Do Objects Make Us

From IPhones to new cars to discounted food, advertisements and the desire for the newest or cheapest items surround humans every day. Socially we are held responsible to not only “keep up with the Joneses” anymore, but also the Kardashians, Gates, and Walton families. Today’s society has proven that the desire to have the newest items for the most affordable prices stands more important than our true happiness. Joseph Turow provides in his article, The Daily You: How the New Advertising Industry Is Defining Your Identity and Worth, which the advertising industry has greatly affected your consumption habits and the prices you look for. James A. Roberts grows on that idea, in that with the help of these advertising firms, you continue to run

In addition, advertising feeds from mob mentality, convincing people a product will change their lives by deeming it fashionable or sophisticated. It bypasses logical thinking to take control of how people view themselves and their “need for esteem. People want and need to be respected and we need to feel good about ourselves. And this is where much advertising lives, often because we are selling products that people really do not need. L’Oreal’s ‘Because you’re worth it’ is the perfect example” (Madigan 83). For this reason, expectations of a person are manipulated to fit the wants of the industry to sell products. These people are affected since they feel as if they have no choice in what to wear, how their body should appear to others, and which brands they buy. It all comes down to the need to be apart of something bigger, instead of sticking out from the crowd.

Constantly releasing new products one after the other, bigger and better tech, what does this all mean? It means that we've successfully created a generation of impulse buyers. Citizens that truly, whole-heartedly believe happiness can be bought. That if you've got the latest smart

Sampson stated, “Advertising makes us remember and recognize brands better while also affecting our preferences and perceived needs. It changes our attitudes towards products.” He is explaining that companies have implanted brands into our heads, thus making their products very recognizable. Companies feel the need to materialize our lives. By doing this, they cause us to buy expensive engagement rings and other products that people do not necessarily need. Sampson also stated, “Store managers may also manipulate environmental cues to change our buying behavior. For example, research in a wine store found that people bought more expensive wines when classical music was played in the background than when they heard Top 40 music.” This shows how companies go to the extent of changing the environments that we shop in to further prompt us to buy more expensive items.

It is without a doubt that consumerism has taken over our society today. Everyday people constantly go shopping for materialistic items that they may not need such as the “hottest” pair of

As we are constantly exposed to mass media and popular culture in our modern society, the insidious nature of consumerism has allowed it to penetrate into every aspect of our lives, dictating our very beliefs, values and wants. Nearly every individual in our society subconsciously conforms to the shallow and superficial mindset that characterises our consumerist culture. This idea is highlighted by the following texts; the poem “Enter without so much as knocking” by Bruce Dawe, an extract from the sermon “The Religion of Consumerism” delivered by Peter House, the poem “Breakthrough” by Bruce Dawe, and the

We as people are like mammals and find a way to strut our stuff. “Using material possessions to exhibit status is commonplace in today’s consumer culture.” (123) We don’t want to show people how we live. We need to show them. We are in a society where wealth determines where you are placed in someone’s ranking. “An integral component of the shiny-objects ethos is quick riches. What better way to

Every so often… to correct that every day, hour or minute something new comes out. May it be the daily smartphone that aims to fill the already deep pockets of the big CEO’s sitting in their high-rise office, adding to the growing multibillion dollar electronics industry? Or the clothing line from the new designer that everyone hypes about? Consumerism is something that flues the fire, also known as the 21th century disease of materialism. Although an alarming issue everywhere today, I believe none is more precedent that of the United States, a society in its own right whose consumerism is as staggering as it is worrying. Why the United States? Because it is a symbol of the Western society, the consumerism capital. Further this is in conjunction with the generation of today, us the fore-runners of this blind quest for material dominance, within an ever expanding materialistic society. We buy more, receive more, and want more, yet we don’t seem to be any happier, a coloration to consumerism that finds it roots within the American society, the generation of today and its values.

Consumer culture can be defined as a free enterprise in which its main focal point is on selling the consumer goods while spending the consumer money. An individual’s way of purchasing merchandise that reflects their anatomy and appearance. Meanwhile media enables an easier portrayal of consumer culture by exemplifying an America based on consumerism since the dawn of the industrialization. Along comes conspicuous consumption, the act of purchasing the luxury lifestyle to portray a euphoria of one’s being. Many embellish this lifestyle to elicit a better view of class. In American society, consumer culture has three major effects; the overspending of the masses, America’s overexposure to advertising, and the systemization of class caused by

2 The ego shapes our identity by processing the outer world and lets us know what is a good fit for our

WHen we buy a new car, we claim that we own it -- which is rightfully so as we exchanged one thing (money) for another (the car). However, how does this contribute to our sense of self? Does owning a car make us kinder, more giving people? Or rather, does it make us ignorant, more greedy people? Certainly, buying something with one’s own money is one something should be proud of. In fact, that concept plays a role in demonstrating how one may “gain” something from a tangible object through reward. From the tangible rises the intangible. Buying a car or a house gives rises the intangible. Buying a car or a house gives us not only a benefit of living standards, but it allows us to own pride, security, and purpose, all of which are monumental in self-development. Therefore, one cannot disregard either intangible or tangible when defining the boundaries of ownership.

American society in twenty-first century is centered around the ideology of consumerism. “Supposedly people had a duty to buy more, even if the events they experienced caused them to focus on personal, family, and political concerns rather than economic ones” (Milner 603). With the age of consumption, there comes a need for social distinction. Social distinction is the desire to be strikingly different from the commonplace. This desire is prevalent throughout society, especially in the youth. Social distinction comes from the possession of the latest and most prominent commodity in fashion and technology. Products from companies such as Apple, Beats by Dre, Nike, and even Disneyland Parks are indications of one 's desire to be unique.

Imagine a world that based your success on the amount of expensive possessions you have. A world that doesn’t care about your personality, your compassion for others, or your health. In this world, the only way to be known amongst others no matter the race or gender is to acquire expensive material. These possessions would grant you immunity to poverty and would allow you to move up in a career or attain a personal goal without putting in any significant work. The truth is this fictional world is not as far from our world today as we would like to imagine. It resembles today’s social views more than ever and our world today has been like this for quite a while now, but it seems only to be getting worse as the earth gets older. Materials give a sense of identity and social ranking to many. It produces this invisible cloak to the recipient that allows them to put themselves mentally, at a higher value socially because of the false sense of worth said object provides. Some popular culture objects have a way of using media coverage to allow their object to reach a bigger target or mass audience and reinforce the sense of identity of being part of a higher culture. Apple produces the most effective sense of identity through products and media promotion by relating to the population and using standardization to produce a sense of identity, psychoanalytically exposing and affecting our conscious and personality with effective media reinforcement, and promoting commodity

In other words, who uses a brand is integral to the brand image and helps explain why consumers are attracted to certain brands and shy away from others (Sirgy 1982). The relationship between parvenus and poseurs reflects Veblen’s (1899) classic argument that members of a higher class consume conspicuous goods to dissociate themselves from the lower class (“invidious comparison”), while members of the lower class consume conspicuously to associate themselves with and be perceived as a member of the higher class (“pecuniary emulation”). Poseurs favor loud signals to mimic parvenus; they may stretch to buy a loud good, but in contrast to parvenus, they are prone to buy fake luxury goods. We suggest that there is a group of haves who are less concerned with dissociation and more concerned with associating with their own kind.

The launch of the Apple iPad in January 2010 was one of the most anticipated and publicised launched of a new technological device in recent history. Positioning itself as between a smart phone and a PC, but with the attributes of both, Apple have sought to develop a new market niche with the iPad for tablet PC devices, and early signs are that market expectations are being