This paper aimed to explore and reflect on the consumption experience I had during last Christmas. Goals and suggestions to improve that experience would also be carried out as to consolidate the positive aspects and to prevent the negative aspects of consumption happen again next time. Consumerism became a dominant ideology in many societies, consumers consume goods in large quantities, and this behavior can benefit the country by better off its economy. However, some negative consumer behavior come along with it, climate change and increase of solid waste are examples of prolong impacts which may brought by those behavior. Being a consumer, except enjoying our consumer rights, we should also take our consumer responsibilities seriously. In the following part, I would first state a consumption event including consumption of furnish and food which I experienced during the last Christmas and express my feeling on it. After that, analysis and reflection of my consumption behavior in that consumption event would be carried out, finally I would give suggestions to improve my past consumption behavior and state the importance of being a responsible consumer.
Influenced by western culture, many Hong Kong people, including me, think that Christmas is an important festival. I enjoy spending the holiday, celebrating with my friends. For the last Christmas, some of my friends suggested that we can exchange the Christmas present and have dinner on the Christmas Eve. I went to a shopping mall in Tsim Sha Tsui before that day, wished to buy Christmas gifts for my friends. It was quite crowed in the mall since many people were there wanted to strive for perfect gifts too. Finally I brought a snowman doll for gift exchange, a small Christmas t...
... middle of paper ...
...maintain an active relationship between environment and consumption. By reflecting my own consumption behavior, I can identify the gaps between our knowledge and the real behavior. In the future, I will try out the methods mentioned above and would put effort in achieving an eco-friendly consumption behavior.
Works Cited
Kacen, J. J. & Lee, J. A. (2002). The influence of culture on consumer impulsive buying behavior. Journal Of Consumer Psychology, 12 (2), 2.
Randall, R. (2011). All I want for Christmas is a lower rate of consumption. InGuardian Sustainable business. Retrieved February 21, 2014 from http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/consumption-patterns-behaviour-change
Hamilton, C. (2003). Overconsumption in Britain: A culture of middle-class complaint? In The Australia Institute. Retrieved February 20, 2014 from http://www.tai.org.au/node/920
Efficiency is not always the answer, according to David Owen, in his novel The Conundrum, explains that society is headed in the wrong direction, believing that to be greener we need to make our everyday lives more efficient when in reality we need to change our behavior. As consumers, people want to be sustainable and preserve the Earth while greedily expanding our collection of trinkets. Efficiency can be beneficial, but to make the world a greener one, it is essential for people to change their behavior, not efficiency of the products.
The chosen article is Two Cheers for Consumerism by James Twitchell. In this article he talks about consumerism, commercialism, and materialism. He argues the stand point of consumers and the role they live by every day. In other hands the critics, Academy, gives the consumers and overview description to their consumers.
Christmas has consumed itself. At its conception, it was a fine idea, and I imagine that at one point its execution worked very much as it was intended to. These days, however, its meaning has been perverted; its true purpose ignored and replaced with a purpose imagined by those who merely go through the motions, without actually knowing why they do so.
Within the few weeks that composed the busiest shopping time of the year, customers were able to diminish my joy for the holiday season. My first anti-holiday experience occurred when I was learning how to run the registers. At this time, I was also learning that parents tend to feel a great need to please their children by purchasing the trendiest toys and by spending hundreds of dollars on Christmas presents. One such “guest,” as we are encouraged to refer to customers, a thin woman with fluffed brown hair, came through my lane with a cart full of toys.
The outcome has been tended to above and it is just about purchasing items at the least expensive cost towards purchasing items in light of their moral contemplations. This is something which has proceeded through the late money related retreat. Maybe the most vital of these has been the effect of items on the earth. Then again, more imperative of all to the moral contemplations of the nearby individuals in which ASDA contemplations is the way to best lessen their carbon foot shaped impression and help with the decrease of nursery gas
Christmas used to be a time when families gathered and love enclosed each member. Meals and stories were shared and times were simpler. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Mass were special times for families to sit back in a pew and remember the true meaning of Christmas as carols were sung in the high choirs. This serenity and peace seems to be a thing of the past. Now, people are drowning in the pressure that Christmas is all about presents, and that unwrapping gifts on Christmas morning is what this joyous occasion is centered around. Another misconceived thought is that Christmas has to be bought and given away in order to have a good time. In 2010, a stunning “4.8 million people [found] time on Christmas Day to go online and shop.” On the contrary, only “4.5 million people who attend an Anglican, Catholic, Methodist, Baptist or Pentecostal church,” was present in church on Christmas Day. The thought that shopping is more important than the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ is appalling to Christians throughout the world.
