The Role of Social, Ethical and Consumer Theories in the Current Patterns of Increased Consumerism - Term Paper Example

The Role of Social, Ethical and Consumer Theories in the Current Patterns of Increased Consumerism Introduction The desire to consume is driven by a number of different factors. Consumers in the society are motivated to consume as individuals as well as in a groups. The current society has been characterised by increased levels of consumption: what has been labelled as consumerism. The desire to consume has replaced the traditional set up in which work took the central role in the lives of individuals. In the current trend, individuals are increasingly affected by the notion of “working and spending.” This is embodied in the practice of increased expenditure on consumer goods in all levels of the society. It is important to note, however, that this level of increased expenditure is not based on basic commodities but rather on goods and services whose main function is for comparison purposes. More often than not, consumers are driven to purchase goods and services, not as a result of a genuine and inherent need for them but rather, as a result of the combination of powerful social and psychological forces entailed in capital differences and increased marketing communication (mainly advertising). It can be argued that the primary motivation of consumers in the current society is the desire to be similar to others as well as to attain differentiation from the rest. The objective of this paper is to examine the factors that have contributed to this trend of consumerism. To do this, several factors which are considered as the driving force behind the current patterns in consumerism are examined. This is followed by an examination of specific social and ethical theories in marketing and how they contribute to the current pattern of consumer behaviour in the society. Lastly, a brief examination of ethical issues in marketing communication and how they influence consumption patterns is given. Factors driving the current consumption patterns There are six key factors which drive high levels of consumer behaviour in the current society. The need to create a self identity, socio-technical systems, specialisation and emulation are the key factors which drive and sustain increased levels of consumerism in the current society (Dunlap et al. 2002, p. 230). In addition, the current trend of increased consumerism is driven by factors such as identity, novelty and matching (Kirby et al. 2000, p. 7). Repeated studies have confirmed the role of the need of members of the lower classes to emulate those of the higher classes by purchasing commodities which are used purely as symbols of position in the society and not for the sake of a genuine demand for the goods (Calhoun, Rojek & Turner 2005, p. 176). This practice creates a ceaseless system of demand in which products and services are rendered obsolete to give way to more trendy ones in the course of time. This happens as a result of changes in tastes and preferences by members of the upper classes and an ensuing need to acquire the new products by members of the lower classes. The result is an eternal demand for position products and services, a situation which is driven by the desire to attain a given social position. This traditional view, in which capital differences are seen to combine with advertising to create in the general public a false demand for goods, is still a relevant tool of analysis of how the demand for goods and services in the society is maintained and expanded in the course of time (Dunlap et al. 2002, p. 233). Specialisation entails a process of splitting activities which were erstwhile similar into a range of seemingly different ones. New products and services are created to match the new range of activities. The current consumer society is characterised by an increased attempt at constant invention of constant invention of new activities as well as separating once similar activities into demarcated and highly specialised fields, each requiring a single and different set of requirements (Dunlap et al. 2002, p. 232). This is a powerful mechanism by which increased expenditure is created and maintained in the society. Socio technical systems, which are defined as the complex patterns of interaction between humans and technological advances in a social context, have also provided a mechanism by which individuals find themselves attached to continuous patterns of expenditure, thus expanding the levels of expenditure in the society (Nielsen et al. 2010, p. 94). Dunlap et al. (2002, p. 233) identified eight basic social-technical systems responsible for driving consumer demand for products and services in the society. These are technological systems that work to satisfy the basic needs in the society, including: transportation and healthcare and basic necessities such as food, water, electricity, gas, clothing and petroleum products. Although technological advances in these areas are meant to reduce the level of human effort in satisfying them, the resulting effect is that such new technological systems only work to increase the overall levels of consumption in the society. This happens because such socio-technical systems, in the event of working to reduce the level of human effort in satisfying particular basic needs, only do so to eliminate tasks initially handled by a single gender. This leaves the other gender unaffected by the technological advances. As well, technological advances alter the expected levels of performance and also create