12: Affluence, Leisure, and Consumption

Question 1

Having the economic means to privately afford leisure time and luxury material consumption

Answer 1

Affluence

Question 2

What is leisure time? Rationally, we should…

Answer 2

Time spent not working and not engaging in sustenance activities (eating, sleeping)

Rationally, we should balance our work and leisure time to maximize our utility

Question 3

Average amount of time spent working in the industrial revolution? The early 1900s?

Answer 3

Industrial rev = ~70 hours a week

Early 1900s = workers movement pushed for an 8 hour day and weekends off

Question 4

What were unions pushing for in the 1920s? When was their success regarding this push?

Answer 4

6 hour work day plus weekends (30h/week)

During the great depression, govt supported reduced working hours to try and spread employment out

Question 5

Who was John Maynard Keynes and what did he believe regarding work hours?

Answer 5

Famous economist

Believed in the 21st century a 15h work week would suffice

Question 6

Why was the government interested in increasing consumption in the 20th century?

Answer 6

If you wanted to see economic growth, you could not have the working class reducing their work hours and consuming very little

People are happier when economy is growing
In democracies we re-elect economically successful govts

Growth = larger military

Question 7

Why were corporations interested in increased consumption?

Answer 7

They like profits

Sell more products = more success/money

Question 8

Four ways of accelerating consumer demand

Answer 8

1. Increase pay for working class (while pushing back against reduced working hours)
2. Improve access to credit
3. Planned obsolescence
4. Advertising

Question 9

What is psychological vs physical obsolescence and what did corporations do with regards to obsolescence to maintain demand for products?

Answer 9

Psychological: effort to introduce fashion and style to the working class so after a couple of years products (cars, clothes) would go out of style

Physical: products do not function for long periods of time, break down after short period

Producers maintained demand by shortening psychological and physical lifespans of products

Question 10

Examples of physical obsolescence

Answer 10

e.g. iPhone breaking down after two years

e.g. repairability of products (access to parts, specialized screws)

Question 11

Advancements that allowed for the rise of mass media advertising in the 20th century

Answer 11

Radio and TV allowed advertisers access into the homes of the masses (both became fundamental parts of everyday life)

Question 12

What is overconsumption? Misconsumption?

Answer 12

Over: too much is being consumed to be sustained leading to catastrophe for species unless something changes (species/societal level)

Mis: individual consumes in such a manner that it undermines his/her own well being e.g. debt (individual level)

Question 13

What is persuasion?

Answer 13

A form of social influence
Process of guiding another person to changing their beliefs or preferences

Intentional socialization

Question 14

Incentive based paths of changing beliefs/preferences

Answer 14

• social rewards/punishments
• formal (legal) rewards and punishments

Both lead to a behaviour change that can lead to belief/preference changes

Slide 32

Question 15

What are paths of persuasion?

Answer 15

Use of high or low cognitive persuasion to change beliefs/preferences leading to behaviour change

Slide 34, 36

Question 16

Challenging old and new beliefs/preferences through comparing strengths/logic of argument

Answer 16

High cognition

Question 17

What is low cognition

Answer 17

When facts other than logic of argument are used to persuade someone often taking advantage of our heuristics and our emotions

Question 18

How does low cognition take advantage of heuristics and emotions

Answer 18

• emotional forms of engagement that disengage skepticism/mistrust using humour, fear, excitement
• characteristics of the messenger (authority, musicians)
• taking advantage of our fears and hopes regarding social identity and status

Question 19

Three parts of social/self identity

Answer 19

Ideal self (actions/behaviour/lifestyle we deem as ideal)

Real self

Failed self

Question 20

How does social/self identity affect consumption?

Answer 20

• decisions to make purchases are part of an attempt to find meaning, status, and identity
• products are no longer sold by advertisers, instead lifestyles are sold (products are conduits to a lifestyle)

Question 21

What term did Veblen coin? What does it mean?

Answer 21

Conspicuous consumption

Consumption with the primary intent being to gain status

Question 22

Conspicuous consumption is not just about being at the top of the status hierarchy, it is…

Answer 22

about fitting in and and not falling in status

Question 23

Focus of members of society becoming maintaining and enhancing status

Answer 23

Status seeking

Question 24

What is the problem with status seeking

Answer 24

Zero sum game

Nobody is really advancing if everyone improves
Does nothing to improve total happiness (may reduce it bc of misconsumption and overconsumption)

Question 25

Examples of ‘automatic’ costs related to living in North America

Answer 25

• rent/mortgage
• utilities
• insurance
• child care
• cellphone
• car payment

Question 26

Impact of commercial marketing

Answer 26

Appears to be supporting continuation and expansion of consumption based lifestyle/happiness

Question 27

What is commercial marketing? Social marketing?

Answer 27

Commercial: persuasion driven by industries that want you to consume their product

Social marketing: persuasion by governments, NGOs, and others meant to change your behaviour to support the social good

Question 28

Slide 66

Answer 28

look

Question 29

Early efforts at social marketing were mostly… effectiveness?

Answer 29

• High cognition (seeking to explain facts)
• Low cognition involving injunctive norm messaging

Limited effectiveness in changing behaviour: self interest over-rides ‘moral’ message

Question 30

What is injunctive norm messaging? What is the problem with it

Answer 30

Telling someone else how they should behave
e.g. bc it is the right thing to do

There is an unintended underlying message that says most people do the wrong thing, and a lot of people want to fit in

Question 31

Recent approaches to social marketing? Type of messaging?

Answer 31

More low cognition tactics

Descriptive norm messaging is an effort to normalize good behaviour and denormalize bad behaviour

Question 32

What are descriptive messages

Answer 32

Identifying what others are doing and using self concern about fitting in as a means to influence behaviour