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Tyler Dows

Professor Mangini

English 137H

4 October 2023

Coupons and Side Hustles: Why do we Ignore their Drawbacks?

Getting a raise, finding a twenty-dollar bill on the ground, walking into a store in the

middle of a massive clearance sale–every day, these experiences brighten Americans’ days

across the country. We love making money, and we love saving money. Because of this, financial

wellness is an important topic for most Americans. Although coupons and side hustles are often

viewed as ways to improve financial stability, they both have downsides that are rooted in

traditional American values but that are nevertheless overlooked due to the commonplace of

consumerism as well as the strong rhetorical appeals that coupons and side hustles make.

In the current American economy, workers are being underpaid and inflation is on the

rise, so financial well-being can be difficult to attain, and this has brought more attention to

coupons and side hustles. For instance, 40% of Americans had a side hustle in mid-2022

compared to only 34% in late 2020, and the numbers are only continuing to increase (Zapier).

Unlike side hustles, coupons are not necessarily being used more often today, but they are similar

in that they still have become a much bigger deal due to the economy. People obsess over

coupons and finding the best deals for everything much more than they used to.

However, the current economic climate isn’t the only reason that the topics of coupons

and side hustles are more important now than ever. An increasing reliance on technology has

made both of these topics far more prevalent than before. First, online coupons are everywhere,

and they are very easy to find. 2020 was the first year in which digital coupons were redeemed
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more than paper ones, and that has always been the case since (“Coupon Marketing Strategy”).

Similarly, most side hustles are done online, meaning that they would have been impossible or

very hard to do just twenty years ago when the Internet was not as popular. Plus, social media

has drastically increased the popularity of side hustles because many people are advertising them

on social media.

Coupons and side hustles both go against traditional American values and

commonplaces, although they do it in different ways. First, coupons break the commonplace of

wealth. Being part of a consumerist society, Americans have always been obsessed with wealth.

At first, it seems that coupons are a natural extension of this idea; after all, coupons are used to

save money, right? Actually, coupons often cause Americans to waste their money. For example,

63% of consumers say they will reconsider an abandoned cart if they are offered a coupon

(“Coupon Marketing Strategy”). If a coupon triggers someone to buy something that they

originally decided they didn’t want, they are spending more money than they would have without

the coupon. The coupon did not save them money, it made them spend more. Ultimately, while

coupons can coincide with the commonplace of wealth, the way in which they are often used

unintentionally goes against it.

On the other hand, side hustles break two very different commonplaces, which are best

stated in the following popular sayings: “Money doesn’t buy happiness” and “Time is money.”

The former suggests that, beyond what is required for necessities, money is not important. With a

few exceptions, most people who take up a side hustle do not need the extra income. As for the

latter, although it contains the word “money,” it is usually interpreted simply to mean that time is

valuable. Of course, time is the main thing that a side hustle takes away. This is time that could

maybe be better spent with family, for example. This means that side hustles also sometimes
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violate the American commonplace of family. It is important to note that, when done excessively,

at a level where it takes a significant amount of time and energy, couponing can also violate

these two commonplaces of “money doesn’t buy happiness” and “time is money.” This is,

however, not the case for the average American couponer.

Unlike coupons, which only break from traditional values under the conditions of

excessive couponing and impulse buying things solely because they are discounted, side hustles

break from them consistently. Nevertheless, the question for both topics is the same: Why do

people obsess over these things if they go against commonplaces? Part of it could be that these

commonplaces aren’t truly believed by most Americans. However, the strongest reasons are that

both objects fit the commonplace of consumerism and that they both exert a strong rhetorical

appeal over their respective audiences.

Foremost, we live in a society where the commonplace of consumerism is and has always

been quite prevalent. Still, it has only become more prevalent due to the digital age and the

ability to buy things online with the click of a button. For many people, being able to buy things

faster corresponds to spending less time thinking about whether their purchases are worthwhile.

The increase in consumerism is a direct cause of the booming popularity of coupons and side

hustles. Coupons save money and side hustles make money, so they both ultimately allow

Americans to spend more money. It is clear that the commonplace of consumerism trumps any

notions of money not buying happiness. Thus, while coupons (sometimes) and side hustles

(always) violate the commonplace of money not buying happiness, they fall in line with a much

more powerful and relevant one: consumerism.

