Impact of Consumerism on Personal Identity

Consumerism is known to have an influence on the personal identity of the consumers through a number of ways. For instance, the advertisement and the concept that a manufacturer uses in its brand often have an impact on the user. The consumers might want to be like the character that a specific product’s advert uses. Besides, the consumers might want to be associated with the larger group that is using that specific product. Such a target market might be successful, young or even beautiful; hence, the consumers will strive to attain such a status by using that specific product. More specifically, the essay will evaluate the way that consumerism develops identity by encouraging self-value through the sense of feeling young, masculine, successful as well as beautiful while using a number of examples. Later, it will evaluate how women are using unconventional ways to achieve what the society and the manufacturers portray as young and beautiful. The extravagant consumer behavior is another approach that consumerism has led to. Lastly, the consumers are using certain products to appear resistant to the social values. Although consumerism encourages self-value, it also makes some users to hate themselves and facilitate extravagance and a sense of resistance from the values of the society. In most cases, consumers tend to attach certain behaviors in their consumption patterns that become habits in the end. These habits also go a long way into shaping the user’s personal identity as well. For instance, most of the products that the consumers purchase tend to increase a sense of self-value since most of the products match their needs. Some manufacturers tend to associate their products with being young and classy (Espejo, 23). Hence, they target a certain consumer group and even use such groups in the advertisements associated with such groups. For instance, Sprite tends to use such tactics in marketing their products because they want to associate with the young people and the activities they undertake (Thaler, 55). It is a common scenario to find Sprite associating with the likes of Hip Hop and Basketball. Such an approach helps in the targeted consumers feeling young as well. In the process, of feeling young, the consumers will reject the older generation preferences and create new aspects and activities associated with the younger persons. In fact, the manufacturers that are establishing brand loyalty at an earlier stage are more likely to progress as life proceeds. They might even decide to shift the theme of the product as the consumers grow. For instance, they might introduce an activity typical of adolescence and early adulthood as time proceeds. In return, they will continue to purchase the product because it makes them feel young and classy. This group of consumers will feel more like a cult or following that honor their brand as a god. One such example includes Apple that has created a mass following in the technological market. That sense of unity among the consumers of a certain product creates a culture that each will strive to follow. Although the essay title is Impact of Consumerism on Personal Identity and the following heading are according to their structure, this essay has a unique approach in analyzing consumerism. The brands in this text tends to use common practices. Appended list that it looks like:

1. Espejo, Roman. Consumerism. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2010. Print.
2. Acred, Cara. "Consumerism." N.p., 2015. Print.
3. Thaler, Richard. "Toward a Positive Theory of Consumer Choice." Journa l of Economic Behavior & Organization 1.1 (1980): 39-60. Print.
4. Kukathas, Uma. Consumerism. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2008. Print.