CHAPTER 3: MATERIAL OR ECONOMIC SELF Flashcards
• Refer either to the simple pre occupation with the material world, as opposed to intellectual or spiritual concepts, or to the theory that physical matter is all there is
MATERIALISM
• It is held by those who maintain that existence is explainable solely in material terms, with no accounting of spirit or consciousness
MATERIALISM
the decade of materialism in the United States
1980
self-absorption to the exclusion of others
signs of materialism
desire for immediate gratification
signs of materialism
Consumer Culture Over the Centuries
FRANK TRENTMANN: THE MATERIAL SELF
Venetian senate ruled that no more than six forks and six spoons could be given as wedding gifts and no gilded chests or mirrors at all
1512
Wuttemberg, Germany, women were fined a month’s pay or thrown in jail for sporting a fashionable handkerchief
18th century
“material self” was not all that ground breaking
Jean – Jacques Rousseau
“material self” was not all that ground breaking
In the West
envision a flow between spirits and objects and things can take on divine qualities
Shinto and Buddhism
unproductive use of wealth
• Conspicuous Consumption
- Meant to criticize how new elite use richly decorated homes and expensively dressed wives to cement their social status
• Conspicuous Consumption
Theory of the Leisure Classes
Thorstein Veblen
about the attack to the new rich of America (1890s)
Theory of the Leisure Classes
The more we invest of ourselves in these objects, the more attached to them we inevitably are to them.
WILLIAM JAMES: MATERIAL SELF
constituted by our bodies, clothes, immediate family and home. It is to these things, according to James that we are the most deeply affected by because of our investments of self within these things.
WILLIAM JAMES: MATERIAL SELF
uses the principle that we are motivated to achieve certain needs take precedence over others.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Our most basic need is for physical survival, and this will be the first thing to motivate our behavior. Once that level is fulfilled, the next level up is what motivates us and so on.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
very important as to how we enter a buying experience
our initial state
our body image issues or suffering from depression affect our purchasing behavior
If we have low self-esteem
derived from our social status, money, how we raised, family values, culture, social class, etc.
perception of luxury
each individual has slight difference view on what luxury is and what makes us feel ‘worth it’
perception of luxury
drive us to purchase, it just depends from what emotional state you start your shopping journey from
ego and insecurity