an increase in the general level of labour required. This ensures that the level of consumption in the society is expanding (Nielsen et al. 2010, p. 95). Apart from creating a requirement for consumption, technical systems create additional demands for other products and services which are used in conjunction with them. Relationship between theories of consumer behaviour and the current consumption patterns There is a close relationship between the three basic theories of consumer behaviour and marketing. In Douglas and Isherwood's (1979) view, consumption is regarded as a means of constructing an intelligent universe as well as maintaining close social relationships between individuals in the society. Individuals consume products and services in order to maintain the values of culture rather than as a mere means of satisfying organic desires and needs (cited by Corrigan 2006, p. 251). The goods and services consumed by individuals serve the purpose of showing which social categories are important in a particular culture. They also stabilise these categories by emphasising the sovereignty of the consumer as expressed in the classical economic model. Secondly, goods and services serve the purpose of creating and maintaining important social relationships between individuals in the society. Relationships such as friendship, family ties and kinship are emphasised and maintained by patterns of consumerism resulting from diversification of cultures. The goods are regarded as symbols of culture which serve the main purpose of maintaining the drift of meaning in the society (Ritzer & Smart 2001, p. 419). It is based on this notion that increased marketing and advertising creates a highly differentiated marketing system which enables customers to maintain a near fanatical desire to own particular goods and properties. Value differentiated products and services always attract premium prices, which, to the consumers, is a symbol of belonging to a specialised group of individuals using the product or service. The products produced by Apple Inc. (most particularly the iPhone and the iPod) offer a good example. In addition, Longhofer and Winchester (2012, p. 163) observe that increased fragmentation of culture on the society has affected consumption patterns in that culture induces consumption patterns and lifestyles in the society. The Jean Baudrillard theory of consumerism views goods and services as part of particular systems of objects to which individual needs are attached. This is in contrast to the view that goods and services are desired by individuals by virtue of their individual nature as objects. The desire for needs is embedded in individuals; this desire drives individuals to particular goods and services which are expected to offer satisfaction (Ritzer & Smart 2001, p. 425). However, according to Corrigan (2006, p. 252), this theory fails to give a plausible explanation regarding the origin of needs. By proposing that needs exist mysteriously and that the market only reacts to an already established system of needs, this theory disregards the social aspects of consumption which are central to explaining how consumption is influenced by social systems. It also fails to explain the elastic and highly expanding nature of individual needs in the current society as compared to the past (Corrigan 2006, p. 255). Of great importance in explaining the current trends in consumerism and marketing theory is the theory of consumerism developed by Thostein Veblen (Ritzer & Smart 2001, p. 426). According to this theory, individuals in the society are judged purely by their level of wealth. This is expressed in two distinct ways: conspicuous leisure and conspicuous consumption. Consumption is therefore driven by the desire of individuals to display their wealth in the society and by doing so, win the reputation of other members of the society (Corrigan 2006, p. 254). There is a major distinction between conspicuous leisure and conspicuous consumption as outlined in this theory. Whereas conspicuous consumption is displayed by the number of persons an individual can manage to maintain away from the engagements of product labour by keeping them fully depended on himself for leisure, conspicuous consumption is a practice done by the upper class in the society whose consumption of goods goes well beyond mere subsistence, as is the case for the working class, to a complete show of their prestige in the society. The connection of this theory to general marketing practice is interesting since, according to Veblen (cited by Ritzer & Smart 2001, p. 426), the super rich of the society can engage in the consumption of goods purely as a way of emphasising their position in the society. It therefore follows that certain goods and services are produced and marketed for the sole purpose of meeting the demands of conspicuous consumption. Goods which induce drunkenness and other stimulants are characterised as expensive vices, only afforded by the leisure class (Corrigan 2006, p. 254). Further, the theory of consumerism as developed by Veblen states that the societal change from the feudal society to the more diverse bourgeoisie society occasioned a change in consumption patterns. Since members of the upper classes continued in their two primary methods of consumption, that is, conspicuous leisure and conspicuous consumption, individuals from the lower classes attempted to imitate the spending patterns of members of the higher classes. As a result, the general spending patterns in the society have become a pale reflection of the spending