Unit 12: Affluence, Leisure, and Consumption Flashcards
Affluence
Having the economic means to privately afford leisure time and luxury material consumption. The state of having a great deal of money; wealth.
Luxury
Anything beyond basic subsistence
Leisure time
Time spent not working and not engaged in sustenance activities (eating, sleeping, etc…).
Leisure time in the Industrial Revolution
70 hour work weeks with very little leisure time per week. Workers earned only enough for a very meager existence
Leisure time in the early 1900s
Through the 19th and early 20th century, workers movements (unions) pushed for an 8 hour day and weekends off work. Wages increased to allow for a comfortable living with these hours
Leisure time in the 1920s
With basic needs met, there was a continued union push for establishing a 6 hour work day plus weekends (30 hrs/week). During the great depression, the government supported reduced working hours to try to spread employment out. It was predicted there would be a 15 hour work week in the 21st century.
Early 20th century working class and consumption
The working classes were modest consumers, but consumption was growing at a modest rate as people were demonstrating a greater interest in increasing their leisure time. The federal government and producers worried that without increased demand among the working classes, the economy would stagnate. The US government and US Corporations saw benefits in accelerating the growth of consumption among the masses.
How to accelerate consumer demand (4)
- Increase pay for working class, but push back against reduced working hours
- Improve access to credit
- Planned Obsolescence
- Advertising
Planned Obsolescence
Most products were ‘lifetime’ products and were often multi-generational. Producers and retailers realized that it would be difficult to maintain demand and sought to shorten the psychological and physical lifespan of products.
Rise of mass media and advertising
Radio and TV allowed advertisers access into the workers’ homes. Both became fundamental parts of everyday life and provided access directly to consumers in a way not possible in the past.
Today’s consumption
Significant overconsumption as too much is being consumed to be sustained, leading to catastrophe for species unless something changes.
Misconsumption
Individuals consume in a manner that it undermines their own well-being (suboptimal consumption). In most cases, it is people consuming more goods and services than they should, and working and/or going into debt more than they should.
Low cognition
When Factors other than logic of argument are used to persuade someone, often taking advantage of our heuristics and our emotions.
High cognition
Challenges brain patterns through comparing strengths/logic of argument by encouraging high effort processes by targeted individuals to consider. Change in brain patterns occurs when convinced by fact based argument.
Examples of low cognition (3)
- Emotional forms of engagement that disengage skepticism/mistrust using our emotions
- Characteristics of the Messenger (celebrities)
- Taking advantage of our fears and hopes regarding ‘Social Identity’ and ‘status’ (‘Descriptive Norm Messaging’ to define what is normal and desirable).
Self identity and consumption
Decisions to make purchases are part of an attempt to find meaning, status, and identity and results in misconsumption.
Decisions are heavily influenced by the cultural environment, Advertisers sell lifestyles instead of products, which act as conduits to the lifestyle.
Thorstein Veblen
Coined the term Conspicuous Consumption in his 1899 study of the wealthy class, which found that a large part of their expenditure was entirely focused on status.
Conspicous consumption
Consumption that the primary intent is based upon a goal of gaining status. It is not just about being at the top of the status hierarchy, it is about fitting in and not falling in status.
Status seeking
Focus of members of society becomes maintaining and enhancing status
Problem of status seeking
Status is a Zero Sum Game so at a societal level economic growth may be doing nothing to improve total ‘happiness’ and in fact may be reducing it through encouraging misconsumption and overconsumption.
“Normal “ consumption levels
Subjective to what is defined as “normal.” Most often middle class.
Basic life consumption levels (6)
To have a basic life, one is a high consumer due to:
1. Rent/mortgage
2. Utilities
3. Insurance
4. Childcare
5. Car payments
6. Phone payments
Household consumption levels (3)
Additional consumption on top of basic needs.
1. Eating out
2. Extracurriculars
3. Clothing
Impacts of commercial marketing
Continuation and expansion of a consumption based lifestyle. Happiness is
increasingly commodified.
Commercial marketing
Persuasion driven by industries that want you to consume their product.
Social Marketing
Persuasion by governments, NGOs, and others meant to change your behavior to support the social good.
Early Social Marketing
Often high cognition due to marketing seeking to explain ‘facts.’ Low Cognition Marketing involved mostly Injunctive Norm Messaging, telling someone else how they SHOULD behave.
Example of early social marketing (2)
“Everyone should recycle” its “The right thing to do”
Early social marketing effects
Limited effectiveness in changing behavior since Tragedy of the Commons effect lead to self interest often overriding ‘moral’ messages about doing the right thing.
Recent social marketing
Increasingly low cognition. Employs ‘Social Identity’ fears and ‘Descriptive norm messaging’ to make good environmental behavior desirable and environmentally harmful behavior undesirable. Humor, sex, celebrity etc… are used in the same ways that commercial marketers do.
Injunctive norm messaging
Telling someone else how they should behave.
Descriptive norm messaging
Effort to ‘Normalize’ good behavior and denormalize bad behavior. Generating a sense that the ‘normal’ and/or desirable state is one which involves the promoted behavior.
Descriptive messaging
Identifying what others are doing and using self concern about ‘fitting in’ as a means to influence behavior. More powerful than using injunctive norms alone.
Example of descriptive norm messaging
Smoking campaigns
