Consumerism

Consumerism is a social and economic order that is based on the systematic creation and
fostering of a desire to purchase goods and services in ever greater amounts. The term is often
associated with criticisms of consumption starting with Thorstein Veblen. Veblen's subject of
examination, the newly emergent middle class arising at the turn of the twentieth century, comes
to full fruition by the end of the twentieth century through the process of globalization.[1]
The term "consumerism" is also used to refer to the consumerist movement, consumer protection
or consumer activism, which seeks to protect and inform consumers by requiring such practices
as honest packaging and advertising, product guarantees, and improved safety standards. In this
sense it is a movement or a set of policies aimed at regulating the products, services, methods,
and standards of manufacturers, sellers, and advertisers in the interests of the buyer.[2]
In economics, consumerism refers to economic policies placing emphasis on consumption. In an
abstract sense, it is the belief that the free choice of consumers should dictate the economic
structure of a society (cf. Producerism, especially in the British sense of the term).[3]
The term "consumerism" was first used in 1915 to refer to "advocacy of the rights and interests
of consumers" (Oxford English Dictionary) but in this article the term "consumerism" refers to
the sense first used in 1960, "emphasis on or preoccupation with the acquisition of consumer
goods" (Oxford English Dictionary).

Contents
[hide]
• 1 History
○ 1.1 Origins
○ 1.2 In the 21st century
• 2 Criticism
○ 2.1 Overview
○ 2.2 Counter arguments
• 3 See also
• 4 References
• 5 Further reading
• 6 External links

[edit] History
[edit] Origins
Consumerism has weak links with the Western world, but is in fact an international phenomenon.
People purchasing goods and consuming materials in excess of their basic needs is as old as the
first civilizations (e.g. Ancient Egypt, Babylon and Ancient Rome).
A great turn in consumerism arrived just before the Industrial Revolution. In the nineteenth
century, capitalist development and the industrial revolution were primarily focused on the
capital goods sector and industrial infrastructure (i.e., mining, steel, oil, transportation networks,
communications networks, industrial cities, financial centers, etc.).[4]
At that time, agricultural commodities, essential consumer goods, and commercial activities had
developed to an extent, but not to the same extent as other sectors. Members of the working
classes worked long hours for low wages – as much as 16 hours per day, 6 days per week. Little
time or money was left for consumer activities.[5]
Further, capital goods and infrastructure were quite durable and took a long time to be used up.
Henry Ford and other leaders of industry understood that mass production presupposed mass
consumption. After observing the assembly lines in the meat packing industry, Frederick
Winslow Taylor brought his theory of scientific management to the organization of the assembly
line in other industries; this unleashed incredible productivity and reduced the costs of all
commodities produced on assembly lines.[6]
While previously the norm had been the scarcity of resources, the Industrial Revolution created
an unusual economic situation. For the first time in history products were available in
outstanding quantities, at outstandingly low prices, being thus available to virtually everyone. So
began the era of mass consumption, the only era where the concept of consumerism is
applicable.
Consumerism has long had intentional underpinnings, rather than just developing out of
capitalism. As an example, Earnest Elmo Calkins noted to fellow advertising executives in 1932
that "consumer engineering must see to it that we use up the kind of goods we now merely use",
while the domestic theorist Christine Frederick observed in 1929 that "the way to break the
vicious deadlock of a low standard of living is to spend freely, and even waste creatively".[7]
The older term and concept of "conspicuous consumption" originated at the turn of the 20th
century in the writings of sociologist and economist, Thorstein Veblen. The term describes an
apparently irrational and confounding form of economic behaviour. Veblen's scathing proposal
that this unnecessary consumption is a form of status display is made in darkly humorous
observations like the following:

The term "conspicuous consumption" spread to describe consumerism in the United States in the
1960s, but was soon linked to debates about media theory, culture jamming, and its corollary
productivism.

