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{{short description|Acquisition of goods beyond essential needs}}
{{distinguish|Consumerization|Consumption (economics)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2023}}
[[File:Mall culture jakarta35.jpg|thumb|An electronics store displaying [[CRT TV]]s in a shopping mall in [[Jakarta]], [[Indonesia]] (2002)]] 

{{Capitalism sidebar}}

'''Consumerism''' is a socio-cultural and economic phenomenon that is typical of [[industrialisation|industrialized societies]]. It is characterized by the continuous acquisition of [[goods]] and [[service (economics)|service]]s in ever-increasing quantities. In contemporary consumer society, the purchase and the consumption of products have evolved beyond the mere satisfaction of [[basic human needs]],<ref name="ReferenceA3">[[Peter Stearns|Stearns, Peter]] (2006). ''Consumerism in World History''. 2nd ed. Routledge. p. vii–viii.</ref> transforming into an activity that is not only economic but also cultural, social, and even [[Identity formation|identity-forming]]. It emerged in Western Europe and the United States during the [[Industrial Revolution]] and became widespread around the 20th century.<ref name="ReferenceA3" /> In economics, consumerism refers to policies that emphasize consumption. It is the consideration that the [[Freedom of choice|free choice]] of consumers should strongly inform the choice by manufacturers of what is produced and how, and therefore influence the economic organization of a society.

Consumerism has been criticized by both individuals who choose other ways of participating in the economy (i.e. choosing [[simple living]] or [[Slow movement (culture)|slow living]]) and environmentalists concerned about its impact on the planet. Experts often assert that consumerism has physical limits,<ref name="auto3">{{Cite web |url=https://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-the-theory-of-the-leisure-class/#gsc.tab=0 |title=''The Theory of the Leisure Class'' Summary & Study Guide |website=BookRags.com |language=en}}</ref> such as [[growth imperative]] and [[overconsumption]], which have larger impacts on the environment. This includes direct effects like [[overexploitation]] of natural resources or large amounts of waste from disposable goods and significant effects like [[climate change]]. Similarly, some research and criticism focuses on the sociological effects of consumerism, such as reinforcement of class barriers and creation of inequalities.

== Evolution of the term ==
The term "consumerism" has several definitions.<ref name="Modern Consumerism">{{cite book |last1=Swagler |first1=Roger |editor1-first=Stephen |editor1-last=Brobeck |editor1-link=Stephen Brobeck |title=Encyclopedia of the Consumer Movement |year=1997 |publisher=ABC-Clio |location=Santa Barbara, Calif. |isbn=0-87436-987-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofco00brob/page/172 172–173] |chapter=Modern Consumerism |title-link=Encyclopedia of the Consumer Movement }}, which is based on {{Cite journal | last1 = Swagler | first1 = R. | title = Evolution and Applications of the Term Consumerism: Theme and Variations | doi = 10.1111/j.1745-6606.1994.tb00856.x | journal = Journal of Consumer Affairs | volume = 28 | issue = 2 | pages = 347–360 | year = 1994 }}</ref> These definitions may not be related to each other and they conflict with each other.

In a 1955 speech, [[John Bugas]], a vice president of the [[Ford Motor Company]],<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FmuYDwAAQBAJ&dq=john+bugas+vice+president+ford&pg=PA133 | title=The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit – Updated Edition | isbn=978-0-691-16255-3 | last1=Sugrue | first1=Thomas J. | date=27 April 2014 | publisher=Princeton University Press }}</ref> coined the term "consumerism" as a substitute for "capitalism" and better describe the American economy:<ref name="Eriksson">{{cite journal |url = http://est.sagepub.com/content/16/2/153 |title= On self-service democracy: Configurations of individualizing governance and self-directed citizenship |first= Kai |last= Eriksson |journal= European Journal of Social Theory|date= 20 November 2012 |volume= 16 |issue= 2 |pages= 153–173 |doi= 10.1177/1368431012459693 |s2cid= 144688904 |access-date= 1 November 2014|url-access= subscription }}</ref>
{{quote|The term ''consumerism'' would pin the tag where it actually belongs – on Mr. Consumer, the real boss and beneficiary of the American system. It would pull the rug right out from under our unfriendly critics who have blasted away so long and loud at capitalism.}}

Bugas's definition aligned with [[Austrian economics]] founder [[Carl Menger]]'s conception of ''consumer sovereignty'', as laid out in his 1871 book [[Principles of Economics (Menger)|''Principles of Economics'']], whereby consumer preferences, valuations, and choices control the economy entirely. This view stood in direct opposition to [[Karl Marx]]'s critique of the capitalist economy as a [[Exploitation of labour|system of exploitation]].<ref>{{cite book|last= Caldwell|first= Bruce J.|title= Carl Menger and His Legacy in Economics|year= 1990|publisher= Duke University Press}}</ref>

For [[Social criticism|social critic]] [[Vance Packard]], however, "consumerism" was not a positive term about consumer practices but rather a negative term, meaning excessive [[Economic materialism|materialism]] and wastefulness. In the advertisements for his 1960 book ''[[The Waste Makers]]'', the word "consumerism" was prominently featured in a negative way.<ref name="Glickman">
{{cite book
|last= Glickman|first= Lawrence B.
|title= Buying power: a history of consumer activism in America
|year= 2012|publisher= University of Chicago Press
|location= Chicago|isbn= 978-0-226-29867-2|pages= 265
|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=zb-1U7aWakUC&pg=PA265
|edition= Paperback
}}
</ref>

One sense of the term relates to efforts to support consumers' interests.<ref name="Modern Consumerism"/> By the early 1970s it had become the accepted term for the field and began to be used in these ways:<ref name="Modern Consumerism"/>

# Consumerism is the concept that consumers should be informed decision makers in the marketplace.<ref name="Modern Consumerism"/> In this sense consumerism is the study and practice of matching consumers with trustworthy information, such as [[product testing]] reports.
# Consumerism is the concept that the marketplace itself is responsible for ensuring [[social justice]] through fair economic practices.<ref name="Modern Consumerism"/> [[Consumer protection]] policies and laws compel manufacturers to make products safe.
# Consumerism refers to the field of studying, regulating, or interacting with the marketplace.<ref name="Modern Consumerism"/> The [[consumer movement]] is the social movement which refers to all actions and all entities within the marketplace which give consideration to the consumer.

