Consumer Culture Essay

Essay on American Consumer Culture
As a country, Americans love to shop. Whether in malls, grocery stores, on the Internet, or elsewhere,
the culture of buying is deeply ingrained in American culture. Fueled largely by advertising and the
current credit system, America's consumer culture is depleting our planet's finite natural resources
and polluting our environment. Consumerism has instilled in Americans an artificial, ongoing, and
insatiable desire for mass–produced and marketed products, and the money with which to buy them,
with little regard to their actual usefulness or necessity. This constant desire to acquire more
possessions is poisoning the planet, as it can never be sated and thus results in the never–ending
exploitation of the Earth's natural resources, and...show more content...
One of his famous expressions is, "The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the opinions of the
masses is an important element in a democratic society. It is the intelligent minorities which need to
make use of propaganda continuously and systematically" ( ). The idea behind this statement has
been widely used ever since for commercial profits, through the manipulation of public opinion and
the power of mass marketing.
Consumerism often causes people to identify with a product or brand on a personal level. Certain
products have come to represent different levels of society, with swankier products like muscle cars
indicating high class and such products as generic "store brand" shampoo indicating low class.
People feel that they have relationships with their favorite brands and products and define
themselves by what they buy and own. The mass production of cheap products uses precious fossil
fuels at an alarming rate. This has an obvious negative impact on the environment.
In her biography of North Carolinian "mountain man" Eustace Conway, Elizabeth Gilbert explains
ways in which Conway rejects consumerism. He lives self–sufficiently off of his Appalachian
mountain land– making his own clothes, hunting and gathering his food, starting fires by rubbing
sticks together, bathing in icy streams, living in a
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Consumer Consumption Essay
Are You What You Buy?
As a society we are embedded in a culture of consumption. Consumerism brings out a passion in
people to have things, be it objects or services that will make them feel better. This "passion"
becomes a powerful force that makes people make some unwise decisions in their life. The money
consumers spend on these goods could be going to the ever–surmounting needs for health care,
poverty help, or other things that would help the society as a whole. This is why America is the
prime example of a capitalistic consumer society and not a socialistic country. People want things for
themselves before anyone else. All cultures need consumerism to survive, because we need food,
shelter, and clothing and the last time I checked...show more content...
From my experience, and especially one I can remember from my childhood, playing on my
middle schools basketball team where all of us wanted to wear the exact same pair of black Air
Jordan's with black Jordan socks. I had already bought some shoes but as soon as the season was
approaching and the new edition came out we were all obsessing with having them, especially
since our best player on the team had just got a pair. After a few days of constantly asking my
parents gave in and I was ecstatic. My favorite part about getting new shoes was going to the store
and looking at all the shoes on the wall but knowing that I was getting the best and most expensive
pair. "Kids can recognize logos by eighteen months, and before reaching their second birthday,
they're asking for products by brand name. By three and a half, experts say children start to believe
that brands communicate their personal qualitiesВ…"( W109R 43).The next day was great and
although not everyone could afford the shoes everyone who started that year did have the all black
Air Jordan's and we looked great.
Consumption can also be looked at in the form of the store and how its design and the feelings their
designs are meant to generate. At the top of the store group are

The Rise of Consumer Culture Essay
Consumer culture has developed over the years for many different reasons such as the demise of the
social class and embourgeoisement which are both key factors in capitalism and has therefore led to
the argument that consumer society merely reflects the rise of capitalism which I plan to discuss
within this assignment. The origins of consumer culture have been discussed by Grant McCracken
(1998) who argues that there is minimal agreement in regards to the origins of consumer society.
McCracken took on the viewpoint that it would not be beneficial to look at a specific point in time
in which consumer culture arose but to primarily focus on patterns of changes within culture and
how these pattern of changes led to the reformation of society....show more content...
However the works of Neil Mckendrick (1982) led him to the viewpoint that consumer culture began
in eighteenth century England with the commercialization of fashion which led to a mass change in
people's taste. So according to McKendrick the sudden change in people's taste in relation to fashion
during the eighteenth century meant that terminology such as 'style' developed and represented the
shift in demand for items of clothing that was produced on a larger scale by new technology within
the textile industry and marketing to a mass audience through improvements in printing technology
which allowed and supported mass advertising to all members in society. The third was the
development of the department store. According to McCracken the Department store changed the
nature of purchasing activity because department stores essentially institutionalized consumption and
changed the way in how consumers were influenced and to how much influence they were subjected
to in relation to purchasing goods and services. From looking at the work of McCracken and
McKendrick it is clear that the development of the consumer society came from an increase in the
supply and demand mindset which is a key factor or element within a consumer society. Also the
change in meaning in relation to consumption is another example of the development of the
consumer culture because the term consumption was ignited through a new sense of

Essay about Consumer Culture and Identity
Introduction Fonseca (2008) defines Consumer culture as a process that "represents a condition in
which consumption is seen as having the role of increasingly mediating certain aspects of social
relations and consumption has the symbolic ability to represent affiliation to a certain group and its
lifestyles, as well as to generate a sense of identity." The mention of identity in Fonseca's definition
brings about an understanding of the impact consumer culture can have on social agents, and not just
on the economic or capitalism that comes with consumption. This essay will discuss the relationship
between Consumer culture and Identity. The essay is divided into five parts; the first section is an
introduction into what Consumer...show more content...
This definition by Taylor is used in marketing literatures and provides a definition that can be used
in the context of this essay. Another good definition is that culture cannot be generic as it is; learnt
through social interactions and encounters that are transmitted through generations and it is shared
by members of a specific society (Hofstede, 1991). The birthplace according to McKendrick,
Brewer and Plumb (1982) of consumer culture can be traced back to England, while McCracken
(1998) argues that consumer culture is part of a larger transformation in the west that started since
the sixteenth century. Slater (1997: 8) defines Consumer Culture as "a social arrangement in which
the relation between lived culture and social resource, between meaningful ways of life and
symbolic and material resources on which they depend, is mediated through markets." The market
where consumption occurs has grown to have a big influence in the economy of the society.
Baudrillard (1998) defines it as an economy that its value is no longer as relevant in material
satisfaction, rather the sign value of goods take priority. Consumer culture is not the only way of
consumption and everyday reproduction but it is the dominant way as explained by Slater (1997:
8–9). Consumption of goods take place in daily routines, from the moment one wakes up till the
moment we go back to sleep. For example; when we

