Preview

Consumerism Trap

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
4307 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Consumerism Trap
Consumerism

`The only reason a great many American families don't own an elephant is that they have never been offered an elephant for a dollar down and easy weekly payments.`

Mad Magazine

What Is Consumerism?

There must be more to life than having everything!

Maurice Sendak

Consumerism it’s a trend, an atitude and an choice. According to Business Dictionary[i], consumerism can be defined on three branches.The first branch can be seen as a trend, defined as Organized-efforts by individuals, groups, and governments to help protect consumers from policies and practices that infringe consumer rights to fair business practices. The trend aspect of the consumerism it’s linked directly with the encouraging of the consumption, of creating a safe consumption environment and a regulated competition practices and policies. Once the focus changed from the product to the customer, than to selling and to customer relationship, the customer response time became shorter and shorter, and the consuption continued to grow proportionally with the actions taken by the marketers. So, the consumerism attitude it`s in direct correlation with the marketing activism, creating customers whom are willing to buy, to have more, to consume more. The second branch of the consumerism is the attitude branch, defined as the doctrine that ever-increasing consumption of goods and services forms the basis of a sound economy. Once the trend it`s created, once the consumer, the customer feels safe and important, once the marketing activities are a continuous factor, the consumer attitude continues to be maintained and entertained by the marketers and governments. As long as the marketer and the company continues to take action for captivating and maintaining the customers` attention, the customer will happily come into play, continuing to consume as long as the company continues to produce and to market it’s products, and as long as the company will

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Docwra's book provides frank views on the course consumerism has put the society on. Docwra takes a serious approach to the aspects of consumerism, the sections in Docwra's book are at first problematic and situational but then become rectifying and provides direction on everything from the effects of consumerism to what is wrong with consumerism resulting in what can we do about consumerism. Docwra informs us on the negative effects consumerism places upon us, but Docwra puts most attention into providing tactics we can use to stop consumerism. He states: "To move away from a culture of consumerism, we will therefore need to challenge the philosophy and values of this current economic system. Essentially, we need a cultural shift in our society…

    • 262 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Bruce Dawe Consumerism

    • 611 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The over consumptions of material goods have overtaken society to the point where it has become a part of today’s necessity. But first of all, what is consumerism? Consumerism is the process of selling and promoting material goods which often leads people to obsessively consume vast amount of products. The concept of Consumerism however, have been negatively depicted within Bruce Dawe’s ‘Americanized’, ‘Televistas’ and a film ‘confessions of a shopaholic’ .…

    • 611 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Two authors that have written about American consumerism, James Twitchell and Ian Frazier, have two different ways of expressing their thoughts in their essays even though the two topics are similar. In Twitchell’s essay, “Two Cheers for Materialism”, he expresses his views in a different way than Frazier does by taking a more serious approach. Frazier on the other hand, attempts a more comical view of the issue in his essay “All Consuming Patriotism”. However different their essays may be, they still both bring attention to our nations obsession with consumerism.…

    • 982 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “The Realities of Hedonistic Consumerism, by Jesse Arrington, expresses hedonistic consumerism goes farther in our lives than we think. Since we buy things that we need in order to live, this shows how consumerism plays a big part in our lives. However, the hedonism part proposes that most people are grasped up in consumerism that they rely on this to be their basic cause of their way of living. A study shows that the average American family has more than eight thousand dollars in credit-card debt. This results in a person going broke every fifteen seconds. Most of the this is caused by the media, where we are attacked by ads that make us feel like we need it. Each day more people are realizing that the media basically manages what we see,…

    • 295 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Consumerism provides individuals with a temporary "high on life". Buying new things makes them feel momentarily happy, powerful and superior. These are all good feelings however they don 't last and many people who don 't have the resources to buy luxury items are buying them. This creates for them debt, stress, frustration and competitiveness. Those who can 't afford these luxury items show resentment for the ones who can. This causes tension in society and can create an Empire where people are competitive and hostile. The golden rule of Earth Community is do unto your neighbours as you would have your neighbour do unto you as you work together to create a better life for all. Consumerism is focused towards making individuals happy as opposed to everyone. Those people who can 't afford to have the nice things are forced to live with daily reminders through advertisements of things they want but cannot have. Consumerism doesn 't create a better life for all but creates one for those who can afford it. Consumers are fully aware that they are more interested in consuming appearances rather than the object. They enjoy the status that surrounds the objects they…

    • 1372 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Doll and Consumerism Lures

    • 1061 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Consumerism has to confront people in order for them to actually take action and resist it. The concept of consuming is drilled into us from a young age and as we grow older we see the detrimental effects of it on children. The attraction of consumerism lures people in to the temptation of it without realising and after we have gone too far we acknowledge that we have to resist it. Everyone is affected by texts that force them to encounter the results of consumerism and how it is instilled into us without even knowing it.…