While the above definitions were becoming established, other people began using the term ''consumerism'' to mean "high levels of consumption".<ref name="Modern Consumerism"/> This definition has gained popularity since the 1970s and began to be used in these ways:
# Consumerism is the selfish and frivolous collecting of products, or [[economic materialism]]. In this sense consumerism is negative and in opposition to positive lifestyles of [[anti-consumerism]] and [[simple living]].<ref name="Modern Consumerism"/>
# Consumerism is a force from the marketplace which destroys individuality and harms society.<ref name="Modern Consumerism"/> It is related to [[globalization]] and in protest against this some people promote the "[[anti-globalization movement]]".<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/article/shrunken-sovereign-consumerism-globalization-and-american-emptiness |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121120020741/http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/article/shrunken-sovereign-consumerism-globalization-and-american-emptiness |url-status = usurped |archive-date = 20 November 2012 |title= Shrunken Sovereign: Consumerism, Globalization, and American Emptiness |first= Benjamin R. |last= Barber |work= [[World Affairs]]|date=Spring 2008 |access-date= 23 April 2013}}</ref>

==History==

===Origins===

The consumer society developed throughout the late 17th century and the 18th century.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Trentmann |first=Frank |title=Empire of things: how we became a world of consumers, from the fifteenth century to the twenty-first |date=2016 |publisher=Allen Lane, an imprint of Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-241-19840-7 |location=London}}</ref> Peck addresses the assertion made by consumption scholars about writers such as "Nicholas Barbon and Bernard Mandeville" in "Luxury and War: Reconsidering Luxury Consumption in Seventeenth-Century England" and how their emphasis on the financial worth of luxury changed society's perceptions of luxury. They argue that a significant transformation occurred in the eighteenth century when the focus shifted from court-centered luxury spending to consumer-driven luxury consumption, which was fueled by middle-class purchases of new products.

The English economy expanded significantly in the 17th century due to new methods of agriculture that rendered it feasible to cultivate a larger area. A time of heightened demand for luxury goods and increased cultural interaction was reflected in the wide range of [[Luxury goods|luxury products]] that the aristocracy and affluent merchants imported from nations like Italy and the Low Countries. This expansion of luxury consumption in England was facilitated by state policies that encouraged cultural borrowing and import substitution, hence enabling the purchase of luxury items.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Peck |first=Linda Levy |date=2002 |title=Luxury and War: Reconsidering Luxury Consumption in Seventeenth-Century England |journal=Albion: A Quarterly Journal Concerned with British Studies |volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=1–23 |doi=10.2307/4053438 |jstor=4053438 }}</ref> Luxury goods included sugar, tobacco, tea, and coffee; these were increasingly grown on vast plantations (historically by [[Slavery|slave]] labor) in the Caribbean as demand steadily rose. In particular, sugar consumption in [[Great Britain|Britain]] increased by a factor of 20 during the 18th century.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Witkowski |first=Terrence |date=1989 |title=Colonial Consumers in Revolt: Buyer Values and Behavior during the Nonimportation Movement, 1764–1776 |journal=Journal of Consumer Research |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=216–226 |doi=10.1086/209210 |jstor=2489320}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Evans |first=Chris |date=2012 |title=The Plantation Hoe: The Rise and Fall of an Atlantic Commodity, 1650–1850 |journal=The William and Mary Quarterly |volume=69 |issue=1 |pages=71–100|doi=10.5309/willmaryquar.69.1.0071 }}</ref>

Furthermore, the [[Boston Non-importation agreement|non-importation movement]] commenced in the 18th century, more precisely from 1764 to 1776, as Witkowski's article "Colonial Consumers in Revolt: Buyer Values and Behavior during the Nonimportation Movement, 1764–1776" discusses. He describes the evolving development of consumer culture in the context of "colonial America". An emphasis on efficiency and economical consumption gave way to a preference for comfort, convenience, and importing products. During this time of transformation, colonial consumers had to choose between rising material desires and conventional values.<ref name=":2" />

===Culture of consumption===
[[File:The Fable of the Bees (1705).jpg|left|thumb|[[Bernard Mandeville]]'s work ''[[Fable of the Bees]]'', which justified [[conspicuous consumption]]]]
The pattern of intensified consumption became particularly visible in the 17th century in London, where the [[landed gentry|gentry]] and prosperous merchants took up residence and promoted a culture of luxury and consumption that slowly extended across socio-economic boundaries. Marketplaces expanded as shopping centres, such as the New Exchange, opened in 1609 by [[Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury|Robert Cecil]] in the [[Strand, London|Strand]]. Shops started to become important as places for Londoners to meet and socialize and became popular destinations alongside the theatre. From 1660, [[English Restoration|Restoration]] London also saw the growth of luxury buildings as advertisements for social position, with speculative architects like [[Nicholas Barbon]] and [[Lionel Cranfield, 1st Earl of Middlesex|Lionel Cranfield]] operating. This then-scandalous line of thought caused great controversy with the publication of the influential work ''[[Fable of the Bees]]'' in 1714, in which [[Bernard Mandeville]] argued that a country's prosperity ultimately lay in the self-interest of the consumer.<ref>
{{cite book
 | last = Peck
 | first = Linda Levy
 | title = Consuming Splendor: Society and Culture in Seventeenth-Century England
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=-jM0ZvlYofoC
 | location = Cambridge
 | publisher = Cambridge University Press
 | date = 2005
 | page = 371
 | isbn = 978-0-521-84232-7
 | access-date = 14 June 2020
}}
</ref>

[[File:Horse Frightened by a Lion by Josiah Wedgwood.jpg|thumb|right|[[Josiah Wedgwood]]'s pottery, a status symbol of consumerism in the late 18th century]]

