Consumerism in Conclusion

Source: Odyssey.com

The economic principle I researched was “people respond to incentives in predictable ways,” and “institutions are the 'rules of the game' that influence choices.¨ My overall research question was: How has a spike in consumerism in our culture altered the way stores produce, advertise, and sell? Likewise, how has consumerist culture changed the incentives behind buyer's purchases? Consumerism is both the result of business advertising and a consequence of changing American culture. Therefore, companies have used subliminal messaging, targeting advertising based on demographics, and social media to incentivize us to buy more. However, we can escape consumerism through giving more, looking to yourself rather than people online, and simply forcing yourself to buy only what you need.

Firstly, a spike in consumerism has lead to stores producing, advertising, and selling differently. In the past, according to “How Powerful is Advertising?” with cultural changes, come advertising changes. For example, in the 70s-90s, the civil rights movements in America lead to marketing targeting specific groups of people, whether it be specifically females, males, racial groups, and so on, in order to appeal to them and sell more. Recently, a lot of marketing is geared towards social media and appealing to the individual person, with information companies can get on your searches, etc. Not to mention, according to “How Advertising Has Changed Over Time” with the rise in consumerism, marketing has also altered the way stores advertise, produce, and more, in the way that they do MORE, as in, there is so much competition in terms of marketing that each store has to advertise everywhere they can in order to keep up. Not to mention, the content of these ads focus a lot these days on having the “perfect life.” With the rise in technology and social media, trying to find happiness has been the basis on a lot of ads and products, because that is the incentive behind a lot of purchases, and the reason consumerism became so prominent in America to begin with.

To branch off of this, consumerism has changed the incentives behind purchases significantly. Claims “The Crisis of American Consumerism”, it all started with the rise in the “American Dream” in the 50s. After World War 2, the average person´s income nearly tripled, and they were able to buy more, and move to suburbs, etc, which lead to the American Dream, and a spike in consumerism. Since then, Capitalism swept America. Before this, material goods were not nearly as precious to the average person. Now, incentives are usually based on keeping up appearances and trying to find happiness. Having more new, expensive things in order to keep up with trends and society is the reason most people buy anything these days. Although, says “9 Intentional Ways to Challenge Consumerism in Your Life,” you can break from this sometimes overwhelming mindset by attempting to live your own life rather than trying to copy others you see in the media/around you. Also, you can escape this consumerist mindset by giving more rather than buying, which you will find makes you feel much better than purchasing.

In all, consumerism has lead to advertising and incentives changing and molding each other. When culture changes, advertising changes, and sometimes advertising changing molds culture, as we can see from these points. In the end, consumerism is a mindset most people have in the 21st century, but it can be changed if you truly break yourself from the mold and live your own life, not someone else´s.