Marketers May Promote Materialistic Values as Positive in the Short Term - Essay Example

Mаrkеtеrs mаy рrоmоtе mаtеriаlistiс vаluеs аs роsitivе in thе shоrt-tеrm, but this inсrеаsеd mаtеriаl соnsumрtiоn will hаvе lоng-tеrm dеlеtеriоus еffесts. Dо yоu bеliеvе thаt thе rеsроnsibility fоr аddrеssing this issuе liеs with оrgаnisаtiоns оr соnsumers Student’s Name Date The long-term deleterious effects of increased material consumption are a topic that has attracted scholars and psychologist and mostly noted as self and socially destructive1. Materialism is a trait that can affect both the rich and the poor as dehumanizes human beings who get preoccupied with social image and possessions2. Psychologists have noted that materialism has a way of making people unhappy and deny the inner peace of mind to those who appeal to it. In turn, it can be a cause of anxiety and depression and at times lead to broken relationships. For long a correlation has been observed between materialism and unhappiness, lack of empathy and engagement3. Having confirmed that materialism is destructive, the greatest question in consumer research has been what needs reform; the economic system or the human? This essay attempt to identify who between the organizations and consumers will assume the responsibility of addressing materialism. What is more disturbing is the frequent cited statistics that 20% of the world population accounts for the consumption of 80% of world resources4. The rate of consumption affects the larger part of the population and it is not also good for the ecosystem. Frequently, capitalism and pervasive marketing have been noted as causes of increased consumption and materialism. However, capitalism is an inherent economic model assumed by most of the organizations which invent different ways to compete for consumer dollar and to leverage more revenues from sales of products and services. Materialism becomes a problem when the physical goals of consumption overshadow the self and interactive development goals5. The point does not imply that any material desire is inherently bad as acquisition and material possession is healthy and natural part of a person’s life. However, it is generally agreed that, beyond a certain point, such quest can interfere with various important aspects of life and materialism likely become harmful to individual and society. A three-dimension scale operationalizes the negativity of materialism in terms of how it is related to envy, possessiveness and non-generosity6. Human are actors from both fronts; with capitalist on one side pushing for consumerism and consumers on the other eagerly waiting for the next product and particularly in technological devices. In most cases, organizations or manufacturers respond to the preferences and interests in the market to launch new products. Companies invest a lot in R&D for the purpose of including the features proposed by consumers in their upcoming products. The market is filled with active consumers who lead active lifestyles7. The demographic group that is mostly targeted by manufacturers is highly status oriented and likes to be associated with high-quality products. The group can part with a premium price for certain brand as long as they fulfill a need in their lives. Since the main objective of any company is to increase their revenues, they not only produce products with great features but also use effective promotional strategies to draw the appeal of the consumers. Of course, the impact of consumerism is not pervasive to all ages. Instead, it seek to incite envy and desperation among young men and women (single, married or in early ages of raising children). The group is easily lost in designers’ fashions and crude images that display opulence. At their age, the young are unable to resist the appeal as they are not so much focused on their wellbeing related to sense of purpose, autonomy and good relationship8. However, this does not mean that people at the age of 50+ or above 60+ cannot be drawn by the materialism. Adults and elderly look for value in their purchases and mostly will buy products to replace the old but not just because they like features or new colors. In turn, age plays a significant role among consumers in addressing consumerism and materialism. Monboit illustrates the outcomes of a study where researchers took a test with a group of 18-years old and then re-tested them after 12 years. The research required them to rank the importance of various goals including jobs, status and money on one side while belonging, fellow feeling and self-acceptance on the other. In both cases, a standard diagnostic test was given to them to note any mental problems they experienced. Results showed that materialistic participants were highly susceptible to mental disorders. However, after the 12-year period, most become less materialistic and happier9. Materialism must be understood as a trait that is now ingrained in most cultures; individualistic and collectivist alike10. However, most people attempt to overcome the lure and mostly during the time of economic