Concept in Definition ABC

The term consumption is a term that can be understood both in an economic sense as well as in a social sense.

Action of consuming a good or service or a food

When we talk about consumption we are referring to the action of consuming, buying different types of products or services that may present different degrees of importance or relevance with regard to our quality of lifetime.

Consumption has to do with economy since it is the factor that encourages the movement economic and that gives it dynamism. At the same time, consumption is a social phenomenon since it can be transformed into a lifestyle and significantly change the way in which individuals develop their day-to-day life. Consumption also has to do with spending, just as it happens with Energy, with a food, with a service.

Consumption: engine of the capitalist system

The notion of consumption of goods, products and services is closely related to the capitalist system. Although in the history of humanity the notion of consumption was always present, it obtains a special value or meaning from the moment in which the consumer

capitalism it is established as the governing system of society. This is so because one of the most important elements of capitalism is the circulation of capital or money through, precisely, the purchase and sale of products, that is, consumption.

Consumption is what follows the production of certain products and services, being the final step in the economic chain. Thus, the higher the consumption, the higher the production and therefore the more dynamic the economy. Consumption always implies the possession of a certain amount of money or capital that is invested in the purchase of a product either (long or short duration, for example a house or food respectively), and that purchase always has to do with the possibility of increasing the standard of living of a person.

Exacerbation of consumerism: you are someone the more you consume

However, as is known, current societies are defined as 'consumerist societies' since the parameter that is normally taken To establish the level or quality of life of a person passes more by the amount of goods that he has than by the way in which he conducts his life. Consumerist societies establish that in order for one to feel full, one must consume constantly and almost compulsively. different types of artifacts and services, making consumption endless in the desire to always increase or improve what one has already. Thus, it can be said that consumption is today the fundamental element of world economies.

Meanwhile, the human tendency to buy goods and services in an amount greater than what needed is popularly called consumerism, and the person who practices it as consumerist.

Advertising, competition and technological progress as triggers of extreme consumption

Generally, the factors that trigger it are usually the advertising constant that we receive through the various means of communication, and that they tell us, among other things, that if we buy this or that thing we will be prettier, younger, happier, or we will be recognized socially; and technological progress and competitiveness also contribute their share in this regard.

The fallacies of consumerism: we are not happier to buy and buy

We must emphasize that of course this is not the case objectively, buying a certain product will not make us younger or happier, however, subjectively for many it is so and then that is where consumerism finds its success, which of course does not always generate positive or pleasant consequences for people on an individual level and in terms of Social. If not, on many occasions it just causes the opposite, envy, sadness and anguish, among others. feelings, in those who cannot access those goods or who do not feel happier after their purchase.

Negative impact on the environment

On the other hand, we must say that consumerism also tends to have a negative impact on the planet because in that excessive eagerness to produce more and more, so that people consume and consume, it may fall into an overexploitation of the resources available and subject them to a certain risk of extinction in the short term, not to mention the contamination that can trigger the production of some products that are not environmentally friendly environment.

Although sometimes it is difficult to distance oneself from that barrage of advertisements that invades us in everyday life from all sides: television, radio, internet, public roads, magazines, and that encourages our consumerism, it is important that we take into account some basic questions... a recipe at hand in case we want to fight as equal to the consumer who is in U.S…

In principle we have to have an established budget that takes into account what we need and discards what is not necessary; and we always have to choose those quality products and not get carried away by the promises that some brands make in advertising

Consumer Issues