The [[pottery]] entrepreneur and inventor, [[Josiah Wedgwood]], noticed the way that aristocratic fashions, themselves subject to periodic changes in direction, slowly filtered down through different classes of society. He pioneered the use of marketing techniques to influence and manipulate the movement of prevailing tastes and preferences to cause the aristocracy to accept his goods; it was only a matter of time before the middle classes also rapidly bought up his goods. Other producers of a wide range of other products followed his example, and the spread and importance of consumption fashions became steadily more important.<ref>
{{cite web
|url=http://www.quarc.de/fileadmin/downloads/Coming%20to%20live%20in%20a%20consumer%20society%20%28chapter%202%29.pdf
|title=Coming to live in a consumer society
|access-date=29 October 2013
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130810222240/http://www.quarc.de/fileadmin/downloads/Coming%20to%20live%20in%20a%20consumer%20society%20%28chapter%202%29.pdf
|archive-date=10 August 2013|quote = The origins of the consumer society as we know it today can be traced back a few hundred years. According to McKendrick, Brewer and Plumb (1982) the birthplace can be found in eighteenth century England. However, as McCracken (1988) has pointed out, the consumer revolution as a whole needs to be seen as part of a larger transformation in Western societies, which began in the sixteenth century. The social changes brought about by that transformation resulted in the modification of Western concepts of time, space, society, the individual, the family and the state. This provided the base on which the consumer revolution could thrive and develop into a mass phenomenon. McCracken (1988) was one of the first scholars offering a comprehensive review of the history of consumption. He approached the subject by dividing the course of events into three moments. The first moment falls within the last quarter of the sixteenth century in Elizabethan England where profound changes in consumption pattern occurred in a small section of the population. This was the moment where some of the established concepts, notably the concepts of space, the individual and the family began to falter. The circumstances bringing about these changes served as a primer for the consumer movement that would come a century later. McCracken describes this as the second moment. It was characterized by a heightened propensity to spend, by a greatly extended choice of goods, and an increased frequency of purchases. Fashion started to play an important role too, and, for the first time, the individual as a consumer became the target of manipulative attempts. The origins of modern marketing instruments can be traced back to this time. With the rise of the third moment, the consumer movement was already a structural feature of life(McCracken, 1988). However, the development was not yet completed. The 19th century added new qualities to the movement and turned it into a 'dream world of consumption' (Williams, 1982).
}}
</ref> Since then, advertising has played a major role in fostering a consumerist society, marketing goods through various platforms in nearly all aspects of [[human life (disambiguation)|human life]], and pushing the message that the potential customer's personal life requires some product.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite journal|last1=Czarnecka|first1=Barbara|last2=Schivinski|first2=Bruno|date=17 June 2019|title=Do Consumers Acculturated to Global Consumer Culture Buy More Impulsively? The Moderating Role of Attitudes towards and Beliefs about Advertising|journal=Journal of Global Marketing|volume=32|issue=4|pages=219–238|doi=10.1080/08911762.2019.1600094|s2cid=182181403|issn=0891-1762|url=https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/26848/1/Czarnecka%20and%20Schivinski%20Accepted%20JGM.pdf}}</ref>

===Mass production===
{{main|Mass production}}
The [[Industrial Revolution]] dramatically increased the availability of [[consumer goods]], although it was still primarily focused on the [[capital goods]] sector and industrial infrastructure (i.e., mining, steel, oil, transportation networks, communications networks, [[industrial cities]], financial centers, etc.).{{sfn|Ryan|2017|p=701}}{{verify inline|date=September 2025|reason=Speculative fix for mismatched date in footnote}} The advent of the [[department store]] represented a paradigm shift in the experience of shopping. Customers could now buy an astonishing variety of goods, all in one place, and shopping became a popular leisure activity. While previously the norm had been the scarcity of resources, the [[Industrial Revolution|industrial era]] created an unprecedented economic situation. For the first time in history products were available in outstanding quantities, at outstandingly low prices, therefore available to virtually everyone in the industrialized West.

By the turn of the 20th century, the average worker in Western Europe or the United States still spent approximately 80–90% of their income on food and other necessities. What was needed to propel consumerism, was a system of [[mass production]] and consumption, exemplified by [[Henry Ford]], an American car manufacturer. After observing the assembly lines in the [[meat-packing industry]], [[Frederick Winslow Taylor]] brought his theory of [[scientific management]] to the organization of the assembly line in other industries; this unleashed incredible productivity and reduced the costs of commodities produced on assembly lines around the world.{{sfn|Ryan|2017|p=702 |ps=.{{qn|date=August 2012}} }}{{verify inline|date=September 2025|reason=Speculative fix for mismatched date in footnote}}

[[File:DCUSA.Gallery10.TargetBlackFriday.Wikipedia.jpg|thumb|[[Black Friday (shopping)|Black Friday]] shoppers, [[DC USA]]]]

Consumerism has long had intentional underpinnings, rather than just developing out of capitalism. As an example, [[Earnest Elmo Calkins]] noted to fellow advertising executives in 1932 that "consumer engineering must see to it that we use up the kind of goods we now merely use", while the domestic theorist [[Christine Frederick]] observed in 1929 that "the way to break the vicious deadlock of a low standard of living is to spend freely, and even waste creatively".<ref name="DEADMALL">{{cite web|url=http://changeobserver.designobserver.com/entry.html?entry=11747|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091114231851/http://changeobserver.designobserver.com/entry.html?entry=11747|archive-date=14 November 2009|title=Essay – Dawn of the Dead Mall|date=11 November 2009|work=The Design Observer Group|access-date=14 February 2010}}</ref>

The older term and concept of "[[conspicuous consumption]]" originated at the turn of the 20th century in the writings of sociologist and economist [[Thorstein Veblen]]. The term describes an apparently irrational and confounding form of economic behaviour. Veblen's scathing proposal that this unnecessary consumption is a form of status display is made in darkly humorous observations like the following:
{{cquote|It is true of dress in even a higher degree than of most other items of consumption, that people will undergo a very considerable degree of privation in the comforts or the necessaries of life to afford what is considered a decent amount of wasteful consumption; so that it is by no means an uncommon occurrence, in an inclement climate, for people to go ill clad to appear well dressed.<ref>{{cite book|last=Veblen|first=Thorstein|title=The Theory of the Leisure Class|year=2010}}</ref>
}}

The term "conspicuous consumption" spread to describe consumerism in the United States in the 1960s, but was soon linked to debates about [[media influence|media theory]], [[culture jamming]], and its corollary [[productivism]].

{{cquote|By 1920 most Americans had experimented with occasional installment buying.<ref>{{cite book|last=Calder|first=Lendol Glen|title=Financing the American Dream: A Cultural History of Consumer Credit|publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|year=1990|location=Princeton, NJ|page=[https://archive.org/details/financingamerica00cald_0/page/222 222]|isbn=0-691-05827-X|url=https://archive.org/details/financingamerica00cald_0/page/222}}</ref>
}}

=== Television and American consumerism ===
The advent of the television in the late 1940s proved to be an attractive opportunity for advertisers, who could reach potential consumers in the home using lifelike images and sound. The introduction of mass commercial television positively impacted retail sales. The television motivated consumers to purchase more products and upgrade whatever they currently had.<ref name="Woojin2022">{{Cite journal |last=Kim |first=Woojin |date=1 April 2022 |title=Television and American consumerism |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047272722000111 |journal=Journal of Public Economics |language=en |volume=208 |article-number=104609 |doi=10.1016/j.jpubeco.2022.104609 |s2cid=246897308 |issn=0047-2727|url-access=subscription }}</ref> In the United States, a new consumer culture developed centered around buying products, especially [[automobile]]s and other [[durable good]]s, to increase their social status. Woojin Kim of the [[University of California, Berkeley]], argues that [[sitcoms]] of this era also helped to promote the idea of [[suburbia]].<ref name="Woojin2022"/>

