Essay on American Consumer Culture

assuage any guilt they might feel about consuming mass quantities of unnecessary, disposable goods by dutifully tossing these items into their recycling bins and hauling them out to the curb each week”. (Westervelt, Amy. "Can Recycling Be Bad for the Environment?" Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 25 Apr. 2012. Web. 5 Dec. 2015). So why is the reason that companies are starting to “Go Green”? Its clearly obvious that the change in America from an industrial country to a environmental country has taught big business how to market environmentalism in mass quantities of their product. The strategy of the consumption-environment mindset are increasing rapidly. If this trend of buying without thinking does not slow down, with problems like not shifting priority from consumption to being environmentally aware, things will certainly worsen. On the topic of green marketing, people often see that green marketing refers to the advertising of objects or products with environmental characteristics to them (Like the Nestle bottle, for example). Terms like “Environmentally Friendly”, “Refillable”, and “Recyclable”, are some of the things people associate with green marketing. In reality

The economy is a very fragile thing; however it can have an enormous impact on people. Americans especially are affected because they are so greedy, they always want more. Because Americans are very materialistic, they can become overly arrogant and possessive since they are used to getting their way, on account of having money.

In the introduction of Chapter 1 “Consuming Passions” “The Culture of American Consumption,” it talks about how American popular culture is grounded in consumption. With the media in our hand, it is a huge influence towards the advertising world. With how styles of clothing have been changing over time, this talks about how from the earlier times wearing a simple type of blue jeans can change between who wears them over the years. As stated, “ By the 1950s, however, blue jeans began to bear an additional class significance as “casual wear” for middle-class Americans.” (72). In 1970 these pants have then become a simple fashion wear. They have also been introduced as a hipster type wear. Then in 1980 through the early 2000s, baggy jeans were

The 1950s is described as the “‘golden age’ of capitalism,” where a comfortable standard of living became accessible to many new, middle-class Americans (991). According to Foner, “the official poverty rate, 30 percent of all families in 1950, had declined to 22 percent a decade later”(991). The poverty rate declined as more Americans entered white-collared jobs with increased wages. Essentially, the “American standard of living” during the 1950s was characterized by the ability of citizens to participate in the mass consumerist society; this was only possible through an increase in income. Jack Straus, the chairman of the board of Macy’s stated “‘The consumer is the key to our economy...The luxuries of today are the necessities of tomorrow’”(Foner 994). The American economy was based off of consumers; “In a consumer culture, the measure of freedom

Without question, the 1920s “new era” was one of the eras in American history that made the most progress, especially from immense business and industry contributions. These business and industry contributions to America included the creation of automobiles, radios, house appliances, and much more. Not only did these product contributions change America, but also efficiency improved within the “new era” increasing the production of goods. Overall in this time period, the consumer culture had a significant change with the development of mass production industries, welfare capitalism, and government efforts to enforce prosperity abroad.

Widespread consumerism and the materialistic society we live in has many detrimental effects on the environment. The factories, vehicles, and resources used to sustain our goods-based economy contribute greatly to global climate change, pollution, and deforestation. Your coffee beans from Starbucks are harvested from dying out forests in South America, among other places, and shipped to the location nearest you by using excessive quantities of non-renewable fossil fuels, all so you can receive your morning pick-me-up. While refraining from purchasing that coffee on Buy Nothing Day alone will not provide an immediate solution to the issue at hand, the ideals preached by the yearly event can make the participants

In the novel Brave New World , the denizens of Aldous Huxley’s dystopia live in a rigidly structured consumer culture. From young ages, they are conditioned to hate the outdoors so that as adults they will prefer activities that require large amounts of manufactured products and long trips that utilize the maximum amount of infrastructure. That is what keeps the world humming, and there are important similarities between Huxley’s vision of social control through pleasure and the rigid policing of tastes, activities, and consumption in our own 21st century culture. The new trend and buzzword now is globalization, and the contemporary reaction to the expansion of global

