Consumerism (C7) Flashcards
Consumerism
Economic theory that links to prosperity to consumer demand; that makes consumer decisions essential and central to economics (more people buy, better the economy)
Case: How did consumerism affect North America’s auto industry?
Better cars, more and longer warrants due to consumer demand and foreign competition
What factors affect your behavior as a consumer?
Wants and needs, morals, beliefs, habits, background, experiences, economic situation, marketing, jobs etc.
Case: Edmonton ban on junk food
Factor: Health & Safety
- Junk food bad for kids, causes addiction and unhealthy environment
- Banned in schools
Case: Calgary and trans-fat
Factor: Health & Safety
- Trans-fat clogs arteries and cardiac arrest kills at some point in life
- New govt regulations
Legislation about Consumer Health/Safety
- Products must have ingredients listed
- Air bags and seat belts mandatory in cars (Canada only seat belt mandatory)
- Voluntarily asking companies to lower trans-fat levels
How does consumerism relate to employment and what is the Pen/Pencil economic model (Jobs factor)?
Pen = Store workers (Salespeople, marketers, managers) + Transport workers (Truckers, warehouse staff, managers, support) + Manufacturing plant workers. (…) + Plastics (…) + Metal supply workers (…) etc.
Why is consumer spending important for economic growth?
Increases transactions, flows economy, more wealth overall; GDP; In 2007 Canadian consumers spent more than $400 billion on products/services; in US, consumer spending accounts to 70% of economic activity
What measures a country’s economic growth?
How much profit is being made from products, how many people have jobs/income
(IF LESS JOBS OR LESS PROFITS = SHRINKING ECONOMY)
Pen model (Factor: Environment)
-Packaging, plastic, ink, metals all have toxic byproducts
Legislation about Consumerism and the Environment
- Both Canada and U.S. have banned lead gasoline due to detrimental effects on human health
- govt programs label good energy appliances
Factor: Marketing (Analysis)
- How good a product brand/introduction looks, how popular is it, testimony, bandwagon, emotional etc. (advertising)
- Competition Act: Cannot do misleading info; fair competition
Cartoons (Analysis):
- Cartoon 1: Man frowning towards scene where: “Buyables”; “Disposables” next to store=quick buy-discard cycle (wasteful);
- Message: Criticizing wastefulness of society
- Cartoon: “Gullib-Os” cereal for people who ‘will believe anything’, represents misinformation (e.g. “might help lose weight”, “smarter”, etc.)
- Message: Criticizing consumers who will believe everything companies say about products
Boycott
A decision by consumers to stop buying a product/service to bring about change
How does consumerism affect quality of life?
Consumerism affects what decisions you make, and the things you buy and your economic situation together form the economic side of your QoL
How does prosperity differ regionally?
Different countries have different economic situations (GDP/capita), and based on these differences we classify countries as “developed” vs “developing” vs “undeveloped” (e.g. Canada and US are “developed” while Mexico is “Developing”)
How does prosperity affect consumerism?
Countries with less prosperity in general (GDP/capita) will have more conservative spending while prosperous countries will have a broader demand of products
What is GDP?
- Gross Domestic Product
- Something that measures the amount of wealth a country’s economy generates (every transaction contributes)
- GDP/capita = GDP/person
- estimates QoL of people
- E.g. Canada $33000, US $46000
Examples of organizations/consumers using boycotts to respond to issues: - Greenpeace oil/gas boycott pressure - (Canada) Les Patriotes “No!” to British Products - Stopping logging in Lubicon Lake Cree 1991-1998 - Animal rights cosmetics
- Greenpeace oil/gas boycott pressure
- (Canada) Les Patriotes “No!” to British Products
- Stopping logging in Lubicon Lake Cree 1991-1998 - Animal rights cosmetics
What was the Les Patriotes boycott?
Louis-Joseph Papineau organized Canadiens in Lower Canada (will be Quebec) to boycott British goods in 1837 for political movement (more democratic); caused Rebellion of 1837, was suppressed by military force
What was the Lubicon Land Boycott?
People boycotted Daishowa Ltd. products (pulp/paper) to protect Cree land rights and forest land; This cost Daishowa millions
