Socioeconomics, marketing strategies, culture, consumerism, and an excess of words that can be found in any given Sociology 101 required text book will explain the world’s generational desire fore more and better. However, a few brilliant authors wrote on this topic within a writing textbook. Stephanie Clifford and Quentin Hardy, the authors of “Attention, Shoppers: Store is Tracking Your Cell,” explain how consumerism has lead to discrepancies in consumer privacy. Steve McKevitt, author of “Everything Now,” introduces the idea that consumers have become too comfortable with the fast convenience of today’s new world and how that contributes to societal issues. James Roberts, author of “The Treadmill of Consumption,” describes how society consuming and over-consuming rapidly and how that effects the economy and culture. While these three authors have touched on very different subjects, the combination of Robert’s, McKevitt’s, and Clifford’s and Hardy’s work reveals how much …show more content…
You merely look after it for the next generation” (Roberts 126 - 127). Not only will the consumer be buying a nice status symbol for himself, but he will be able to pass it down to his son. That sounds like sweet, sentimental buy to the average consumer; however, that buyer just forked out a lump sum of money for something truly menial and justified it by the ads generational outlook. Maybe the child wants to go to college and really does not care about a Patek Philippe watch, but that is not going to mentioned in the advertisement! Of course, the majority of people who could afford that watch would have to have obscene amounts of money to begin with, so college for the children would not be an issue with money. The problem is when a member of a in-over-their-heads-in-debt family sees this ad and buys the watch. Little Jimmy will not be going to college, but he will have a few semesters on his
Swimme, Brian. “How Do Our Kids Get So Caught Up in Consumerism”. The Human Experience: Who Am I?. 8th ed. Winthrop University: Rock Hill SC, 2012. 155-157. Print.
There are many people who are driven by consumerism, and many people who wish they could get in touch with that type of world. Consumers are often encouraged 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.
“Proper society did not think about making money, only about spending it.”, said Barbara W. Tuchman. This quote shows our real world, and the people that spend money, but they forget about the value of money. Nowadays people want more that they have. They forget how many things they have, and how much money they spend. Most people when they see other people having something better, and in that moment they want to have it also. Also, people forget how hard they got that money, but how easily and quickly they spend it. In the article “The treadmill of consumption” by Roberts, he says that people are willing to go into debt to buy certain products and brands. That is right that people can do crazy things to buy certain goods.
America’s current standard of living is going to cause our demise. Consumerism is a problem throughout Americans culture since mass production began in the late nineteenth century. The obsession with consumerism has led to mindless wastes of resources, a diseased society and economic instability. Rick Wolff, a professor of economics at University of Massachusetts, states “economics of capitalism spread consumerism—now uncontrolled, ecologically harmful, and fiscally disastrous—throughout the United States”. Wolff’s viewpoint on consumerism aligns with mine. Believing that an economy based on promoting endless consumption is volatile and unsustainable. Consumerism can be analyzed and seen to be embedded by corporations and politicians.
Does the way you were brought up in your home effect the way you make choices? Or are you using your own personal judgement. In the well-crafted texts such as Ethnic Hash, Everyday Use, and Legal Alien it is shown that one’s culture can persuade a person’s view but every now and then they make their choices independently.
The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less, by Barry Schwartz, is focused on the analysis of personal behavior in relation to decision making. As the title implies, the author emphasizes the main point that more choices actually lead to less of an ideal experience. In recent years, choices have become almost unlimited, and this has led to an increase in unnecessary stress placed on the consumer. The availability to make decisions in virtually every aspect of life creates a new level of responsibility on individuals. Decision making can lead to an enormous group of positive and negative feelings. Some of which include satisfaction, happiness, regret, disappointment and even depression. It is important to explore the broad category of decision making
However, some people forget the original purpose of using blogs and want to become successful without hard working. Most people want to own a life like superstar so they post their private life in order to attract more attentions. It is not health for a people to seek into such a life in blogs. In the essay “ Buying the lifestyle”, the author shows us that a common situation in current society, which people excessive believe TV shows and advertisements. They want to gain wealth and status without any working. It is kinds of daydream and people lost judgment of those social media. It has similar situations of blogs that people dream that they become popular and lots of people focus on their life. Some of them try to create non reality events
The father here might also appeal as a role model. He is both attractive and well dressed, implying a successful life. He also has a son who is presumably not an unruly problem child. Therefore the father acts as a well-dressed, wealthy man with a bond between himself and his son. By purchasing the watch others might also perceive themselves to have this success.
Sassatelli, R. (2007). Consumer Culture: History, Theory and Politics, London: Sage, Page 30, Page 126, Page 132, Page 133
When we think of humanity, modern civilization, first world countries like the U.S.A.; what separates us from third world countries? Why is it the same human species, with the same biological functions, can live in skyscrapers while others still live tribes? How is it one area of the world can have so much while another area of the world has so little? For about a year, I have pondered this idea collaborating knowledge from several courses. Now, I believe I have one idea that may help contribute to the questions asked above and it involves what Diener et al. have coined, the hedonic treadmill.
James, Fredric. 1988. "Postmodernism and Consumer Society." In Studies in Culture: An Introductory Reader, ed. Ann Gray and Jim McGuigan. London: Arnold, 1997, pp. 192-205.
As Generation Y, we are 63 million members strong and spend more than a billion dollars annually (Marketsource). With such spending power it is easy to see why companies choose us as their target market. We have grown up in a "'consumption culture" are "taught that (we) will be satisfied if we purchase products to fill our wants and desires" (Youth in the Third Millennium). Perhaps this need to buy things is only a progression ...
McDonalds chicken nuggets were my favorite meal as a kid. Theres nothing like getting a free toy and some greasy food. However, I 've gotten older and my palette has changed. As a kid I struggled with obesity and fast food was a major contributor. I now live in an area where fast food is really not an option. On the other hand, some Americans only option is fast food.
In today’s world, society stresses a lot of value on materialistic things. Whether it is the newest electronic gadget, or the latest trend of fashion; somebody somewhere is buying it. This materialistic idea is very evident during the holiday season when thousands of shoppers are standing outside in the cold for the latest trend. But, society’s materialistic ideology can sometimes be misconstrued with true self-identity. Meaning that society often times define their self-worth by what they own instead of by the content of their character. When this ideology is taken place, it brings about negative effects on society. Furthermore, the humanistic character of society becomes tainted. If this identity crisis is not resolved, then the next generation of society will be lost without a cause.
Based on the article written by Siva Rani in The Star, 30th July 2017, “The Foodie Paradise We Live In is Killing Us”. We found that the population people getting obesity in Malaysia increase gradually as we know that Malaysian is a famous with the variety of food as we get a title as a “country of food paradise”. For us, the obese people getting addicted into food without thinking the impact of the large portion of food taken in their life. The people nowadays favorable eat more than their body’s needs. To be more specific, the obese people tend to eat in higher quantity of food without doing exercise to balance the bad habit in their life.