Consumerism is the center of American culture. Americans tend to confuse their wants with their needs. With new advances in technology, as well as the help of advertisers, people are provided with easy access to new products that seem essential to their everyday life, even though they have survived this long without them. People cannot live without food, clothing, and shelter. But realistically, according to people's different lifestyles, more than food, clothing, and shelter are needed. Most people need to work to survive. Unless a job is either in their own home, or within walking distance, a means of transportation is needed. Whether it be a vehicle, money for a taxi-cab, or a token for a ride on the subway, money must be spent

The concept of free-market played an essential role in making American people in the 1960s believe that it is important for them to fight communism through any means possible. Consumerism had reached a point where it had become indispensable and the benefits that it brought along made it difficult and virtually impossible for the community to express interest in economic systems other than capitalism. One of the principal reasons why the Cold War occurred relates to the West's obsession with materialism and with the fact that this precious concept could be destroyed as a result of communist ideas pervading the Western society.

On your weekly trip to the supermarket it’s easy to find a number of products, from coffee to dishwashing soap, that flaunt their green attributes” (American Psychological Association, 2010). With such rumors of greenwashing, consumers are more confused than ever. However, some consumers know the tricks and are coming to find that there are companies whose marketing practices are legit, not exaggerated or deceiving. APA also found that, “people are willing to spend more of their hard-earned green on green products, according to a 2008 survey of 9,000 adults performed by the global business firm Boston Consulting Group” (American Psychological Association, 2010). Consumers who are willing to pay more for a product or service are assuming that they are purchasing a healthier, safer, and better quality product or service for the environment.

When a consumer walks down the aisle of a shopping market they are bound to see various products that claim to be “green” or “eco-friendly”. Many large retailers including Target, one of the nation’s largest retailers, have exponentially expanded the number of eco-labeled products they carry (Harris). When 97% of shoppers at Target say they are buying some product that is natural, sustainable, or organic, it is no surprise that the sector for organic products grew 10.3% from 2011 to 2012 (Harris). Sales and revenue from green products

Understanding consumer buying behavior entails marketing, relationships, and consumer behavior. Consumer behavior comprises all the consumer decisions and activities connected with the choosing, buying, using and disposing of goods and services. Marketers must pay very close attention to consumer behavior that occurs before the purchase and after the particular product has been used. Studying consumer habits is one of the steps in marketing search and analysis. In addition to other basic principles of consumer buying habits, marketers also need to study the decision and actions of real people. Until recent history the study of consumer behavior was focused on generalized consumer decisions. With

Truth is we are all affected by consumerism. It is an unfortunate truth that the production of goods often comes at the price of the environment and the people who dwell here on planet Earth. We take on ever increasing amounts of pollution due to bad practices surrounding production.

Figure 3: Lush label states "Fresh Handmade Cosmetics" and "Bring back 5 Pots and Get a Fresh Face Mask Free"

These days, dangers of global warming, pollution, and landfills are well documented, but not a lot is being done to stop these issues. Problems such as resource depletion, global warming, pollution, extinction, toxic waste in rivers (like the BP Oil Spill in the Gulf Coast), and fracking all pose serious threats to our environment. However, no sure-fire solutions have been introduced to society, so these problems seem only to get worse as time goes on. Serious consequences such as health issues, threats to biodiversity, rising water levels, and depletion of natural resources are the outcomes of mishaps of consumers. We know these issues are bad, but why is it so difficult to take action against them? Well, people look at the world with a short time horizon. Many people view profits versus well being of the planet only with a short-term perspective, not worrying about the future of the earth after they are gone. It seems that there are many reasons leading to the inaction in our society, but a significant issue is collective action failure, otherwise known as “tragedy of the commons.” It is a complex system, mostly filled with misunderstandings that must change on a social level. Collective action failure is an example of market failure. A collective action failure is an idea significant of exhausting resources through overuse. For example, with the issue of recycling, people view it as a good thing because it can help conserve resources. However, people also see recycling as