Consumer culture

The notion of human beings as consumers have become increasingly commonplace since the 20 th
century. From print media, radio, and television advertisements of the pervious century to the
targeted ads based on big data collected from our digital footprints, we are constantly driven to
consume. Consumption is now frequently seen as our principal role in the world. While consumerism
have allowed economic and technological development through the profit it generates, the benefits
it creates generally are materialistic. Physically and technologically, humankind might have benefited
from consumerism, yet our mental and spiritual wellbeing could be argued to have suffered
immensely under such culture.

It is undeniable that consumerism yields economic benefits and created job opportunities. In Hong
Kong when I used to live, XXX e.g. XXX. Consumer confidence index is also a commonly used
indicator to predict economic growth.

Consumerism also leads to development of secondary indutsries. Product designs

People, of course, have always "consumed" the necessities of life – food, shelter, clothing – and have
always had to work to get them or have others work for them, but there was little economic motive
for increased consumption among the mass of people before the 20th Century.