Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your Consumerism shopping experience:
1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the Consumerism offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of Consumerism at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.
2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about
3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a Consumerism? Wrong! If the Consumerism is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.
4. Questions - Got a question about Consumerism then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....
5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling Consumerism? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about Consumerism and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.
6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Consumerism wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.
7. Feedback - happy with your Consumerism then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.
8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Consumerism site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site
9. Contact - got a question about Consumerism, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.
10. Payment - ready to pay for your Consumerism, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.
Consumerism is the equating of personal
happiness with the purchasing of material possessions and
Consumption (economics). It is often associated with criticisms of consumption starting with Karl Marx and
Thorstein Veblen.
In economics, consumerism can also refer to economic policies that place an emphasis on consumption, and, in an abstract sense, the belief that the free choice of consumers should dictate the economic structure of a society (cf.
Producerism, especially in the British sense of the term).
History
Although consumerism is commonly associated with the Western world, it is multi-cultural and non-geographical, as seen today in
Tokyo,
Singapore, Jakarta, Hong Kong,
Shanghai, Taipei, Tel Aviv,
Bahrain, New Delhi and
Dubai, for example. Consumerism, as in people purchasing goods or consuming materials in excess of their basic needs, is as old as the first civilizations (see
Ancient Egypt,
Babylon and
Ancient Rome, for example). Since consumerism began, various individuals and groups have consciously sought an alternative lifestyle through simple living.
While consumerism is not a new phenomenon, it has only become widespread over the 20th century and particularly in recent decades, under the influence of
neoliberalism capitalism.
Usage
Webster's Dictionary defines Consumerism as "the promotion of the consumer's interests" or alternately "the theory that an increasing consumption of goods is economically desirable". It is thus the opposite of anti-consumerism or of producerism.
- In relation to producerism, it is the belief that the free choice of consumers should dictate the economic structure of a society, rather than the interests of producers. It can also refer to economic policies that place an emphasis on consumption.
Popular media used "Consumerist" as a short-form for "Consumer-Activist".
Criticism
In many critical contexts,
consumerism is used to describe the tendency of people to identify strongly with products or services they consume, especially those with commercial
brand names and obvious
status symbol appeal, e.g. an expensive automobile, expensive jewelry. A culture that is permeated by consumerism can be referred to as a
consumer culture. Impulse buyers who cannot resist spending money are commonly termed
Oniomania.
Opponents of consumerism argue that many luxuries and unnecessary consumer products are social signals that allow people to identify like-minded individuals through consumption and display of similar products. Some believe that relationships with a product or brand name are substitutes for the healthy human relationships lacking in dysfunctional modern societies and along with consumerism itself are part of the general process of social control and cultural hegemony in modern society.
The older term and concept of "conspicuous consumption" originated at the turn of the 20th century in the writings of sociologist and economist
Thorstein Veblen. The term describes an apparently irrational and confounding form of economic behaviour. Veblen's scathing proposal that this unnecessary consumption is a form of status display is made in darkly humorous observations like the following:
:
"It is true of dress in even a higher degree than of most other items of consumption, that people will undergo a very considerable degree of privation in the comforts or the necessaries of life in order to afford what is considered a decent amount of wasteful consumption; so that it is by no means an uncommon occurrence, in an inclement climate, for people to go ill clad in order to appear well dressed." (The Theory of the Leisure Class, 1899).
The term "conspicuous consumption" spread to describe consumerism in the United States in the 1960s, but was soon linked to larger debates about media influence,
culture jamming, and its corollary
productivism.
Counter arguments
Consumerism is actively promoted by numerous Public Relations firms. While there is not precisely an intellectual movement to promote consumerism, there has been, in recent years, strong criticism of the anti-consumerist movement. Most of this comes from libertarianism thought. For example,
Reason (magazine), in 1999, attacked the anti-consumerism movement, claiming marxism academics are repackaging themselves as anti-consumerists. James Twitchell, a professor at the University of Florida and popular writer, referred to anti-consumerism arguments as "Marxism Lite."
The libertarian attack on the anti-consumerist movement is largely based on the perception that it leads to elitism. Namely, libertarians believe that no person has the right to decide for others what goods are "necessary" for living and which aren't, or that luxuries are necessarily wasteful, and thus argue that anti-consumerism is a precursor to central planning or a totalitarian society. Twitchell, in his book
Living It Up, sarcastically remarked that the logical outcome of the anti-consumerism movement would be a return to the
sumptuary laws that existed in
ancient Rome and during the Middle Ages.
Conversely, many anti-consumerists believe that a modern consumer society is created through extensive
advertising and
Mass media influence, rather than arising from people's natural ideas regarding the kinds of things they need. In other words, anti-consumerists tend to believe that consumerism is an artificial creation sustained by artificial social pressures, while libertarians tend to believe that consumerism is natural and the only way to eliminate it is through artificial social pressures.
