consumer society essay

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Consumer Society Essay

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Why is consumerism bad for our society.

Consumerism is a key aspect of our everyday lives. Everyday, numerous companies invent new products and services to fulfill the needs of the consumers and consumers are propelled towards those materials as if it identifies who they are. Whether one is buying a new pair of Nike tennis shoes, or the new Ford Mustang, there is always going to be a better product to compete for. From the late 1950s until today, consumerism has been an issue, which has impacted the lives of many people around the world economically. Since the Great Depression/1970s, stocks have been rising and dropping due to consumerism, which is why the economy is drowning. Consumerism is bad for our society because materialism causes unhealthy competition for social status, people allow materials to identify who and what they associate with, and material items become more significant than the unmaterialistic. People try to show their social status through unhealthy competition with the products they consume, especially with well–known popular brands. People think that if they have a product from a specific, expensive brand, they belong to a higher social status in society. Today in our society, it is impossible to buy a product that doesn't have a symbol that identifies a certain brand. When people see their friends with the newest products, they feel that they need to have it also to feel "cool" and not feel left out. Most of the time, people want something so badly that even though they don't have enough

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Consumer consumption essay.

Are You What You Buy? As a society we are embedded in a culture of consumption. Consumerism brings out a passion in people to have things, be it objects or services that will make them feel better. This "passion" becomes a powerful force that makes people make some unwise decisions in their life. The money consumers spend on these goods could be going to the ever–surmounting needs for health care, poverty help, or other things that would help the society as a whole. This is why America is the prime example of a capitalistic consumer society and not a socialistic country. People want things for themselves before anyone else. All cultures need consumerism to survive, because we need food, shelter, and clothing and the last time I checked.. more content... From my experience, and especially one I can remember from my childhood, playing on my middle schools basketball team where all of us wanted to wear the exact same pair of black Air Jordan's with black Jordan socks. I had already bought some shoes but as soon as the season was approaching and the new edition came out we were all obsessing with having them, especially since our best player on the team had just got a pair. After a few days of constantly asking my parents gave in and I was ecstatic. My favorite part about getting new shoes was going to the store and looking at all the shoes on the wall but knowing that I was getting the best and most expensive pair. "Kids can recognize logos by eighteen months, and before reaching their second birthday, they're asking for products by brand name. By three and a half, experts say children start to believe that brands communicate their personal qualities"( W109R 43).The next day was great and although not everyone could afford the shoes everyone who started that year did have the all black Air Jordan's and we looked great. Consumption can also be looked at in the form of the store and how its design and the feelings their designs are meant to generate. At the top of the store group are

Outline the view that in a consumer society, rising affluence is associated with more waste and greater recycling. Introduction: During the course of this essay, I will look at the key debates. Firstly: How our industry has changed, together with how we appear to consume more in today's society. Secondly: I will look at the idea "seduced and repressed" used by (Zygmunt Bauman 1988) expanding upon how our shopping habits have changed. Thirdly: I will be looking at the claim that we are a throw–away society, seeking the underlying reason why we choose to discard and throw away more waste. I will look at the efforts used to influence our decisions into recycling more, highlighting what the benefits of recycling are. Lastly: I will sum up in my overall conclusion whether or not a rise in people's affluence is directly associated to a rise in waste. Industry, within the United Kingdom has changed, during the 1960 and 1970 manufacturing was a significant part of our economy, however many business were government run and failed to respond to international markets. These state own businesses just could not afford to run and were sold off as they were loss making and were just not efficient (Wikipedia 2015). However manufacturing still continues though not on the same scale, many of these businesses have transferred overseas, where production costs are considerably lower. The biggest change to our economy has been towards the service sector. According to an online report:

