Name: Stephanie P.

Abdurajak

Strand and Section: HE-CG-11-C

Date of submission: October 15, 2022

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Digital Consumerism in the New Normal

Digital consumerism is availing services and products through shopping websites. We

have seen how digital consumerism illuminates the digital age as well as the behavior of
consumers. According to statista.com, 84.21 million Filipinos are indulged in digital
consumerism, due to the fact that it is efficient for every Filipino in a midst of a limited
mobility pandemic. According to Paulo Campos, the Chief Executive Officer and Co-
founder of Zalora Philippines “We have witnessed how the behavior of consumers have
changed amidst pandemic, therefore demands on trending and luxury accelerated as
well as the essentials and home appliances.” Clearly, digital consumerism aids people to
purchase products through media and websites. But, despite the advantageous effects
of digital consumerism, its negative impacts are unquestionable.

As the COVID-19 epidemic welcomed us to a new way of perceiving our lives,

consumers abruptly adapted to digital consumption. The digital consumerism became
the new normal practice of consumption due to the highly contagious Coronavirus and
all ages of Filipinos are indulged and saturated by the technologies that enable the
citizens to rely upon it. Furthermore, it is beneficial because it offers great deals, sales,
discounts, and free delivery nationwide. It is also worth noting that shopping websites
features 24/7 accessibility and enable consumers to send queries to shop agents.
Moreover, media consumption saves an ample amount of time than shopping in local
stores due to rapid checkout transactions. Consumers from provinces can purchase
imported items through online stores and clear products information is provided in the
description box of the item. As an online shopper, I can also check the views, ratings,
and feedback of other buyers that prevented me from ordering from fraud shops and
the most crucial part of online stores and websites are big sales, payday sales, monthly
sales, and seasonal sales. Nowadays, we can purchase products in less than five
minutes and have them delivered to our home, thus consuming essentials became
convenient for us.

Nevertheless, looking at the other side of the argument, digital consumption resulted in
irresponsibility and stirred the moral decisions of youth and consumers which lead them
to become consumer-driven. Youngsters are the most affected and addicted to online
shopping, marketers targeted young people due to the fact that their lifestyle and latest
fashions are unique and constantly changing which drives them to become impelled
consumers. Digital Consumerism affected the economy due to higher demands,
purchasing decisions, and privacy leakage which resulted in financial issues and a
disturbing upshot. Notably, as digital consumers increased we can concur that Digital
Consumerism is not efficient for sustainable development because it increases the
demands of mining for fossil fuels to generate electricity for production and
consumption processes and most of the products are not eco-friendly that resulted in
greenhouse gas emissions and environmental pollution.

Nonetheless, digital consumerism will be outstanding if youths are knowledgeable

enough to segregate their wants and needs which would help them to build better
consumption decisions. It is also important to learn about privacy security and practice
sustainability like avoiding greenwashing, reducing consumption, avoiding fast fashion,
shopping local and buying natural materials, avoiding single-use items, consuming the
essentials, thinking quality not quantity, and determining how your desired products
were made, processed, packed, and delivered.

To sum up, digital consumerism enables us to treat ourselves while staying at home. It
allows us to consume various online products that would satisfy our cravings and needs
but it is apparent how it confounded Filipino consumers to become inveterate buyers
which affected the economy, environment, and intellectual desires of Filipinos towards
products and trends. Linking both sides of the argument, digital consumerism is
necessary for us to cope with the new normal but we must learn how to be responsible
and sustainable consumers. If you are one of the people who want to move towards
low-polluting and less risks consumption, it is time to think about your purchases and
change your consumption habits.