Online Shopping & Newsletters

We live in a technology oriented world so its only right that one of the ways one can shop is through the use of the internet.

Online shopping is such a convenient and easy way of shopping.

This enticing and innovative invention has made the process of obtaining materialistic items so simple that we now get to choose whether we want to physically go into a store to make a purchase or not.

These purchases can now be made with just the push of a button. However, for people who have bad shopping habits, this may not be such a good thing as they may run into serious credit card debts. So how do we control this when there are so many different types of sales and discount codes available through online shopping? This marketing strategy entices the buyer causing them to make more purchases with the thought of 'saving' money.

The reality is that they are trying to trap us in this cyber world so that they never get put out of business; so that they could keep their sales database up; so that they can make money off of us while we sink ourselves deep into debt.

Have you ever heard the saying "the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer"? This is because the rich utilize their resources smartly while the odd majority of persons focus on being in style to impress others and spend money on more materialistic items rather than investments.

But I can't say I blame anyone. There are so many temptations and for someone who loves to shop and fighting them off is not such an easy thing. I can personally testify to being tempted to make a purchase when I get an e-mail about a discount code or a special promotion from my favorite stores. These newsletters come to me everyday and I ignore them but if you are really a chronic shopaholic u may want to consider unsubscribing to these tempting newsletters and consider adopting budgeting strategies.

Do not succumb to the temptation of consistent shopping, it;s like being sucked into a black-hole.

...From A Global Perspective

From the seventeenth to the nineteenth century, in the United States, England and around Europe, consumption was mainly based on what was needed. Only the wealthy and elite would spend heavily and extravagantly. Religious and other belief systems promoted limited consumption which was also supported by the elite to maintain disparities and control over the society at the time.

Today, global inequality in consumption, while reducing, is still high. With new advancing technology , there are resources available that were not always there which is why we now consume resources and products beyond basic needs.

For this to occur buying habits had to be transformed and luxuries had to be made into necessities. Shah (2003) focuses on Richard Robbins, Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism, (Allyn and Bacon, 1999), which describes numerous ways this was accomplished in the US to allow for the rise of consumerism:

Transformation in the meaning of goods and how they were presented

- The evolution of the department store which presented goods in a manner that inspired persons to purchase items

- Advertising

- The idea of fashion which encouraged persons to buy to be in style. Consumption today helps define who we are. Brands encourage purchases based on fashion and peer or social pressures.

- The concept of service “the customer is always right”

A transformation of the major institutions of American society, each redefining its function to include the promotion of consumption.

- Education expanded from production/manufacturing knowledge to include other areas such as accounting, marketing or sales and so on. Business schools began opening

- There was also the increasing role of federal government in the US in the promotion of consumption as with the establishment of the U.S Commerce Department in 1921 under Herbert Hoover. The Commerce Department endorsed retail and cooperative advertising and advised merchants on service devices, fashion, style, and display methods of all kinds. They advised retail establishments on the best ways to deliver goods to consumers, redevelop streets, build parking lots and underground transportation systems to attract consumers, use colored lights, and display merchandise in “tempting ways”.

Workers given buying power through higher wages and expanded consumer credit.

A culture of unnessarities has indeed emerged. Today the American Dream is not localized to the US but has spread throughout most of the west and beyond, where happiness and security equals the ability to have and consume more.




A. Shah; “Creating the Consumer”; http:www.globalissues.org/article/236/creating-the-consumer; (2003)
T. Atlee; “The Conversion of the American Dream”; Context Institute Summer (1990)

Is Consumerism the same all over the world? - A look at the Caribbean

“The folly of Consumerism sends us on a wild goose chase for happiness through materialism.”

 Bryant H. Mc Gill

The Merrian Webster Dictionary states  consumerism “ the belief that it is good for people to spend a lot of money on goods and services: the actions of people who spend a lot of money on goods and services.”

Our society today however unlike yester years when life was much simpler, is now subjected to Advertising companies and big Corporations tell  us that if  we don’t have certain material things we are not good enough and inevitably the masses  fall to the bottom of the pyramid.

These growing forces make it very difficult for the “average joe” to keep up or feel like they fit in. In my country of Trinidad and Tobago in particular we find that during the carnival season, persons will take out elaborate loans to play in costumes that exceeds the average  income, all to feel like they fit in or to impress their friends and family. Yes even in the Caribbean, mass consumerism is imported through our televisions,   radio stations and social media sites.  We are taught that America is greater and better and buy into the whole concept of a land flowing with milk and honey, until reality hits when we do get there.

Consumerism tells us that we need better cars, better homes, better clothes and even a better body to fit in. We buy into the illusion that having more makes us superior and better than another person and we work tediously to achieve this feat. 

Has Consumerism aided in the demise of our society? Have we become more egocentric and selfish because of it? These are the questions we need to ask. There are countries all over the world where persons live in dire poverty and basic needs like food and shelter don’t  come by easily; Yet we shuffle about in our normal lives worrying over needing more money to buy things to impress people who don’t even care about us.