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Materialism of america
Social media and its impact on consumer behaviour
Impact of social media on consumer buying behaviour process
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In the past years more and more people are starting to believe that America is turning into a materialistic society. This is in fact true because, as the years pass, we as Americans are becoming increasingly materialistic. We buy things that we “want” but do not necessarily “need’. It seems that we are beginning to care more and more about trends and what is “in the new” or what is “popular”. Many people say that Americans are simply overly materialistic. Although this is true, such a claim is, in fact, too simplistic.
There are many factors that drive Americans to be so materialistic. One example can be found in the media. With influence of social media, we have created these social classes that we put others and ourselves in, such as rich and poor, or, pretty and ugly. Most of the time, we determine who fits in each of these “classes” by what he or she has and what he or she looks like. If they are beautiful or have an immense amount of expensive “things” like cars, jewelry, or suits and dresses we see that individual as being rich. And if one does not possess those things than he or she is seen as poor or unprivileged. So we begin to start this competition of who has the most “stuff”. In her essay titled, Shopping and Other Spiritual Adventures in America Today, Phyllis Rose writes about how many believe that shopping is a form of therapy and that she believes one does not really need to buy another sweater. She believes that, “ You need the power that comes with buying or not buying it.” How many times does an individual want to buy something for the sole purpose of showing it off to their friends and family or to receive compliments from strangers on the street? We as humans “want” and “need” attention, even if we have to ...
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Though it is unfortunate that we spend our money so carelessly and foolishly it seems that there is no stopping this. As long as the critics and media force these new products on to us saying that we “have to” buy it because the product is “in the new” or is “popular” we will not be able to escape this materialistic society of ours. The American dream has become something far more different than it was intended to be. American’s are not simply overly materialistic. It is much more complicated than that. Our materialism comes from the influence of society and their social classes and from the people and critics who focus so much on these chain stores. Or the fact that people feel like they must buy these things to make themselves feel better or to show off to other friends as if they were in a competition of who has the most unnecessary “thing”.
Have you ever felt like you are spending too much money at a time, on pointless items? Statistics show that American’s consumption rate of goods has increased by forty-five percent in the last twenty years (Statistics-Consumption/quality of life pg. 194). Americans are experiencing a thing that is many times known as “Affluenza”, this is when someone buys more items, such as clothes, cars, houses, or any unnecessary items. Many people talk about this so-called “Affluenza”, like it is a medical term. The word Affluenza is pretty much saying that people make money and work hard for their money and they like to buy nice things, because they can and they have the money to. They are fortunate enough to be able to have these nice things for themselves because they work so hard for it. Many Americans are not satisfied with their positions because of false ads, selfishness, and jealousy. Some celebrities, some of the wealthiest people on the planet have committed suicide because they are not happy with what they have and they feel like they need more items, when really they have everything they need to be happy, but they suffer from Affluenza and make these bad decisions.
“I rather would be blind than then see this world in yellow, and bought and sold by kings that hammer roses into gold.” (King Midas Pg.462 Para.10) Many think that if they got what they wanted they would be happy, but if the world was all based on malterlistic things and everyone got what they wanted there would be chaos and no feelings just want and people would do crazy things to get what they want. Now a day’s people mistake malterlistic things for happiness. “The necklace”, “Ads may spur unhappy kids to embrace materialism”, And “Thrill of the chase” illustrates examples of materialism and show some base their happiness on it.
Tocqueville wrote that Americans are inherently more materialistic than European peoples for three reasons. First, Americans have freed themselves by rejecting “a territorial aristocracy” of hierarchical societal structures on the “soil of America.” By doing so, “the distinctions of ranks are obliterated and privileges are destroyed,” therefore causing “the desire of acquiring the comforts of the world” to haunt “the imagination of the poor, and the dread of losing them that of the rich.” Second, in an egalitarian society, where every citizen has an equal opportunity “the most marked inequalities do not strike the eye; when everything is nearly on the same level, the slightest are marked enough to hurt i...
In his novel, Brave New World, Aldous Huxley provides stark warnings for contemporary American society by using the futuristic but relatable setting of the “World State”. When reading such dystopian novels as Brave New World, readers must consider the implications of the author’s warnings and how they are relevant to the world we live in. One such warning that deeply relates to contemporary American society is that of the dangers of consumerism and the materialistic view that results from it. As in the “World State”, we live in a culture where economic stability is favored over the preservation of resources. Moreover, people seem to feel that spending and buying is a way to increase or maintain social status.