See also
References
Further reading
- Thorstein Veblen (1899): The Theory of the Leisure Class: an economic study of institutions, Dover Publications, Mineola, N.Y., 1994, ISBN 0-486-28062-4. (also available: Project Gutenberg e-text)
- (Hardcover, 246 pages)
- Jan Whitaker (2006): Service and Style: How the American Department Store Fashioned the Middle Class, St. Martin's Press, N.Y., ISBN 0-312-32635-1. (Hardcover, 352 pages)
- Adam Curtis, The Century of the Self, documentary series.
External links
- Marketplace: Consumed with consumption interview with Benjamin Barber, author of Consumed
- "Consumerism in China" by British Photojournalist Sean Gallagher
- AdBusters, anti-consumerism magazine
- The Disaffected Individual by Bernard Stiegler
- Fifty Possible Ways to Challenge Over-Commercialism by Albert J. Fritsch, SJ, PhD
- Spiritual Materialism and the Sacraments of Consumerism: A View from Thailand
- The Religion of Consumerism (First Unitarian Church of Rochester sermon)
- The New Anti-Consumerism
- For teachers:Introductory lecture notes on consumerism available
- Baudrillard; Consumerism, simulacro y régimen de mortandad en el Sistema de los objetos by Adolfo Vasquez Rocca PhD | in Eikasia
Other
- Consumerium Development Wiki: fair trade, political consumerism, and moral purchasing trends. These links deal with 'consumerism' in the sense of 'consumer activism'.
- Kunkelfruit Wiki, the home for free articles about how popular products are made.
- Baudrillard; Cultura, simulacro y régimen de mortandad en el Sistema de los objetos | Eikasia
- Global Consumer Solidarity Movement
- Intolerable Beauty - Portraits of American Mass Consumption (Chris Jordan Photography), artistic photos of mass consumerism
Consumerism is the equating of personal happiness with the purchasing of material possessions and
Consumption (economics). It is often associated with criticisms of consumption starting with Karl Marx and Thorstein Veblen.
In
economics, consumerism can also refer to economic policies that place an emphasis on consumption, and, in an abstract sense, the belief that the free choice of consumers should dictate the economic structure of a society (cf. Producerism, especially in the British sense of the term).
History
Although consumerism is commonly associated with the
Western world, it is multi-cultural and non-geographical, as seen today in
Tokyo,
Singapore, Jakarta,
Hong Kong,
Shanghai, Taipei, Tel Aviv, Bahrain, New Delhi and
Dubai, for example. Consumerism, as in people purchasing goods or consuming materials in excess of their basic needs, is as old as the first civilizations (see
Ancient Egypt,
Babylon and
Ancient Rome, for example). Since consumerism began, various individuals and groups have consciously sought an alternative lifestyle through simple living.
While consumerism is not a new phenomenon, it has only become widespread over the 20th century and particularly in recent decades, under the influence of neoliberalism capitalism.
Usage
Webster's Dictionary defines Consumerism as "the promotion of the consumer's interests" or alternately "the theory that an increasing consumption of goods is economically desirable". It is thus the opposite of
anti-consumerism or of
producerism.
- In relation to producerism, it is the belief that the free choice of consumers should dictate the economic structure of a society, rather than the interests of producers. It can also refer to economic policies that place an emphasis on consumption.
Popular media used "Consumerist" as a short-form for "Consumer-Activist".
Criticism
In many critical contexts,
consumerism is used to describe the tendency of people to identify strongly with products or services they consume, especially those with commercial
brand names and obvious status symbol appeal, e.g. an expensive automobile, expensive
jewelry. A culture that is permeated by consumerism can be referred to as a
consumer culture. Impulse buyers who cannot resist spending money are commonly termed
Oniomania.
Opponents of consumerism argue that many luxuries and unnecessary consumer products are social signals that allow people to identify like-minded individuals through consumption and display of similar products. Some believe that relationships with a product or brand name are substitutes for the healthy human relationships lacking in dysfunctional modern
societies and along with consumerism itself are part of the general process of social control and cultural hegemony in modern society.
The older term and concept of "conspicuous consumption" originated at the turn of the 20th century in the writings of sociologist and economist Thorstein Veblen. The term describes an apparently irrational and confounding form of economic behaviour. Veblen's scathing proposal that this unnecessary consumption is a form of status display is made in darkly humorous observations like the following:
:
"It is true of dress in even a higher degree than of most other items of consumption, that people will undergo a very considerable degree of privation in the comforts or the necessaries of life in order to afford what is considered a decent amount of wasteful consumption; so that it is by no means an uncommon occurrence, in an inclement climate, for people to go ill clad in order to appear well dressed." (
The Theory of the Leisure Class, 1899).
