History Term Paper

On average, the typical consumer can expect to see between 6,000 to 10,000

advertisements daily1. These ads contain flashy colors, eye-catching fonts, and celebrity

sponsorships designed to pull millions of consumers to spend their money to continue to feed the

economy. In 2022, we live in a society preoccupied with obtaining the newest, fastest, and

trendiest goods as quickly as possible. The practice of purchasing nonessential goods to improve

quality of life or happiness is known as consumerism. Although the idea of buying and selling

goods existed in global societies as early as 600 B.C., the present definition of consumerism had

its beginnings in Europe with the Renaissance. As trade increased between Europe and the

Middle East, merchants began to gain more disposable income, thus creating a heightened

demand for luxury goods. By the late 1800s, the ideology of buying nonessential goods had

spread to the rest of the world and quickly took over most economies. Now, in the 21st century,

consumerism has completely taken over the world and warped our perception of merchandise.

With the rise of the internet and social media, our global society has now entered a stage of

overconsumption, which has negative impacts on both environmental and ethical matters.

Regardless, consumerism has changed the overall consumption and production of goods forever.

The Age of Exploration encapsulates the era between the 1400s and the 1600s when

Europeans discovered lands such as Africa, the Americas, and new routes to Asia that were

previously unbeknownst to them. After the discovery of these territories, the Europeans quickly

began to set up colonies in the Americas that prioritized introducing new markets into their

economy, especially sugar.2 However, across the globe in Europe, a new movement was starting

- the Renaissance. As popular philosophers such as Aristotle and Plato grew in popularity, the

1. Carr, Sam. “How Many Ads Do We See a Day in 2022?” Lunio, May 18, 2022.
https://lunio.ai/blog/strategy/how-many-ads-do-we-see-a-day/
2. Stearns, Peter N. Consumerism in World History, (London: Routledge, 2001.) 15-16
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ethics of consumerism were questioned by the public. As merchants, wealthy from the booming

economy, began to buy more extravagant aesthetic goods to improve their quality of life, despite

these philosophers emphasizing the importance of philanthropy for those who have the means.

This display of vanity upset European people, causing acts of rebellion to break out. In one

instance in 1497, there was a ‘Bonfire of Vanities’ in which aesthetic items such as tapestries,

curtains, artwork, rugs, mirrors, makeup, games, instruments, and lavish clothing were burned in

a fire and danced around to show their displeasure in the progression of their society.3 These

uprisings, however, did little to impact the trend of increased consumerism as more people

sought to purchase comfort items such as clocks, watches, cosmetics, furniture, clothing,

wallpaper, ornaments, and more as the average European was beginning to prioritize fulfillment.

Along with that, the world had grown increasingly connected as global trade commenced,

leading to wealthier merchants. As trade with foreign countries introduced new emerging

economies and goods such as spices, soaps, candles, linens, foods, and drinks. This allowed for

attitudes towards consumerism to shift by the 18th century, with more and more people desiring

foreign goods. With this Across the Atlantic Sea, there was a new and highly profitable market

being tapped into by the Spanish, French, English, Portugal, and the Netherlands.

In the Americas, economies such as the tobacco, chocolate, cotton, and sugar industry

blossomed, creating a high demand for these addictive products. This drastic surge in

consumption meant that the production of goods had to increase as well, leading to the

construction of plantations. The use of African slavery was commonplace for these plantations,

especially after the creation of the Trans-Atlantic Slave trade in the 1500s. The cheap labor

3. Eschner, Kat. A Fanatical Monk Inspired 15th-Century Italians to Burn Their Clothes, Makeup and Art.
Smithsonian.com. Smithsonian Institution, (February 7, 2017) https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-
news/when-fanatical-monk-took-over-florence-and-burned-bunch-vanities-180962005/.
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3. Eschner, Kat. A Fanatical Monk Inspired 15th-Century Italians to Burn Their Clothes, Makeup and Art.
Smithsonian.com. Smithsonian Institution, (February 7, 2017) https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-
news/when-fanatical-monk-took-over-florence-and-burned-bunch-vanities-180962005/.
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allowed for products to be significantly less expensive, which prompted people to buy even

more. As capitalist societies only continued to dominate, the Industrial Revolution beginning in

the 1700s naturally expanded consumerism on a larger scale than ever before. Prior to this,

individually owned Mom & Pop shops handmade or sold goods on a small scale to local clients

However, for the first time, products were being mass-produced in considerable amounts as

factories began to utilize assembly line work.4 Small personal businesses slowly began to get

phased out of the market, drowned out by the more cost-effective and readily available products

that larger cooperations offered. By the late 1800s, Merchants slowly turned into the modern

salesman, employing a multitude of marketing tactics on consumers to increase their profits.

As the beginning of the 20th century rolled around, consumerism in the United States

quickly accelerated due to new technological innovations such as the radio, movies, television,

and more. With open access to media and new inventions, markets were broadened drastically.

Following the end of World War II in 1945, the economy was entering a new stage of success.

Finally, after a grueling depression during wartime, people were spending money again.5 This

time spanning from the 1950s to the 1960s saw a sizable jump in buyer's interest which

companies quickly honed in on. Within years, thousands of shopping centers, malls, department

stores, and supermarkets began to emerge all through the United States.6 These concentrated

forms of consumerism showed the turn of a new era in not only U.S. History, but World History.

Transportation also improved during this time with the introduction of highways. By the turn of

4. Higgs, Kerryn. “How the World Embraced Consumerism.” BBC Future. BBC, January 20, 2021.
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210120-how-the-world-became-consumerist.