According to Woojin, the attraction of television advertising has brought an improvement in Americans' social status. Watching television programs has become an important part of people's cultural life. Television advertising can enrich and change the content of advertising from hearing and vision and make people in contact with it. The image of television advertising is realistic, and it is easy to have an interest and desire to buy advertising goods, At the same time, the audience intentionally or unintentionally compares and comments on the advertised goods while appreciating the TV advertisements, arouses the interest of the audience by attracting attention, and forms a buying idea, which is conducive to enhancing the buying confidence. Therefore, TV can be used as a media way to accelerate and affect people's desire to buy products.<ref name="Woojin2022"/>

===In the 21st century===
[[File:Dongmen.JPG|thumb|[[McDonald's]] and [[KFC]] restaurants in China]]
[[File:Marinedacity.JPG|thumb|Shopping mall in [[La Coruña|A Coruña]], [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]], ([[Spain]])]]
Madeline Levine criticized what she saw as a large change in [[American culture]] – "a shift away from values of community, [[spirituality]], and [[integrity]], and toward competition, [[Economic materialism|materialism]] and disconnection."<ref>Levine, Madeline. "[http://www.nais.org/publications/ismagazinearticle.cfm?ItemNumber=150274 Challenging the Culture of Affluence]". Independent School. 67.1 (2007): 28–36. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927060753/http://www.nais.org/publications/ismagazinearticle.cfm?ItemNumber=150274 |date=27 September 2011 }}</ref>

Businesses have realized that wealthy consumers are the most attractive targets of marketing. The upper class's tastes, lifestyles, and preferences trickle down to become the standard for all consumers. The not-so-wealthy consumers can "purchase something new that will speak of their place in the tradition of affluence".<ref>{{cite book |author=Research Alert |title=Attracting the Affluent: The First Guide to America's Changing Ultimate Market |year=1991 |location=Naperville, Illinois |publisher=Financial Sourcebooks |isbn=0-942061-23-3}}{{page?|date=December 2024}}</ref> A consumer can have the [[Deferred gratification|instant gratification]] of purchasing an expensive item to improve social status.

Emulation is also a core component of 21st century consumerism. As a general trend, regular consumers seek to emulate those who are above them in the social hierarchy. The poor strive to imitate the wealthy and the wealthy imitate celebrities and other icons. The celebrity endorsement of products can be seen as evidence of the desire of modern consumers to purchase products partly or solely to emulate people of higher social status. This purchasing behavior may co-exist in the mind of a consumer with an image of oneself as being an individualist.

Cultural capital, the intangible social value of goods, is not solely generated by [[Information pollution#Cultural factors|cultural pollution]]. Subcultures also manipulate the value and prevalence of certain commodities through the process of [[bricolage]]. Bricolage is the process by which mainstream products are adopted and transformed by subcultures.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sturken |first1=Marita |last2=Cartwright |first2=Lisa |title=Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2001 |page=78 |isbn=0-19-874271-1}}</ref> These items develop a function and meaning that differs from their corporate producer's intent. In many cases, commodities that have undergone bricolage often develop political meanings.

For example, Doc Martens, originally [[Marketing|marketed]] as workers boots, gained popularity with the [[punk movement]] and [[AIDS activism]] groups and became symbols of an individual's place in that social group.{{sfn|Sturken|Cartwright|2001|p=79}} When corporate America recognized the growing popularity of the brand, it underwent another change in cultural meaning through counter-bricolage. The widespread sale and marketing of Doc Martens brought them back into the mainstream. While corporate America reaped the ever-growing profits of the increasingly expensive boot and those modeled after its style, Doc Martens lost their original political association. Consumers used Doc Martens and related items to create an "individualized" sense of [[Consumer identity|identity]] by appropriating statement items from subcultures they admired.

Authors Steven Quartz and Anette Asp make a similar argument that changing notions of "[[Cool (aesthetic)|cool]]" affect consumption patterns. Items that cost less, and would normally be lower in social status according to the old rules of conspicuous consumption, can actually rise in status if they are associated with a cool, rebellious subculture.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Quartz |first1=Steven |last2=Asp |first2=Anette |title=Cool: How the Brain's Hidden Quest for Cool Drives Our Economy and Shapes Our World |year=2015 |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |isbn=978-0-374-12918-7 |pages=120–126}}</ref> As examples, the authors cite leather jackets popularized in 1950s motorcycle movies, or the cachet of "distressed clothing", or the tech entrepreneur who chooses to wear a T-shirt and hoodie instead of an elegant suit. Quartz and Asp have labeled this trend "rebellious consumption", and assert that it has altered advertising, consumer behavior, and even has political implications since less-well-off people can feel content with their inexpensive but "cool" possessions.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Quartz |first1=Steven |last2=Asp |first2=Anette |title=Unequal, Yet Happy |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/12/opinion/sunday/unequal-yet-happy.html |url-access=limited |date=April 11, 2015 |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

In recent decades, consumerism has evolved into an organized movement to enhance the power and rights of buyers in relation to sellers. Consumer advocates believe that sellers enjoy an advantage in the traditional balance of power, for instance, the right to introduce any product in any size or style, the right to change a product's price at any time, the right to spend any amount to promote a product, and the right to use any message to encourage product purchases. Besides a buyer's principal right, i.e., not to buy, advocates have lobbied for expanded, enforceable buyer rights such as the right to be well informed about important aspects of a product, and the right to be protected against questionable products and marketing practices.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Gary Armstrong |author2=Stewart Adam|author3=Sara Denize|author4=Philip Kotler|title=Principles of Marketing |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UKyaBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA463|year=2014|publisher=Pearson Australia|isbn=978-1-4860-0253-5|page=463}}</ref>

The [[American Dream]] has long been associated with consumerism.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Rise of American Consumerism |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/tupperware-consumer/ |publisher=[[PBS]]}}</ref><ref name="americandream"/> According to [[Sierra Club]]'s Dave Tilford, "With less than 5 percent of world population, the U.S. uses one-third of the world's paper, a quarter of the world's oil, 23 percent of the coal, 27 percent of the aluminum, and 19 percent of the copper."<ref>{{cite news |title=Use It and Lose It: The Outsize Effect of U.S. Consumption on the Environment |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/american-consumption-habits/ |work=[[Scientific American]] |date=14 September 2012}}</ref>