Next, coupons and side hustles both have powerful rhetorical appeals, most notably

pathos. To start, coupons are excellent at doing what they are intended to do, which is to exploit
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consumer psychology to increase the profits of the companies that use them. People are happy

when they can spend less money to purchase the same product. They like seeing the original total

of their purchase with a red line through it and a new, lower price underneath. Companies

sometimes give out percent-off coupons, which are very powerful because one can save more by

spending more when using one of these coupons. The emotional appeal is greater when more

money is saved, even if that increased saving requires spending more money. Just as saving

money makes people feel good, making money is also satisfying and enjoyable. In this way, side

hustles have a similar emotional appeal because they make money. However, there is another

aspect to side hustles: They also garner their rhetorical appeal from the influencers who advertise

them–either directly or indirectly–on social media. Many people use social media to flaunt their

money and show off their supposedly great life in every image or video they post. This indirect

advertising can make their audience feel jealous and, as a result, desire more money. This desire

for more money can eventually lead to the taking up of a side hustle. Although this emotional

appeal is different from the others in that it involves feelings of jealousy rather than satisfaction

and happiness, it is similar because it ultimately revolves around the commonplace desire for

wealth.

When influencers directly promote side hustles, they still have the emotional appeal from

putting their money on display at every chance they get, but they gain even more persuasiveness

through other factors. For example, they are usually perceived as trustworthy by their audience

because they themselves are supposedly wealthy and supposedly made their money through the

same side hustle methods that they are teaching their audience. Their perceived credibility is

increased when they give examples of other people who have also used the same techniques to

get rich. Coupons also display ethos. By consistently providing their customers with coupons as
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rewards for shopping, companies increase brand loyalty and make themselves more likable. For

instance, companies often give out reward cards or membership cards. This makes those

companies trustworthy in that their customers trust their claim that they have the best deals. Why

would the customers shop at another store where they couldn’t use their membership card and

get the same great deals? It is clear that the ethos behind coupons is very compelling, as 48% of

people will avoid purchasing from brands that don’t offer deals (“Coupon Marketing Strategy”).

Ultimately, there is a difference in how influencers and companies increase their credibility in

these two instances. Influencers use themselves and other people as examples of how successful

their side hustles are, while companies let customers experience the value of their coupons

firsthand as opposed to secondhand.

While this isn’t the case with more genuine advice-givers, many influencers perpetuate

the idea that their side hustles are a way to get rich quickly and easily by making thousands of

dollars a month and putting in only a couple of hours a week. This provides an appeal to logic.

Logically, people want to maximize their returns. They want to make the most money in the least

amount of time, and if they are told that the way to do this is a specific side hustle, then they will

consider starting that specific side hustle (as opposed to a different side hustle or another method

of making money like a part-time job). Similarly, coupons appeal to consumers’ logical desires

to save as much money as possible. Once again, people want to maximize their returns. They

want to save the most amount of money while putting in the least amount of time. Finding

coupons is quick and easy, so it fits this line of reasoning perfectly. For both coupons and side

hustles, it is about minimizing effort and maximizing financial reward.

All in all, while most Americans see the benefits of coupons and side hustles, few fully

understand their detriments, which are overshadowed by the commonplace of consumerism, as

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well as pathos, ethos, and logos. Whether someone is always preoccupied with them or only

thinks about them occasionally, coupons and side hustles affect nearly every American’s

behavior, and how they affect our behavior is dependent on their strong rhetorical appeals as well

as the current social and economic environments. All of this explains why coupons and side

hustles are civically important.

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Works Cited

“Coupon Marketing Strategy: Statistics, Trends and Tips for Enterprise Retailers.” Loyal Guru, 7

July 2023, www.loyal.guru/offers/coupon-marketing-strategy-retail/.

Zapier Editorial Team. “Zapier Report: 40% of Americans Have a Side Hustle in 2022.” Zapier,

Zapier, 7 June 2022, zapier.com/blog/side-hustle-report-2022/.