Holidays have always been known to affect our consumer culture for many years, but how it all began eludes many people and very few studies have been completed on it. Even though some say that the subject is too broad to precisely identify how holidays, especially Christmas, directly affect our market, I have found that people’s values, expectations and rituals related to holidays can cause an excessive amount of spending among our society. Most people are unaware that over the centuries holidays have become such a profitable time of year for industries that they now starting to promote gift ideas on an average of a month and a half ahead of actual holiday dates to meet consumer demands.
Religions influences on consumer’s behavioral spending habits have drastically changed throughout the past centuries. Christian’s rituals of holidays such as Christmas were once only demonstrated by worshipping God and attending Church Masses and services in early years. Their behavioral habits can be understood by their spiritual philosophy of the spirit, God. Hegal, a philosopher, argued that “spirit” represented the essence of freedom, distinguishable from the individual “self.” (Lindridge 2005). This belief prompted people to focus more intently on their religion then on the actual idea of buying gifts for the holidays. Christianity worship particularly was a time that was meant to set a time away from the markets or business’ and a time for one’s soul to repent. Often time services would be held for worship, not only Sundays and holidays, but as well two to three other days during the working week. This custom lasted for many years among the religious groups while the markets struggled to stay productive.
Fairs, markets, a...
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Picture 3: A Coca-Cola Ad from 1936
Picture 2: A New York Cathedral
Note 1: Courtesy of www.wikitravel.org
Picture 1: Melaka Christian churchyard filled with merchants.
...he holiday season. No imaginable Supreme Court is going to create obstacles to this consumer juggernaut. Nor is any Jewish group or Islamic group likely to finance a test case to bring down Christmas. They too are merchants" (p. 28-29).
Christmas has consumed itself. At its conception, it was a fine idea, and I imagine that at one point its execution worked very much as it was intended to. These days, however, its meaning has been perverted; its true purpose ignored and replaced with a purpose imagined by those who merely go through the motions, without actually knowing why they do so.
For decades, stores have opened their doors in the wee hours of the morning on the fabulous Black Friday. In recent years, however, the “early-bird special” concept changed when many major chains from Target to Toys R Us opened on Thanksgiving Day itself, turning the best shopping day of the year into a two-day celebration. This is quite disturbing to some because man...
There are many people who are driven by consumerism and many people who wish they can get in touch with that type of world. Consumers are often promoted to advertise more of the products that they are buying to get more people to buy more products. Hari Kunzru, author of “Raj, Bohemian,” creates a narrator who is obsessed with maintaining his individuality and free will in a world that is overcome with consumerism. Believes that the world takes away individuality when consumerism comes into play and how hard it is to maintain their true self. In her LA Times article “Teen Haulers Create a Fashion Force,” Andrea Chang writes about the phenomenon of teenage Youtube users who make videos that publicize their latest shopping binges. She expresses
Christmas used to be a time when families gathered and love enclosed each member. Meals and stories were shared and times were simpler. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Mass were special times for families to sit back in a pew and remember the true meaning of Christmas as carols were sung in the high choirs. This serenity and peace seems to be a thing of the past. Now, people are drowning in the pressure that Christmas is all about presents, and that unwrapping gifts on Christmas morning is what this joyous occasion is centered around. Another misconceived thought is that Christmas has to be bought and given away in order to have a good time. In 2010, a stunning “4.8 million people [found] time on Christmas Day to go online and shop.” On the contrary, only “4.5 million people who attend an Anglican, Catholic, Methodist, Baptist or Pentecostal church,” was present in church on Christmas Day. The thought that shopping is more important than the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ is appalling to Christians throughout the world.
Those of us, who believe in Jesus, decide to set a date aside I honour
Today it seems as though Christmas has fallen victim to materialism and commercialization. Rather than it being a time of loving and giving, it has become a stressful season of greed. Amidst all the hustle and bustle, it is important for us to recognize the true reason of the season, and celebrate in a fashion that exemplifies that reason.
This article will examine the relevance about establishing a spending budget with regard to Christmas shopping in addition to the best way to make Christmas shopping less financially burdensome.
CONSPICUOUS CONSUMPTION IN THE BRAVE NEW WORLD AND IN OUR WORLD THROUGH THE RISE OF BLACK FRIDAY AND BOXING DAY.
The religious fanfare in America is overwhelmingly Christian. There appears to be a major increase of interest in spirituality. However, there is a vast difference in the devoutness of churchgoers in frequency of church attendance. The manner in which these individuals attend church is influenced by their ages and also whether or not they have endured difficult life situations. After attending a few church services, one becomes very aware of the various types of attendees. There are three types of churchgoer categories: the Never- Miss-a-Service Churchgoers, the Show-Up for Sunday Morning Service Churchgoers, and lastly, but certainly not the least, Holiday Churchgoers.
As I skim through the Chadwick’s mail-order catalog, I come across a woman, who looks as if she is in her mid-thirties, standing outside on the snow-covered ground. Her gloved hand is arched back in a ready-to-throw position with a snowball resting in her palm. The woman is wearing a ¾ length gray wool coat and black leather gloves, which catches my eye. The serene, white-topped leaves of the pine trees lean in different directions, waiting for spring to arrive. “Winter is a breeze if you buy this coat” is the message I receive from this friendly-gestured woman. This warm, easy feeling especially comes into play during the holiday season when we buy gifts for our friends and family.
Black Friday is severely hurting the family’s holiday relationships. Originally, this day was created to allow consumers
For many years, the busiest day has been the day before Christmas. But that was until Black Friday took the lead and has maintained its position ever since. Retailers realized that they can lure big crowds to their stores by offering ridiculously-low discounts, as a result, appealing to the public’s avarice. Experts also say that bargain sales like these aim to get people to buy the discounted products along with their everyday essentials; they are therefore spending more than they usually would. However, after wasting tremendous hours in queues and a phenomenal amount of petrol in traffic, the question lies, is it really worth it?
“The Story of Stuff” is a 20 minutes documentary film made by Annie Leonard. It was published in 2007. Within the 20 minutes time frame, Annie Leonard had conveyed the message about the problems in consumption of different things and stuff. She has shown how everything is linked and connected with each other such as the environmental problems are linked with the social justice and these issues are linked with declining happiness. Furthermore, her short documentary showed how government is being threatened by the corporations when it comes to the protecting of common goods. “Leonard’s videos aren’t all critique—she almost always ends on an inspirational note, empowering viewers to stand up and demand a clean earth and fair economy. But her latest video focuses on the cumulative effect of these actions: changing the goal of the economic game itself.” (Annie Leonard and the Story of Solutions)
Mooij, M.de. (2004). Consumer Behavior and Culture, Sage Publications, Page 102, Page 119, Page 274, Page 275