This behaviour is better known by Social Scientists as Conspicuous Consumption. In his book The Theory of the Leisure Class, 1899, Thorstein Veblen studied the consumer habits of the rich towards the end of the nineteenth century. Veblen stated that, “luxury items that were bought were put on display in their homes, so guests would see the trappings of success on display”. (Hetherington 2009, p. 32) Even though this was observed over a hundred years ago, it can still be seen today with people showing off their cars, holidays and luxury household items such as televisions and computer games consoles.
Upbringing and education can also influence our decisions, as can income and the way goods are advertised. We as a Consumer Society are very seduced by the power of advertisement. If goods or leisure services are advertised in the right way out attention is caught and the advertising agencies know this. The use of someone famous promoting the latest perfume or sporting equipment seems to work, and we as consumers tend to rush out to buy the latest fashionable items on offer. We are led to believe that we create the lifestyle that matches our identity.
Consumer Society does offer people choice, however not everybody has the same choice. Not everybody is able to consume in the same way, some of us have low paid jobs or simply no interest in being caught up in the game. The Consumer Society of today is very much a Divided Society. This is properly due to restrictions between the elderly and the young, the employed and unemployed.
The unemployed are not able to consume in the same way as those with high paid jobs, the elderly and those without cars will not be able to visit the large Retail Parks. Much of this comes down to Zygmunt Bauman’s 1988 theory of the Seduced and the Repressed. Bauman divides Consumer Society into two categories, the Seduced who are able to consume effectively as they have the means and the social circumstances are in their favour and the Repressed who unfortunately are not in the position to consume as the Seduced do, due it be to lack of money, physical or mobility difficulties. Due to this, a group of friends might exclude a young man without a job from going out night clubbing with them.
The choices we have about where we shop are sometimes influenced by some of the big Supermarkets. The big Supermarkets and Retail Parks always seem to be full. Whether people like or dislike doing their weekly routine shop, most people will choose to shop there as they offer a wide range of goods at low prices, and they are perceived by most to be a safe and convenient way of shopping compared to the often overpriced High Street.
Supermarkets have grown in power and size in the past forty years and they influence our choices in relation to what and where we buy. Some would say that Tesco hold the Monopoly in the UK; they now have over 2000 stores nationwide and are increasing their market share. Around a third of the UK’s grocery shopping is done at Tesco’s. Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrison’s closely follow behind. Most our shopping is usually done in one of these big four, which means, shoppers do not really have that much choice over where to shop, as all four sell the same products at more or less the same price, so it is more of a personal choice over which one of the big four we choose rather than the choices they offer us.
There are many arguments for and against Supermarkets, some people will choose not to shop there, for reasons such as they disagree with what they represent. These tend to be green-minded people who care more about the environment, so they choose to shop at their local organic street markets and support their local farmers. These type of people portray a different message about who they are compared with someone buying the same less expensive goods from one of the big Supermarkets. Many shun Supermarkets as some feel that they offer cheep prices at the expense of vulnerable workers at home and abroad. Whilst others argue that it is better that these people have a job rather than no job at all. Either way the debate between the two is still on going.
Helen Rimmer from the ‘Friends of the Earth’, states that the growth of the big four Supermarkets has made it extremely difficult for the smaller shops on the High Street to survive, and “approximately fifty small shops close every week”. She also states “around the country there’s growing concern about the dominance of Supermarkets on our High Streets and our town centres”. (Evidence in the Social Sciences (2009) CD 1).
In contrast, Richard Dodd from the ‘British Retail Consortium’ disagrees and argues in favour of the Supermarkets, stating that it is the prices that attract customers, “Ninety per cent of people actually use one of the big four Supermarkets at least once a month and welcome what Supermarkets do and use them regularly”. (Evidence in the Social Sciences (2009) CD 1).
Consumer Society seems to favour those with money and those who wish to be part of the in crowd. Retail Parks and Shopping Centres are becoming more and more popular as people prefer to do their shopping in one place and because they offer more choice at better prices and because they feel safer than on the High Street, this however is still an open ended discussion.
Word count – 1250 words.
References – Hetherington, K. (2009) ‘Consumer Society? Shopping, consumption and social science’ in Taylor, S., Hinchliffe, S., Clarke, J. and Bromley, S (eds) Making Social Lives, Milton Keynes, The Open University.
‘Evidence in the Social Sciences’ (2009) Making Social Lives [Audio CD 1], Milton Keynes, The Open University.
by
jojochione (student)
