What does consumer society mean to you?

[Chattycatty]

I'm stuck on an essay question just looking for a bit of inspiration on how to start.

Stuff /money making coming before people
Keeping up with Jonse's
Throw away culture

Shopping is a leisure activity and done for the enjoyment rather than something we do out of necessity.

People seeking happiness/distraction from possessions over experiences.
Keeping up with the Joneses.
Various forms of media/advertising constantly selling products and suggesting we need more than we do

A society that encourages materialism and discourages community. One which values things over people. A society rooted in capitalism and one that cannot be sustained over a significant period of time due to the waste it generates.

Filling the hole in our lives left by a lack of connection with people and nature and community, with things you can buy, in the hope that it will make you happy.

I’d refer to Bauman and contextualise within his broader conception of modernity. Norms, goods, experiences, relationships are all produced, consumed and discarded at an increased, possibly still increasing pace. The lack of solidity of the objects of consumption feeds a reinforcing feedback loop of increased consumption. Even the act of production has become regularly an act of consumption.

I’d also make a distinction between consumerism and satisfied consumption, which is necessary and has helped us to be where we are now. For example, you only start caring about the environment and the situation of other human beings when you have enough to eat and you have a roof over your head.

The entitled consumer is able to shop anytime and anywhere with an omnichannel customer experience

A society where the economy depends on people using more (much more) than is really required for health or happiness.

And relatedly, where people are taught from a young age to find their identity in what they buy, where things like frugality and saving aren't really encouraged, where people struggle to differentiate between needs and wants, and where immediate satisfaction or wants is demanded.

A demand-led economy as opposed to the post-WWII economy where you didn't look for what you wanted but meekly accepted what goods were available to buy. A backlash against the planned economy of the war years and the years of rationing/control.

Probably too narrow a meaning since I'm only considering the UK, when the resource-rich USA led the way in consumer societies. There it seems to have been driven by The American Dream, advertising, and keeping up with the Jones's.

@ChestnutStuffing

A society where the economy depends on people using more (much more) than is really required for health or happiness.

And relatedly, where people are taught from a young age to find their identity in what they buy, where things like frugality and saving aren't really encouraged, where people struggle to differentiate between needs and wants, and where immediate satisfaction or wants is demanded.

Very true. Also the advances in logistics with the internet (same/next day delivery etc) means it’s easy to indulge those urges for immediate satisfaction. Everything is just a few clicks away..