Consumerism Consumerism is an order by the economic and social system that creates a desire to purchase goods and services.
Who is a consumer? We are all consumers in what we purchase and use. This can be anything from tv, books, computers, shoes, clothes, mobile phones, ipods, games consoles, music etc. Comsumerism has become a massive part of the economy and socialy. Everything we watch and see is someway related to consumerism because it may be advertising a product or representing some form of communication that is of persuasive language.
21st Century Consumerism Consumerism in the twentyfirst century has become massively different in how goods are sold. The need to consume is hugely adapted to our behaviour as we constantly need to purchase goods wether it be for leisure or for own services such as car rental or a DIY tool. Tvs, books, phones, stereos, beds, jewellery, music, clothes etc... are all products we have all consumed. Another important factor to consider is how these products communicate to us. Goods are being presented to us in a language that is both phsycological and persuasive. In terms of the economy, businesses need to increase thier sales in whatever they provide. Businesses have realised that the upper class are the most attractive consumers as thier tastes and lifestyles are of a higher standard than the middle and working. These two classes are still able to consume only in a way that speaks of thier traditions. Today, a consumer can have an instant satisfaction of purchasing to improve their social status.
Consumerism today has hugely become big and will only get bigger as technologies improve and businesses become more popular in all areas.
Source- www.google.com/images
Consumer Behaviour Consumer behaviour is the subject of how consumers behave towards why, when, how and where people decide to buy or not buy a product. The whole idea of consumer behaviour is physicological and sociological. It looks at how buyers make the decision to buy individually and in groups. There is also customer behaviour which also taps into the consumer buying behaviour. Here is when the customer plays three distinctive roles of the user, buyer and payer. The markets relationship with the customer is also important when considering this. Persuasive and clever communication language plays a vital part in how the consumer buys. Here is a good example of consumer behaviour I researched on Wikipedia called the ‘Black box model’. It represents the market and environments attitude towards the consumer and the consumers response in addition to their purchase. The market first has a product, price etc. That then has an advantage towards the environment as listed under the environment column. The buyer then has characteristics towards a product, price etc. Then their decision for buying can be for a problem, informative purposes or any of the other topics under the decision process. The buyer then has a response towards buying and that could be a product choice, brand choice, dealer choice, purchase timing or purchase amount.
ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
BUYER'S BLACK BOX
BUYER'S RESPONSE
Marketing Stimuli
Environmental Stimuli
Buyer Characteristics
Decision Process
Product choice
Product
Economic
Attitudes
Problem recognition
Brand choice
Price
Technological
Motivation
Information search
Dealer choice
Place
Political
Perceptions
Alternative evaluation
Purchase timing
Promotion
Cultural
Personality
Purchase decision
Purchase amount
Demographic
Lifestyle
Post-purchase behaviour
Natural
Knowledge
Source of Information- www.wikipedia.com