crisis. For instance, most studies shows that consumer budgets tilted away from discretionary spending in many countries11. Consumer spending in discretionary services faced a massive hit after recession of 2008-09 and it has not recovered in various places12. In turn, household budgets have tilted toward necessities as consumers try to divide the pie of their income13. The way consumer adjust their spending help them become more interested in family and community life and less in money and products to attain higher levels of wellbeing. The case might also reflect how the poor and middle class people are easily able to adjust and avoid the pressure that comes with materialism to avoid stress and anxiety. Parents, mentors, religious leaders, counselors and psychologists can play a major role in helping the youth address the surge of materialism. A good example is researchers’ program meant to steer young children away from spending and towards saving and sharing. The researchers note that, self-esteem in children who expressed materialism rose significantly while that in control group fell. As much as it might be difficult for people everywhere to address the materialism issue as in this research, with time, children, teenagers and young adults can realize the patterns of their self-esteem and destructive effect of their preoccupation with materials. In turn, they can seek help or adjust to live better and fulfilled lives. Opponents might argue that organization should be responsible in avoiding repeated exposure of consumers to messages and images of luxury goods. However, organizations use words that are associated with materialism including buy, expensive, asset and status to ensure that their development and promotional efforts pays off. People who are exposed to adverts can experience temporal and immediate aspiration to material. However, consumers should be responsible, selective and self-controlled and in particular if they that such images only make them selfish and more competitive. As researcher points out, repeated bombardment with material images and adverts can trigger the temporary effects more or less continuously14. Individual and groups of consumers can invent ways to focus more on demanding social activities and issues that promote sense of social responsibility that preoccupation with unending appeal to materialism. According to Monboit, an economic model that is sorely based on perpetual growth succeeds on its own terms. However, it is highly capable to leave behind a trail of insurmountable debts, destroy relationships and increase mental illness15. In turn, organizations are less reliable to address the materialism issue as they often device the best sales strategies and continuous marketing that are unbeatable in today’s culture. As people tend to use possessions and acquisition to seek happiness or as yardstick to success, after sometimes, they can not the distressing nature and self-mutilation effect of materialism. In turn, as consumers develop awareness of the shortcomings and challenges involved with continued search for possessions, they will device safer lifestyles by regulating their desire and purchases. Organizations are less effective in addressing materialism issue in contemporary cultures. As Monboit observes, the collapse of civil life and communities has exposed individual to indulgence and exposing them to continued need for accumulation. The general social affliction has faced both the poor and the rich as government policy and corporate strategy advance materialism16. Nowadays, human race is rooted in a system that is destructive by believing that more possessions and money can enhance individual and community wellbeing. When the government and corporate organizations who impact on nearly every area of individual and community lives uptake materialism, it is only the consumers that can come up with a way to resist or live as per their means and within their income levels17. Organizations are profit oriented and use various attempts to offer different options for consumers to satisfy their needs. However, the response of the consumer depends on the degree to which they synthesize cultural demands, regulations and values and incorporate them in addressing the basic psychological needs or engage with contemporary behaviors18. When marketers activate consumer needs and motivate them to purchase what they offer, the consumers’ mental representation of their needs dictate the way the needs can be appropriately satisfied depending on their instrumental values. Consumer beliefs and attitudes determine the purpose of the product; whether it satisfies a need congruent with their values. It is good to accept that the root cause materialism can completely be addressed by those who advance it; the corporate organizations and the government. However, corporate organizations and government are obsessed with perpetual growth and might not give any formula or strategies to address materialism any sooner. On the other hand, consumers have a greater role to play since they are the end users and their purchase