China is the world's fastest-growing consumer market.<ref name="americandream">{{cite news |title=The meteoric rise of Chinese consumerism will reshape the world, and maybe even destroy it |url=https://qz.com/994345/the-meteoric-rise-of-chinese-consumerism-will-reshape-the-world-and-maybe-even-destroy-it/ |work=Quartz |date=4 June 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=China to surpass US as world's biggest consumer market this year |url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Economy/China-to-surpass-US-as-world-s-biggest-consumer-market-this-year |work=Nikkei Asian Review |date=24 January 2019}}</ref> According to biologist [[Paul R. Ehrlich]], "If everyone consumed resources at the US level, you will need another four or five Earths."<ref>{{Cite news|last=McKie|first=Robin|date=25 February 2017|title=Biologists think 50% of species will be facing extinction by the end of the century|language=en-GB|work=The Observer|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/feb/25/half-all-species-extinct-end-century-vatican-conference|access-date=11 March 2023|issn=0029-7712}}</ref>

With the development of the economy, consumers' awareness of protecting their rights and interests is growing, and consumer demand is growing. Online commerce has expanded the consumer market and enhanced consumer information and market transparency. Digital fields not only bring advantages and convenience but also cause many problems and increase the opportunities for consumers to suffer damage.

Under the virtual network environment, on the one hand, consumers' privacy protection is vulnerable to infringement, driven by the development of hacker technology and the Internet, on the other hand, consumers' right to know is the basic right of consumers. When purchasing goods and receiving services, we need the real situation of institutional services. Finally, in the Internet era, consumers' demand is increasing, and we also need to protect consumers' rights and interests to improve consumers' rights and interests and promote the operation of the economic market.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kucuk |first=S. Umit |date=14 March 2016 |title=Consumerism in the Digital Age |journal=Journal of Consumer Affairs |volume=50 |issue=3 |pages=515–538 |doi=10.1111/joca.12101 |issn=0022-0078|hdl=10.1111/joca.12101 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

==== Socially mediated political consumerism ====
{{also|Consumerism and social media}}
Today's society has entered the era of entertainment and the Internet. Most people spend more time browsing on mobile phones than face-to-face. The convenience of social media has a subtle impact on the public and unconsciously changes people's consumption habits. The socialized Internet is gradually developing, such as Twitter, websites, news and social media, with sharing and participation as the core, consumers share product information and opinions through social media.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Boulianne |first=Shelley |date=31 December 2021 |title=Socially mediated political consumerism |journal=Information, Communication & Society |volume=25 |issue=5 |language=en |pages=609–617 |doi=10.1080/1369118X.2021.2020872 |s2cid=245621126 |issn=1369-118X|doi-access=free }}</ref> At the same time, by understanding the reputation of the brand on social media, consumers can easily change their original attitude towards the brand. The information provided by social media helps consumers shorten the time of thinking about products and decision-making, so as to improve consumers' initiative in purchase decision-making and improve consumers' shopping and decision-making quality to a certain extent.

==Criticism==
{{Anti-consumerism|Theories}}
{{Main|Anti-consumerism|Affluenza}}

[[File:la2-buynothing.jpg|thumb|[[Buy Nothing Day]] demonstration in San Francisco, November 2000]]
[[File:Shop Until You Drop by Banksy.JPG|thumb|right|''Shop Until You Drop'' by [[Banksy]], in London]]

A major criticism of consumerism is that it serves the interests of capitalism.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Muldoon |first=Annie |year=2006 |title=Where the Green Is: Examining the Paradox of Environmentally Conscious Consumption |url=https://escholarship.org/content/qt00t326gx/qt00t326gx.pdf |journal=Electronic Green Journal |page=19 |via=UCLA}}</ref>

Consumerism can take extreme forms, to the extent that consumers will sacrifice significant time and income not only to make purchases, but also to actively support a certain firm or brand.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal |last1=Eisingerich |first1=Andreas B. |last2=Bhardwaj |first2=Gunjan |last3=Miyamoto |first3=Yoshio |date=April 2010 |title=Behold the Extreme Consumers and Learn to Embrace Them |url=http://hbr.org/2010/04/vision-statement-behold-the-extreme-consumersand-learn-to-embrace-them/ar/1 |journal=Harvard Business Review |volume=88 |pages=30–31}}</ref> As stated by Gary Cross in his book ''An All-Consuming Century: Why Commercialism Won in Modern America'', "consumerism succeeded where other ideologies failed because it concretely expressed the cardinal political ideals of the century – liberty and democracy – and with relatively little self-destructive behavior or personal humiliation." He discusses how consumerism won in its forms of expression.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cross |first=Gary |title=An All-Consuming Century: Why Commercialism Won in Modern America |date=2000 |publisher=Columbia University Press |page=2 |isbn=978-0-231-11312-0 |oclc=50817376}}</ref>

[[Tim Kasser]], in his book ''The High Price of Materialism'', examines how the culture of consumerism and materialism affects our happiness and well-being. The book argues that people who value wealth and possessions more than other things tend to have lower levels of satisfaction, self-esteem, and intimacy, and higher levels of anxiety, depression, and insecurity. The book also explores how materialistic values harm our relationships, our communities, and our environment, and suggests ways to reduce materialism and increase our quality of life.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kasser |first1=Tim |title=The high price of materialism |date=2002 |publisher=[[MIT Press]] |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-262-27676-4}}</ref>

Opponents of consumerism argue that many luxuries and unnecessary consumer-products may act as a social mechanism allowing people to identify like-minded individuals through the display of similar products, again utilizing aspects of status-symbolism to judge [[socioeconomic status]] and [[social stratification]]. Some people believe relationships with a product or brand name are substitutes for healthy human relationships lacking in societies, and along with consumerism, create a [[cultural hegemony]], and are part of a general process of social control<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.newindpress.com/sunday/sundayitems.asp?id=SEV20060406083003&eTitle=Focus&rLink=0/ |title= Fool Britannia |publisher= Newindpress.com |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080414235736/http://www.newindpress.com/sunday/sundayitems.asp?id=SEV20060406083003&eTitle=Focus&rLink=0%2F |archive-date= 14 April 2008 }}</ref> in modern society.