The authors identify that there are three main factors that effect how people act, think, and make decisions. The first is religion, in some countries faith plays an important role in all areas of life in the culture of the country and can influence many of their customs and behavior. The second factor is that of fact. In many countries their greatest desire is to find the best deal and the best product or services. The final factor is feeling, if a culture is based on feelings the people will conduct business accordingly. For example it would be essential to make a personal connection with this type of individual.
Today it seems as though Christmas has fallen victim to materialism and commercialization. Rather than it being a time of loving and giving, it has become a stressful season of greed. Amidst all the hustle and bustle, it is important for us to recognize the true reason of the season, and celebrate in a fashion that exemplifies that reason.
Holidays have always been known to affect our consumer culture for many years, but how it all began eludes many people and very few studies have been completed on it. Even though some say that the subject is too broad to precisely identify how holidays, especially Christmas, directly affect our market, I have found that people’s values, expectations and rituals related to holidays can cause an excessive amount of spending among our society. Most people are unaware that over the centuries holidays have become such a profitable time of year for industries that they now starting to promote gift ideas on an average of a month and a half ahead of actual holiday dates to meet consumer demands.
Living off the grid is slowly becoming more prevalent, and there are a growing number of people embracing this lifestyle because they desire to live The Good Life. Many are discovering ways to appreciate off-grid living, rather than assessing the disadvantages of it. It is obvious that people are removing themselves from the grid in order to combat global warming and climate change, but those who have a stronger appreciation for nature are willing to make sacrifices to live off the grid. People who have a positive attitude toward this way of living are more likely to relate it to pursuing the Good Life. Even though “living completely off the grid isn’t for everyone,” those who dream of living a sustainable lifestyle are determined and fully committed to doing so (Bodkins 1). A vast majority of people dream of becoming wealthy and living lavishly, but that dream does not appeal to everyone. Some people are content without owning a mansion, multiple cars, or earning millions of dollars. Things of monetary worth are not important to those ...
Mooij,M de.2004.Consumer Behavior and Culture: Consequences for Global Marketing and Advertising. Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.
Sassatelli, R. (2007). Consumer Culture: History, Theory and Politics, London: Sage, Page 30, Page 126, Page 132, Page 133
In an article called Cultural Factor Highly Influences On Consumers & Their Buying Behavior – In Indian Context, the basic characteristics of culture are described:
Consumer behavior incorporates certain activities, decisions or experiences, which satisfy the needs of the consumers. It concerns all the activities that incorporate consuming, obtaining and product disposing of that precedes and carry out these actions (Darling, 2015). The Consumer behavior remains one of the important areas for research in the tourism and marketing fields in terms of travel behavior or the behavior of tourist (Rid, Ezeuduji & Pröbstl-Haider 2014). There are a few comprehensive literature reviews on the behavior of consumer typically described his injurious area with the help of the existing models or concepts of Consumer Behavior. There are exceptions in the insights of the authors who give the review about
The phenomenon of impulse buying is becoming increasingly commonplace in developed countries. Our culture of consumption makes us less likely to resist temptation and consider the consequences before purchasing things. The impacts could be varied dramatically depended on where it takes place. For instance, the things that you purchase impulsively could be a bar of chocolate; however, it could also be a Louis Vuitton handbag and the consequences would be much severe. Hence, a lot of researchers are interested in studying the causes of this phenomenon in terms of different parameters such as age and gender. In relation to gender, researchers attempted to find whether there will be a gender difference in impulse buying and the possible