Is Customer a King of the Market

Is consumer really the king In India? | | | | Yes. counsumer is king in india. because consumer know what to buy what not to buy. they are educated. and laws also give protection to customer .consumer protection act is example. | | As per my counterview. Consumers are realy not consumers. Consumers bear an invisible tag of being 'KINGS'. They actually are not. In sense its just to attract the consumers & misguide them by a feel that they are valuable to the market. Consumers is just an ATM to debit cash into the sellers accounts. And make profits to the companies. As richers are linged in market. But what about middle class & poor class. Kings never negotiate but customer has to if they see the prices of products higher than.. more content... That is why fdi (foreign direct investment) show huge growth with the last decade. Many foreign companeis (pepsico, nokia, walmart, general electrical etc) and bank (citi bank, standard chartered, abn amro etc) are entering in India day by day however many more is to come. | | | | | | Yes the consumer is the king of the market because the success of the business is totally depend on the consumer. As we all known the marketing starts with the consumer needs and ends with the fulfillment of the needs of the consumer. | | | | | | No, I don't think that the consumers are really the king. According to my point of view actually only those consumers are king who have huge amount to spend or you cn sy that who have more time n money to waste. A local consumer cn never be the king. Here is an expl: like if a person purchase a refrigerator. After some days he/she noticed that the refrigerator is not the 1st one it is a second hand machine n also not working properly. Then the person goes to that stor from where he/she purchased it. Guess what! the stor man refuged to take that machine back, and instid of taking back he is blaming the customer. After that the person goes to the company of that machine. Same thing happens with him/her at that

Essay Plan Introduction General statement on the question, who are the winners and losers of a consumer society? Main body Who are the winners in a consumer society? Tesco's are they a major player? How supermarkets use their power of seduction. Out of town shopping, how influenced are we? Power – supermarket wars Cheap labour Who are the losers in a consumer society? The seduced and repressed. Conclusion Bibliography & Referencing Self Reflection Who are the winners and losers in a consumer society? Who are the winners and losers in a consumer society? We could ask what is defined as such. We can see it is about what people do for a living and how they live, but there is a divide, it shows how the rich.. more content... The producers of goods here in the UK would inevitably buy goods that have been produced or manufactured abroad. Food journalist Felicity Lawrence (2004) says in her book "Not on the label" about the plight of the foreign worker, agency staff and gang masters around the country. The staffs are paid low wages and deductions are illegally taken from them by the gang masters, they work outside their restrictions and have no health or safety rules in the work place, these people work many hours at food processing plants. These are the losers of the consumer society; we could argue that though the cheaper labour is a part of why we get our food cheaper, supermarkets are taking advantage of this. But Lawrence argues you would not find any evidence of underpay or illegal

Consumer Society And The Social Society

This essay will seek to explore the view that a consumer society produces both winners and losers. A consumer society is "a society that is defined as much by how and what people purchase and use, as by what they make or do" (Blakeley and Staples, 2014, p. 16). Firstly it will look a Zygmunt Bauman's concept of the seduced and repressed and some of the social inequalities that can underpin this. It will briefly introduce conspicuous consumption in relation to the seduced. Secondly supermarket power and monopolies are discussed. Finally it will introduce the concepts of positive and zero sum games in relation to supermarkets. Bauman's argument is that "society remains unequal and divided today on the basis of whether or not you are in a position to consume effectively" (Allen, 2014, p) although he also argues that "the forms of inequality and freedom in a consumer society differ from what went on before" (Bauman (2008) cited in Allen, 2014, p). In the past social divisions were based on lines such as class and the type of jobs people held. The new divisions are based on "more recent economic cultural and political drivers" (Allen, 2014, p). Bauman's theory divides society into two categories; the seduced and the repressed. The seduced are those fully able to consume effectively in society. These are often seen as people that are more likely to "fit" into society with the clothes they wear, the places they go and the goods they buy for example. This latter