    • 1061 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Consumerism is a word loaded with many connotations, some negative and others positive. For the purpose of this essay, the following use of the word will be referred to. Consumerism is an ideology and a way of life that has exploded within the last decades. It is the constant need and want to buy goods and services and upgrade frequently due to planned obsolescence even when they are not necessary or even particularly useful and it should not be confounded with consumption, which is the act of buying fundamental goods.…

    • 1228 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Maclemore Consumerism

    • 474 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The emphasis on material items is a serious issue and has begun to cripple our nation. Consumerism is the theory that an increasing consumption of goods is economically desirable. The idea of consumerism has started to move away from benefiting our economy to benefiting the self interest of each consumer. For too long, we've been manipulated to consume as much as we possibly can, to buy every new product launched, the top brands, and pretty much anything we could get our hands on (Tanaka). Company’s manipulative and misleading branding leads…

    • 474 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    American Consumerism is the theory that an increasing consumption of goods is economically desirable; also: a preoccupation with and an inclination toward the buying of consumer goods. People are not just interested in these products because they see them. They become interested in the products when they are advertised. These products are advertised on social media, television,…

    • 509 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Affluenza

    • 8054 Words
    • 33 Pages

    From the excellent PBS documentaries "Affluenza" and "Escape from Affluenza" to the work of and to books like "Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic" and "The Overspent American:…

    • 8054 Words
    • 33 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    You may ask what consumerism is and why is it important to American consumer? First off consumerism is defined as the fact or practice of an increasing consumption of goods. This is the act of buying and selling of goods and services whether you need them or not. Every time the public turn on the TV the radio, or go for a drive in their car they are witnessing this. This has become the social norm and most of the time the public don’t know this is happening.…

    • 711 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Stearns defines it as, “[a society]‘in which many people formulate their goals in life partly through acquiring goods that they clearly do not need for subsistence or for traditional display,’” (Stearns, 73). Based on these two definitions for consumerism, it is setting the society it affects up for displeasure and an unsatisfied state of mind. Which is why consumerism thrives on the human state of displeasure, and once the consumer gets what they want they realize it does not give them the satisfaction they want. Lastly, consumerism sprouts out of a collective social state of economic consistency in which the population does not have to worry about the daily needs of themselves and those who depend on them. This explains why this consumerist society sprouted out of the Enlightenment period because it was the first time where the prices of substantive items were not so overwhelming that there was no money leftover for superfluous items. In Western Civilizations, Joshua Cole states, “Houses became larger... but even more strikingly, the houses of middling ranks were now stocked with hitherto uncommon luxuries…” (Cole, 550). This is a logical step for society to take when they are not burdened by the weight of foodstuff’s and other necessary item’s…

    • 947 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Every commercial on television has one thing in common: its purpose is getting you to buy the product at any cost. This is the reason that there are more toy commercials around Christmas time than any other time throughout the year. Why do retail stores advertise patio furniture and grills at the beginning of summer? It is the time which people will most likely buy them. The same concept has been applied to food. Food companies will do whatever it takes to get their food sold. . People love the idea of food, but Americans in particular love the idea of the most food for the lowest price possible. We bargain with food just like any other product and have bought into consumerism without even realizing it.…

    • 2799 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Consumerism in America

    • 1942 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Consumerism is the center of American culture. Americans tend to confuse their wants with their needs. With new advances in technology, as well as the help of advertisers, people are provided with easy access to new products that seem essential to their everyday life, even though they have survived this long without them. People cannot live without food, clothing, and shelter. But realistically, according to people's different lifestyles, more than food, clothing, and shelter are needed. Most people need to work to survive. Unless a job is either in their own home, or within walking distance, a means of transportation is needed. Whether it be a vehicle, money for a taxi-cab, or a token for a ride on the subway, money must be spent in order to reach the place of work. For a student, paper, pens, and possibly a computer are a necessity. In order to complete school assignments, these tools are sometimes even required. Schooling is required for many types of jobs, which provide money, which is without a doubt essential in life. Food, clothing, and shelter are not the only things needed to survive. The problem begins when people with a larger disposable income take it too far. A car is definitely needed, but the fastest car in the most attractive color is not. Needs begin getting confused with…

    • 1942 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Generally, consumerism has emerged through a historical process that has created a capitalist society. That is shaped by mass markets and cultural attitudes, which ensure an ever-growing consumption. Consumerism is the general assumption that human desires are infinitely expandable, and everyday companies around the world compete by trying to satisfy those consumers’ needs and desires. In most countries, consumerism mainly increased due to the industrial revolution, which led to the development of luxury products that have become status symbols, generally these products tend to go out of fashion or become undesirable within society thus they turn to…

    • 1765 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Best Essays