Essay 1

Society: Is the media the cause of society’s desirable image?

Throughout popular culture and the media, we can see that there are certain expectations for how people should look in today’s society. This idea is reinforced and exploited through consumerism in a way that has now become unavoidable. By targeting certain audiences, companies are able to sell their products because they know that people are willing to pay high enough prices for the things they believe will give them recognition, satisfaction or status in society.

Consumerism drastically focuses on people in their early teens to late 20s as some would say these age groups are the biggest selling point. I think this may be because during the early stages of people’s lives, identity and “finding yourself” is a vital part of growing into the person we aspire to be. In this way businesses such as make-up companies give opportunities to their consumers to become the “better” looking and more “attractive” version of themselves.

The idea that people “need” materialistic things in life starts when they see how others choose to live their lives. For example, some celebrities gain popularity through their reflected image and are seen to many as a figure to aspire to be. More often than not the celebrities that reflect their wealth, lifestyle and wellbeing in a way that inspires others, tend to be physically more desirable. Through the use of social media these celebrities are able to convey their adapting image daily to millions of people, therefore reinforcing the idea of social desirability.

Companies can use celebrities that have high desirable status to sell their brand, through the use of advertisement, and by doing so they are increasing the popularity of the socially desirable celebrities once the products or services are sold to the consumers. This technique can be seen throughout popular culture and marketing, which shows that companies are able to target the largest audience of people and then promote their products.

Through the extensive research about consumerism and its effects, it became apparent that the younger age groups that companies target are also the most affected. Therefore, the creation of socially desirable images of what has become expected for young people becomes overwhelming, particularly when it comes to body image.

One example of desired body image becoming a problem in the media, would be evidenced in a quote taken from Suzy Bashford’s 2016 article, This Boy Can: Brands , gender and the new masculinity. This article explained that a 13 year old boy of average build believed that he was ‘too fat’ and that he was experiencing the damaging effects of these thoughts, including incapability and the feeling of being unaccomplished. As this article was written in 2016, it evidences that today’s society continues to have an effect on people, as it has done for many years. It also reinforces the message that so called ‘social desirability’ is having the biggest impact on people of a young age.

There is also the idea that consumerism has become a leisure activity for some. For example, Helga Digmar’s article points out that shopping centres and popular fashion stores have become a place of socialisation and shopping is now considered more of a daytime activity among people of all ages. Around the holiday seasons in the year, consumerism increases significantly due to the high demand for products that the public want to buy for themselves and others.

In this way, companies will invest millions of dollars into their advertising campaigns and product placement throughout popular culture during the holidays. For example, John Lewis is now considered one of the biggest contenders for the best Christmas advertisement during December in the UK. This is because high value production and strategic audience targeting has allowed this company to keep customers interested in the products they sell. Because of the advertising campaign becoming so successful, John Lewis has now found many other contenders around Christmas that also spend millions on their advertising campaigns, in a race to become the best.

What I ultimately wanted to know was why people behave in this way in society and why they have done for many years. One possible way to explain the reasons behind this could be as Gordon Foxall suggests, ‘What are called the causes of human behavior turn out to be the grounds or reasons for which a person initiates an action. Human beings, unlike purely physical process, are telic; that is they pursue ends and purposes, and can and do conceive of the notion of adapting a means to an end.’ Therefore, the reason people believe in striving towards a more ‘desirable’ lifestyle is because it’s in their nature to pursue the means to an end. However, as this quote from the 1990 article Consumer Psychology in Behavioural Prospective, we have to take into consideration that during the time it was written there would have been a drastic difference in the way that consumerism targeted its audience. For example, there would still be similar ‘desirable lifestyles’ being reinforced in popular culture, but during 1990 there would not have been the same platforms used today to communicate these ideas. One major part in society’s consumerism today would be the introduction of the internet and social media. As a result of social media, we are able to view far more information from around the world which can furthermore, worsen the ideas of social ‘desirability’.

In this way, consumerism is only getting worse as new trends and popular demands are reinforced daily through social media. This furthermore speeds up the process for wanting a ‘means to an end’ and encourages more people to buy the things they want, but may not necessarily need. Another factor that has since been introduced would be the rise in online shopping, as businesses are able to market their products and have them shipped to the consumer within the click of a button. This means that some businesses that require customers to visit their stores could potentially be put out of business, due to the cheaper prices and easier access online.

Bibliography

·       Consumer psychology in behavioural perspective (Gordan foxall, 1990)

·       Consumer culture, Identity and Well being: The search for the good life and the body perfect. (Helga Dittmar, 2007)

·       This Boy Can: Brands, gender and the new masculinity (Suzy Bashford, 2016)

·       Brands: A marketing game (Randall G. Chapman, 1992)

·       Cracking the Code of Consumer Psychology www.forbes.com (Dorie Clark, 2013)