The Consumer Society Essay

"People recognise themselves in their commodities; they find their soul in their automobiles, hi–fi sets, split level homes........ control is anchored in the new needs which the consumer society has produced." (Marcuse,1968:24)To what extent are we controlled by the consumer society we live in? The rise of the consumer culture is a phenomenon characteristic for the twentieth century. The impact of this cultural movement is disputable. The quote above was taken from Marcuse's book "One dimensional man."(1964) Marcuse believed that the products of consumer capitalism indoctrinate and manipulate society to promote a false consciousness of needs which become a way of life. He saw this as another form of totalitarianism which binds.. more content... He argues that in the age of consumption the identities are negotiated though consumption, with which he means that we define ourselves more and more by what we consume. His last characteristic to the definition of consumer culture is that Consumer Culture represents the increasing importance of Culture in the exercise of power. Ritzer (1999) refers to the places in which consumption takes place "cathedrals of consumption." He argues that there are obvious cathedrals of consumption such as the supermarket, internet shopping or the shopping malls, but also ordinary everyday locations, which we would not associate with consumption, such as the railway station, the library or even our living room at home. Everywhere we go we are surrounded by cathedrals of consumption which aim to entice us to consume. Once can detect three different theories, to the power of these cathedrals of consumption. Weberian theory leads to the view that the cathedrals of consumption, when taken together, create a rationalized iron cage from which it is difficult, if not impossible, to escape. This is totally commodified world in which it would be futile, or nearly so, to hope to find a space in which one is free from commercial pressure. Supportive of this view is the proliferation of the new means of consumption, especially their spread into the home, so that even one is unable to avoid opportunities

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Concept of Consumer Society in Modern Society Essay

Key concepts, works cited.

Living in the modern world people live in the consumer society. To get a closer understanding of the notion ‘consumer society’, people should pay attention to the life style they follow. Having a lot of different goods at the market, people consume those and buy more and more other goods. One of the main characteristic features of a consumer society is that while consuming different products people do not do it independently, in vacuum.

People are inevitable participants of the consumer society, as buying products they want to buy more and more other related or dependant ones. For example, when people buy a toothbrush, they are unable to use it isolated from other objects, they need toothpaste to get the highest effect from the bought product. The same is about other products, buying some goods, people always want to buy more.

Ideology is a notion which may refer to different spheres of human life. One of the broadest meanings of this notion is the way people think. Ideology is not just the ideas people have in their minds in the relation to one specific problem. Ideology is a set of rules and norms people live with. People should not confuse ideology and culture as these are two absolutely different notions. Culture is an objective notion which just exists in the society.

Culture is created out of traditions which have been formulating for many years. Ideology is a personal subjective treatment of the surrounding world, the attitude to each other and the desire to show a piece of a picture as a whole. Ideology tends to make complex notions simple. Propaganda is one of the sides of ideology, as its main idea is the conviction of other people that his way of thinking is the only correct.

Semiotics is a notion which is aimed at exploring different signs and symbols. One of the best practical applications of semiotics is the creation of different planned or constructed languages. Living in the modern world, it is impossible to imagine contemporary life without computers.

Programming languages are an inevitable part of any computer program and software. Being divided into different branches, semiotics studies different qualities of sign systems, the relation between signs and symbols and their meaning, the connection between symbols their interpretation. Speech and language are the main objects of research in semiotics.

Envy, Desire and Belonging in Advertising

Envy, desire and belonging in advertising are the notions which can exist only in the consumer society. When people watch advertising they want what they see. The feeling of desire may be provoked by a number of reasons. It is not a problem when people want what they see because they need it, advertisement just helps them choose a brand. The problem appears when people want to buy a product because they envy those who possess it.

This is called an advertising belonging. No matter whether people need this product or not, they will surely buy it as their desire to possess the thing others have is too big. All these notions, envy, desire and belonging in advertising are closely related. To become free from advertising belonging, people should either stop envy those who has an opportunity to belong a specific product or should enclose themselves from the desire to buy it.

Introduction

There are a number of different definitions of mass culture, and depending on the stress the author makes in his/her definition, this notion have either positive or negative connotation. Having referred a contemporary culture to both mass and popular, it is possible to compare and contrast these two different opinions.

On the one hand, “mass culture is not and can never be good” (Macdonald 43), on the other hand, being mass, “popular culture is linked, for so long, to questions or tradition, of traditional form of life” (Hall 442). Thus, identifying the notion of contemporary culture, we have faced the problem whether to consider it as a positive or a negative issue.

