Consumers Are Passive Victims Manipulated Into Buying Commodities They Cannot Resist
Consumers are passive victims manipulated into buying commodities they cannot resist
“Prosperity knits a man to the world. He feels that he is ‘finding his place in it’, while really it is finding it’s place in him.” - Lewis.C.S (1946)
In this essay, the topic of consumer culture will be discussed through referring to various different discourses, which examine how present society has been formed into today’s consumer culture. Consumer’s are overexposed to seductive advertising and barraged by modern day media, which can be seen to have potentially persuasive capabilities, luring consumers into excessive purchasing. Exploring ideals of modernism, which gave consumer culture the grounds to grow, along with theories such as eighteenth century Romanticism and social emulation, will be considered as notions to the birth of consumer culture. Examining two case studies, the first, an editorial advertisement for Louis Vuitton, analysing the effects that the romanticised, glamorous high- fashion lifestyles of the celebrity culture can have on consumer’s personal identities. Secondly, a broadcasted commercial for Reebok shown at the 2011 Superbowl, is an example of today’s advertising techniques and their potential to act as catalysts for spurring on consumer’s spending habits. This essay will effectively demonstrate how consumers could find it difficult to exert any kind of individual power in today’s consumer culture or whether they instead follow exactly what the fashion industry tell them to do so.
Through industrialisation, with mass production, increased availability and reduced prices, consumer culture was born on a basis to flourish. Consumer culture and it’s behavioural choices are considered practices of social and cultural phenomena – as apposed to psychological or purely economical phenomena. Writers such as Celia Lury, discuss that consumerism is very closely concurrent with cultural values and our identities, as it is our economy and explains
“Prosperity knits a man to the world. He feels that he is ‘finding his place in it’, while really it is finding it’s place in him.” - Lewis.C.S (1946)
In this essay, the topic of consumer culture will be discussed through referring to various different discourses, which examine how present society has been formed into today’s consumer culture. Consumer’s are overexposed to seductive advertising and barraged by modern day media, which can be seen to have potentially persuasive capabilities, luring consumers into excessive purchasing. Exploring ideals of modernism, which gave consumer culture the grounds to grow, along with theories such as eighteenth century Romanticism and social emulation, will be considered as notions to the birth of consumer culture. Examining two case studies, the first, an editorial advertisement for Louis Vuitton, analysing the effects that the romanticised, glamorous high- fashion lifestyles of the celebrity culture can have on consumer’s personal identities. Secondly, a broadcasted commercial for Reebok shown at the 2011 Superbowl, is an example of today’s advertising techniques and their potential to act as catalysts for spurring on consumer’s spending habits. This essay will effectively demonstrate how consumers could find it difficult to exert any kind of individual power in today’s consumer culture or whether they instead follow exactly what the fashion industry tell them to do so.
Through industrialisation, with mass production, increased availability and reduced prices, consumer culture was born on a basis to flourish. Consumer culture and it’s behavioural choices are considered practices of social and cultural phenomena – as apposed to psychological or purely economical phenomena. Writers such as Celia Lury, discuss that consumerism is very closely concurrent with cultural values and our identities, as it is our economy and explains
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