WE013 (SESSION 2020/2021)

PROS AND CONS OF CONSUMERISM

Group Members :
Arifatul Sofia Binti Amirrahimin
MS1912171068
Akmal Nazrin Bin Masharuddin
MS2012101175
Nur Farhana Shaheera Binti Shaharun
MS2012101131
Irdina Binti Yussam
MS2012101161
Muhammad Zikri Hakim Bin Mohd Zaid
MS1912171353

Nowadays, the number of consumers are drastically increased from time

to time and it reached almost 5.6 billion consumers around the world.
"Consumers' can be defined as someone who is able to buy goods and
services beyond the satisfaction of basics needs. In other words,
consumerism is the protection of the rights and interests of the general
pool buyers, or an obsession with buying good materials or items. In the
simplest words, consumerism is the idea that increasing consumptions
of goods and services in the market is always desirable goal and that
person's well-being and happiness depends fundamentally an obtaining
consumer goods and material possession. Obviously we can see that
consumerism had the good and bad effects to our world if we
continuously consuming all the necessary or unnecessary stuff greedily.
In this article review, we are going to compare and contrast these two
articles which were ' The negative effects and problems of consumerism"
and " The advantages and disadvantages of consumerism".
The article highlights the positive effects of consumerism for a country as
well as some negative effects if consumerism is getting out of
hand.According to the author of the article, consumerism’s positive effect
can be observed by the enjoyment of people that are able of buying
goods beyond their very basic needs is essentially positive but it’s
negative effects is much more easy to be seen as an example the
depletion of natural resources and pollution of the Earth.We are currently
overusing Earth’s natural resources with more than 70 percent. A
growing consumer is very positive in the due to more people are moved
out of poverty and can enjoy the benefits of the never ending goods
supplies. But the rise of the global consumer also brings huge
challenges. By 2030, experts predicted the increasing of consumers will
result in a massive increase in the demand for energy, food, electronics,
clothing, transportation, housing, furniture and many more.
To begin with, we are looking at the article entitled the good and bad
sides of consumerism. According to the author Jalelah Abu Baker
(2020), she said that consumerism is common in many economically
developed countries. The benefit of consumerism is to improve the
economy by people buying goods and services.Furthermore, it said that
rising consumerism may lead to market innovation and creativity
too.Indeed, some believe consumerism as a culture is menacing the
fabric of our global society. Many companies have started on ways to
decrease their carbon footprint and use of natural resources as
awareness on the impact that consumerism has on the environment.
Environmental activists have also been trying to forestall expansion
consumerism.Hence, consumerism has both advantages and
disadvantages towards us such as improving the economy, leading to
market creativity and innovation, threatening global society and
endangering the environment.
From the first article that was written by Jalelah Abu Bakar states that
the only real benefit of consumerism is to improve the economy. When a
greater proportion of citizens buy goods and services in excess of their
needs, they consume more, they spend more, and that can create a
cycle of demand leading to greater production and to greater
employment, which leads to even more consumption. Consumerism
creates a boom in the consumer goods and services industries, and for
the retailers that serve these industries.In second article stated that
having growth of consumerism can reduce the rate of unemployment in
our society hence contributes to rapid economic development.
However, the rise of consumerism has had a detrimental impact on the
planet as stated in the article written by Jalelah Abu Bakar and clearly
seen in the article by Esben Larsen and Karsten Bjerring Olsen, where
the negative effects of consumerism include the depletion of natural
resources and pollution of the Earth.The consumer class will grow from
3.5 billion in 2017 to 5.6 billion by 2030.Thus, based on the statistics
given, as a consumer, we need to pay much closer attention to the full
lifecycle of products and see old products not as waste but as a resource
that can be reused or recycled.
To conclude, worldwide consumer’s lifestyle has been evolving due to
the rising affluence and education levels, literally around the world, over
the past two or three centuries. All countries are becoming more
westernized, sophisticated and cosmopolitan. Consumers, though highly
price sensitive, are also brand-conscious and increasingly concerned
about quality. Compared to promotional campaigns and goods variety,
the influence of prices on consumer purchasing behavior have less
importance. We would like to advise the Malaysian and all people all
around the world that we should be a wise consumer no matter where
you are and we should always remember that consumerism has its pros
and cons. Large numbers of people have come to dene life somewhat
differently, and have fostered new kinds of hopes and frustrations
accordingly.
REFERENCES

(n.d.). Retrieved November 05, 2020, from

https://www.theworldcounts.com/challenges/planet-earth/state-of-the-
planet/number-of-consumers/story
Baker, J. (2016, July 10). The good and bad sides of consumerism.
Retrieved November 05, 2020, from
https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/the-
good-and-bad-sides-of-consumerism