American Consumerism Research Paper

The citizens of the United States of America are known for their strong sense of freedom. Take that freedom away, and there would be a prodigious riot that traverses across the country. However, the same freedom that Americans thrive on, are slowly poisoning the minds of the masses. Consumerism is the name; the plan is to slowly take over the population, and it has. Consumerism is both beneficial and detrimental to society, and freedom would not exist without the need people have to buy new and innovative items.

If you’ve ever been in a history class, I am sure you have heard of the concept of “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” If we reflect on that statement of “The Pursuit of Happiness”, what really makes people happy? Is it money? Power? Love? Some believe that a higher power is the only place we can find happiness. We worship and try to live up to these ideologies because we have been taught to fulfill the American Dream. With the way that society is heading, the answer may not be soon revealed. Maybe not even in our lifetime. We are programmed from a young age to have a herd mentality, and want everything that we don’t have or need for that matter. We try to keep up with the Jones’

Consumerism describes the rising want and need for goods and services. People then find the need to consume and buy and keep on buying. This makes stores continue on opening, finding great opportunities to sell and gain money from people who are obsess over consuming. This is only great for marketers, but for other business as well. People usually don’t carry a great deal of money in their pockets every time they purchase. That’s when business decided to make credit cards. Money inside a card that fits in a wallet easily. This made other business like PayPal and Bitcoin continue improving their

Television was one of the biggest attractions when it came to this idea of consumerism. (I Love Lucy was the #1 show)

The 1920s was a period of consumerism, where frugality with money was less of a concern. American consumers bought many different items- such as radios, electronic appliances, washing machines, telephones, plumbing and bathtubs, trendy clothing, cosmetics, books, magazines, and on fine dining-. There is no doubt that these items were more efficient for the average person, but there is doubt about whether or not it was a necessity. The perks of having these items are that daily tasks are more of a breeze than before and of course the convenience. For example, people could do wash their clothes at a much faster rate, could communicate without leaving the comfort of their own home, and not cook.

The beginning of consumerism was a major development in the United States because of the new era of living. But before i continue let's talk about consumerism and what it is; consumerism it is the protection or promotion of the interests of consumers. Which is exactly what happened, people started to buy more and more with credit, allowing them to get ti and pay for it later. This later became what changed the society. The overall use of consumerism created a more comfortable living style and lead to the common use of technology, shopping sprees and many other things. The causes and effects of consumerism and conformity are based off of the social, political, and economic aspects of the 1940-1960’s.

During the early twentieth century, the consumerism began to develop in American. The Americans economy took several years to begin to recover. The capita grew by thirty percent and unemployment stayed below five percent.

As a country, Americans love to shop. Whether in malls, grocery stores, on the Internet, or elsewhere, the culture of buying is deeply ingrained in American culture. Fueled largely by advertising and the current credit system, America’s consumer culture is depleting our planet’s finite natural resources and polluting our environment. Consumerism has instilled in Americans an artificial, ongoing, and insatiable desire for mass-produced and marketed products, and the money with which to buy them, with little regard to their actual usefulness or necessity. This constant desire to acquire more possessions is poisoning the planet, as it can never be sated and thus results in the never-ending exploitation of the Earth’s natural resources, and

This article gave a lot of alarming statistics about America’s consumerism and waste deposit. One of the most surprising statistics to me, was that America uses 1/3 of the worlds paper, while containing only 5% of the world’s population. I think I found this one of the most surprising statistics because I feel as though I don’t use a lot of paper myself. One statistic that I didn’t find surprising, but still found upsetting, was that only 7% of America’s population use public transportation as a daily option. Maybe I found this upsetting because I know I am completely guilty of being in the 93% that don’t use public transport daily. I drive myself where I need to go, even though I am aware of the consequences towards the environment. Overall,

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.

America has developed a strong sense of consumerism over the last decades. This has led to an increase in production levels and the variety of products available. This is in a way a result of America’s strong economy and availability of resources. This boom in the market has also introduced new marketing techniques that try to increase the level of consumption in America even further. Two of these techniques are planned obsolescence and perceived obsolescence. Both of these techniques target the average consumer and make him constantly replace his possessions using physical and psychological factors. The sale of electronic devices for entertainment benefits a lot from planned and perceived obsolescence, and although this happens mainly in the United States, El Salvador is no stranger to this phenomenon.

Consumerism is a description of society’s lifestyle in which many people embrace to achieve their goals by acquiring goods that they clearly do not need (Stearns, 7). The idea that the market is shaped by the choice of the consumers’ needs and wants can be defined as a consumer sovereignty (Goodwin, Nelson, Ackerman, Weisskopf, 2). This belief is based on the assumption that the consumer knows what it wants. Contrary to this logic, marketers convince us that the consumer does not know what they want. The consumer has to be told what they want or be persuaded by advertising items in a matter that demonstrates the reason a product makes their life easier or will improve their life instantly. As one of the most successful entrepreneurs,

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

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