However, the advertisers promoting these value and goods are not organizations, corporations, or governing powers, they are ordinary people. Annie White’s interactions with her Jamaican family living in America dictated the values she associated with American goods. According to White, many of her peers believed that owning any American goods meant an increase in status, because they saw America as a country which represented wealth and success (A. White, personal communication, October 15, 2016). As a result, many people rely on commodities and goods to indicate status. In his article, “Conspicuous Consumption” (1899), Thorstein Veblen suggests that “consumption of higher quality goods denotes his [or her] evidence of wealth. Being able to consume in due quantity and quality becomes an indication of inferiority” (Veblen, 2000, 190). In other words, consuming American goods– to indicate wealth and establish a social hierarchy in which they have the highest prestige over
Of all the strange beasts that have come slouching into the 20th century, none has been more misunderstood, more criticized, and more important than materialism. Who but fools, toadies, hacks, and occasional loopy libertarians have ever risen to its defense? Yet the fact remains that while materialism may be the most shallow of the 20th century's various -isms, it has been the one that has ultimately triumphed. The world of commodities appears so antithetical to the world of ideas that it seems almost heresy to point out the obvious: most of the world most of the time spends most of its energy producing and consuming more and more stuff. The really interesting question may be not why we are so materialistic, but why we are so unwilling to acknowledge
The massive amount of consumerism and materalistic ideology came from the decade of the 1980s and proved to be the time of wanting to have luxrious items throughout the daily routine of being an American citizen. The American culture of massive consumerism of the 1980s was influenced by the elements of the American Dream, the iconic pop stars and events, the deep recession troubling the lives of many, and the nationalistic pride that was shown through the actions of recreations and sports. Not only was the 1980s influenced by the culture of consumerism, but it impacted the future generations to only want to become a bigger and better version of the 1980s.
One of the most significant reasons about consumerism is, it leads to people living a lonely lifestyle. Initially, there is numerous scientific evidence which proves the issue why materialism makes people live lonely. First of all, there was research about that, which has examined connection between dynamics of materialism and loneliness by some scientist. The result is that materialism contributes to lonely lifestyle; furthermore, it differs among particular subtypes of materialism(PIETERS,2013). For example, valuable possessions for humans like ipods, laptops, computer games have leading a loneliness, because they spare their times for them more than social activities like interaction with others or having fun outside. Therefore, people need to improve their communication skills for preventing loneliness. Secondly, in consume...
Have you ever wanted something, an item or material so badly that you would do anything or give up anything for it? Well, guess what? Materials are not a necessary thing in your life. Materialism is ruining people's lives to the point where it is their occupation. In today’s society materialism take part in every person’s life, no matter where they are from or what social class they are.
...hat materialistic attitudes are harmful to one's well-being. “The psychological perspective attributes the development of materialistic values to family circumstances that create stress and self esteem issues that promote materialistic values,” (Hung Vu Nguyen.) Many people in our culture attribute material goods to personal achievement. Truth rings true with Bertrand Russell’s statement “It is the preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else that prevents us from living freely and nobly.” Even at young ages children are competing and bragging to one another of who has more possessions. Past studies by Rindfleisch say that materialism developed over time as a response to stress due to family issues such as divorce, separation, and loss of loved ones. Materialism leads consumers to put a disproportionate amount of their resources into acquiring goods.
Materialism leads people to be financially irresponsible. People are more likely to buy certain products because
In life, especially in American culture, our existence revolves around the physical, materialistic possessions and goals. Every commercial, ad and salesman caters to those who need more “stuff”
For several decades, as if, a typical undergraduate dream has been characterized with few major steps – getting prestigious high education, taking or buying a diploma, and consequently becoming a successful rich careerist with intuitively main goal to consume as much as possible in order to boost one’s utility at highest potential level. In this way of thinking, development of personal individualism and pursue of human values are left behind the curtains. Everything that can be seen on the scene of our being is mass consumerism, which slowly, gradually, but surely is transferring us into a hedonistic consumer society. According to an article in European Journal of Marketing, “A consumer society is defined as one directed largely by the accumulation and consumption of material goods. The term "consumer society" is used in a pejorative sense, coming from the perception that such a society will inevitably be hedonistic. It is the search for instant gratification that we traditionally associate with hedonism….”(41 Issue: 2007). In our way to gain deep pleasure, we are over purchasing items and gadgets which once were thought to be extreme luxuries. Most of the times, we are interested in what kind of IPhone we possess, whether to buy a tablet or a laptop, are we are driving more expensive and fancy car than the others, what is more fashionable – a pair of Armani jeans or a pair of Dolce and Cabaña trousers.
American has had in the last fifty years decades of unprecedented economic growth which has has all but solved the economic problems of how to secure the necessities of life and most people are living lives of luxury and comfort (Alexander 1). This has caused the consumer industry to skyrocket. Everywhere one looks there are advertisements being thrown at them. These items are not advertised as luxury items, but as something someone needs to survive. The consequences of consumerism is people are saving less money and feel they need to keep earning more money to keep up with the demands of society (Etzioni 1). Students today are being told to go to college because it will give them an opportunity to earn more money at a better job. Has anyone stopped to question if they really need to make more money or could they live a satisfying and happy life without having to work sixty or seventy hours a week? Alexander states in his paper The Voluntary Simplicity Movement “The huge increase in wealth has stopped contributing to people individual” and “social well-being and the process of getting richer is now causing the very problem that they seem to think getting richer will solve” (Alexander 1). It would seem many americans do not enjoy this quick paced lifestyle which keeps them always at the edge of truly having it all. According to a study done in 1989 “Three out of four Americans would like to see our country to reform to a simpler lifestyle with less emphasis on material success” (Etzioni 3). At the same time though from 1980-1990 consumer spending rose by 21.4 percent (Etzioni 4). If both these studies are true then Americans are running into this oxymoron where they are living the consumerism lifestyle but wishing their lives ...
Material goods don’t make us happy. Acquiring things like houses and cars only have a transient effect on happiness. People’s desires for material possessions crank up at the same, or greater rate, than their salaries. Again, this means that despite considerably more luxurious possessions, people end up no happier. There’s even evidence that materialism make us less happy.