The consumer culture is a family of theoretical perspectives based on the study of consumption choices and behaviours, not from the traditional economic or psychological point of view. It examines how emotions, attitudes affect the customer’s responsibility.
Definition: Consumer Culture is the Symbol of Affluence in a Society
Consumer culture is defined as a culture where social status, values and activities are centred on the consumption of goods and services. It is an indomitable passion for the purchase and possession of material, in the high-cost bracket. This is perceived as a symbol of affluence in society. The consumer culture has both positive and negative aspects.
Two Aspects of Consumer Culture
People become happy when their desires are fulfilled that can be taken as positively, but contrary perspective is that consumerism is greedy and it encourages consumption for its own sake. The primary focus of consumer culture is to focus on the spending on the customer’s money on material goods to attain lifestyle in the present capital based market.
The consumer is the Ultimate Determinant of Desires
As per the conventional economic theory, our society is consumer-driven where the consumer is the ultimate determinant of their needs and desires. A customer can get what he wants from the market which is designed to serve the needs of customers. In the present world, the technological advancement has changed the role of supplier and consumer. Now, consumer sovereignty asserted itself, and consumer and supplier both entered into a symbiotic relationship in which their mutual loyalty was manifest.
“New Self”, the Most Liberating Aspect
Therefore, now it is not the supplier who dictated what society will consume. The consumer decides what he wants and will buy. It drives the economy into a liberal, strong and stable system. Creating a “new self” is the most liberating aspects of consumer culture. Consumer culture is driven by many ways one of the social and political issues. It was born in the U.S. However, Americans were not always addicted to buying things. U.S. consumers racked up $11.3 trillion in aggregate debt, and people used to save money for things they required.
Conclusion
We can conclude this consumer culture concept that there comes the point at which having more does not give us more. The desire for acquisition starts to erode one’s sense of innate human value and transfers it to things.
