THE MATERIAL / ECONOMIC SELF

Introduction

Shopping has turned into a lifestyle. We consume as leisure and a way to pass time. But at the same time
many are realizing that the power of consumption is stopping us from finding true and sincere
happiness; and that shopping often works as a substitute for something that we’re missing in life. At
what point does the accumulation of material goods become less fulfilling and more stressful and
overwhelming? It is all about what we buy and what we choose to invest in, the world we live in will be
the result of those choices (Carlson. 2008).

Pre-assessment
Questions
1. What are your considerations when you purchase a product?
2. Are the products you buy somehow related to your personality? Explain.

I shop; therefore, I am: I have; therefore, I am?

The word” consume” often has a negative and fleeting connotation and the digital encyclopedia
Dictionary.com describes it as” use up, to spend wastefully, to destroy”. Thus, the opposite of
consumption would be to create, save, make and build.

But to consume is at the same time something positive. We consume restaurant visits, theatre shows,
travels, education and so forth. Many enriching and life enhancing experiences springs from
consumption.

Today more and more people question the current consumption hysteria. It is clear that everything is
getting cheaper – seen to production. Things, stuff, gadgets, widgets, devices; our homes and our lives
are more than full. Up until now it has not been an exaggeration to say “the one who has the most things
when he dies wins”. However, many are realizing that the power of consumption is stopping us from
finding true and sincere happiness; and that shopping often works as a substitute for something that
we’re missing in life. One can also put an ethical value in consumption. Is it right to consume as a hobby
when million people go to bed hungry? Consumption has highlights from different point of views; both
ethical, social, political, economic and humanistic. Each and every person of course has the right to satisfy
his or her basal needs such as nutritious food and a roof over their head. That is fundamental justice and
equality for everyone on planet earth (Carlson, D. 2008).

On the other hand, our whole life seems to be about having and possessing. The more one consumes, the
more one has.

Identity and Consumer Culture

Consumer culture is a form of material culture facilitated by the market, which thus created a particular
relationship between the consumer and the goods or services he or she uses or consumes. Consumer
culture is more about the relationship between the material and the cultural rather than the status and
inequalities implied by the ownership of consumer goods. In this sense consumer culture is not simply a
process by which commercial products are “used up” by consumers. People’s relationship to consumer
culture is meaningful and reflects, and potentially reproduces, particular values and forms of status. In
this sense consumer culture arguably lies at the heart of the relationship between structure and agency in
contemporary society (Miles, S. 2017).

What people buy, is what they are.

Consumers’ choices to purchase, display, and use the products or brands helped them communicate the
symbolic meaning to themselves as well as to others. Thus, the greater the congruity between human
characteristics that exhibit consumers’ senses of self and the characteristics that depicted a brand, the
greater the consumers’ preferences were for the brand (Sung, Choi & Tinkman, 2012).

Meanwhile, according to Gallinero, et al (2028), studies have observed that every waking moment in a
modern lifestyle has become a cycle of “alternating time-space for work and time-space for consumption”
(Sassatile, R. 2007, p.3). Slater (1997) outlined some main features and characteristics in consumer culture:
1. Consumer culture is a culture of consumption.
2. Consumer culture is the culture of consumer society.
3. Consumer culture is universal and impersonal.
4. Consumer culture identifies freedom with private choice and life.
5. Consumer needs are insatiable and unlimited.
Consumer culture is a privileged medium for building personal identity and status

The Role of the Media in Consumer Culture

From the beginning of consumer culture, the media, particularly print advertisements, were used to help
inculcate demand for newly mass-produced goods. Stuart Ewen (1976) maintains that before the advent
of mass production, industry had produced for a limited, largely middle-and upper-class market.
However, with the revolution in production, particularly Fordism (i.e., the useof the assembly line to
mass-produce consumer goods), industry required an equivalent revolution in consumption. The
mechanism of mass production could not function unless markets became more dynamic, growing
horizontally (nationally), vertically (into social classes not previously among the consumers), and
ideologically. The media were used to encourage people to respond to the demands of the productive
machinery. Ewen identifies "captains of consciousness," industry leaders and advertising executives, as
the chief architects of the new social structure that privileged the consumption of mass-produced
materials.

