Consumerism
Student’s name
Institutional Affiliation
Course
Professor’s name
Date
Consumerism
For this paper, I chose to write on consumerism, which is an important topic and with many issues discussed inadequacy. Consumerism is getting into every aspect of modern life, even in the areas not previously affected by the marketplace. It is one of the economic policies that emphasize the importance of consumption in human civilization development. It is a delicate issue, according to Jain & Jain (2019), and I will start on the economic side. Every firm growth depends on production and sales rates. When there are lots of sales in a company, there will be an increase in revenue. The firm will then accumulate much money that it can spend on the self-development and improvement. The taxes can be used in the creation of other firms or even developing additional production.
It is naturally impossible to improve production rates if there is no purchase of manufactured goods and services. To sell products, the firm has to persuade potential customers on the quality and the importance of the goods and services. More so, as explained by Tariq et al., (2019), the consumers are hooked by advertisements, after which they buy the products eagerly. They will still purchase the products even if they do not need them. Therefore it is impossible to have the development of the firm without the constant consumption of the products and services. Manufacturing or production of goods and services will require having customers who will buy them. The businesses, therefore, provoke an increase in consumerism in the current society. It is as a result of globalization that we have consumerism with the big companies represented internationally, making their manufacturing of products and sales to different countries. The existence of international companies is due to the big deals of goods and services. To make more money, the company has to attract more customers making big companies cause consumerism increasing the sales rates.
They are consuming means using things up, either by eating, wearing, or even playing with the products and use of the products to satisfy the needs and desires. Money in a capitalist society is the mediator between desire and satisfaction, and the consumers use it to appropriate the things that they need to consume. They buy or pay for them to prevent others from using them without permission (Zhu, & Sarkis, 2016). Modern consumerism is formed in the influence of corporate politics, the commercialization of culture, and the use of mass media. When people start to have money, they begin to consume more. Consumerism creates mass marketing and fuel industrialization encouraging competition among the companies that have incited innovations and the creation of new products.
However, the new products do not have a long-lasting effect on society. They are introduced to fade faster, which can be considered an adverse impact of consumerism as a result of an oversaturated market. It is human nature to want more than they can consume. This is encouraged by consumerism, which initiates the desire to have more, for instance, more clothes, shoes, more money, a large house, and a better car. As described by Jain & Jain, (2019). A good is never good enough, and this brings out the need to have more. Increasing the productivity of a country is a positive aspect of consumerism that ensures that more people are working. This makes the consumers wealthier, and the businesses become more productive and more profitable and, in turn, enable the government to get more tax and revenue.
Consumerism states that consumption is required for capitalism to work. More production means more purchase, and this means progress in society as well as its prosperity. Processing and consuming the goods and services will require the use of natural resources by creating factories and buildings that will generate a byproduct and use of the manufactured commodities. From the historical perspective, consumerism is a new concept, as stated by Jain & Jain (2019). It is connected closely to capitalism, which has its origin in the late 19th century. The first manufacturers then revealed a secret in mass production where they started this engine of consumerism in the more industrialized countries. Many other companies then approved the facility over time and started the factories in many parts of the world to produce massively.
The concept of consumerism is a controversial phenomenon. On one side, it stimulates the country’s economy and, on the other hand, cause a crisis and pressure on the natural environment. Overproduction in many countries has the company produce many goods that they cannot sell. With such, there is an irreversible crisis (Jain & Jain, 2019). The companies increase the pressure on the natural environment to obtain enough resources for production. This is through the extraction of oil, natural gas, coal, cutting wood, and water pollution in the mass production of goods and services.
In conclusion, it is worth noting that the concept of consumerism is a delicate topic and also thought-provoking and controversial. There are both positive and negative impacts. It is connected closely to mass culture and psychology.
References
Jain, P., & Jain, P. (2019). Ensuring sustainable development by curbing consumerism: An eco‐spiritual perspective. Sustainable Development, 27(3), 474-480.
Tariq, A., Wang, C., Tanveer, Y., Akram, U., & Akram, Z. (2019). Organic food consumerism through social commerce in China. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics.
Zhu, Q., & Sarkis, J. (2016). Green marketing and consumerism as social change in China: Analyzing the literature. International Journal of Production Economics, 181, 289-302.