decisions advance the interests of capitalists. If the fundamental s of consumer spending remains low, companies will be met by sluggish pace in discretionary and nondiscretionary spending. In turn, they will think more of income growth promoting a turning point that will help address materialism. As Muncy and Eastman observes that, if consumers can move away from focusing on material acquisitions and focus towards non-material quality pertaining to life concerns, consumption trends will fall leaving marketers with less demand for goods and fewer consumers. The move will certainly lead to a negative impact on those firms that continuously provide goods to feed the materialistic quest19. Bebko demonstrate that the sole responsibility to stop materialism lies on consumers. There are various campaigns that are currently running supporting abstinence or sex with protection, saving versus spending or reframe the way we view our lifestyles and setting limits within the current ones we have20. Similar campaigns can be geared towards addressing materialism by addressing an issue like consumption versus wastage. Actually, to reduce the extent of materialism, the first thing will be to notify or make aware the target audience about materialism problem. Secondly, the must know the vested interests of the marketers in an objective way to avoid the likelihood of consumers dismissing the change. Each member of the community can hence examine the campaigns and probably be able to deal with values that continually shape the human experience of thirst, feelings, security, loneliness and unnecessary consumption. Social campaigns can help address this unnecessary consumption to halt wastage of precious resources. All the organizations marketing efforts cannot be taken as negative as they serve a meaningful purpose in the market. However, materialism is an extreme manifestation of demand closely associated with wastage and unnecessary purchases. Consumers who buys stuffs for the sake or just because they have money but not to satisfy a need can end up in endless pursue of purchases. Consumer can show efforts to move away from materialism for instance use of recycled products like water and other products21. In conclusion, the question of who between the economic system and the human can address the contemporary materialism has generated great interest from marketers and consumer research. However, the answer lies on knowing what drives most people to consume. The paper has seen the need to have self-reflection in consumers as well as take self-responsibility in the face of unending appeal to consumption. The response can act as a powerful turning-point than waiting in vain for the contemporary economic system to change. Instead of blaming the organizations for the crisis that has resulted with materialism, it is good to look at consumers’ strengths and available strategies that can address the crisis. Some form of marketing must exist for creation and sustenance of healthy exchange and promote equal satisfaction between buyers and sellers. Bibliography Bebko, C. P. "Consumption and materialism: Marketing's interface with consumer responsibility." Journal of Behavioral Studies in Business vol. 4, 2011,pp.1-6. Bindah, E. V. and M. N. Othman, “Differences in Materialism Group and Television Viewing: A Comparative Study among Young Adults”,  Research Journal of International Studies, vol. 23, 2012, pp. 41-52. Chaplin, L. N. and D. R. John, “Interpersonal influences on adolescent materialism: A new look at the role of parents and peers”, Journal of Consumer Psychology, vol. 20, no. 2, 2010, pp. 176-184. De Bock, T. and P. Van Kenhove, “Consumer ethics: The role of self-regulatory focus”, Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 97, no. 2,2010, pp. 241-255. Eckhardt, G. M., R. Belk, and T. M. Devinney, “Why don't consumers consume ethically?”, Journal of Consumer Behaviour, vol. 9, no. 6, 2010, pp. 426-436. Fah, B. C. Y., Y. S. Foon and S. Osman, “An exploratory study of the relationships between advertising appeals, spending tendency, perceived social status and materialism on perfume purchasing behavior”, International Journal of Business and Social Science, vol. 2, no.10, 2011, pp. 202-208. Hudders, L. and M. Pandelaere, “The silver lining of materialism: The impact of luxury consumption on subjective well-being’, Journal of Happiness Studies, vol. 13, no.3, 2012, pp. 411-437. Monboit, G. 'Materialism: a system that eats us from the inside out', Guardian News, 9 December 2013, http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/09/materialism-system-eats-us-from-inside-out, (accessed 27 May 2015). Muncy, J. A. and J. K. Eastman, “Materialism and consumer ethics: An exploratory study”, Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 17, no. 2,1998, pp.137-145. Swaidan, Z. “Culture and consumer ethics”, Journal of business ethics,vol. 108, no. 2, 2012, pp. 201-213. Theo, F. 'Another Look at the Drop in Discretionary Spending ', The Wall Street Journal, 2014. Available from Real Time Economics (accessed 27 May 2015). Read More