Inspired by the social psychology of Floyd Henry Allport (1924), advertisers tried to grasp the nature of
human motivation. They believed that if human "instincts" were properly understood, they could be
manipulated not only to induce consumers to buy particular products but also to create in them a
habitual desire to participate in the marketplace to extract social meaning. That is, not only might the
consumers buy the advertised product, but they might also use the advertisement to understand their
social selves, others, and the culture at large. Advertisements were to be the substance of mass culture's
dreams. In such a case, the social control of the captain would be maximized (Ewen, 1976, p. 81)

As Ewen (1976) indicates, this project of social control was accomplished through the presentation of
partial truths depicted through commercialized expression, namely art. Ewen states, "Artists, often gifted
in their sensitivities to human frailties, were called upon to use those sensitivities for manipulation" (pp.
65-66). The images these artists produced painted industry as a benevolent fatherly figure that held
society together, able to fulfill all of mass society's dreams by depicting perfect harmony, happiness, and
opportunity for all.

Effects of Consumerism

Amitabh, S. (2009), defines consumerism as the consumption of goods at a higher rate. The production
and selling of goods judge the economy. The gross national product is the total of goods and services
produced for a specific period at a specific time. She also identifies the effects of consumerism.

Positive Consumerism Effects:

Primary positive consumerism effects are:
● More industrial production.
● A higher growth rate economy.
● More goods and services available.
● More advertising since goods manufactured have to be sold.
● Increased production will result in more employment opportunities.
● A variety of goods and services to choose from.
● More comforts for a better living style.
There are always certain pitfalls to a given situation in a society. Material prosperity may be there in
consumerism but, it has its negative effects on the people and society at large.

Negative Consumerism Effects:

Top negative consumerism effects are:
● Craving for goods is high. The wants and desires of the people increase. The better their income,
the better their purchasing power.
● Over-dependence on labor-saving devices.
● Crime rate also increases as wants to possess expensive things increase. Thefts become common,
and daylight robberies take place.
● Cheaper goods are imported from other goods affecting the growth of locally-based
manufacturing industries.
● Consumerism has also resulted in ecological imbalances - natural habitat destroyed, global
warming result in health problems, and industrial pollution affects people in many ways.
● People lifestyles have also changed in a sense they are more lavish, full of material comforts
rather than focusing on simplicity.
● Psychological health also can get affected if one’s desires are not meant, such as depression.

Brief Discussion
Questions
1. Explain the meaning of I shop; therefore, I am: I have; therefore, I am?
2. How can consumer culture influence your behavior as a consumer?
3. Share an experience you can relate to either positive or negative effect of consumerism.

 Enhancement Activity

Ask your classmate about a particular thing his/her parents bought him/her. If he/she/ knows the reason
why, request him/her to share it to you. From the conversation, draw a conclusion about the
characteristics of the parents as consumers.

 Generalization

What is the full concept of the Material Self?

Application.

Enumerate at least five things you want to buy for yourself and the amount you allot for each
item. Basing on your list, analyze your status and values as a consumer.

Course Packet Discussion Forum

Write a slogan about the Material Self. Explain briefly.

Post-Assessment
Essay: Explain the quotation below.
Activity Sheet
1. Put a check on the pictures that you would like to spend your money with.
2. On the space provided below, write a short essay, with a title, about yourself as a consumer.
________________________________ASSESSMENT
Answer the following questions.
1. What are the characteristics of a consumer.
2. Explain how consumer culture affect one’s behavior in consumption.
Assignment
Write your own ideas on the following:
1. What is spirituality? Religion?
2. Why is spirituality and religion important?
Learner’s Feedback Form
 

Name of Student: __________________________________________________________

Program : __________________________________________________________

Year Level : ______________ Section : __________________

Faculty : __________________________________________________________

Schedule : __________________________________________________________

Course Packet : Code : _________ Title : __________________________________

How do you feel about the topic or concept presented?

 I completely get it.  I’m struggling.

 I’ve almost got it.  I’m lost.

In what particular portion of this course packet, you feel that you are struggling or lost?

_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

Did you raise your concern to you instructor?  Yes  No

If Yes, what did he/she do to help you?

_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

If No, state your reason?

_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

To further improve this course packet, what part do you think should be enhanced?

_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

How do you want it to be enhanced?

_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________