Is Hyper-Consumption Buying Unhappiness - Essay Example

The range of available goods has expanded explosively in the modern era. At this age, all comforts and conveniences are within our reach. Inventions, innovations, and discoveries, of new resources, have empowered human society to get much more of what is desired. The basic theory of consumption in economics stresses that human beings consume a commodity because it provides some utility or satisfaction to the consumer. For example, the hunger of a man is satisfied by the food he eats; the man who is shivering in the cold gains utility from a blanket; someone who feels thirsty satisfies that thirst by drinking water.

Utility theory argues that, as more a commodity is consumed, less extra satisfaction is derived from consuming one additional unit of that commodity. Therefore, when the desire for one commodity is fulfilled, one feels the desire to have some other commodities. For example, economists say that the basic three needs are food, clothing, and shelter. Once these requirements are fulfilled, the next important areas are health and education. If these further needs are fulfilled, then the person will wish to expand his set of consumed goods, moving further beyond necessities towards luxuries.

From these basic patterns, the behavior called consumerism emerges. The present era has often termed the age of the consumerist society. All over the globe, we find the expansion of consumer goods industries ranging from fast-marketed consumer foods to durable consumer goods, and from daily household commodities to luxurious items. In many countries, there is a rapid expansion of consumer markets. At the same time, many different companies are luring the consumers by means of advertising and other techniques.

A man can purchase a product through the use of credit even if he does not have sufficient money available. Therefore, there is a rush among different companies to capture a larger market share and more revenue. The companies use different devices to make people interested. Hence, all over the world, we can find an accelerating trend of consumerism, which is often termed hyper-consumerism. This trend results in the unquenchable desire to have more and more goods for one’s own use or pleasure.