In 1955, economist [[Victor Lebow]] stated:
{{cquote|Our enormously productive economy demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction and our ego satisfaction in consumption. We need things consumed, burned up, worn out, replaced and discarded at an ever-increasing rate.<ref>Lebow, Victor. http://hundredgoals.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/journal-of-retailing.pdf</ref>}}

Figures who arguably do not wholly buy into consumerism include German historian [[Oswald Spengler]] (1880–1936), who said: "Life in America is exclusively economic in structure and lacks depth",<ref name="ReferenceA">Stearns, Peter. ''Consumerism in World History''. Routledge</ref> and French writer [[Georges Duhamel (author)|Georges Duhamel]] (1884–1966), who held American materialism up as "a beacon of mediocrity that threatened to eclipse French civilization".<ref name="ReferenceA"/> [[Francis Fukuyama]] blames consumerism for [[morality|moral]] compromises.<ref>
{{cite book
 | last1 = Fukuyama
 | first1 = Francis
 | author-link1 = Francis Fukuyama
 | year = 1992
 | chapter = 15: A Vacation in Bulgaria
 | title = The End of History and the Last Man
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=NdFpQwKfX2IC
 | publisher = Simon and Schuster
 | publication-date = 2006
 | page = 169
 | isbn = 978-0-7432-8455-4
 | quote = [...] what Havel identifies as 'the general unwillingness of consumption-oriented people to sacrifice some material certainties for the sake of their own spiritual and moral integrity' is a phenomenon that is hardly unique to communist societies. In the West, consumerism induces people to make moral compromises with themselves daily, and they lie to themselves [...] in the name of [...] ideas like 'self-realization' or 'personal growth.'
}}
</ref>

Moreover, some critics have expressed concern about the role commodities play in the definition of one's self. In his 1976 book [[iarchive:captainsofconsci00ewen|''Captains of Consciousness: Advertising and the Social Roots of the Consumer Culture'']], historian and media theorist [[Stuart Ewen]] introduced what he referred to as the "commodification of consciousness", and coined the term "commodity self" to describe an identity built by the goods we consume.{{sfn|Sturken|Cartwright|2001|p=279}}

For example, people often identify as PC or Mac users, or define themselves as a Coke drinker rather than a Pepsi drinker. The ability to choose one product out of a great number of others allows a person to build a sense of "unique" individuality, despite the prevalence of Mac users or the nearly identical tastes of Coke and Pepsi.{{sfn|Sturken|Cartwright|2001|p=279}} By owning a product from a certain brand, one's ownership becomes a vehicle of presenting an identity that is associated with the attitude of the brand. The idea of individual choice is exploited by corporations that claim to sell "uniqueness" and the building blocks of an identity. The invention of the commodity self is a driving force of consumerist societies, preying upon the deep human need to build a sense of self.

===Environmental impact===
Critics of consumerism point out that consumerist societies are more prone to damage the environment, contribute to [[global warming]] and use resources at a higher rate than other societies.<ref>[http://www.seed.slb.com/en/scictr/watch/climate_change/co2.htm Global Climate Change and Energy CO<sub>2</sub> Production{{snd}}An International Perspective] {{webarchive |url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090228111224/http://www.seed.slb.com/en/scictr/watch/climate_change/co2.htm |date= 28 February 2009}}</ref> [[Jorge Majfud]] says that "Trying to reduce environmental pollution without reducing consumerism is like combatting drug trafficking without reducing the drug addiction."<ref>{{cite web|last= Majfud |first= Jorge |url= https://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/chronicle/home/archive/issues2009/toprotectsucceedinggenerations/pid/21570 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130719034751/https://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/chronicle/home/archive/issues2009/toprotectsucceedinggenerations/pid/21570 |archive-date= 19 July 2013 |title= The Pandemic of Consumerism |publisher= UN Chronicle |year= 2009 |access-date= 6 October 2019}}</ref>

[[Pope Francis]] also critiqued consumerism in his [[encyclical]] ''[[Laudato si'|Laudato Si': On Care For Our Common Home]]''.<ref>"Loss of Biodiversity". [[Laudato si']]: on Care for Our Common Home: Encyclical Letter, by Pope Francis, Our Sunday Visitor, 2015, p. 27.</ref> He critiqued the harm consumerism does to the environment and states, "The analysis of environmental problems cannot be separated from the analysis of human, family, work-related and urban contexts, nor from how individuals relate to themselves, which leads in turn to how they relate to others and to the environment."<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.cssr.org.au/justice_matters/dsp-default.cfm?loadref=643 |title=Laudato Si' – Chapter One: What is happening to our common home |author=Pope Francis |date=18 June 2015 |website=Redemptorists |access-date=13 November 2018 |archive-date=18 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190318031311/https://www.cssr.org.au/justice_matters/dsp-default.cfm?loadref=643 }}</ref> Pope Francis believed the obsession with consumerism leads individuals further away from their humanity and obscures the interrelated nature between humans and the environment.

Another critic is [[James Gustave Speth]]. He argues that the [[growth imperative]] represents the main goal of capitalistic consumerism. In his book ''The Bridge at the Edge of the World'' he notes, "Basically, the economic system does not work when it comes to protecting environmental resources, and the political system does not work when it comes to correcting the economic system".

In an opinion segment of ''[[New Scientist]]'' magazine published in August 2009, reporter Andy Coghlan cited [[William E. Rees (academic)|William Rees]] of the [[University of British Columbia]] and [[Epidemiology|epidemiologist]] [[Warren Hern]] of the [[University of Colorado at Boulder]] saying that human beings, despite considering themselves civilized thinkers, are "subconsciously still driven by an impulse for survival, domination and expansion ... an impulse which now finds expression in the idea that inexorable economic growth is the answer to everything, and, given time, will redress all the world's existing inequalities."<ref name="Coghlan">{{cite web|last= Coghlan|first= Andy|title= Consumerism is 'eating the future' |url= https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17569-consumerism-is-eating-the-future.html |date=7 August 2009 |website=New Scientist |access-date= 12 December 2009}}</ref>

According to figures presented by Rees at the annual meeting of the [[Ecological Society of America]], human society is in a "global overshoot", consuming 30% more material than is sustainable from the world's resources. Rees went on to state that at present, 85 countries are exceeding their domestic "bio-capacities", and compensate for their lack of local material by depleting the stocks of other countries, which have a material surplus due to their lower consumption.<ref name="Coghlan"/> Not only that, but McCraken indicates that how consumer goods and services are bought, created and used should be taken under consideration when studying consumption.<ref>{{Cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Fp8WVG1S_QAC&q=consumerism&pg=PP10|title= Consumerism: As a Way of Life|last= Miles|first= Steven|date= 1998|publisher= Sage|isbn= 978-0-7619-5215-2|language= en}}</ref>

Not all anti-consumerists oppose [[consumption (economics)|consumption]] in itself, but they argue against increasing the consumption of resources beyond what is [[sustainability|environmentally sustainable]]. [[Jonathan Porritt]] writes that consumers are often unaware of the negative environmental impacts of producing many modern goods and services, and that the extensive advertising industry only serves to reinforce increasing consumption.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.mymultiplesclerosis.co.uk/big-ideas/consumerism.html
|title=Consumerism – Big Ideas
|access-date=20 April 2010
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100420040645/http://www.mymultiplesclerosis.co.uk/big-ideas/consumerism.html
|archive-date=20 April 2010
|url-status=usurped
}}</ref>