[edit] In the 21st century

Beginning in the 1990s, the most frequent reason given for attending college had changed to
making a lot of money, outranking reasons such as becoming an authority in a field or helping
others in difficulty. This correlates with the rise of materialism[citation needed], specifically the
technological aspect: the increasing prevalence of compact disc players, digital media, personal
computers, and cellular telephones. Madeline Levine criticized what she saw as a large change in
American culture – “a shift away from values of community, spirituality, and integrity, and
toward competition, materialism and disconnection.” [10]
Businesses have realized that wealthy consumers are the most attractive targets of marketing.
The upper class's tastes, lifestyles, and preferences trickle down to become the standard for all
consumers. The not so wealthy consumers can “purchase something new that will speak of their
place in the tradition of affluence”.[11] A consumer can have the instant gratification of
purchasing an expensive item to improve social status.
Emulation is also a core component of 21st century consumerism. As a general trend, regular
consumers seek to emulate those who are above them in the social hierarchy. The poor strive to
imitate the wealthy and the wealthy imitate celebrities and other icons. The celebrity
endorsement of products can be seen as evidence of the desire of modern consumers to purchase
products partly or solely to emulate people of higher social status. This purchasing behavior may
co-exist in the mind of a consumer with an image of oneself as being an individualist.
[edit] Criticism
Main article: Anti-consumerism
[edit] Overview

An anticonsumerism stencil.
Since consumerism began, various individuals and groups have consciously sought an alternative
lifestyle, such as the "simple living",[12] "eco-conscious",[13] and "localvore"/"buy local"[14]
movements.
In many critical contexts, consumerism is used to describe the tendency of people to identify
strongly with products or services they consume, especially those with commercial brand names
and perceived status-symbolism appeal, e.g. a luxury car, designer clothing, or expensive
jewelry. A culture that is permeated by consumerism can be referred to as a consumer culture or
a market culture.[15]
Opponents of consumerism argue that many luxuries and unnecessary consumer products may
act as social mechanism allowing people to identify like-minded individuals through the display
of similar products, again utilizing aspects of status-symbolism to judge socioeconomic status
and social stratification. Some people believe relationships with a product or brand name are
substitutes for healthy human relationships lacking in societies, and along with consumerism,
create a cultural hegemony, and are part of a general process of social control[16] in modern
society. Critics of consumerism often point out that consumerist societies are more prone to
damage the environment, contribute to global warming and use up resources at a higher rate than
other societies.[17] Dr. Jorge Majfud says that "Trying to reduce environmental pollution without
reducing consumerism is like combatting drug trafficking without reducing the drug addiction."
[18]
In 1955, economist Victor Lebow stated:

