1) Expanding Leisure Time

2) Expanding Consumer Choices

3) Patterns of Consumption

3) Patterns of Consumption

Over the years, certain patterns of consumer consumption have emerged. In Part 3, we'll take a look at the environment in which a consumer makes a choice of what to consume. In Module 6, we'll look at the techniques used to influence that choice.

1) Consumption is not always rational

Our choices can be (and some critics say nearly always are) driven by emotional and psychological factors.

"New research reveals while some super-shoppers spend to boost self-esteem and band-aid other perceived internal deficits, others' carts are driven by plain-old materialism. Whatever the motivation, however, researchers mostly agree that buying behaviors can range from frivolous fun to serious addiction."

Click here to read "Why we buy: The truth about shopoholics."

"Competitive Consumption," consuming based on social comparison, became driven by media images rather than neighborhood experience.

Instead of keeping up with the Joneses, we tried to keep up with the Kardashians, the Hiltons ("Dynasty"), and even the JWowws.

Luxury became more visible through advertising, leading to increased pressure for "upscale imitation."

Because we no longer compared ourselves just to our neighbors, our notion of luxury expanded. We began to "want" things to satisfy our desire, not to meet our needs.

This could be due to manipulative marketing.

It could be due to the lack of accurate information, a "surveillance" failure.

It could be due to Psychological Noise. They block messages that contradict their "need" to purchase.

It could also be due to the lack of initiative by the consumer, such as relying on the opinions of others.

Remember the commercial with Anna? Or the one on the right with Gabrielle Reece? In these, we are influenced by the consumption of strangers.

But one of the most powerful motivators of consumption is "word of mouth" because of the power of interpersonal relationships. Family and friends have a great influence on both our general level of consumption and on the consumption of specific brands and products.

Ideally, people consume only as much as their resources allow.

In reality, we consume regardless of our resources.

When I was a child and took more food than I could eat, my mother would say "Your eyes are bigger than your stomach." Sometimes we consume goods the same way, often "our eyes are bigger than our lives."

There is a movement in American aimed at breaking these patterns of consumption. But is it strong enough to overcome our obsession with "stuff"?

"In contemporary American culture, consuming is as authentic as it gets. Advertisements, getting a bargain, garage sales, and credit cards are firmly entrenched pillars of our way of life. We shop on our lunch hours, patronize outlet malls on vacation, and satisfy our latest desires with a late-night click of the mouse.

Yet for all its popularity, the shopping mania provokes considerable dis-ease: many Americans worry about our preoccupation with getting and spending. They fear we are losing touch with more worthwhile values and ways of living."

Click here to read "The New Politics of Consumption."