NEW CONSUMERISM <-> SELF-CONSTRUCTION
"Consumerism" is the selfish and frivolous collecting of products, or economic materialism. In protest to this some people promote "anti-consumerism" and advocacy for simple living.
the growing middle-class
new ideas about luxury consumption
growing importance of fashion as an arbiter for purchasing rather than necessity
Media theorists Straut Ewen coined the term "commodity self" to describe an identity built by the goods we consume.
Commodity fetishism
"Consumerism" is a force from the marketplace which destroys individuality and harms society.It is related to globalization.
the Marxian perception of the capitalist economy as a system of exploitation
Carl Menger's vision of consumer sovereignty, whereby the economy is controlled entirely by consumer preferences
- political and economic necessity for the reproduction of capitalist competition for markets and profit
the increasing political strength of international organizations during a rapid increase in technological productivity and decline in necessary scarcity
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catalyst to develop a consumer culture based on therapeutic entertainments, home ownership and debt.
XXI CENTURY: 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.
This purchasing behavior may co-exist in the mind of a consumer with an image of oneself as being an individualist.
the tendency of people to identify strongly with products or services they consume, especially those with commercial brand names and perceived status-symbolism
Some people believe relationships with a product or brand name are substitutes for healthy human relationships lacking in societies
By owning a product from a certain brand, one's ownership becomes a vehicle of presenting an identity, associated with the attitude of the brand.
The idea of individual choice is exploited by corporations that claim to sell "uniqueness" and the building blocks of an identity.
The invention of the commodity self is a driving force of consumerist societies, preying upon the deep human need to build a sense of self.
SOCIAL PRESTIGE: to avoid the status anxiety of not being of or belonging to "the right social class", the consumer establishes a personal identity, that is defined and expressed by the commodities, that he or she buys, owns, and uses;
the domination of things that communicate the "correct signals" of social prestige, of belonging.
SOCIAL ALIENATION: form of social alienation that occurs when a person views himself as a commodity that can be bought and sold, because he regards every human relation as a (potential) business transaction.
SELF-PERCEPTION, SELF-ESTEEM, THREATS, COMPLEXES, TENSIONS, PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS
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