The Influence Of Consumerism On Our Lifestyles

What is the consumer culture?

We live in a world ridden with the idea that the acquisition of multiple physical possessions is guaranteed to bring us happiness and fulfillment of our well-being. These are often products and possessions beyond our basic necessities of life. Every purchase we make is a gateway to several others. Consequently, we develop an unhealthy attachment to materialism. Consumerism is the result of chasing fleeting satisfaction and finding fulfillment in the value of physical things.

It is almost inescapable unless a person stays intentional and minimalistic with their choice of consumption. The idea that the more stuff you have the better your quality of life has been welcomed by everyone, consciously or not. We have been led to believe that buying literally anything we want equals having a a good life. However, all I see is the sharp tongue of capitalism convincing us to keep consuming as corporations keep rolling out new products and updates.

The influence of materialistic consumer culture

The influence of consumerism is quite deep and we see it in every system. There are countless advertisements and marketing campaigns on television and social media bombarding us with choices of the next thing we should be spending money on. The media is designed to strategically exploit our mentality for acquiring superficial items and services to make our lives better and more valuable. Corporations can count on the gullibility of the masses to sell out every product; all they have to do is market to the right audience and count on our natural inclinations for proclivities to do the rest.

Consumerism is evident in our behaviors, single choices, and patterns in relation to consumption. For instance, you already have five fully functional coffee mugs, but the Barbie movie is out, and with its rollout came a bunch of beautiful pink coffee mugs and, you find yourself about to order one. Why not? It’s Barbie season.

A bunch of our lifestyle choices are heavily dependent on unhealthy consumption. For instance, to celebrate a marriage Union, couples are seen splurging on expensive weddings and takeaway gifts for their guest. Weddings are not even that serious, some people do it up to five times in their lifetime, but we have managed to convince ourselves that the only way to do a wedding is to go all out. Some folks end up with heavy debts at the end of these events. Definitely not a great financial strategy for a budding family unit.

The Demand and Supply Dynamic

Consumerism is an economic response to the dynamics of demand and supply. When an industry increases the supply of their goods or services, especially with multiple choices or options, automatically that is an invitation to the consumers to explore their more comprehensive range of products. As a result of this, the rate of consumption goes up to match the available goods in the market.

A perfect example of this is the popular milk brand in Nigeria - Peak Milk. This company unknowingly to most Nigerians is also behind the other milk brands we consume, if not all of them. They implored a psychological marketing tactic to make us think we have several other options from different brands but it is the same ownership behind them all.

Economically, consumerism is closely linked to supply and demand dynamics. When the supply of goods and services increases, it provides consumers with more options and choices. This can lead to increased consumption as people have access to a wider range of products and may be tempted to buy more. In this sense, consumerism can be seen as a response to the availability of goods and services in the market.

Impact of a Healthy Consumer Culture

A healthy consumer lifestyle is what we should all aspire to; it is lofty given we are in a chokehold of capitalism but we should make an effort to improve our lives. The major thing is being intentional with our choices. We are allowed to splurge and soil ourselves but we should remember that fulfillment does not lie in material things. We should strive to find success and value in our personal growth, in our relationships, and our connection to Earth.

Thank you for reading. I appreciate your time.

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