patterns of the upper classes. This implies that because individuals aspire to show their wealth through increased expenditure, their consumption behaviour is an emulation of the practices of members of the high class, whom they aspire to copy. Ethical issues in marketing and their effect on current consumption patterns There is a close relationship between ethical issues and the theory and practice of marketing. This is reflected in measurements such as the Ethical Brand Index which measures public perceptions concerning ethical issues in different products and services (Arnold 2009, p. 33). Shimp (2007, p. 607) observes that practitioners of marketing communications often make decisions that have ethical ramifications. In general, ethical dilemmas occur as a result of competing demands of meeting the goals of the business on one hand, and struggling to satisfy the needs of the financial community on the other. Further, Schlegelmilch (2001, p. 47) states that ethical issues are inherent in specific marketing tasks such as marketing research. The trust relationship between the market researchers and the public concerning the veracity of the findings, the need to avoid bias in findings from different cultures, the need to change results in order to make them more favourable and the need to ensure that the data is not misleading to the major stakeholders in the market research process are identified as some of the ethical issues which arise in the process of carrying out a market research. There are several key areas in the process of marketing communication that are potentially susceptible to issues of ethical concern (Shimp 2007, p. 606). These are: advertising, public relations, sales promotions and target marketing. Of all these, the marketing practice of targeting specific segments of the population in advertising for goods and products presents the highest potential risk of ethical issues. The major ethical issue arises from the fact that target marketing involves channelling advertising communication efforts to members of a particular population segment who, for social or psychological reasons, are deemed vulnerable to such kind of communication. For instance, advertisements targeting children, teenagers and economically disadvantaged groups raise ethical issues because individuals in such groups are deemed to be completely vulnerable to such communication. It should however be noted that not all advertising targeting such groups is ethically wrong. For instance, an advertisement campaign for healthy products designed to target children may not be judged as ethically wrong. But if the products have an overall bad effect on the health and wellbeing of the consumers, then its advertising campaigns are judged as being ethically wrong when they target members of the group who are considered as being vulnerable to the marketing message. In general, many ethical issues that arise as a result of marketing communication are based on the arguments that advertising is manipulative, deceptive, offensive, and maintains perpetual stereotypes. The stereotypes created and supported by advertising campaigns contribute to influencing individuals into making purchases of goods and services which are not required as such but rather are consumed as a result of the effect of being falsely persuaded that the demand for such goods and services actually exists. Conclusion It can be concluded that the statement of whether the current consumption patterns of individuals is motivated by the desire to emulate others as well as seek distinction from the rest is true. Increased consumerism in the current society is created and maintained by a number of factors. The need to seek identity, increasing specialisation of goods and services, the role of technological systems as well as the need for social comparison has driven individuals into increased consumption of goods and services. This pattern is in agreement with early theoretical conceptualisations of the need for consumption – in particular Veblen's theory of consumption. Consumption patterns in the current society are a pale reflection of the consumption behaviours of the members of the upper classes. This is because members of the working classes are driven by the objective of not only emulating the wealthy class, but also seek social identification by aiming to be different from the rest. Lastly, ethical issues in marketing communication have also contributed to the current patterns of consumption in the society. Although ethical issues arise at all levels of the marketing process including market research, advertising targeting particular population segments is regarded as being ethically wrong, particularly if consumption of the advertised goods is associated with negative health effects. The major ethical concern in marketing is that advertising is responsible for creating the need for stereotypes in the society. The current patterns of consumption are therefore as a result of the manipulative and deceptive nature of advertising. References Arnold, C 2009, Ethical marketing and the new consumer, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken. Calhoun, C, Rojek, C & Turner, B 2005, The Sage handbook of sociology, Sage Publications, New York. Corrigan, P 2006, The sociology of consumption, Sage Publications, London. Dunlap, E R, Butell, F H, Dickens, P & Gijswijt, A 2002, Sociological theory and the environment: Classical foundations, contemporary insights, Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Maryland. 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