Consumerism: A New Age Vague Shoot-up

Consumerism is an idea that encourages the consumption and acquisition of goods and services in a never-ending cycle. It considers that increasing the consumption of goods and services purchased in the market is always a desirable goal. The goods and services among customers give businesses a reason to produce. The concept of consumerism is based on the consumption made by consumers. The price hike, product underperformance, quality of service and product, shortage of products, and deceptive advertising have become the major causes of the evolution of consumerism. Do you want to explore more? If yes! Then, this blog by AllAssignmentHelp.com will help you learn more about this topic. Here, you will learn about the concept of consumerism from a detailed perspective.

What is Consumerism – The History and Evolution

Consumerism is not a new phenomenon, but it started many years ago. Below, we have briefly discussed how and when it started:

• The concept of consumerism was built up in the eighteenth century. The economies of the 18th century have seen a sudden increase in their wages, which has embraced luxury consumption. People started to buy things more than they needed, which increased the demand for goods and services.
• Politics and economics were regarded as the pillars of consumerism in the mid-18th century. In this face, the government has seen that people are buying unnecessary commodities for their places, which has brought about a consumer revolution.
• The sudden increase in demand for products has resulted in the opening of new business ventures. To preserve the interests of consumers, companies started to manufacture more goods, which has increased employment and disposable income. 
• Over decades, buying goods and services has become a part of the world. The search of consumers for better goods is never-ending. Every consumer started to go with fashion and trends, which encouraged their spending on luxury items like cars, clothes, shoes, and gadgets instead of saving and investing. 
• Physicists like Bernard Mandeville and philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau raised many points opposing the trend of consumerism in the 1920s. They clearly stated that living with minimalist clothing will help achieve perfect societal balance. However, all this went in vain as people became addicted to new goods and services.
• At present, the rise of consumerism is evident in both developing and developed countries. We can see this through the mass production of luxury goods. Personal debt levels are also rising worldwide. This is a sign that people are buying goods excessively on impulse or without proper financial planning. However, other evident traces of consumerism include product innovation from time to time.

Top Benefits of Consumerism

The rise of consumerism is altering the world. You can always discover advertisements for goods or services all around the globe. Everything has become so easily available for people. They can buy anything they want from the comfort of their homes. This has increased their unnecessary demand for products, which has also expanded their debt level.

Do you know what still calls for a purchase? That is a new, better, and more innovative product! This leads to sales, as people always go for new and innovative things. Also, all these benefits come from global money and marketing.

Furthermore, we have listed below the benefits that consumerism provides. Moreover, if you are a student of economics, you will definitely get to write an assignment on consumerism. If you need any help with your assignment, you may seek economics assignment help. Professionally written assignments will increase your knowledge and understanding of the concepts.

Economic Growth

Consumerism drives economic growth. The economy grows when people spend more on goods and services produced. The expansion in production and employment leads to more consumption. And the increased production of goods and services results in higher consumer spending and a rise in GDP. Consumers might only be purchasing the goods, but behind this, everyone is benefiting, whether it is the owner, workers, shareholders, and most importantly, the country’s government.

Innovation and Creativity Escalation

The living standard of people has improved since consumers actively look for the next-best products and services to buy. Though the producers and manufacturers are under constant pressure to innovate new products, it has also helped them become creative and innovative. How? That is, by manufacturing the best product for consumers. 

Advanced the Standard of People

The customers follow the latest trends and fashion, which increases their knowledge of the market. Therefore, this develops their standard of living. Also, an increase in production leads to more jobs, giving better wages to communities. Higher wages result in an increase in spending by customers, and as the cycle continues to grow, the standard of living continues to rise.

Shoot Up Economic Output and Generates Jobs

When goods and services are demanded in society, businesses work hard to produce those items. It is a never-ending cycle that allows the economy to grow. The increased production of goods and services requires a larger number of workers than before. This has opened new job opportunities for workers, leading to better career growth.

Encourages Freelancing

Consumerism has encouraged people to take risks. It has also uplifted freelancing, entrepreneurship, and self-employment. It has become easy to secure contracts to get work from home. Entrepreneurs have grabbed the opportunity similarly to strike it big. Likewise, all these things enhanced by consumerism have benefited society in many ways. Even students today can avail themselves of freelancing jobs to save up some money. Hard-earned money will not only help them learn new skills but also gain more knowledge.

We have got a few tips for the students out there who want to do freelancing but cannot do it because of different issues. Is time management an issue for you that is stopping you from doing a freelancing job and becoming independent? Then you can always avail yourself of the best assignment writing services for your academics. And, with their help, you can overcome your time management issues and complete your work within the deadline. Once you know that your academics are in safe hands, you can concentrate on your freelance job without any stress.

Shielded Goods for Consumers

Consumerism has been termed the element that has been driving society. The purchasers are aware of their rights and responsibilities. Therefore, they also look out for protection from faulty products or scanty goods. They expect higher standards from companies. And if those standards are not met, then the purchasers can go to court and fight for their rights.

Drawbacks of Consumerism

The major reason why many scholars and physicists were against the concept of consumerism is because of its numerous limitations and drawbacks. Many people criticized it on cultural grounds and found it to be materialistic to society, which will neglect other important human values.

