice Latte and not just the “Pumpkin Latte.” These spices evoke a series of emotions that people in our culture associate with pumpkin pie, and are similarly associated with Thanksgiving and fall. And with the proliferation of pumpkin spice-flavored treats, this spice blend’s association with fall is becoming even stronger.
As a result, the most distinctive feature of a “pumpkin” flavored product may be the complete absence of pumpkin. Rather, it’s about whether a product’s flavor evokes the right culturally constructed sensations.
This may seem strange when your only lens through which to understand the world is botany, biology, or other natural sciences. Are people just making mistakes? Are they using the word “pumpkin” incorrectly?
But if we take social science seriously, we can begin to understand the behavior and choices of consumers and producers. As F.A. Hayek, winner of the Nobel Prize in economics, taught us, facts in the social sciences are what people believe and think.
Hayek emphasizes that social science is concerned with people, their choices, and their relationships and interactions. This affects object characteristics, which is most relevant for object identification and analysis. Hayek asked, “When we try to explain what humans do with objects, is it the physical properties of those objects that we have to classify? Do you understand, or is it because of something else?”
To answer this question, Hayek considers “tools, food, medicine, weapons, words, writing, communication, acts of production, etc., or specific examples of any of these.” He argues that these concepts do not refer to “some objective properties that objects have or that an observer can know about them,” but rather to the views that others hold about them. . Rather, they are defined as “solely defined by showing the relationship between three terms: an end, a person who has that end, and an object that the person considers to be a suitable means to that end.” The operative word here is “think.” A person’s thoughts, beliefs, and goals are what define something as an instance of one of these social categories.
Every fall, many consumers act with purpose. I want the flavor of pumpkin pie and the spices that come with it. We look for the feelings, moods, atmospheres, and associations it evokes. And to achieve these goals, we buy products that we believe have that taste. The physical properties of these products are different. Some contain pumpkin puree, others do not. The pumpkin spice Oreos I’m currently eating don’t have “pumpkin” in the ingredient list. But the look and flavor served my purpose, and probably a variety of other pumpkin spice lovers this fall. The physical characteristics of these cookies are very different from the various pumpkin-flavored coffee drinks people are purchasing this fall. But they serve complementary purposes and plans.
To understand the decisions of consumers and producers that have brought us here, we need to consider the relevant facts. These are social science facts, not natural science facts. Not botanical facts, but relevant facts about what consumers and producers believe and think.
Nathan Goodman is a senior fellow in the FA Hayek Program for Advanced Studies in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at George Mason University’s Mercatus Center. His research interests include defense and peace economics, autonomy, polycentricity, public choice, institutional analysis, and Austrian economics.