To answer the question whether mass and popular cultures are the elements of contemporary culture and whether they are identified as positive or negative phenomena, we are going to consider different opinions and key arguments offer by the following thinkers, Stuart Hall, F.R. Levis, Dwight Macdonald, and Raymond Williams.

“Mass Culture Is not and Can Never Be Good”

Having stated this idea, Macdonald strictly supports it with the arguments. He is sure that a culture is something individual, which is created by and provided for a human being. Mass use of culture eliminates the very idea of individuality that makes this notion lose its primary meaning.

The following idea is used in support, “a large quantity of people [are] unable to express themselves as human beings because they are related to one another neither as individuals nor as members of communities – indeed, they are not related to each other at all, but only as something distant, abstract, nonhuman”( Macdonald 43).

Looking at the problem from this angle, it is possible to agree with Macdonald, but to investigate the truth, it is important to check the meaning of the word ‘culture’ to make sure that the author considers it in a proper way. Reading an essay by Raymond Williams who tries to explore the origin and etymology of the words ‘culture’ and ‘mass’, many different definitions of the word ‘culture’ was identified. But, there was not mentioned that culture means individual expression or a possession to a specific human being.

Moreover, Raymond underlines that the variations of whatever kind of the word ’culture’ “necessarily involve alternative views of the activities, relationships, and processes which this complex word indicates” (Raymond 28). Thus, the word culture does not mean a specific characteristic of one particular person, it is a set of issues which characterizes a group of people.

The Benefits of Mass Culture

According to Hall, popular culture has a positive connotation as it reflects traditions people have. To make the discussion clear, popular culture is a mass culture, as “the things are said to be ‘popular’ because masses of people listen to them, buy them, read them, consume them, and seem to enjoy them to the full” (Hall 446). The main idea of this opinion is that if the culture is mass and people like it, it is popular and there is no need to speak about negative connotation of mass culture.

But, Levis tries to contradict this point of view by means of providing some negative effect of such mass popular culture. It is not a secret that culture changes.

The changes which occur in the society may be too fast and people may not even notice those, but, if too look at the problem broadly, it can be easily noticed that parents are unable to understand their children, “generations find it hard to adjust themselves to each other, and parents are helpless to deal with their children” (Levis 34). Thus, the generations which are so close have different cultures.

The inability to have an individual or at least family culture leads to misunderstanding and conflicts. Hall can contradict this opinion stating that it is not the culture which changes and makes people become different, it is the change in the relationships. Culture changes when a specific tradition becomes dominant over another one. He states that “almost all cultural forms will be contradictory in this sense, composed of antagonistic and unstable elements” (Hall 449).

Contemporary Culture as Mass and Popular One: Personal Opinion

Having considered an opinion of different thinkers on the problem devoted to culture and its essence, I came to the conclusion that contemporary culture is a mass popular culture which denotes the present ideology of people. Thus, I definitely disagree with Macdonald and his point of view that “mass culture is not and can never be good” (Macdonald 43).

The problem of likes and having a personal opinion appears in the frames of this issue. Living in the age of mass entertainment, some people still manage to appreciate high and avant-garde culture.

So, it may be concluded that popular culture in the contemporary world is more than just an opinion of the vast majority of people, being interesting to a limited group of people, a specific culture may be popular as well. It is not the opinion of a separate individual, so it is also mass. Being in demand among a group of people, it is considered to be popular and mass. Mass in this meaning may denote something revolutionary and opposite (Williams 32).

Turning to the personal opinion, I mostly agree with Hall who states that popular culture is a mass one which expresses the ideas of people who consume the cultural products. Culture should be and is referred to the tradition. It can be even stated that culture and tradition are interconnected notions which should always come together. Still, I also agree with Levis, who highlights that culture is in crisis now (34), thus it is impossible to discuss this problem.

One may state that culture and tradition are not related as there are numerous directions in the modern culture of one specific nation. A close consideration of this problem allows us state that the culture of one specific nation is changing by means of influence and domination of different streams, but still, there is always something traditional in ach new trend which makes this very culture related to the national tradition of people.