Environmental Degradation

The rise in demand for goods extensively strained natural resources such as water and raw materials, resulting in excessive energy use. Consumerism also encourages the use of chemicals, which can degrade the environment. In a nutshell, this does more harm to the environment.

Moral Mortification

Increasing Consumerism tends to shuffle societies away from core values such as cohesion. Instead, there is an intense focus on materialism and competition. People tend to buy goods and services only because they want to be on par with or higher than everyone else.

Lofty Debt Levels

The debt level in society increases due to consumerism. The number of people taking short-term loans, such as payday loans, to buy luxury goods has increased drastically. Many short-term loans aren’t channeled into constructive use today.

Mental Health Complications

Consumerism increases debt levels, resulting in mental health problems like stress and depression. Finding the latest trends might be exhausting for the mind and body. Especially when you have limited resources. Consumerism forces people to work harder, acquire more, and spend less time with loved ones. It can negatively affect people’s overall well-being in the long run. Research has shown that people don’t get valuable and long-lasting fulfillment from materialism,

Lack of Accomplishment

When people primarily focus on materialism, they often lack long-lasting fulfillment. And all this happens because of consumerism. People may earn a lot at some point. But this makes the chance of earning a high salary pass by.

Sales and promotion are two important factors in consumerism. Without advertising, no consumer would be able to be aware and purchase different new products. Moreover, if you are assigned an assignment on the same, you can seek sales promotion assignment help from professional writers and study in detail about product awareness techniques and all other factors.

Consumerism vs. Capitalism: Let’s Understand Both in Detail

Consumerism:

It increases product consumption by the customer. Its main aim is to govern the market. The primary purpose is to increase the consumption of goods. By encouraging customers to buy the product. Well! It is of 4 types, i.e.,

• Routine purchases
• Limited decision-making
• More decision-making
• Consumers impulse buy. 

Consumption increased when consumerism took place. Now let’s discuss capitalism.

Capitalism:

Capitalism means the people have private ownership of the company. Based on the generation of profit from products. It is of two types:

• Market economy
• Planned economy

In a market economy, goods and services are produced individually. This is based on demand and supply in the general market. But, in a planned economy, central planning delivers goods and services. Also, the capitalist market has many buyers and sellers, and it gives sellers absolute freedom to buy products according to their choices by looking at their needs. Capitalism has a free market whose motive is individual profit rights. The state’s limited intervention in production and consumption is also a reason. It provides a suitable environment for consumerism’s growth. 

Consumerism is incomplete without proper advertising. One of the most popular ways of advertising is through integrated marketing communication (IMC), where you will learn how businesses fulfill the needs of customers. Moreover, if you want help with your IMC assignment, you can seek integrated marketing communication assignment help from professional writers and get a detailed understanding of the concept.

Examples of Consumerism

We hope that by now you have understood what consumerism is and the different advantages and disadvantages associated with it. Let us now examine the examples of consumerism for an even better understanding. 

• One of the most common examples of consumerism is when companies use different advertising techniques to promote their toys to small children. They make promotions in a way that will make you think that the product is necessary for every kid and that your kid should also have it.
• The increasing interest in fashion among people following the latest trends is another example of this term. People started to show interest in fashion, which led to an increase in the variety of clothes, food, and household items. Shopping became an important cultural activity that resulted in the rise of consumerism. 
• The other example of consumerism is related to the education field. In the olden days, laptops were only occupied by rich students. However, with constant advertising, people started to believe that laptops and tablets are equally important to books. This has increased the demand and supply of laptops. Moreover, if you are a student facing difficulties in dealing with your online classes, it is time for you to pay for online class help and receive timely assistance and support.

Consumption is directly related to product waste, as people tend to buy more and more products than they need. More production or use of household goods is 60% responsible for global greenhouse gas emissions. Due to our consumer habits driving climate change, this destroys our environment. The purchasing power of people results in pollution, purchases, limited decision-making, etc.

Conclusion

Consumerism has some good as well as bad sites. It drives economic growth and development and also strengthens the standard of living of people in societies. Although it has its good points, it also comes with its fair share of problems that range from environmental issues to moral degradation, which can lead to higher debt levels or mental health problems. Since we are also in a consumerist society, it is advisable to live a balanced life. You might be eager to try all the new, innovative things in your life. But it should not come as an investment, which may affect your mental health and disrupt your financial stability. All this can be determined by how much importance education holds in our lives.

The main concept of consumerism is to keep on buying more and more stuff, neglecting needs. People think that purchasing new and unlimited products will help them gain respect and power. However, things are different, and the consumption of different products will not define your class in society. Therefore, you should understand and not buy more than your demand level, as it can create anxiety in individuals and lead to social ills.

Frequently Asked Questions

Question 1: Is consumerism important for a country? There is a never-ending debate. We can say that healthy consumerism is a big positive for any country, which will help increase the GDP and economic growth. On the other hand, excessive consumption will result in high waste for many products.

Question 2: Which industry boosted consumerism in the 1920s? Advertising is the company that gained the most popularity because of consumerism in the 1920s. Advertising through radio helped businesses effectively promote their products to customers from different parts of the world.

Question 3: What are the two typical forms of consumerism? Boycotting companies and writing letters to companies are the two forms of it.

Question 4: How does consumerism affect our society? Answer: Consumerism results in global inequality. The happenings of consumerism result in a society where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. This creates a massive gap between them.