Consumer Society

Globalisation ensure the development of poorer countries as they can catch up with the newest
innovations more easily. I believe it can solve the problems of all the inequalities and injustices
happening all over the world. Nations are less isolated from each-other, although a lot of people are
worried about the disappearing traditions and identity and not without reasons.

Nowadays money has much more bigger role in our life than it should have. The amount of your
property reflects to your social status, so people look at money as a connection between them and
popularity. Some money is also inevitable to live a peaceful life, so as you do not have to worry
about financial problems, paying the bills and what will you eat at the end of the month.

In a consumer society, people spend a lot of their time shopping. Actually, it is hobby to do some
shopping and not necessarily for goods that you actually need. A lot of people tend to buy brand
names so that they can show off with what they possess. Above these things multinational
companies have the biggest role at the marketplace, and people more likely to do the shopping
rather there.

In Hungary shops and companies offer a lot of easy-payment schemes in order to encourage people
to buy their products. There are enormous schemes people can choose from. Usually, you have to
pay some deposit so as to purchase goods. Some companies also offer very advantageous schemes
with no down payment and favourable amounts for the monthly instalment. The products you can
buy with these easy-payment schemes are mainly expensive ones that you would not be able afford
to pay in one amount. So these are mostly electrical appliances such as televisions, microwaves,
digital cameras and so on.
I don’t think people should run into debt just because they want to have luxury items. If you cannot
save enough to buy what you need, you should be patient till you can put aside the amount that you
need. I would turn to my family members for help if I were in a financial trouble. This way I would
not have to pay more money for the product I buy.
I believe that low interest rates, favourable terms of payment and hire purchase make people buy a
lot of things that they could not afford. Actually, it brings about excessive consumerism and
unfortunately, most people just fall for the advertisements and they buy more than the family budget
would allow.

Although it is hard to resist the temptation, I try to pay attention to what I spend my money on, but
of course sometimes I buy unnecessary products just because I feel I should not left them in the
shops.

Of course, a lot of money is spent on paying the bills that is gas, water, electricity, and phone. We
spend some money on transport and that is the insurance and the petrol for the car. Every summer,
we go on holiday, but we usually look for last-minute offers that are much cheaper.

I completely agree with the statement that we live in a throwaway society. People throw away
clothes that are in good condition but out of fashion. The situation is the same with computers and
mobile phones. The technological progress is so fast that a few months after you buy a new
computer, it becomes obsolete and is worth a fragment of its original value. Some people say that it
is much cheaper to replace computers or other electrical appliances than having them repaired.

I think companies use gimmicks in order to convince people to buy their products. If you just look
around everywhere you go, you find advertisements, commercials. They have become a part of our
life. A company uses every trick it can to make people buy its product. Companies make
commercials that make people believe that theirs is the best.
I don’t think we should believe everything that we see or hear right away, but we should get more
information about anything that is advertised. Moreover, as commercials appear on TV, they
reinforce the belief in the costumer that the products are of good quality and are necessary to
possess. Of course, there are advertisements that catch my attention, and I buy them to try them out.