Positive effects of

consumerism:

Economic growth
The most obvious benefit is of course economic growth. This happens as a series of events. When a great
many people buy goods and services, gross expenditure on these products increase, and that leads
to greater turnover. Retailers and manufacturers earn more, and people are motivated to earn more so that
they can afford these consumer products. Manufacture of these goods increases manifold, leading to more
units and employment for a lot more people.

More employment
Consumerism increases the movement in the demand and supply chain. The more people buy, the more
demand is created for a product, which leads to increased production. Again, the increase in production
leads to increased purchase. This, in turn, leads to increased employment as more people are employed in
factories that make these goods. As retailers and manufacturing companies get bigger, they also employ a
lot more people.

Better products
Creativity and market innovation takes the front seat in consumer culture as the customer takes the wheel.
People look for better alternatives all the time, and competition among companies grow as more
companies are formed to meet the customer demand. In such a situation, it becomes imperative for the
manufacturers to sell superior products at competitive prices. Lower quality products receive flak from
the consumers, and companies that sell them face the risk of being edged out of the market

Better living standards

Yet another very obvious effect of a consumer oriented market is the possibility of better living
standards.  With the availability of a number of goods in the market, the average person can pick and
choose among the products offered without having to settle for a single variation.  Lifestyles improve as
people can get their hands on better homes, better furniture, better vehicles, and better clothing. Pocket
pinch is also considerably lower as companies strive to get their customers’ attention via competitive
pricing and regular discounts.
 Negative effects of
consumerism:

However, consumerism has its downsides as well, as can be seen from the current global climate.

Bad for small industries

Local industries run the risk of being negatively affected by the rise of consumerism. Since
consumerist countries usually have a higher purchase power, high quality goods that are not available
indigenously are imported from elsewhere. In a consumerist economy, people are willing to pay a higher
price for an established brand in hopes of getting an authentic or higher quality product even though local
brads would probably make the same thing at a lower price. In such cases, the local industry might get
edged out of the market owing to lack of customers; if they do remain in business, they are forced to
manufacture cheaper goods at a low quality because of the lack of revenue.

Ecological disruption
onsumerism translates to the building more factories and wide scale urbanization. This leads to a
serious depletion of natural resources; forests are cut down and water bodies closed up in order to make
room for urban or commercial development. This leads to damages on a far greater scale with
considerable impact on ecology. The environment is also affected due to the increased levels of
pollution from these factories and settlements, and also directly from the products are being sold and
purchased.