Consumer Culture Essay
"What is consumer culture?"
In the late 19th, early 20th century a new phenomenon arose. Along with the development of
industrial advances and urbanization of the emerging American culture was the growth and
subsequent domination of the "consumer culture". Consumer culture is a term that goes hand and
hand with the American way of life today, but in those days it was a new and unique experience.
Along with the development of the mail order catalog, advertising became a focal point of
American mass media. Advertising can be traced back as early as Franklin's "Philadelphia Gazette".
After the turn of the century hand bills were given in the streets listing goods and services that many
merchants could provide, and the New York Sun...show more content...
The sign above the early amusement park at Brandywine Springs offered this advice: "Let All Who
Enter Here Leave Care Behind." This is a pretty slick analogy for the consumer culture, forget you
worries and your work week buy things, buy fun...buy, buy, and buy. If you won't, don't worry
your wife will. The middle class house wife found release in shopping trips, and with the rise of
affordable and luxurious items, coupled with a decent, stable middle class allowed the women of
the day to focus some of their energy of the fancy items for homes for wear and for leisure. When
the Industrial Age seized America, and the shifting of the all work and no play work week to an
8 hour day, it offered those from rural areas a glimpse at life off the farm. This led to even more
migrant workers moving into the cities. Without the surge of population would the consumer
culture have been so dominant? Would the middle class have grown so dramatically if industrial
products didn't boom and consumer attitudes didn't capture the nation? The middle class had the
desire to be as beautiful and elegant as the elite upper class Americans. Once the standardization of
the work week, and the explosion of mass production with moderate consumer costs became a
reality these things were possible for the everyman. The every family now had places to go for a
vacation or luxurious trip to an amusement park, or an event. The mass production, as well as mass
consumption was heavily reliant

US Consumer Culture
While the US consumer culture has many different goods that encapsulate its uniqueness, nothing
quite represents the US than its trash. You are probably asking yourself at this point how a country's
waste can have any importance at all in its consumer culture. Waste is one output every company, no
matter its size, must be concerned with. With the ever present climate problems our society faces,
proper disposal of waste is a necessity. Luckily for companies in the US, they have found a way to
capitalize through strategic marketing and planned obsolescence. Yet, unfortunately for consumers,
they are often taken advantage of without knowledge of the occurrence. The true American view on
consumerism, where products are bought with a short–term...show more content...
There are the manufacturers and corporations whose main concern largely is to profit. there are the
environmentalists who want to preserve the community and promote recycling to help diminish the
landfills. Then there are the consumers: some who buy what is cheap, and often created with
planned obsolescence in mind, some who buy with the environment in mind, but do little research to
ensure it is a wholesome company, and then there are those who to extensive research to make sure
they are hurting the environment as little as possible. Consumers have the opportunity to make
conscious decisions to help our environment, but the reality behind products is well–hidden and
needs to be brought to higher attention. Waste epitomizes the American consumer culture to
continuously buy new products, and not think about the harm it is causing the environment.
Recycling has evolved over time into a ploy to make consumers spend more money, and is causing
more harm to the environment by increasing the amount of packaging used over product. The
growing consumerist culture can be attributed to the increased "greenwashing" scheme. Is it morally
right for companies to increase their waste in order to make more

Consumer Culture Essay
Looking at consumer culture through the lens of sociology. *Seeing how consumer culture has
changed throughout the past few years. We will be discussing four different topics in depth; how
companies have been abusing this consumer culture, how consumer culture is dominating free time,
how consumer culture has shaped me throughout my life, and what activities might not be associated
with consumer culture. The first element on the table for discussion is how companies have been
abusing consumer culture. With his era of television becoming the centerpiece and every family is
home, we have more advertisements than ever. One huge way companies take advantage of
consumer culture is through these advertisements. A good example of this is washing...show more
content...
Looking around a store you can find many instances of this; pre–made meal made by malnourished
workers, flags of freedom stitch together by people in cages, or even formal attire sewn by people
in who wear nothing but rags. This consumer culture is brought together by greed and the Public's
own ignorance. Consumer culture has changed from logos being an indicator of how good their
product is to how good a person is depending on what companies they support. For instance in
both of these cases of consumer culture; a person who wears only Nike shoes might think of that
company as an outlet for freedom and comfort, while at the same time nike has hundreds are
factories around the world with people being underpaid and living in terrible conditions. The
second question on our agenda is how my free time is dominated by consumer culture. Personally
I am somewhat of a cheapskate, I've never really bought into the all those "As Seen On TV"
products, and advertisements have seldom played into my purchasing process. However I am in
no way excluded from this consumer culture, I am just as ingrained as everyone else. If I'm
playing a mobile game and an ad for another mobile game that I might have already heard about
comes up, I take it as incentive that I should look into this game. If I'm listening to one of my
favorite podcasts and they mention a movie in high regards, there's a good chance i'm going to
watch that movie. If a video game, movie, artist I really like comes out with a

Consumer Culture Essay

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Consumer Culture Essay