Every week on Nightline we open up the phone lines for a conversation on an issue.
This week we were asking if you feel that you are a victim of consumerism?
Do we need the new car? New iphone? new pant suit (who wears a pant suit)?
We want to get people to call in and share how they bought because they felt they had to not because they wanted to.
Is out of control consumerism inevitable or can we stop it?
Here is a look at what some of the the listeners had to say over the SMS.
Consumerism is an evil parallel religion in its own right that one should fight.
Fadi
Need means greed nowadays Trish :-)
Hi james. Yes its very tempting to get the latest jeep, ive often looked at the wrangler, but i have to say my '95 xj cherokee has become far too good to sell! Unbeatable off road, and it has taken a beating! B rgds ian (the skoda guy) ;-)
Contentment is an inexhaustible treasure. Mustafa
The apple sale figures proofs that we can put togethe thirteen million greedy people with a good blitz
Regards Afzal
My niece was about to make her grandma trip over...when she was told to look out....she said no problem.
We can always get another grandma from Carrefour...
It's simple. If what you've got is working, don't change it. My 2005 Pajero have done 320000 Km and it still drives so well!!!
business trends : consumer behaviour controls by marketing strategies and product life cycle is shorter.Buthaina
Can't stop myself to buy new lure when I pass by fishing shop
Perhaps electronics and white goods manufacturers could be forced to better produce and better distribute economically priced spare parts in order to encourage repairing in place of throwing away. (Tim Holmes in Ajman)
Satisficing (satisfaction + sacrifice) example. Cost of Good 800mm camera lens is $1,000. Next level quality is for $18,000. Do we need to spend 17k forlittle better picture?
Best
Ali
Friend of mine has this self correction thing. If he likes something, he takes a look and then sleeps on it for a week; if he cannot stop thinking about, might as well get it otherwise he's forgotten about it - Saad Zafar
I must admit I have a bit of a tech addiction. Recently the only thing which has been keeping me from getting the latest and greatest is that I have forced some sanity into myself. Plus, I dont like where Samsung has taken their phones anyway -Erik
he problem is ads push us to buy items on sale at half price which we don't want to throw away import item at home ultimately doubling our expense
Dr James,
Always good to listen to you. The problem is much greater. Not only wastage of resources and money, the disappointing quality deterioration ofa range of products bought here should be discussed !!! And counterfeit products a big challenge in this environment of high pressure to purchase
Berhanu
And here are the show notes!
Apple today announced that opening weekend sales for the brand-new iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus have exceeded thirteen million units, breaking the previous record of ten million units sold by the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus last year.
http://www.salon.com/2014/11/02/fast_cheap_and_out_of_control_how_hyper_consumerism_drives_us_mad/
Think of it: 48,800 items in the average American supermarket, 500 or more stations on satellite TV, 125 beverage options in a single Coke machine, 65 different styles with 140 color and fabric options—a total of 9,100 options from a single dress company, a new Nook with 700,000 Google apps. Does this endless proliferation of consumer products really give people more choices or just different variations of the same options? Is it really true that more choices are always better?
Modernization’s strategy of planned obsolescence, entrepreneurs’ insistence on incessant innovation, and modernism’s dedication to making it new intersect in the world of contemporary fashion to expose the irrationality and inefficiency of today’s markets. Modernism, we have seen, is defined by its thoroughgoing commitment to the new or, more precisely, to an endless process of renewal.
The American clothing industry today is a $12 billion business and the average American family spends $1,700 on clothes. Cline observes, “Nowadays, an annual budget of $1700 can buy a staggering surfeit of clothing, including 485 ‘Fab Scoopneck’ tops from Forever 21 or 340 pairs of ladies’ sandals from Family Dollar or 163 pairs of seersucker Capri pants from Goody’s or 56 pairs of Mossimo ‘Skinny Utility’ cargo pants from Target or 47 pairs of glitter platform wedges from Charlotte Russe or 11 men’s Dockers suits from JCPenney or 6 Lauren by Ralph Lauren sequin evening gowns.” In much of Europe, where fast fashion started, the situation is even crazier. In an article entitled “Britain’s Bulging Closet: Growth of ‘Fast Fashion’ Means Women Are Buying HALF Their Body Weight in Clothes Each Year,” Paul Sims reports that the average woman in England has twenty-two garments hanging in her closet that she has never worn and will spend on average $201,000 on clothing during her lifetime.
http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/press/press-releases/2013/november/university-of-leicester-academic-encourages-day-off-from-2018out-of-control-consumerism2019