Conservation scientists Lian Pin Koh and Tien Ming Lee, discuss that in the 21st century, the damage to forests and biodiversity cannot be dealt with only by the shift towards "Green" initiatives such as "sustainable production, [[Green consumption|green consumerism]], and improved production practices". They argue that consumption in developing and emerging countries needs to be less excessive.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Koh |first1=Lian |last2=Lee |first2=Tien |date=2012 |title=Sensible consumerism for environmental sustainability |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320711003983 |journal=Biological Conservation |volume=151 |issue=1 |pages=3–6 |doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2011.10.029 |bibcode=2012BCons.151....3K |via=Elsevier Science Direct|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Likewise, other ecological economists such as [[Herman Daly]] and [[Tim Jackson (economist)|Tim Jackson]] recognize the inherent conflict between consumer-driven consumption and planet-wide ecological degradation.

American environmental historian and sociologist [[Jason W. Moore]], in his book ''[[Anthropocene]] or Capitalocene? Nature, History, and the Crisis of Capitalism'' points out that the challenge of addressing both underconsumption and overconsumption of resources lies at the heart of the world's primary sustainability dilemma. While significant portions of the global population struggle to meet basic needs, the resource-intensive lifestyles of affluent societies — characterized by car dependency, frequent air travel, high meat consumption, and an apparently limitless appetite for consumer goods like clothing and technological devices — are key drivers of the unsustainable practices.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url= https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-11069-6_2|chapter= Capitalism, Consumption, and the Transformation of Everyday Life: The Political Economy of Social Practices|last= Hansen|first= Arve|title= Consumption, Sustainability and Everyday Life|series= Consumption and Public Life|date= 2023|publisher= Springer Nature|isbn= 978-3-031-11069-6|language= en|pages=27–54|doi= 10.1007/978-3-031-11069-6_2}}</ref>

===Consumerism as cultural ideology===
In the 21st century's globalized economy, consumerism has become a noticeable part of the culture.<ref>{{Cite journal | year=2012 | last1= James | first1= Paul | last2= Scerri | first2= Andy | author-link1= Paul James (academic) | title= Globalizing Consumption and the Deferral of a Politics of Consequence | url= https://www.academia.edu/3230921 | journal= Globalizations | volume= 9 | issue= 2 | pages= 225–240| doi= 10.1080/14747731.2012.658249 | bibcode= 2012Glob....9..225J | s2cid= 67761604 }}</ref> Critics of this phenomenon have not only raised concerns about its environmental sustainability, but also its cultural implications. However, a number of scholars have explored the relationship between environmentalism and consumerism within the context of a market economy society.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Panizzut |first1=Nina |last2=Rafi-ul-Shan |first2=Piyya Muhammad |last3=Amar |first3=Hassan |last4=Sher |first4=Farooq |last5=Mazhar |first5=Muhammad Usman |last6=Klemeš |first6=Jiří Jaromír |title=Exploring relationship between environmentalism and consumerism in a market economy society: A structured systematic literature review |journal=Cleaner Engineering and Technology |date=2021 |volume=2 |article-number=100047 |doi=10.1016/j.clet.2021.100047 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2021CEngT...200047P }}</ref>

Discussions of the environmental implications of consumerist ideologies appear in works by economists James Gustave Speth<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/bridgeatedgeofwo00spet|title=The bridge at the edge of the world: capitalism, the environment, and crossing from crisis to sustainability|last=Speth|first=James Gustave|date=2008|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-13611-1|location=New Haven|oclc=177820867}}</ref> and [[Naomi Klein]],<ref>{{Cite book|title=This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate |last=Klein |first=Naomi |isbn=978-1-4516-9738-4|edition=1st |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |oclc=894746822 |year=2014}}</ref> and consumer cultural historian Gary Cross.{{sfn|Cross|2000|p=1}} Leslie Sklair proposes the criticism through the idea of culture-ideology of consumerism in his works. He says that,

{{quote|First, capitalism entered a qualitatively new globalizing phase in the 1950s. As the electronic revolution got underway, significant changes began to occur in the productivity of capitalist factories, systems of extraction, processing of raw materials, product design, marketing and distribution of goods and services. [...] Second, the technical and social relations that structured the mass media all over the world made it very easy for new consumerist lifestyles to become the dominant motif for these media, which became in time extraordinarily efficient vehicles for the broadcasting of the culture-ideology of consumerism globally.<ref>Sklair, L. 2012. Culture-Ideology of Consumerism. The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Globalization</ref>}}

Today, people are universally and continuously being exposed to mass consumerism and [[product placement]] in the media or even in their daily lives. The line between information, entertainment, and promotion of products has been blurred, thus explaining how people have become more reformulated into consumerist behaviours.<ref name="Leslie Sklair 2002">Leslie Sklair, from Chapter 5 of Globalization: Capitalism and Its Alternatives, 3rd ed., Oxford University Press, 2002. Reprinted with permission of Oxford University Press</ref> Shopping centers are a representative example of a place where people are explicitly exposed to an environment that welcomes and encourages consumption. 

For example, in 1993, Goss wrote that the shopping center designers "strive to present an alternative rationale for the shopping center's existence, manipulate shoppers' behavior through the configuration of space, and consciously design a symbolic landscape that provokes associative moods and dispositions in the shopper".<ref>Jon Goss (1993), The "Magic of the Mall": An Analysis of Form, Function, and Meaning in the Contemporary Retail Built Environment, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Vol. 83, No. 1. (Mar. 1993), pp. 18–47</ref> On the prevalence of consumerism in daily life, historian Gary Cross says that "The endless variation of clothing, travel, and entertainment provided opportunity for practically everyone to find a personal niche, no matter their race, age, gender or class."{{sfn|Cross|2000|p=233}}

Arguably, the success of the consumerist cultural ideology can be witnessed all around the world. People who rush to the mall to buy products and end up spending money with their [[credit cards]] can easily become entrenched in the financial system of [[capitalist]] globalization.<ref name="Leslie Sklair 2002"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Schmitt |first1=Bernd |last2=Brakus |first2=J Joško |last3=Biraglia |first3=Alessandro |title=Consumption Ideology |journal=[[Journal of Consumer Research]] |date=2021 |volume=49 |issue=1 |pages=74–95 |doi=10.1093/jcr/ucab044 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

===Alternatives===
{{See also|Ecoleasing|Ethical consumerism|Frugality|Green consumption}}
Since consumerism began, various individuals and groups have consciously sought an alternative lifestyle. These movements range on a spectrum from moderate "[[simple living]]",<ref>See for example: Janet Luhrs's ''The Simple Living Guide'' (NY: Broadway Books, 1997); Joe Dominquez, Vicki Robin et al., ''Your Money or Your Life'' (NY: Penguin Group USA, 2008)</ref> "[[Environmentally friendly|eco-conscious shopping]]",<ref>See for example: Alan Durning, ''How Much is Enough: The Consumer Society and the Future of the Earth'' (New York: W.W. Norton, 1992)</ref> and "[[Local food|localvore]]"/"[[Local purchasing|buying local]]",<ref>See for example: Paul Roberts, ''The End of Food'' (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2008); Michael Shuman, ''The Small-mart Revolution'' (San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2007)</ref> to [[Freeganism]] on the extreme end. Building on these movements, the discipline of [[ecological economics]] addresses the macro-economic, social and ecological implications of a primarily consumer-driven economy.

