Sociology 125 Lecture 8 Thursday, September 25, 2014 Consumerism No Office Hours today

Definitions Consumerism: The belief that personal well-being, happiness and status depend largely on the level of personal consumption, particularly the acquisition of material goods. Hyper-consumerism: the frenetic pursuit of consumer goods

Growth in median size of new home construction in the U.S.,

Construction of small and big houses,

What is wrong with consumerism?

1.There are big negative externalities from consumerism 2.Consumerism in fact does not make most people happy 3. There are systematic biases in the system which generate consumerism. If these system-biases were eliminated, many – maybe most – people would adopt a less consumerist life style.

What is wrong with consumerism? 1.There are big negative externalities from consumerism 2.Consumerism in fact does not make most people happy 3. There are systematic biases in the system which generate consumerism. If these system-biases were eliminated, many – maybe most – people would adopt a less consumerist life style.

What is wrong with consumerism? 1.There are big negative externalities from consumerism 2.Consumerism in fact does not make most people happy 3. There are systematic biases in the system which generate consumerism. If these system-biases were eliminated, many – maybe most – people would adopt a less consumerist life style.

System bias #1: Market-failures in leisure

Number of hours more per year on average that Americans work than people in other countries, weeks 3.4 weeks 7.8 weeks 9.8 weeks

From Juliet Schor, The Overworked American, p. 130

Average actual weeks of paid vacation for full time workers

System bias #2: Profit maximizing strategies and consumerist culture

1 week of time 2 weeks of time

Alternative views of the impact of advertising: 1.Advertising mainly provides information about what is available: consumers are “free to choose;” their preferences remain autonomous (“consumer sovereignty”). 2.Advertising creates shared desires and dissatisfactions: consumer preferences are not autonomous.

System bias #3: Changing reference group for consumption norms

System bias #4: Credit cards

Credit Cards & Consumer Debt Consumer debt grew from $898 billion in 1980 to $2.4 trillion in 2011Consumer debt grew from $898 billion in 1980 to $2.4 trillion in 2011 Average credit card balance for families with a balance grew from $3,312 in 1989 to $7,100 in 2010 (in 2013 inflation adjusted dollars)Average credit card balance for families with a balance grew from $3,312 in 1989 to $7,100 in 2010 (in 2013 inflation adjusted dollars) U.S. households received a total of 7 billion credit card solicitations in 2006 (just before the Great Recession), falling to 2.6 billion in 2012.U.S. households received a total of 7 billion credit card solicitations in 2006 (just before the Great Recession), falling to 2.6 billion in 2012.

System bias #5: Rising inequality increases consumerism: positional goods

System bias #6: Abandonment of public consumption by affluent