The Influence Of Consumerism In The United States

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 destroys most human elements in its path as it forces people to become dependent on the transitory joy of technological innovations. In Fahrenheit 451, “15 Million Merits,” and “Dover Beach,” the pursuit of materialistic ideals requires the exchange of humanity for the brief entertainment that technology provides. However, the trade also requires the consumer to become a slave to the will of media. The advertising industry simultaneously creates and feeds upon the desperation of consumers as it brainwashes people to fixate on the acquisition of goods. Objects become a measurement of success or a distraction for the absence of it. As a result, people tend to seek comfort in materials over human relationships in order to fill the

Consumerism - A preoccupation with and an inclination toward the buying of consumer goods. Consumerism has affected adolescents’ mental health through branding and deindividualization. Certain companies have made a point of target young adolescents so that they will buy from those companies in the future. Also, consumerism has affected teens stress and anxiety levels as well as having caused adolescents more depression. This is due to peer pressure and the relationship between materialistic possessions owned and levels of happiness.

Consumerism in America has been at an all time high for years now. Consumerism refers to the consumption of goods and services at an ever-increasing rate. It is one of the many things that America is know for. Our economy is judged by how much people spend, and if it is high then our economy must be well off (Shukla 1). This ideology is purely materialistic and pushes people towards higher consumption than is needed. It transforms others into overly materialistic people who cannot distinguish the difference between wants and needs, and negatively affects those around them including the environment because of the glorification of material wealth.

Over the years, the economy in the United States has gone up and down. There were times where things were doomed and people lost their jobs. However ,this society has also prospered and created new forms of advancement. The world we live has turned its focus to the gaining production has to offer and its profits. This country has turned into a consumer-based economy. The real issues lie just within that. As the United States of America continues to become superior, one must understand the errors made within the economy. Having a consumer-based economy has caused tremendous failure, whether one knows it or not. It does not seem adequate to allow such system as the best for everyone, nor should the government feel as though they have the right

The very presence of the “VIP Experience” in American businesses is an indication of the inequality between the rich and the poor: middle class Americans are willing to spend hundreds of dollars to feel like an upper class person, a value severely ingrained into American culture. Consumerism is a driving force, a force that teaches Americans that the key to happiness is through material items; particularly the middle class, who are constantly bombarded with advertisements that depict consumerism as highly desirable. According to Zach Heller of Business 2 Community, “People like things that are exclusive...they want things that signal to the world that they are one of a select few.” Amusement parks, baseball stadiums, museums, concerts, cruise

“We no longer live life. We consume it.” (Vicki Robin) All of us live in a consumer based era, where it’s out with the old and in with the new. “Consumerism is an economic theory which states that a progressively greater level of consumption is beneficial to the consumers.” ( Since the 1800s and the Industrial Revolution the world has been consuming at higher rates than ever. The Revolution allowed products to be available in enormous quantities in faster production rates. At a glance, consumerism may seem like a way of life, but many of us are unaware of the underlying consequences that it poses in our culture. Pollution, food shortages, and

In the world today, there is always a demand and a price for something someone wants or favor that needs done. This is what fuels consumerism. Whether it’s big corporations and businesses or someone just looking for work there is always someone that can provide that demand or need a person might have for the right price. Although some Americans already faced economic stress, the recession changed consumerism and advertising, because now many American families no longer believe they will prosper forever. The recession has caused most consumers to be more conservative and shop less, buy used items, or use technology to share within the community. The economy in the United States is based on consumers spending, so when people started buying used

Consumerism is both a social and an economic system that is based solely on the creation and dissemination of the purchasing of goods at an ever increasing rate. After the founding of the United States, and particularly after the Civil War, America was growing by leaps and bounds. Railroads opened the West, factories increased in urban areas producing steel, building was rampant, and all of these activities took a larger labor force. Because these vast numbers of workers were unable to produce their own essential goods as they did under agricultural societies, factories were set up to produce those goods as well. Because of this method of production, the previous norm of scarce resources, when combined with modern technology and production methods, changed to a situation in which products were available in large quantities at relatively low prices, and available to virtually everyone. In fact, this trend moved so fast that the term "conspicuous consumption" began to define American society in the 19th century, becoming even more rabid in the 20th (O'Cass and McEwen, 2006; Faragher, et.al., 2009, Chapter 19).

