• In previous years the growing wealth in western countries has caused consumer habits to change. Some consumers don’t realize some serious issues they are implicated in, they just see themselves as usual consumers. Those consumers have an issue which they can’t control – you can for example compare those to alcoholics. These consumers with control problems are usually impulse buyers, when they are stressed or feeling depressed they spend, spend, spend to make themselves feel better. But who should you blame for this? The ceaseless advertising?
• Jacob Sorensen, a Danish author conducted research in people’s consumption and how stores attract them. One chapter in his book “Round the time-spirit” explains how people have found their God, and this so-called God is named “The consumption God”. You just have to think about how the shopping centre’s interior is well-adjusted to the consumer’s, and you could compare it to temples.
• Jacob Sorensen also describes how youngsters’ have fallen for this so-called consumption God. Young people don’t see the need to save their money, as soon as they have some money their first thoughts are of what they can buy, not of how they can invest. The author compares today’s generation with older generations. In the past people thought more about their purchases, unlike the current generation who will buy something if it remotely interests them. Today’s youth purchase products readily, without giving them much, if any thought. Naturally this has something to do with the ever increasing purchasing power of their demographic.
• From a young age consumers are used to getting what they want, when they want it. This is good for the market but detrimental to the consumer as they aren’t saving money for their future with constant purchases of luxury goods they do not need. /////
• As mentioned before the purchasing power in western countries has increasing tremendously, and that has made some changes in our daily life regarding shopping. These consumers with control problems are a completely new phenomenon in the 21th century. We consume more and more, this is positive, but although do they go too far? And are they overreacting?
• Among those consumers, there are some who want be ethically correct – this is also a new phenomenon. Those consumers need self-knowledge, so they feel better about themselves when they buy an ethical product. For example we can take coffee from less developed countries – if the coffee is certificated with a special sign that assure you as consumer, that he workers aren’t underpaid nor forced to do their job. This gives the consumer self-esteem, and makes the individual consumer think he has made a difference in the positive direction. Although this is just a temporary feeling, so therefore the consumer will continue purchasing ethical products.
• A bank reports that Britons nearly spent anticipated £ 26 billion on ethical goods in 2004, which is a increase with 15% of the former year. We can obviously see that huge change among Britons – but how long can this continue without damaging the poor people? Consumers tries to shop ethically correct, but they are at the same time responsible that people will lose their jobs in the third world. Helpless people who try to provide food for their families, and thanks to the ethical consumers, suddenly they can’t take care of their families no more. How ethical can you be now? This is a paradox, if you choose to boycott non fair-trade products it will harm the poor family, and if you don’t, it will harm the environment. So therefore it’s a tough decision you have to make.
• We still drive big vehicles these days. We use plenty of gasoline, which are damaging our environment, and this deterioration isn’t a benefit for our next generations. Even if we quite understand this issue, we don’t this freedom to be taken away from us, so therefore we don’t speculate about it. Famous people like Thandie Newton, a British actress, has tried to represent a good behavior towards our environment with driving around in an hybrid car, this way get more celebrities and be haft more important the population as if the famous can drive around in these car, so can we – like be a image to the population. There has been a lot of talking about the global warming problem, about the carbon emissions and there are a lot of focus on it, but not enough action, but government has started doing something now, specially the EU has added some straight rules about how much power has to come from renewable, this is a step for the companies, but private consumers also has to do something for this to be able to happen.