Consumerism Analysis

The system of capitalism in American society today is based on supply and demand while capital goods are owned by private individuals or businesses. A byproduct of the capitalist system is consumerism, which explains the way a capitalistic society is able to function. Members of society or consumers go out and buy things that they don’t necessarily need in, and as an effect the economy grows. Because of consumerism, identity issues of people in society have become apparent. Also, consumerism has become a way for people to judge others based on what they have. In the movie Network consumerism is showcased and shows how consumerism leads to complete corporate control which is another social issue. The Mass media has targeted individuals in a way that is morally or ethically questionable for the purpose of tricking people into spending money for their own benefit by using native advertising and other tactics. Questionable actions have included targeting children with advertisements while gaining information from them that is used for future marketing. Capitalism and consumerism are not inherently bad however, consumerism has become a social issue caused by the mass media.

Members of capitalistic societies have been sucked in by consumerism and use it as a way to fit into society. The beliefs of what makes someone valued in society has changed because of consumerism. People are no longer valued based on their virtues or intelligence but instead are valued on whether or not they show off that they have and are able to afford the latest luxuries. In the article What does consumerism mean? written by Nicki Lisa Cole, she discusses how consumerism has affected the identities of people in the capitalistic society. Cole says, “Under consumerism, our consumption habits define how we understand ourselves, how we affiliate with others, and overall, the extent in which we fit in with and are valued by society at large” (Cole). What people buy in society and how people spend their money should not determine how valued someone is by society. There is a perception that those who are avid consumers and have all the latest luxuries are rich and therefore better than those who do not share the same consumption habits. It is an issue that people in society choose to associate with other people based on consumption habits. This thinking leads to people consuming more and more just to feel like they fit in with society. Members of society should be valued based on their beliefs, work ethic, and morals, instead of the materialistic values that have been created by consumerism.

There is a never-ending cycle that is created by capitalism and a system of supply and demand that is not fair to the consumer. The system of mass production and consumption that comes from capitalism is unable to meet the desires of everyone in society because consumerism drives the gap between the rich and the poor. Nicki Lisa Cole talks about this in her article by saying, “The cruel trick is that a society of consumers thrives on the inability of the system of mass production and consumption to meet our desires and needs” (Cole). The more that people in society feed into consumerism in order to fit in, the more private businesses and individuals get wealthier. Cole recognized that this consumerism drives a capitalistic economy. As people try to become more equal, they are inadvertently widening the gap between themselves and the people they are trying to assimilate themselves with, which expands the economy.

Targeting has become a common way for the mass media to effectively advertise and sell audiences to their advertisers. The inequality becomes even greater due to some of ways that the mass media splits the consumer base when creating specialized messages for a specific target market. In Andrea Migone’s writing titled, Hedonistic Consumerism: Patterns of Consumption in Contemporary Capitalism Migone touches on this concept by saying, “In addition to a clear historical trend toward progressively more unequal distribution of income, consumption has become increasingly more self-referencing as marketing strategies divide the consumer base in ever more sophisticated target markets organized by mixes of gender, income, status, age, and ethnic characteristics.” (Migone). The tactic of splitting the consumer base is used as a way to increase the activity of consumers by targeting them specifically.

jensen — <a href="https://mronline.org/2018/05/05/capitalism-poverty-and-praxis/">Arthur Jensen

The tactics of targeting becomes questionable when the mass media targets children. Patti Valkenburg wrote an article titled Media and Youth Consumerism in the Journal of Adolescent Health where the issue of children being targeted by advertisements is discussed. Valkenburg states, “Consumer organizations throughout the world have noted increasing commercial pressures on children.” (Valkenburg). Children are more likely to be influenced by advertisements because they are less likely to be skeptical about what they are watching. Children and adolescents are easy targets because they are mostly proficient in navigating through digital mediums because of the era they were born in. Valkenburg says, “In addition, a multitude of new marketing techniques are aimed at the child consumer. For example, the internet is progressively used to target children and adolescence with ads for products while getting information from them that can be used for further marketing” (Valkenburg). The idea of manipulating children to gain information about targeting more children is a social issue caused by consumerism and shows the desperation of large corporations to keep the population engaged in consumerism.

The gap in wealth leads to the power falling to wealthy corporations, individuals, and the mass media. The movie Network supports the argument that consumerism is a social issue because it exemplifies and exposes how the mass media and corporations have power not just over the capitalistic society but the entire world. In the movie, Howard Beale is a news anchor that has a mental breakdown but is used and exploited by the network he works for because of ratings. In one particular scene the network’s chairman Arthur Jensen meets one on one with Howard Beale because Beale said something on television that went against the beliefs of the people in charge of the network. During the meeting Jensen manipulates Beale easily because of his mental state and tells him to push a new agenda when he goes on television. Jensen says “The world is a collage of corporations, inexorably determined by the immutable by-laws of business. The world is a business Mr. Beale; it has been since man crawled out of the slime.” (Chayefsky). Jensen explains to Beale that there are no countries in the world, there are only corporations and money runs the world.

The issue with corporations and the mass media controlling everything are the agendas that come through the mass media along with the desperation that they show to stay in power. Eventually with the new agenda that Howard Beale is pushing in favor of Jensen, the consumers become less interested and the ratings of his show fall. The people who work at the network are so desperate for ratings in order to keep their positions of power that they kill Howard Beale live on television. In Network, Arthur Jensen insinuates to Beale that human beings are nothing more than consumers that depend on corporations. The desperation that they display when they kill Beale shows that large corporations are actually dependent on the population to engage in consumerism instead of the other way around.

A byproduct of the capitalist system is consumerism, which explains the way a capitalistic society is able to function. Members of society or consumers go out and buy things that they don’t necessarily need in, and as an effect the economy grows. Because of consumerism, identity issues of people in society have become apparent. Also, consumerism has become a way for people to judge others based on what they have. In the movie Network consumerism is showcased and shows how consumerism leads to complete corporate control which is another social issue. Questionable actions have included targeting children with advertisements while gaining information from them that is used for future marketing. Capitalism and consumerism are not inherently bad however, consumerism has become a social issue caused by the mass media.

Works Cited

Chayefsky, Paddy. Network. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, November 27, 1976

Cole, Nicki Lisa. “What Consumerism Means According to Sociologists.” ThoughtCo, ThoughtCo, 22 Dec. 2018, http://www.thoughtco.com/consumerism-definition-3026119.

Migone, Andrea. “Hedonistic Consumerism: Patterns of Consumption in Contemporary Capitalism.” Review of Radical Political Economics, vol. 39, no. 2, 2007, pp. 173–200., doi:10.1177/0486613407302482.

Valkenburg, Patti M. “Media and Youth Consumerism.” Journal of Adolescent Health, vol. 27, no. 2, 2000, pp. 52–56., doi:10.1016/s1054-139x(00)00132-4.

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