The term "conspicuous consumption" spread to describe consumerism in the United States in the 1960s, but was soon linked to larger debates about media influence,
culture jamming, and its corollary
productivism.
Counter arguments
Consumerism is actively promoted by numerous
Public Relations firms. While there is not precisely an intellectual movement to promote consumerism, there has been, in recent years, strong criticism of the anti-consumerist movement. Most of this comes from
libertarianism thought. For example, Reason (magazine), in 1999, attacked the anti-consumerism movement, claiming
marxism academics are repackaging themselves as anti-consumerists.
James Twitchell, a professor at the University of Florida and popular writer, referred to anti-consumerism arguments as "Marxism Lite."
The libertarian attack on the anti-consumerist movement is largely based on the perception that it leads to
elitism. Namely, libertarians believe that no person has the right to decide for others what goods are "necessary" for living and which aren't, or that luxuries are necessarily wasteful, and thus argue that anti-consumerism is a precursor to
central planning or a totalitarian society. Twitchell, in his book
Living It Up, sarcastically remarked that the logical outcome of the anti-consumerism movement would be a return to the
sumptuary laws that existed in
ancient Rome and during the Middle Ages.
Conversely, many anti-consumerists believe that a modern consumer society is created through extensive
advertising and Mass media influence, rather than arising from people's natural ideas regarding the kinds of things they need. In other words, anti-consumerists tend to believe that consumerism is an artificial creation sustained by artificial social pressures, while libertarians tend to believe that consumerism is natural and the only way to eliminate it is through artificial social pressures.
See also
References
Further reading
- Thorstein Veblen (1899): The Theory of the Leisure Class: an economic study of institutions, Dover Publications, Mineola, N.Y., 1994, ISBN 0-486-28062-4. (also available: Project Gutenberg e-text)
- (Hardcover, 246 pages)
- Jan Whitaker (2006): Service and Style: How the American Department Store Fashioned the Middle Class, St. Martin's Press, N.Y., ISBN 0-312-32635-1. (Hardcover, 352 pages)
- Adam Curtis, The Century of the Self, documentary series.
External links
- Marketplace: Consumed with consumption interview with Benjamin Barber, author of Consumed
- "Consumerism in China" by British Photojournalist Sean Gallagher
- AdBusters, anti-consumerism magazine
- The Disaffected Individual by Bernard Stiegler
- Fifty Possible Ways to Challenge Over-Commercialism by Albert J. Fritsch, SJ, PhD
- Spiritual Materialism and the Sacraments of Consumerism: A View from Thailand
- The Religion of Consumerism (First Unitarian Church of Rochester sermon)
- The New Anti-Consumerism
- For teachers:Introductory lecture notes on consumerism available
- Baudrillard; Consumerism, simulacro y régimen de mortandad en el Sistema de los objetos by Adolfo Vasquez Rocca PhD | in Eikasia
Other
- Consumerium Development Wiki: fair trade, political consumerism, and moral purchasing trends. These links deal with 'consumerism' in the sense of 'consumer activism'.
- Kunkelfruit Wiki, the home for free articles about how popular products are made.
- Baudrillard; Cultura, simulacro y régimen de mortandad en el Sistema de los objetos | Eikasia
- Global Consumer Solidarity Movement
- Intolerable Beauty - Portraits of American Mass Consumption (Chris Jordan Photography), artistic photos of mass consumerism
Consumerism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Consumerism is the equating of personal happiness with the purchasing of material possessions and consumption. The term is often associated with criticisms of consumption starting ...
Consumerism
Daycare Info; Empathic Parenting ; Online Parenting Course The Canadian Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children Box 700, 362 Midland Avenue,
consumerism definition | Dictionary.com
noun . 1. a modern movement for the protection of the consumer against useless, inferior, or dangerous products, misleading advertising, unfair pricing, etc.
consumerism - definition of consumerism by the Free Online Dictionary ...
con·sum·er·ism (k n-s m-r z m) n. 1. The movement seeking to protect and inform consumers by requiring such practices as honest packaging and advertising, product guarantees ...
BBC World Service | Consumerism
This four-part series looks at consumer trends around the globe and what they can tell us about the mindsets of different countries
Anti-consumerism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Anti-consumerism refers to the socio-political movement against consumerism. Consumerism is a term used to describe the effects of the market economy on the individual.
consumerism - Wiktionary
Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary
Overcoming Consumerism Citizen-Activist's Anti-Consumerism site
ANTI-CONSUMERISM; Overcoming Consumerism provides many unique tools, books, and online resources to achieve sustainability & environmentally benign frugal living.
Consumerism and its discontents
APA Monitor article (June 2004) discusses psychology research and the possible effects of a consumer culture on people's mental well-being.
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