Essay on Consumerist Culture and its Effects for Class 10, 12 and Mains Exam

Essay on Consumerist Culture and its Effects for Class 10, 12, Mains Exam (UPSC, PSC, SSC)

A culture that is shaped by consumerism, consumption habits of goods and services is termed as consumerist culture. Globalization has strengthened communication networks and increased the flow of goods of services among nations. Consumption alternatives were created due to globalization. It met the demands of the consumers at reasonable prices making the world a global village. According to Zygmunt Bauman, a consumerist culture values impermanence and mobility in lieu of durability and stability.Consumerist culture is a hasty culture that expects expediency and does not support delays. It supports individualism and transient communities over long-lasting connection with others. Due to the emergence of new fashion, consumers are always on the lookout to purchase new products and services.

Emergence of consumerist culture:

Capitalism molded the ordinary person into a consumer over the years of 20th century. The consumer thus developed an unsatisfactory desire for more goods and services. Initially, people have consumed the basic necessities of life- food, clothing and shelter and there was less economic motive for flowing with the ongoing trends and fashion. Colonialism also placed emphasis on the supply that affect the consumerist culture. The industrial revolution increased the consumer goods and focused on industrial infrastructure. The emergence of the departmental store motivated the customers to shop more according to their choice. Shopping has now become a leisure activity for the consumers.The lifestyles, taste and preferences of the wealthy customers influence consumerist culture and the general customers emulate them.

Effects of consumerism:

Consumerism has both positive and negative impacts on the economy. Some of the merits and demerits of consumerism are listed below:

Merits of consumerist culture:

  1. It increases the economic growth and creates a never-ending cycle of production and consumption. It also creates employment and the standard of living continues to increase.
  2. Companies continue to produce products and bring about innovation in them in order to meet the increasing demands of the consumers. Consumers look for good and affordable products which pressurizes the companies to focus on the production process.
  3. Consumerism enables a company to reduce the cost of production which in turn reduces the cost of products. As a result, more consumers can purchase products at affordable prices.
  4. Consumerism increases the competitiveness among the companies to produce innovative and affordable products.
  5. Consumerism encourages self-employment, freelancers to produce a wide range of products and services. In U.s there are 8 million minority owned small businesses and 99.95% businesses in U.S are small businesses.
  6. Consumerism enables a consumer to choose from a wide variety of products at their preferable prices.

Demerits of consumerism:

  1. Increased consumerism depletes the natural resources. Raw materials experience scarcity due to the increased production. Shortcuts are employed by the company such as harmful chemicals, food colorsin order to reduce the price of the food and beverages.
  2. Consumerism changes the righteousness structure of the society. People purchase more than they require, mostly branded items, in order to maintain their social status. In the transaction process no ethics are involved.
  3. Purchasing using credit cards have become very frequent nowadays. Consumerism encourages debts in this way. Consumers take loans to meet their diverse needs.
  4. Increase debt of the consumer causes health problems such as anxiety, stress, depression and insomnia. The only motto of the consumers is to earn more, borrow and spend more in order to satiate their purchasing needs.
  5. The poor people suffer a lot due to consumerism as they are always left behind and their demands are never met.

Conclusion:

The global society is affected by consumerism in different ways. Besides boosting the economic growth, consumerism affects the psychology of an individual who develops an unsatiable selfish self. The spiritual connection with the nature is eroded due to consumerism. Ergo, people need to be educated more regarding their consumption habits so as to avoid unnecessary consumption.

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