CONSUMER

SOCIETY
Ashley Marielle S. Castro
 CONSUMER SOCIETY
 is a society in which people often to buy
new goods, especially goods that they
do not need, and in which a high value
is placed on owning many things.
Happiness is a state of well-being that can be
distinguished in two parts:
⬩ SHORT-TERM HAPPINESS
– A state that is connected to a special incident and fades quite
quickly.

⬩ LONG-TERM HAPPINESS
– A state that implies an overall satisfaction with one's life.
CREATING THE CULTURE OF CONSUMPTION
The early 20th century had created a new type of person
and a new culture: the consumer and the consumer
culture respectively. As a result of the efficiency of
production brought about by the technological
advancements in the industrial age, the supply of goods far
exceeds the existing demands of the early industrial
societies. Thus, a culture that promotes consumption was
eventually established. Briefly expressed, the creation of a
consumer society goes on like this:
 These 3 events or stages that created the
consumer society span for hundreds of year
 The birth of print  The coming of the  Advertising was
Industrial Resolution
media has already formally established
drove people to towns
aided inferior and and cities away from the to encourage
new products to agrarian areas causing a people to consume.
surplus of labor. The
the market but it capitalists took
has not yet fully advantage of this surplus
and provided workers
induced people to
with oppressive and
consume. impoverished conditions.
POSITIVE EFFECTS OF CONSUMPTION
 Basic Needs the more the fulfillment of the basic needs is
threatened, the happier consumption makes

 Economic Growth increase of GDP as companies produces more

 Creation of Jobs the economic growth leads to new job

NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF CONSUMPTION
o Habituation of Consumption Products will loose the extent of
satisfaction they gave one in the beginning

o Comparison As soon as a good is purchased, one start to compare it

with other people having a focus one to ones who have better
products

o Environmental Effects Production needs resources as well as the

disposal of not usable products
 TIPS HOW TO GET HAPPY WITH
CONSUMPTION
 Consuming events instead of products
 Buying more small things than one big → happiness effect of the
purchasing progress
 Informing before buying a product
 Selling or giving back products back that doesn't fit your
requirements
 Instead of consuming for yourself, give poor people the chance to
consume with donating a little amount of money
 THROW-AWAY SOCIETY
 Excessive production and consumption transformed our societies into
throw-away cities. Most of the things that we have today have the
characteristic of disposability. Because there is an excess of almost
everything, we can quickly dispose of items and find a replacement-which,
in turn, will be easily disposed of as well. Almost all of the products in the
market today are throw-away products. The longevity of a product does
not necessarily refer to the functionality of the product. We prefer to buy
a new appliance and throw it away rather than bring it to a repair shop
and wait for a period before claiming it.
 • The more money one has the more money
one will spend on consumption!

• Satisfaction of consumption depends

highly on what your environment is
consuming!

• Purchasing products only gives short-term

happiness until people got used to them!
THAT'S JUST WHAT INDUSTRY WANTS!