Addicted consumption & Materialism

Most people may not think of themselves as materialistic, although many of us work very hard in order to attain our vision of a good life, which in turn mainly consists of material things. We can thank marketing itself as a system that provides a certain standard that people should live. This is done indirectly, through TV shows, movies, and magazines. Materialism is a direct reference to the value and importance people place onto certain possessions. 

Materialism tends to be the highest amongst kids between the ages of 12 and 13 years of age, perhaps this is a direct connection with the fact that this age group also tends to have the lowest self esteem. Materialists are more likely to value their stuff in relation to their status and how they appear to everyone else because of it, whereas those without such values tend to purchase more of the products that give them please while using the items. In essence, high materialists purchase more expensive goods. 

There have been many studies comparing the high materialists and the low materialists, through which they have come to find out that high materialists valued goods passed down to them with money value such as jewelry and real-estate where as low materialists valued their mothers wedding gown and photo albums. Furthermore, Materialistic people tend to connect things to who they are, their own identity, these people tend to be less happy and more afraid of death than low materialists. They value products more before they attain them than after, in search of happiness and when they don't find it, they compensate for it with more stuff.

To be materialistic means to measure our self-worth by our external assets and possessions rather than by intrinsic characteristics

Why Are Material Possessions Important?

• They reflect self-worth
• They reward societal contributions
• They lead to control
• They help us achieve secular immortality
• They are encouraged within certain religions
• They are a route to happiness

The Materialistic Personality
Three personality traits are common to materialistic people:

Envy

•   They are bothered when they see people who buy anything that they want.
• There are certain people they would like to trade places with.
• When friends have things they cannot afford, it bothers them.

Non-generousness

•   They don’t like to lend things even to good friends.
• They don’t like to have anyone in their home when they are not there.

Possessiveness

• They tend to hang on to things they should probably throw out.
• They get very upset if something is stolen from them, even if it has little monetary value.
• They worry about people taking their possessions.

 What is Addictive Consumption? 

-Addictive Consumption is a physiological or physiolical dependency on products or services. 

-This is how a lot of the companies profit from selling products that are adictive or even selling solutions for kicking a bad habit.

Addiction to Technology:

- the blackberry for example was a huge addiction for many, it was nicknamed the "crackberry" 

-many psychologists compare social media addiction to chemical dependency. 

-cyber bullying

-phantom vibration syndrome.

5 Addictive Brands Consumers Crave

1. Coca-Cola 

2. Google

3. Disney

4. Apple 

5. Starbucks

All of these brands tie into brand loyalty which makes its consumer always come back, most of whom are college students!

Made In America

Made in was not always around. Actually it’s origin is quite interesting. Before 1914, a products origin was not mentioned, nor was it of any importance. Although, after World War I, absolutely everything that was exported from Germany was to have a sign in English stating; made in Germany. This was imposed upon then from the western countries (victors) of the war as a sign of punishment, so that everyone was aware of the products coming from Germany, not to buy then, since Germans were the enemy. The systematic country of origin labeling however, did not have a negative connotation to it for much longer. Eventually the marketing aspect within the human race took over. This label started raising consumer awareness along with pointing out features of products coming from certain countries. Due to this labeling process are we today aware of the fashion of France, Japanese workmanship, and German engineering. 

  

The label “Made in the USA” is known primarily for quality of the product. This goes hand in hand with price, usually if a product is of high quality the price tends to be up there with in. Thus, for eastern-European countries, obtaining a product that was from the USA was often a perception of value, or a status statement along with social acceptance. This was mainly advertised in those countries through media, like miami vice for instance in the 1980’s. This particular show had a tremendous influence on fashion in the eastern-european countries. For todays relevance, Gossip girl for instance, brought in the “crested blazers”. 

 The American globalization on culture is known as "Americanization."

1. Pop Culture 
The United States is the biggest producer of popular culture goods and is manifested around the world through movies, music, television shows, newspapers, satellite broadcasts, fast food and clothing. 

The U.S entertainment industry generates more revenue from overseas sales then any other industry. 
-Reality television is huge around the world for example Keeping Up With The Kardashians because it contributes to the idea of the glamorous American lifestyle. 

L.A expects us to be skinny and tanned therefore we go out of our way and go to tanning salons and not eat what we want in order to fall into this category. Other cultures see the glamorous lifestyle that the American's live and want to look like us, and live the same life we live. Which takes money and different purchasing habits.

5 Ways You Can Influence Consumer Purchasing Decisions 
1. Change Social Conversations 
A recent poll in the State of the American Consumer report indicates that 5% say social media has a impact on their purchasing decisions. While 62% says social media has no influence at all. 

2. Appeal To Millenials 

3. Engage Customers Offline and Online 

4. Start Authentic Facebook Conversations 

5. Be available at all times and launch an online community to enable customers to help eachother. 

Baby Boomers 

Consumers Born Between 1946-1964

 

Their main goal is to lead an active and healthy lifestyle.

 

Every consumer is involved with some form of health and wellness.

76% of consumers are doing things to lower their health risks and prevent diseases.

 

Baby Boomers account for one-quarter of the North American population which makes up $3 trillion in buying power.

 

They move in and out of various lifestyles depending on the occasion (habit, celebration and convenience), which leads them to be more receptive to products, and services they have never considered before.

 

“Boomer Consumers tend to pick and choose what makes sense for them on their individual filters, experiences, and lifestyle.

 

Baby Boomers expect quality and value when spending their money but are known to be frugal, use coupons, look for bargains and try to save money when shopping.

 

When advertisers target the baby boomers it is usually for an “age-related” financial or health product, and they use the marketing technique age silo.

Baby boomers have dominated the fashion trends and consumer behavior greatly due to their market power and visibility. There are the early boomers and the late boomers and they are both recognized by diversity. A revolution social values occurred they had non traditional thinking about the meaning and stability of marriage. Women's roles and sexual freedom are highly common. New norms of modesty and expanded options for women's dress came upon this era. They completed higher levels of education. They are the first TV generation and were able to learn about fashion trends faster than the other generations. They hate labeling and stereotyping. There are more singles who never married and others that got divorced. They don’t rely on a mate for self identity. They are more independent about developing personal style. They demand more choices in product availability and shop through tv, mail and the internet.

An American turns 50 once every seven seconds.

Fifty percent of the European Union will be over the age of 65 in the next few years.

In the next forty years, the media will rise to 50.

In the UK, citizens over the age of fifty hold 80% of the nations wealth.

The older baby boomers which were born between 1946 and 1964 spend the majority of their money on upgrading their homes and clothing, spending about 13% more than the average on apparel. The younger baby boomers, who were born withing the years 1946 and 1955 spend the majority of their money on their children and grandchildren. 

More and more baby boomers are becoming familiar with online access, and with romance seeking boomers, online dating sites keep growing exponentially. There are sites such as 55Alive, Senior Friend Finder, Prime Singles, Senior Match, Metrodate, Executive Senior Dating, and age match. 

 Much of a baby boomer’s spending goes to recreational and lifestyle pursuits like traveling, dining out, exercise activities, gyms, spas and salons. They spend money on entertainment, personal care and gifts. They go to sporting events, concerts, the theater and other live performances. Many go back to school and attend classes at local colleges or universities. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f92qHAUvOfw

 Last year, the 50+ crowd spent $87 billion on new cars. Baby boomers “buy more new cars, spend more on the cars they buy and even buy cars for their kids and grand kids,” according to CES. The average age of new car buyers is now 56.