Critics of consumerism include Pope Benedict XVI,[20] German historian Oswald Spengler (who
said, "Life in America is exclusively economic in structure and lacks depth"[21]), and French
writer Georges Duhamel, who held "American materialism up as a beacon of mediocrity that
threatened to eclipse French civilization".[21]
In an opinion segment of New Scientist magazine published in August 2009, reporter Andy
Coghlan cited William Rees of the University of British Columbia and epidemiologist Warren
Hern of the University of Colorado at Boulder, saying that human beings, despite considering
themselves civilized thinkers, are "subconsciously still driven by an impulse for survival,
domination and expansion... an impulse which now finds expression in the idea that inexorable
economic growth is the answer to everything, and, given time, will redress all the world's
existing inequalities."[22] According to figures presented by Rees at the annual meeting of the
Ecological Society of America, human society is in a "global overshoot", consuming 30% more
material than is sustainable from the world's resources. Rees went on to state that at present, 85
countries are exceeding their domestic "bio-capacities", and compensate for their lack of local
material by depleting the stocks of other countries, which have a material surplus due to their
lower consumption.[22]
[edit] Counter arguments
This section may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims
made and adding references. Statements consisting only of original research may be
removed. More details may be available on the talk page. (August 2010)
There has always been strong criticism of the anti-consumerist movement. Most of this comes
from libertarian thought.[23]
Libertarian criticisms of the anti-consumerist movement are largely based on the perception that
it leads to elitism. Namely, libertarians believe that no person should have the right to decide for
others what goods are necessary for living and which aren't, or that luxuries are necessarily
wasteful, and thus argue that anti-consumerism is a precursor to central planning or a totalitarian
society. Twitchell, in his book Living It Up, sarcastically remarked that the logical outcome of
the anti-consumerism movement would be a return to the sumptuary laws that existed in ancient
Rome and during the Middle Ages, historical periods prior to the era of Karl Marx in the 19th
century.
Not all anti-consumerists oppose consumption in itself, but they argue against increasing the
consumption of resources beyond what is environmentally sustainable. Jonathan Porritt writes
that consumers are often unaware of the negative environmental impacts of producing many
modern goods and services, and that the extensive advertising industry only serves to reinforce
increasing consumption.[24]
[edit] See also
• Affluenza
• Anthropological theories of value
• Anti-consumerism
• Bourgeois personality
 • Commercialism
• Commodity fetishism
• Conspicuous consumption
• Consumer activism
• Consumer Bill of Rights
• Consumer capitalism
• Consumer ethnocentrism
• Consumer protection
• Consumption (economics)
• Cost the limit of price
• Economic materialism
• Environmental impact of aviation
• Frugality
• Geoffrey Miller (evolutionary psychologist)
• Homo consumericus
• "Keeping up with the Joneses"
• Philosophy of futility
• Planned obsolescence
• Post-materialism (economics)
• The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less, Schwartz argues that eliminating consumer
choices can greatly reduce anxiety for shoppers
• The Century of the Self, a documentary by filmmaker Adam Curtis released in 2002
• Simple living
[edit] References
1. ^ Veblen, Thorstein (1899): The Theory of the Leisure Class: an economic study of
institutions, Dover Publications, Mineola, N.Y., 1994, ISBN 0-486-28062-4. (also
available: Project Gutenberg e-text)
2. ^ consumerism, answers.com
3. ^ "Consumerism". Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Online. 2008.
4. ^ Ryan in Ritzer 2007, p. 701
5. ^ Ryan, Michael T. (2007) "consumption" in George Ritzer (ed.) The Blackwell
Encyclopedia of Sociology, Blackwell Publishing, 2007, 701-705
6. ^ Ryan in Ritzer 2007, p. 702
7. ^ "Essay - Dawn of the Dead Mall". The Design Observer Group. 11 November 2009.
Retrieved 14 February 2010.
8. ^ Veblen, Thorstein (2010). The Theory of the Leisure Class.
 9. ^ Calder, Lendol Glen (1990). Financing the American Dream: A Cultural History of
Consumer Credit. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. p. 222. ISBN 069105827X.
10. ^ Levine, Madeline. “Challenging the Culture of Affluence.” Independent School. 67.1
(2007): 28-36.
11. ^ Miller, Eric. Attracting the Affluent. Naperville, Illinois: Financial Sourcebooks, 1990.
12. ^ See for example: Janet Luhrs's "The Simple Living Guide" (NY: Broadway Books,
1997); Joe Dominquez, Vicki Robin et al., "Your Money or Your Life" (NY: Penguin
Group USA, 2008)
13. ^ See for example: Alan Durning, "How Much is Enough: The Consumer Society and the
Future of the Earth" (NY: W.W. Norton, 1992)
14. ^ See for example: Paul Roberts, "The End of Food" (NY: Houghton Mifflin, 2008);
Michael Shuman, "The Small-mart Revolution" (San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler
Publishers, 2007)
15. ^ Consumerism - Enough is enough
16. ^ Fool Britannia
17. ^ Global Climate Change and Energy CO2 Production—An International Perspective
18. ^ UN Chronicle The Pandemic of Consumerism
19. ^ Lebow, Victor. http://hundredgoals.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/journal-of-
retailing.pdf
20. ^ Web log. 17 July 2008. http://babs22.wordpress.com/2008/07/17/australia-pope-
attacks-consumerism/
21. ^ a b Stearns, Peter. Consumerism in World History. Routledge
22. ^ a b Coghlan, Andy. "Consumerism is 'eating the future'". Retrieved 2009-12-12.
23. ^ A defense of consumerism, as pragmatically less lethal than religion and nationalism
appears in Charles Arthur Willard Liberalism and the Problem of Knowledge: A New
Rhetoric for Modern Democracy. University of Chicago Press. 1996.
24. ^ "Consumerism - Big Ideas". Retrieved 2010-04-20.