== See also ==
{{div col|colwidth=18em}}
* {{annotated link|American Psycho|''American Psycho''}}
* {{annotated link|Anthropological theories of value}}
* {{annotated link|Bourgeois personality}}
* {{annotated link|Commercialism}}
* {{annotated link|Commodity fetishism}}
* {{annotated link|Consumer Bill of Rights}}
* {{annotated link|Consumer capitalism}}
* {{annotated link|Consumer culture}}
* {{annotated link|Consumer ethnocentrism}}
* {{annotated link|Consumer movement}}
* {{annotated link|Consumtariat}}
* {{annotated link|Corporatocracy}}
* {{annotated link|Cost the limit of price}}
* {{annotated link|Dawn of the Dead (1978 film)|''Dawn of the Dead''}}
* {{annotated link|Economic materialism}}
* {{annotated link|Fight Club (novel)|''Fight Club''}}
* {{annotated link|Geoffrey Miller (psychologist)|Geoffrey Miller}}
* {{annotated link|Greed}}
* {{annotated link|Homo consumericus}}
* {{annotated link|Horace Kallen}}
* {{annotated link|Hyperconsumerism}}
* {{annotated link|Hypermobility (travel)}}
* {{annotated link|Idiocracy|''Idiocracy''}}
* {{annotated link|Keeping up with the Joneses|"Keeping up with the Joneses"}}
* {{annotated link|Keynesianism}}
* {{annotated link|Moonlight clan}}
* {{annotated link|One-Dimensional Man|''One-Dimensional Man''}}
* {{annotated link|Overconsumption}}
* {{annotated link|Participatory culture}}
* {{annotated link|Philosophy of futility}}
* {{annotated link|Planetary boundaries}}
* {{annotated link|Planned obsolescence}}
* {{annotated link|Post-materialism}}
* {{annotated link|Productivism}}
* {{annotated link|Prosumer}}
* {{annotated link|Sharing economy}}
* {{annotated link|Shopping addiction}}
* {{annotated link|Steady state economy}}
* {{annotated link|Supermarket}}
* [[Surplus economics]]
* {{annotated link|The Century of the Self|''The Century of the Self''}}
* {{annotated link|The Joneses|''The Joneses''}}
* {{annotated link|They Live|''They Live''}}
* {{annotated link|The Paradox of Choice|''The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less''}}
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |editor-last1=Aaker |editor-first1=David A. |title=Consumerism: Search for the Consumer Interest |date=1982 |publisher=[[Free Press (publisher)|Free Press]] |location=New York |isbn=978-0-02-900150-9 |edition=4th}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Buskirk |first1=Richard H. |last2=Rothe |first2=James T. |title=Consumerism—An Interpretation |journal=[[Journal of Marketing]] |date=1970 |volume=34 |issue=4 |pages=61–65 |doi=10.1177/002224297003400410}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last1=Rief |first1=Silvia |title=Consumerism |encyclopedia=The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology |date=2021 |pages=1–4 |doi=10.1002/9781405165518.wbeos1788 |isbn=978-1-4051-6551-8}}
* {{cite book |last1=Miles |first1=Steven |title=Consumerism: As a Way of Life |date=1998 |publisher=[[Sage Publications]] |location=Thousand Oaks, Calif |isbn=978-0-7619-5214-5}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Wiktionary}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130126052213/http://www.brunswickgroup.com/files/html/brunswickreviewIssue6/assets/pdf/6-Consumer-Culture.pdf "Consumer Culture"], by Ginny Wilmerding.
* [http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=12794 "Consumers may not realize the full impact of their choices" ]
* [https://www.academia.edu/3230921/Globalizing_Consumption_and_the_Deferral_of_a_Politics_of_Consequence "Globalizing consumption"] by Paul James and Andy Scerri
* [http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/19050-the-experiment-requires-that-you-continue-obedience-to-corporate-state-authority-in-an-increasingly-dangerous-consumer-society  "Obedience, Consumerism, and Climate Change"], by Yosef Brody
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160323061855/http://www.consumersolidarity.org/,/ A Global Consumer Solidarity Movement]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/19970217210710/http://www.adbusters.org/ AdBusters], an anti-consumerism magazine
* [http://www.steadystate.org Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy], a post-consumerist macro-economic framework
* [http://www.circlesofsustainability.org/ Circles of Sustainability], website for the [[Circles of Sustainability]] approach
* [http://develop.consumerium.org/wiki/Main_Page  Consumerium Development Wiki], a wiki related to consumer activism
* [https://www.academia.edu/4501557/Globalization_and_Culture_Vol._3_Global-Local_Consumption_editor_with_Imre_Szeman_Sage_Publications_London_2010 ''Global-local consumption''], by Imre Szeman and Paul James
* [https://www.npr.org/2021/08/12/1026993142/illinois-is-the-first-state-to-have-high-schools-teach-news-literacy Peter Medlin, WNIJ, "Illinois Is the First State to Have High Schools Teach News Literacy," ''National Public Radio,'' August 12, 2021]
* [http://www.postconsumers.com Postconsumers], moving beyond addictive consumerism
* [http://www.renegadeconsumer.com/ Renegade Consumer], an actively anti-consumerism organization
* [https://www.teof.uni-lj.si/uploads/File/BV/BV2021/03/Osweska.pdf The Human Being Lost in Consumerism: A Polish Perspective and Challenges in Religious Education], by Elżbieta Osewska and Józef Stala

{{consumerism}}
{{media culture}}
{{aspects of capitalism}}
{{fast culture}}

[[Category:Consumerism| ]]
[[Category:Consumer behaviour]]
[[Category:Economic ideologies]]
[[Category:Economic sociology]]