In conclusion, contemporary culture is both mass and popular as the characteristic features of these notions coincide with the understanding of the modern culture. I strongly believe that culture should be connected with traditions as only in this way each nations will remain particular and unique. Cultural and traditional features are the most characteristic for describing different nations.

Hall, Stuart. “Notes on deconstructing ‘the popular.” Cultural theory and popular culture: a reader . Ed. John Storey. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, 1998. 442-453. Print.

Levis, F.R. “Mass Civilisation and Minority Culture.” Popular culture: a reader . Eds. Raiford Guins, and Omayra Zaragoza Cruz. New York: SAGE, 2005. 33-38. Print.

Macdonald, Dwight. “A theory of mass culture.” Popular culture: a reader . Eds. Raiford Guins, and Omayra Zaragoza Cruz. New York: SAGE, 2005. 39-46. Print.

Williams, Raymond. “’Culture’ and ‘Masses’.” Popular culture: a reader . Eds. Raiford Guins, and Omayra Zaragoza Cruz. New York: SAGE, 2005. 25-32. Print.

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Consumption and Consumer Society

The Craft Consumer and Other Essays

• © 2021
• Colin Campbell 0

University of York, York, UK

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• Written by a pioneer in the field
• Enables readers to understand the evolution of consumption over the last 30 years
• Covers the author's latest reflections on eco-sustainability, needs and desires, and post covid consumption.

Part of the book series: Consumption and Public Life (CUCO)

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Re-affirming the Prevailing Order?

Consumer Behavior: Vices, Virtues, and the Search for the Good Life

• modern consumerism
• conspicuous consumption
• consumption during COVID-19
• pandemics and consumption

Table of contents (11 chapters)

Front matter, introduction.

Colin Campbell

The Desire for the New: Its Nature and Social Location as Presented in Theories of Fashion and Modern Consumerism

Consuming goods and the good of consuming, conspicuous confusion a critique of veblen’s theory of conspicuous consumption, the meaning of objects and the meaning of actions: a critical note on the sociology of consumption and theories of clothing, shopping, pleasure and the sex war, consumption and the rhetorics of need and want, i shop therefore i know that i am: the metaphysical basis of modern consumerism, the craft consumer: culture, craft and consumption in a postmodern society, the curse of the new: how the accelerating pursuit of the new is driving hyper-consumption, a matter of necessity: reflections on need and want in a time of lockdown, back matter, authors and affiliations, about the author.

Colin Campbell is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of York, UK. He is the author of a dozen books and over one hundred articles dealing with issues in the sociology of religion, consumerism, cultural change, and sociological theory. He is probably best-known as the author of The Romantic Ethic and the Spirit of Modern Consumerism (Macmillan 1987, Palgrave Macmillan 2018), although he is also known for his work in the sociology of religion (see Toward A Sociology of Irreligion , Macmillan 1971) and cultural change (The Easternization of the West, Paradigm Publishers, 2007) and social theory (see The Myth of Social Action , CUP, 1996. His latest work is Has Sociology Progressed? (Palgrave Pivot, 2019).

Bibliographic Information

Book Title : Consumption and Consumer Society

Book Subtitle : The Craft Consumer and Other Essays

Authors : Colin Campbell

Series Title : Consumption and Public Life

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-83681-8

Publisher : Palgrave Macmillan Cham

eBook Packages : Social Sciences , Social Sciences (R0)

Copyright Information : The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021

Hardcover ISBN : 978-3-030-83680-1 Published: 16 November 2021

Softcover ISBN : 978-3-030-83683-2 Published: 17 November 2022

eBook ISBN : 978-3-030-83681-8 Published: 15 November 2021

Series ISSN : 2947-8227

Series E-ISSN : 2947-8235

Edition Number : 1

Number of Pages : VIII, 237

Number of Illustrations : 1 b/w illustrations

Topics : Sociology of Culture , Consumer Behavior , Cultural Studies , Sociological Theory

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