In most markets, the easiest sales aren’t made to people who are calm, competent, and already getting what they need. They’re made to people who feel stuck, behind, insecure, overwhelmed, lonely, ashamed, or desperate for relief. In other words: we sell to the dysfunctional because the functional don’t buy.

That line sounds harsh, but it points at something real about human behavior and modern commerce. “Functional” people still buy things, of course. They buy groceries, tools, furniture, insurance, and services that solve practical problems. What they don’t buy nearly as much of is the endless stream of “extra” products built on emotional pressure: the miracle shortcut, the identity upgrade, the status patch, the insecurity cure, the anxiety sedative, the instant transformation.

When someone is functional, they can tolerate discomfort. They can wait. They can compare options. They can choose “good enough.” They can repair instead of replace. They can say no. That makes them a hard target for many high-margin industries.

What “dysfunctional” really means here

This isn’t about insulting people. “Dysfunctional” in this context is a temporary state, not a permanent identity. Most people move in and out of it depending on stress, sleep, money, relationships, trauma, environment, or season of life.

A person is “dysfunctional” in the market sense when they are:

• Over-pained: they feel an urgent discomfort that needs to stop.
• Under-resourced: they lack time, energy, support, or skills to solve it well.
• Emotionally compressed: they can’t think long-term because today feels heavy.
• Identity-fragile: they feel like their worth is on the line.
• Cognitively overloaded: they can’t evaluate choices clearly.

Those states make buying feel like action, control, and relief.

Why functional people don’t buy as much

Functional people don’t buy less because they’re morally better. They buy less because they don’t need to buy feelings.

They already have:

• Stable routines that reduce chaos.
• Self-trust, which lowers impulsive decisions.
• Patience, which reduces urgency.
• Skills, which reduce dependence on “magic” solutions.
• Community, which reduces loneliness-based purchasing.
• Clear priorities, which blocks distractions.

A functional person can look at a pitch and think, “That might help, but I’m fine.” That sentence is poison to many business models.

The real engine: pain plus promise

Many modern products don’t sell the thing. They sell the emotional outcome.

Not “a course.” They sell confidence.
Not “a supplement.” They sell control.
Not “a new car.” They sell status and reset.
Not “a skin cream.” They sell reassurance.
Not “a dating app.” They sell hope.
Not “a productivity tool.” They sell the fantasy of becoming a different person.

When you’re functional, you can chase outcomes through practice, patience, and relationships. When you’re dysfunctional, buying is faster than becoming.

And faster wins more transactions.

Dysfunction is profitable because it’s repeatable

A solved problem is a terrible business.

If a product truly fixes a customer’s root issue, the customer leaves the funnel. If a product relieves symptoms while keeping the root alive, the customer becomes recurring revenue.

That’s why so much of the market is designed for:

• Temporary relief over permanent repair
• Subscriptions over one-time solutions
• Identity dependence over skill development
• Hype cycles over steady progress
• New problems created by the “solution”

The dysfunctional customer isn’t just easier to sell to, they’re more likely to come back.

How marketing targets dysfunction (without saying it)

Modern marketing rarely says “You’re broken.” It says:

• “You deserve this.”
• “Stop settling.”
• “Don’t get left behind.”
• “Everyone is doing it.”
• “Imagine the new you.”
• “Last chance.”
• “Limited spots.”
• “Be the person who…”

These are not product arguments. They’re nervous system triggers.

They create urgency, comparison, shame, and fear of missing out, then offer a purchase as the exit ramp. That’s why the pitch often feels like a rescue, not a transaction.

The functional buy differently

Functional buyers still purchase, but their pattern looks different:

• They buy fewer, better things.
• They buy systems, not fantasies.
• They buy based on fit, not pressure.
• They buy after verification, not persuasion.
• They buy to support an existing identity, not to manufacture one.

They don’t need the seller to pump emotion into the decision. They need information.

That’s why honest businesses often struggle in attention markets: calm truth loses to loud reassurance.

Where this shows up everywhere

You can spot this dynamic in almost any industry:

Self-improvement and “become someone new”

A functional person improves through habits. A dysfunctional person buys a reset, then crashes, then buys another reset.

Health and wellness

A functional person trains and eats steadily. A dysfunctional person cycles through extremes: detoxes, miracle supplements, all-or-nothing plans, then guilt, then another purchase.

Finance

A functional person budgets and invests patiently. A dysfunctional person chases hot tips, quick flips, and status spending to soothe insecurity.

Relationships

A functional person communicates and builds trust. A dysfunctional person buys signals: gifts as apology, appearances as proof, control as “care.”

Lifestyle and status

A functional person uses objects. A dysfunctional person uses objects to regulate self-worth.

The uncomfortable truth: the market can’t tell the difference between healing and coping

From the outside, both look like “taking action.”

Buying a gym membership can be the start of a disciplined life, or it can be a guilt payment that replaces real change. Buying a course can be skill-building, or it can be procrastination disguised as ambition. Buying a new wardrobe can be healthy self-expression, or it can be identity panic.

The market doesn’t care which one it is. It rewards the behavior that repeats.

The ethical question is not “Should people sell?”

Selling isn’t evil. Every good tool, service, and invention is sold.

The ethical line is whether the seller:

• Solves the root problem or farms the symptom
• Builds capability or dependence
• Uses clarity or pressure
• Encourages long-term stability or short-term emotional buying
• Tells the whole truth or only the activating part

You can sell to people in pain and still be honorable. But you can also design your entire business around keeping them in pain.

How to become “functional” to the market

If you want to be harder to manipulate, you don’t need to become perfect. You need to become slower and clearer.

A functional buyer does a few things consistently:

• Separates emotion from decision: “Am I buying relief or utility?”
• Waits out urgency: most “must-buy-now” feelings decay fast.
• Defines the real problem in one sentence before shopping.
• Chooses skill over shortcut: “What can I practice instead of purchase?”
• Tracks patterns: “What do I buy when I’m stressed?”
• Measures outcomes: “Did this purchase reduce the root issue or just soothe me?”

Functionality isn’t never buying. It’s buying with control.

The point of the phrase

“We sell to the dysfunctional because the functional don’t buy” is a warning about incentives.

If you build your life on emotional stability, skill, patience, relationships, and self-respect, you become less profitable to many industries. That’s not a bad thing. It’s a sign you’re not easily pushed around.

The goal isn’t to stop purchasing. The goal is to stop being the kind of customer who needs buying to feel okay.

Because once you can feel okay without buying, you only buy what actually earns its place in your life.