The Role of the Concepts of the Seduced & Repressed - Assignment Example

The Role of the Concepts of the Seduced & Repressed Introduction Today’s society is characterized by people tending to define themselves not by their social class but by what they consume. As the marketing professionals perform their duties of influencing consumers, they also have to understand what influences consumption. This will include understanding why consumers will want to choose one product over another. Body Consumer society This part will discuss who the losers are and the winners in a society. This shows how the society can be divided between the rich and the poor. It also explains that consumption can be influenced by lifestyles, the ability to consume or the social status. Material lives This part will discuss how the society is build up. It describes the modern life of the people living in UK and how their streets have improved over time. It will also show how the ways in life have changed due to existence of material. The power of supermarkets This describes the developments on the streets as many supermarkets, shopping malls, bars and restaurants have been opened due to high rate of consumption. Conclusion Every day people are faced with various kinds of goods but choice really matters. It also depends on placements for example the young, old, employed and unemployed that describes a consumer society. There are various kinds of inequalities present in a society which include people with differing lifestyles and abilities. Consumer society tries to define people by the way they consume in terms of class or knowledge. 2.0 Main essay Consumption is where goods and services reach the end user and the satisfaction that comes with the process. People consume for many reasons for example for fun, other consume to be different from the rest, to represent a type of group or for pleasure. To study the contemporary consumer society it is important to examine material things that surround consumers for example luxuries that represent an individual’s status. According to Jackson (1998) today’s society for example people really choose on where to shop as shopping activities are seen as leisure unlike 20 years ago where people use to shop in order to have essentials. The shopping centers have developed as more malls are coming up and due to migrants in various parts of the world; there has been diversification of products to cater for all the needs of customers. The society has now changed in qualities and features where infrastructure has been improved thus making it easy to get what consumers needed. One description of a street in New York includes Broadway located near Manhattan and with various kinds of shopping centers for example the central mall. Others include art galleries, boutiques, designer stores and jewelry shops. It is therefore necessary to consider certain social factors in the process of consumption. These include; income levels where a consumer has to purchase a product according to the income that they get. Another factor is education which matters while purchasing a product that needs contains much details of use example medicine. Family and peer pressure also influence people to consume for example the youths who want to be seen of a certain peer group. The role of retailers and nature of the goods also make people consume more. This introduces the aspect of social science by describing an economist who focuses on the market demands and finances and a sociologist who mostly base on how the process of consumption shape the society. Psychologists as part of social science deals with the people’s attitude towards consumption and geographers deal with the consumer activities carried out in different geographical areas. This shows how place can influence the buying process in terms of social class and level of income. In a study carried out in UK on household expenditure, it shows that most people tend to spend more on recreation and culture activities as well as on transport. Restaurants and hotels are spent on average but spend less on their health and education. Blythman (2005) shows that in summary, luxuries such as recreation are valued more than food which is an essential. There has been changes in habits of consumers in reference to what was there in the 1980s for example currently most people own mobile phones which were very few at that time. These innovations have influenced consumption as people are able to communicate in an easy way. A society can be divided into two groups which may include those seduced by the terms of that society or repressed. The seduced have makes choices on their consumption patterns as their finances and circumstances give them freedom to do so. These include people with enough disposable income brought about by their steady job opportunities and a better lifestyle thus is in a position of spending more in luxuries rather than essentials. They also consume according to the hoe they express themselves in a society thus creating a personality that can be used in a society to represent social membership. In economies led by people’s consumptions, the seduced are referred to as valued members since they influence market growth. They therefore have to maintain their positions to avoid being excluded from the social class for example a teenager without a cell phone might be excluded in groups established through social networking such as texting and making calls. The other social group represents the repressed that may include the unemployed of those who have no disposable income. The disabled people, sick or those from minority society either discriminated or lack social membership. Bevan (2006) describes that the level of income does not necessarily differentiate the two groups but circumstances also matters for example age and physical ability. The above street is divided in different sectors for example there are various recreational centers for example the bars, club and restaurants which are mostly used by teenagers. This is because they have a lot of disposable income and also want to fit in the group of their peers. The other sector is marked by stores selling cheap and second hand clothes. These stores cater for the repressed in the society for example the migrants who are either unemployed or get low incomes. Ethnic minorities could also buy from the second hand stores as their socially excluded from the society. On the other hand there are other convenience stores that cater for the seduced people in the society. These stores sell clothes according to trends as consumers will be able to buy. The other sector in the area represents a large town with big supermarkets and retails. This is especially fit for people with private transport and who spend more on luxuries for example due to the presence of big hotels. In this we conclude that a capitalistic society is defined by the level of spending and therefore members have to really participate in these activities. This will either divide them between the seduced and repressed according to how they spend (Susman 2003). Consumption does not necessarily means buying goods to use for other benefits but it also meant what kind of good is bought and how it influences ones social status. The seduced people in the society consume so as to gain social status unlike the repressed. These groups of consumption tend to bring about issues with in societies divided in terms of lifestyles and culture. This is where goods are arranged in a manner that the shoppers target a certain group of people for example jewelry shops place their rings in a very attractive way that influence is attractive thus making consumers want to buy. According to ones personality, consumptions show social position and character, as well as identifying one self. In activity five, as a consumer I would describe myself as being influenced by fashion. This is where I would purchase an item for example C & K so as to be associated with the lifestyle. This was not just purchased for its usefulness but other factors influenced consumption for example its design. As well as fitting in the social class the item I bought was to impress my social peers thus express my individuality. A consumer society is also influenced by the available shopping areas for example the Tesco chains of supermarkets. This may mostly influence people with private transport due to the presence of parking place and the choice that a consumer has to make as goods arranged are of various kinds offering almost the same benefit. This shows that the power that the supermarkets have influences the choice of shopping. Their power mostly comes with their size and the fact that they operate in many locations. Supermarkets thus operate in a monopoly market area over other small stores. Consumer society can therefore be influenced by various factors for example individual perception, family background and the social status. Other institutions also influence consumption for example departmental stores and supermarkets due to the level of choices and differing prices to cater for the needs of the seduced and the repressed in the society. References Bevan, J 2006, Trolley wars, The battle of the supermarkets, London, Profile Books. Blythman, J 2005, Shopped: The shocking power of British supermarkets, London, Harper Perennial. Jackson, P 1998, Domesticating the street: the contested spaces of the high street and the mall, Images of the street, Planning, identity and control in public space, London, Routledge. Susman, W 2003, Culture as history, Washington, DC, Smithsonian Books. Read More