Why is Consumption and Consumerism Important in a Contemporary Global Society - Essay Example

? Consumerism has been linked with strategies to persuade consumers to become “voracious, compulsive” consumers (Day & Aaker, 1970). One view of consumerism emphasizes the direct relationship between the individual consumer and the business firm. Consumerism has also been defined as the social movement to augment the rights and powers of buyers in relation to sellers and is manifest in the new laws and regulations and marketing practices (Granzin & Grikscheit, 1975). It was designed to protect the rights of the individuals from the practices of both the business and the government. Consumerism has also been associated with the increase of material wealth of the American public, the depersonalization of shopping, and the support of prominent political figures (Bloom, 2001). It has also been defined as a theory that a progressively greater consumption of goods is economically beneficial (Emerald, 2004). Increase in material wealth leads to increase in consumption and lack of consumption restraint is an indication of consumerism (Shehryar, Landry & Arnold, 2001). This gave rise to feelings of guilt, anxiety, frustration and loss of control. This in turn led to massive consumer debts and global resource depletion. It can thus be argued that consumerism, associated with affluence, has detrimental effect on the individual and the society, and has caused economic and moral deterioration. Consumption is meaningful in today’s culture to the extent that the postmodern world is defined by consumption (Neilson & Paxton, 2010). Household consumption has grown excessively in the last 50 years which is evident from the considerable expansion in the places that consumers can choose to consume. The greed for consumption is responsible for directing human lives through their daily activities and dictating their long-term life goals. Studying the trends in consumer attitudes and opinions and examining the potential resource mobilization skills of the individual organizations making up the organization help in predicting the future of consumerism (Bloom, 2001). However, cultural shifts in the past decades are also responsible for the changes in consumer buying behavior (Shehryar, Landry & Arnold, 2001). Demand for non-essential items increased but only the affluent could afford to purchase them (Emerald, 2004). It is not known whether consumerism occurs naturally or spontaneously. However, it was felt that continual promotion and reinforcement could stimulate the desire to purchase the non-essential items. Through the use of technology and the mass media people could be convinced to buy goods of which they were unaware until the need was forcibly brought to their attention by the mass media. Advertisements lure the customers to make purchases that may be ‘desired’ but not necessary. They are perceived as pleasurable by the consumers as consumers are unable to distinguish between need and want, thereby leading to excessive consumption (Shehryar, Landry & Arnold, 2001). The government in the United States too supported the initiatives of the businesses to perpetuate demand for non-essential products. The focus, in the 20th century capitalism, shifted from production to consumption which in turn resulted in a shift from control and exploitation of workers to control and exploitation of consumers (Assad, 2007). Capitalism created a “controllable” consuming mass so as to complement the “producing mass”. It became essential to influence the consumers to spend as much as possible because increased consumption would justify increased production. Societies became consumer-oriented and the lifestyle of the majority of the Americans became the lifestyle of the consumers. This class spread what is known as ‘consumerism’. Multinational corporations distributing American products started having growing influence. The spread of consumerism globally was the result of global and local, social, economic and governmental factors. Consumption behavior was driven by emulation. Consumption started giving consumers an identity as they could be distinguished from others. In the contemporary global society consumerism and consumption show the path to growth to the business community. This is because the consumers use their “purchase votes” in the market place to elect the sort of society they wish to be part of (Neilson & Paxton, 2010). Consumers have tremendous power in the marketplace. Consumers can boycott particular businesses for their unethical stand in production and also support certain businesses for their positive behavior. This is political consumerism where the consumers can choose the products and the producers thereby changing objectionable institutional or market practices. Political consumerism reflects the belief that private choices have political consequences. Such consumers are motivated not just by private considerations but by public interests. Over time, political consumers, with the means of consumption, became people to be controlled and exploited as consumers. There became a global tendency to emulate the westerners and consumer culture became evident in the proliferation of malls and retail stores in most nations. The cultivation of needs is a global enterprise. Global advertising agencies have become the most powerful and influential teachers in the contemporary global society (Assad, 2007). Commercial television can stimulate buying urges and seductive advertising has the power to make people believe who they are. Advertising has a major role in the spread of consumerism. Exploitation as consumers and excessive consumption required restraint to be exercised by the consumers. Purchase can be restrained if the consumer could analyze the desire from a dispassionate perspective (Shehryar, Landry & Arnold, 2001). Excessive consumption can help an individual