5. Pinholster, Dusty, and Kevin Newton. “American Consumerism in the 1950s.” Study.com | Take Online Courses.
Earn College Credit. Research Schools, Degrees & Careers, July 12, 2022.
https://study.com/learn/lesson/american-consumerism-1950s.html
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the 70s, prominent multi-million-dollar cooperations such as Apple, McDonald's, and

Microsoft and industries such as the Hollywood and Las Vegas entertainment industry had been

founded, tapping into their increasingly suburban clientele. These industries only continued to

expand into the rest of the world as companies began to travel overseas.

Media being more readily available globally, movie stars, singers, and popular influential

icons dictated the trends in consumerism. The upper class donning lavish clothing acted as a

symbol of wealth and prosperity, both highly sought after by the emerging middle class. After

the upper class set the standards, the middle class would soon follow suit, hoping to emulate the

same status as those with greater riches. This cycle of following the latest trends created what is

known as the bandwagon effect. In fear of being left out of trends, consumers would be

persuaded to make more purchases. As middle-class consumers continued to create cheaper and

oftentimes unethically made versions of original designs. As the middle class began to consume

a style or gadgets at a higher rate, the upper class would once again set the trends and move on to

the next big thing. Thus, the cycle of consumerism feeds itself and continues.6

However, this wave of consumerism did not just end in the United States. In the 1980s, as

the United States began to slow at the beginning of Ronald Reagan’s presidency, Japan made

leaps and bounds in terms of its booming economy. Despite this early lead, it was short-lived as

by 1991, Japan has entered a time of trouble after its real estate industry crashed. Today, Japan is

still the third biggest economy in the world, just behind China and the United States.7

6. Hagan, Ekua. “The Bandwagon Effect.” Psychology Today. Sussex Publishers, August 11, 2017.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/stronger-the-broken-places/201708/the-bandwagon-effect.

7. Nielsen, Barry. “The Lost Decade: Lessons from Japan's Real Estate Crisis.” Investopedia. Investopedia, January
14, 2022. https://www.investopedia.com/articles/economics/08/japan-1990s-credit-crunch-liquidity-
trap.asp#:~:text=Japan's%20economy%20was%20the%20envy,into%20troubles%20in%20the%201990s.
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Although consumerism is an inevitable aspect of our majority capitalist society, it does

have many downsides. Impacts of overconsumption range from great environmental damage to

horribly unethical labor practices. Overconsumption occurs when goods are consumed in excess

in an unsustainable way. After the introduction of the internet in the late 1980s into the early

1990s, trend cycles were quicken more than ever before. To keep buyers’ interest, companies

would prioritize creating new and interesting products that catered to the wants and needs of

consumers. Unfortunately, to get the products out promptly and keep up with the bandwagon

effect, the quality of the good often suffers. These trendy products often do not last long, leading

to more wasteful spending and pollution. Oftentimes, these poor and synthetic materials in

textiles are unable to decompose, leading to build-up that cannot be removed unless done

manually. Along with that, most large cooperations will work overseas to access exploitative

worker laws.

In China, a country with looser labor rights, an overtime work policy encouraged a ‘9 a.m. to 9

p.m., 6 days a week’ or a 996 schedule. These long and grueling hours in unsafe and unsanitary

conditions offered little pay and no upward mobility. However, as of 2021, the 996 work policy

was officially declared as a violation of China’s Labor Laws.8 Despite this big leap, many

countries worldwide still use forms of modern slavery and exploits to keep buyers consuming.

As public attitudes continued to only grow increasingly self-indulgent, concern with public

8. Zhang, Zoey. “‘996’ Is Ruled Illegal: Understanding China's Changing Labor System.” China Briefing News,
September 9, 2021. https://www.china-briefing.com/news/996-is-ruled-illegal-understanding-chinas-
changing-labor-system/#:~:text=China's%20top%20court%20has%20ruled,practiced%20at%20Chinese
%20Internet%20companies.
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works lessened. Quickly, roads became run-down, water and air pollution worsened, and parks

because littered with trash. This emphasis on purchasing as many products as possible quickly

consumed the world, causing morals to be valued in place of vanity. With the immediacy of

social media and the internet, culture has shifted progressively to rely on instant gratification.

Consumers want what they want and they want it as soon as they can get it, regardless of the

impacts of their greed. On top of the environmental effects, overconsumption leads to a lack of

variety both in the economy and our society. As companies continue to focus on catering to as

many audiences as possible to make a greater profit, goods, especially those relating to the arts,

become watered down and ordinary.9

As history has proven, consumerism is never going to go away. However, there can be

more done to prevent the harmful effects of our instantly gratified age. For example, more ethical

forms of consumption include supporting small businesses, shopping for secondhand clothing,

buying items of more durable materials, and the list goes on. However, many of these options

come at a higher price, which leaves out a vital part of the global economy - the middle and

lower classes. Often, the cost of shopping sustainably is too high for consumers, leading them to

turn to cheaper, lesser-quality products. Although there is not a clear solution to the complex

subject of overconsumption, there is no doubt that consumerism has left a lasting impact on

world history forever.

9. Shaw Professor Marketing and Consumer Research, Deirdre, Andreas Chatzidakis Professor of Marketing, and
Michal Carrington Senior Lecturer in Marketing. “Modern Slavery: How Consumers Can Make A
Difference.” The Conversation, July 1, 2021. https://theconversation.com/modern-slavery-how-consumers-
can-make-a-difference-163603.
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9. Shaw Professor Marketing and Consumer Research, Deirdre, Andreas Chatzidakis Professor of Marketing, and
Michal Carrington Senior Lecturer in Marketing. “Modern Slavery: How Consumers Can Make A
Difference.” The Conversation, July 1, 2021. https://theconversation.com/modern-slavery-how-consumers-
can-make-a-difference-163603.
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