We reached out to Nicola Caramia, a senior marketing lecturer and faculty member at INSEEC London, who has published several works on consumerism and consumer behavior. His expertise makes him an ideal consultant on the topic. Read on for the full interview!
Capitalism has created a society that is consumer-based. It has made consumption become a fundamental element of today’s world, particularly in the Western countries. Heading to a supermarket to buy a carton of milk? Don’t worry, you will have an abundance of options to choose from. While it's great to have a variety of choices, at times it can become excessive and absurd.
Nowadays, people's purchasing decisions can reflect their identity. That includes their personality, hobbies, and even profession. According to Caramia, “all human beings are searching for meaning in their life, to be recognized by others, to be accepted, to be loved, and feel secure. All these psychological elements make people to search and define who they are by developing in their minds a sense of self-identity. In this context, all humans have an ‘actual self’, that is how they see and perceive themselves in relation to others that is in conflict with their ‘ideal self’ (how they would like to be perceived by others).”
Caramia continues, “there is a gap between the ‘actual self’ and the ‘ideal self’ thus a mental self-representation that is not in line with how we wish to be seen by others. As a consequence of this discrepancy, people tend to construct their identities by purchasing mass-produced products and brands. It is at this point that mass-produced products and marketing develop associations between idealized self-images and related products in order to satisfy consumers’ inner desires that mirror their ideal self-concept. As a result, consumerism takes place and people who consume goods and services in large quantities believe they will be better off although they are unaware that products and goods will never satisfy their inner desires but will only provide the tools for the idealized self-concept if they purchase brands that represent their ideal ‘ego’.
I remember an interesting book, ‘The Strategy of Desires’ written by an American psychologist, Ernest Dichter, the founder of the Institute of Motivational Research. In the 60s Dichter acted as a consultant to major American business organizations, helping them to detect the unconscious motives of consumers when purchasing products. I recall Robert Polet, CEO of Gucci fashion luxury brand in 2004, in one of his interviews, he said ‘we don’t sell products, we sell desires’.”
The vast amount of choices available leads to the constant introduction of new trends. That results in overconsumption habits. Looking a the series of pictures highlighting the intriguing and often absurd realities of capitalism, we got curious about what motivates individuals to pursue extreme measures within it. Caramaia shared that consumerism is the result of how mass-produced goods pretend “to satisfy people’s needs, actually more psychological needs than functional needs.
Economists believe that consumer spending stimulates both production and economic growth, and they view consumption as a tool to fulfilling consumers’ biological needs and wants with the final aim of profit maximization. What really motivates people is greed, an uncontrolled desire to increase the acquisition of material gain, status and power. Capitalists motivated by greed only seek their own gain by maximizing profits.”
While consumerism and capitalism have been credited with driving economic growth and creating new markets and opportunities, they have also been criticized for their negative impacts on the environment and society. We were wondering whether consumerism can be compatible with social and environmental responsibility. Caramia answered that nowadays, due to capitalism and competition between business organizations, food product and waste is at the highest level as we produce more than what is consumed. “This leads to the depletion of natural resources in order to satisfy demand in economic terms. The consequences in turn reflect an increased land use, cutting down forests, emissions of pollutants. As a result, the more we consume, the more the earth gets exploited.”
While these images might make us laugh, it’s important to address the issues here. Recognizing the underlying motivations behind our consumption habits can help us make more conscious choices about what we buy and why. It can also help us focus on personal growth, relationships, and contributing to the well-being of others and the world around us.
“We cannot say that consumerism is the only aspect to blame in terms of social and environmental responsibility, but we should look inside ourselves and ask questions such as ‘do I really need to buy that product, and if so, how can I dispose it after I used it?’, ‘how can I become less selfish and think less about myself and help those people in need?’. We should become less centred in ourselves and concentrate our efforts in becoming more humans. This approach should begin in schools by educating pupils and adults in universities in taking care of our environment. All educational institutions must embrace a philosophical approach to education. That means becoming who you are, what you were born to be,” Caramia added.