[edit] Further reading

Books
• Brave New World, Aldous Huxley, 1932. Shows how a society can be influenced by
consumerism.
• Barber, Benjamin R. (2008) Consumed: How Markets Corrupt Children, Infantilize
Adults, and Swallow Citizens Whole. W. W. Norton ISBN 0393330893
• Chin, Elizabeth (2001) Purchasing Power: Black Kids and American Consumer Culture
University of Minnesota Press ISBN 978-0816635115
• Cross, Gary (2000). An All-Consuming Century: Why Commercialism Won In Modern
America. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-11313-7. (Paperback, 256 pages)
 • Laermer, Richard; Simmons, Mark, Punk Marketing, New York : Harper Collins, 2007.
ISBN 978-0-06-115110-1 (Review of the book by Marilyn Scrizzi, in Journal of
Consumer Marketing 24(7), 2007)
• Miller, Eric, Attracting the affluent : the first guide to America’s changing ultimate
market, Naperville, Ill. : Financial Sourcebooks, 1991. ISBN 0942061233 (from the
editors of Research Alert newsletter)
• Nissanoff, Dan (2006). FutureShop: How the New Auction Culture Will Revolutionize
the Way We Buy, Sell and Get the Things We Really Want. Penguin Press. ISBN 1-
59420-077-7. (Hardcover, 246 pages)
• Shell, Ellen Ruppel, Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture, New York : Penguin
Press, 2009. ISBN 9781594202155
• Veblen, Thorstein (1899): The Theory of the Leisure Class: an economic study of
institutions, Dover Publications, Mineola, N.Y., 1994, ISBN 0-486-28062-4. (also
available: Project Gutenberg e-text)
• Whitaker, Jan (2006): Service and Style: How the American Department Store Fashioned
the Middle Class, St. Martin's Press, N.Y., ISBN 0-312-32635-1. (Hardcover, 352 pages)
• Charles Arthur Willard Liberalism and the Problem of Knowledge: A New Rhetoric for
Modern Democracy. University of Chicago Press. 1996.
• Agnes Nairn et al., “Watching, Wanting and Wellbeing: Exploring the links – a study of
9 to 13 year-olds”, National Consumer Council, 2007
<http://www.agnesnairn.co.uk/policy_reports/watching_wanting_and_wellbeing_july_20
07.pdf>
• Worldwatch Institute, State of the World 2010: Transforming Cultures: From
Consumerism to Sustainability (ISBN 978-0-393-33726-6), W. W. Norton & Company,
2010.
Video
• Adam Curtis, The Century of the Self, documentary series.
Journals
• Kalle Lasn & Bruce Grierson, Malignant Sadness, (Adbusters June/July 2000).
• Mona Hymel, Consumerism, Advertising, and the Role of Tax Policy, 20 Virginia Tax
Review 347 (2000).
• John C. Ryan & Alan T. Durning, Stuff: The Secret Life of Everyday Things (Northwest
Environmental Watch 1997).
• Susan Strasser, A Social History of Trash, (Orion Magazine, Autumn 2000).
• Luedicke, Marius K, Craig J. Thompson and Markus Giesler. 2010. "'Consumption as
Moral Protagonism:' How Myth and Ideology Animate a Brand-Mediated Moral
Conflict." Journal of Consumer Research. 36 (April): 00.
[edit] External links
Look up consumerism in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
 • AdBusters, anti-consumerism magazine
• Consumerium Development Wiki, a wiki related to consumer activism
• "Consumers may not realize the full impact of their choices","Hidden Health and
Environmental Costs Of Energy Production and Consumption In U.S."
• Global Consumer Solidarity Movement
• Renegade Consumer - An actively anti-consumerism organization
Categories: Anti-corporate activism | Consumer behaviour | Cultural appropriation | Economic
ideologies | Social philosophy | Environmental issues
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