When I think about American consumerism the words money and capitalism come to mind. The big TV news channels come to mind for example CNN or FOX News. Social media also comes to mind like Twitter or Facebook because of all the ads I see on there from franchises or big companies. Donald Trump as a big corporate owner comes to mind and not Trump as a politician. Anything dealing with money comes to mind. Everything we see, hear, and eat deals with American Consumerism.

Advertising and the availability of financing brought about a consumer revolution. The new consumer products appealed to people’s social ambitions. Very few of the products were necessities, but eventually, participating in the consumerism culture became a standard for judging one’s value; rather than religion, character or social standing as it had been before the 1920s.

Brave New World’s extreme control mechanisms caution readers of how detrimental it can be. The state conditions its citizens to consume to provide economic stability. From the day citizens are born or should I say produced they are conditioned to extensively maximise consumerism. In Brave New World, procedures are performed to produce the ‘perfect’ citizens, each acclimatized exactly how the state wants them. The World State wants an army of consumers as adults, therefore as children, the importance of the individual is diminished to further the interests of the economy. An example of this is the Bokanovsky’s Process. This allows the World State to produce a large number of “identical machines” quickly. The main drive behind this is the fact that a large number of citizens means more are available to work in a factory as this process means that the “whole of a small factory staffed with the products of a single bokanovskified egg.” This process, therefore, becomes "one of the major instruments of social stability." This illustrates how the only worry of the World State is how something maximises consumption. As June Deery stated “the idea of deliberately disabling a future human being… is surely repugnant.” At the eyes of the World State consumerism is their only concern. Everything and anything that would enable them to maximise consumption is implemented without any consideration to the effects it may have on citizens. Post-production, conditioning also establishes the

Consumerism plays a significant role in modern day American society. We have an almost inherent need to establish happiness based upon our purchases and assets. The American middle class is a segment of consumer that many companies seek to court. The relatively moderate to high level of disposable income and purchasing ability in this particular demographic is hard fought for by companies. This leads the notion that companies are vying for their products and goods to be purchased and establish brand loyalties in highly competitive market industries. Markets ranging from general retail stores, car manufacturers, airlines, clothing, energy services, and even healthcare markets must compete for consumer business.

According to Philip Kotler and G. Amstrong (as cited in Haider, 2015) stated that consumerism is an organized movement of citizens and government to impose the rights and powers of buyers in relation to sellers. Another definition offer by Peter Drucker (as cited in Buskirk & Rothe, n.d.) stated that consumerism means that the consumer looks upon the manufacturer as somebody who is interested but who really does not know what the consumers’ realities are. For the more simple definition of consumerism is consumerism will happen when consumers’ happiness and satisfaction comes from buying products and services (Kan, 2015). The economy growth of a country will be affected by consumerism. This is due to the most consumer will purchase the product

Americans in the 19th century had their own view on consumerism. The average American believed in the idea of having less is more. They believed that purchasing the basic living items and essentials to live was all you needed. This view was in place because blue collar workers had smaller wage jobs and they only had enough to purchase what they needed. Once the 20th century rolled around, the blueprint of consumerism changed. In the roaring 20s, America developed movie and film. People started to purchase items like makeup and home items to look like the movie stars. People went from purchasing only the necessities like food and clothing, to purchasing extravagant items like makeup, movie tickets, high end fashion items, and extravagant home décor. People started to buy more things because the idea of less is more was dead and the idea of more is better was in place. In the beginning of the 20th century, Americans believed that what you buy determines where you fall on the socioeconomic class. When actually it did the opposite. The articles we read actually show how the 20th century consumerism blended the blue-collar family and the middle class together. The articles More is Better by Shelby Nickels, Architecture of the Space Age by Matt Novak, and Authenticity in America by Joshua Freedman all address the changes and development of mass consumption in the United States by showing how economic states blended with consumerism,