overcome the spiritual desolation experienced by the individual, claim some proponents of consumerism. On the contrary, it leads to alienation from the true self. This is the false self because it arises from the distortion of human needs and desires (Emerald, 2004). In their world of plenty, consumers experienced a feeling of hollowness. Affluence and material wealth has become a symbol of identity and security. They fruitlessly sought satisfaction and happiness in material objects. Moreover, relationship between consumption and happiness is weak. Consumption has withered social relations and leisure. The most pertinent example is the excessive use of computers. Gradually consumers lost track of the origin of the product and the distance between the consumer and the source of the products they sought, increased. Natural resources were depleted to satisfy the consumer and hence the consumer was unaware whether a cow or a tree had been used to provide him the product (Emerald, 2004). Nature was being consumed without the consumer’s knowledge. Consumers today constantly dream of a bigger car, an additional television at home, possibly one for each member of the family, a longer vacation but all such dreams lead to greater exploitation and debilitation of the natural resources. The rising greenhouse gas emission and the rising temperatures denote that the system at the ground level is out of balance (Future Generations, n.d.). The ecological footprint will drive changes in the economic system and ultimately in the lifestyle. Consumption has been summed up by Wood (2010) as “to use up and destroy”. The term consumption itself suggests an extravagant attitude. As a global society human beings are consuming resources and creating waste in excess of the regenerative capacity of the Earth. The resources of the planet are finite and they have to be held in balance. The economic system too can be sustainable if it operates within this balance. Destruction of biodiversity, interference with nature’s balance and polluting the land, water and air can only have a cascading effect which will first destroy the economic life and then lead to the devastation of the civilization (Future Generations, n.d.). Excessive consumption has forced human to surpass the tipping point for most edible fish stocks worldwide. The Atlantic cod fishery can now only be seen in the history textbooks (Future Generations, n.d.). Gas prices are fluctuating and it is a matter of time when the market becomes turbulent. Affluence has made people experience euphoria and increase their standards of living. Conventional wisdom is now replaced with myths. Growth underpins values, assumptions and lifestyles. Extravagance led to consumer dissatisfaction. Consumer organizations have been formed when the public has been discontent with certain features of the market place. Consumers continued to be disenchanted with product innovation and affluence in the society (Granzin & Grikscheit, 1975). Consumers raised complaints about rising prices, about damage to the physical environment and demanding adequacy of product information. Summits and seminars are organized to make the people conscious of the problems and the possible solutions related to consumerism. In the contemporary global society consumption and consumerism may be important to the extent that it stimulates growth and prosperity. This is the western economic ideology that promotes that growth should be perpetual (Future Generations, n.d.). However, the pursuit for such growth has resulted in ecological imbalance as we now eat into nature’s capital. The contemporary global society has to face the consequences. The challenge now lies in building a stable state economy and operating within the sustainable limits of nature. This remains a challenge because growth is deeply embedded in the political economy and in the minds of the human beings. It can thus be seen that affluence impacts growth, consumption and environmental degradation. Advertising, media and a culture of consumerism have enhanced consumption to the extent that consumers were exploited. Consumers have the power to influence the market place. While consumerism and consumption are important to the contemporary global society, income and lifestyle have negative impacts on the ecological footprint. The affluent in any society are minority stakeholders but they seem to rule the market place at the cost of the other consumers who are exploited. It is essential for every individual to reflect and decide whether they want to live with the false self under the influence of the contemporary global society or discover the true self. References Assad, S.W. (2007) The rise of consumerism in Saudi Arabian society. International Journal of Commerce and Management, vol. 17, no. 1/2, pp. 73-104 Bloom, P.N. (2001) RESEARCH ON CONSUMERISM: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES. Advances in Consumer Research. Day, G.S., & Aaker, D.A. (1970) A Guide to Consumerism. Journal of Marketing, vol. 34, pp. 12-19 Emerald, N.D. (2004) Consumerism, Nature, and the Human Spirit. Available from http://nr.ncr.vt.edu/major_papers/Neal_Emerald.pdf [Accessed 14 September 2011] Future Generations. (n.d.) "Econoclastic" Economics 101. Available from http://www.future-generations-party.org/econoclastic-economics.html [Accessed 14 September 2011] Granzin, K.L., & Grikscheit, G.M. (1975) WHAT IS CONSUMERISM? Advances in Consumer Research. Neilson, L.A., & Paxton, P. (2010) Social Capital and Political Consumerism: A Multilevel Analysis. Social Problems, vol. 57, no. 1, pp. 5-24 Shehryar, O., Landry, T.D., & Arnold, T.J. (2001) Defending Against Consumerism: An Emergent Typology of Purchase Restraint Strategies. Advances in Consumer Research, vol. 28, pp. 420-425 Wood, D. (2010) Epicureanism and the poetics of consumption. International Journal of Consumer Studies, vol. 34, pp. 369–374 Read More