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Mark Cella What is Consumerism?

What is Consumerism…Taking a Look at How Americans Are Overspent, in Debt and Broke Because They’re Manipulated Through Advertising.

The issue of American consumerism is being brought up more and more these days in light of the current financial crisis that the US is having.

But what is consumerism? Many people aren’t even really sure what consumerism really is. Consumerism can be defined in two ways. In economic terms, consumerism is the practice of people buying goods beyond the things that they need to survive.

For example, someone that buys wine to drink but has water or milk at home is engaging in consumerism because he or she doesn’t need the wine to drink but is buying just because he or she wants it and has the disposable income to purchase it.

Consumerism can also be defined as the practice of equating self worth and societal status with the purchase of goods and services.

What is consumerism in one country might not be the same as what is considered consumerism in another country based on the scarcity or abundance of resources in that particular country.

Mark Cella What is Consumerism?

US culture is almost 100% consumerist because many Americans engage in consumerism either by purchasing things that they don’t need to survive or by finding their own self worth or judging others by what they purchase and how much they consume.

Consumerism is a by product of unchecked capitalism and the current US economic crisis is a good example of what happens when unrestricted capitalism and unchecked consumerism are allowed to flourish in a society.

It’s the job of corporations and businesses to sell their products to consumers by any means necessary, which usually means advertising. Advertising creates the idea that a person’s worth or happiness is determined by what they own and how much they own.

The best example to illustrate this mode of thinking is the sale of lipsticks. Studies have shown that the worse off people are financially the higher the sales of lipsticks are.

Why?
Because women who are feeling bad about their economic situations and feeling their self worth take a dive when they lack the purchasing power to purchase bigger items will spend anywhere from $10 to $30 on a lipstick as a way to cheer themselves up.

Shopping has been promoted as a cure for women’s depression for years because in US culture an individual’s self worth, male or female, is tied to the possessions that they own.

Mark Cella on Consumerism in America

When that advertising created myth becomes the reality of a culture, the way it has in the US, economic disaster is sure to follow.

No economic system can survive when people purchase items that they can’t afford using credit and not worrying about they are going to pay for those purchases.

In the US consumers aren’t taught to spend their money responsibly, they are actually encouraged to live way beyond their means.

Unfortunately, many people do just that because they don’t know how to handle their money.

Predatory businesses that prey on unwary customers who are desperate to buy a little self-esteem or a little more social status are partly to blame for the economic downfall of the US but the consumers bears some of the responsibility, too.

It’s a consumer’s duty to be aware of his or her own financial situation and to not give in to the persuasive attempts of businesses to convince them to buy more stuff.

It can be tough to resist slick ads created by ad companies that are trained in the art of manipulation and psychological warfare but people need to realize that they are more than just consumers if they are going to find a way to survive the current economic crisis without falling into complete financial disaster as a result.

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