MATERIAL

and

ECONOMIC

SELF
 MATERIAL
SELF
All of the physical elements that reflect
who you are . Possessions , car, home,
body, clothes. Social self the self as
reflected through your interactions with
others; actually, a variety of selves that
responds to changes in situations and
roles.
 ECONOMIC
SELF
Sufficiency is the ability of individuals
and families to maintain sufficient
income to consistently meet their basic
needs including food, housing,
utilities, health care, transportation,
taxes, dependent care, and clothing
With no or minimal financial assistance
or subsides from private or public.
 WHAT IS MATERIAL or ECONOMIC SELF?

Signify aspects of one’s sense of

self and identity. One’s sense of self
and identity is influential on how an
individual chooses to purchase his
or her wants and he or she makes
economic decisions that will
address his or her personal and
social needs.
 TWO CATEGORIES:

The Bodily Part: Extracorporal/External Self:

The parts of the body Any material possessions
Innermost aspect of the which extends us.
material self.
 Self-Concept in Consumer Behavior

Self-concept can be described simply as how one perceives himself and his
behavior in the market place. It is attitude one holds towards himself. What
one thinks of himself. What one thinks of himself. The self concept is not
very realistic because an unconscious component is always present.

>one of the components of self-concept which is self-image describes that

consumers have a number of images of what they perceive themselves as.
The image consumer have of themselves forced them to purchase a product
which is better for their self-image. However, products should be chosen
whenever their attributes match with some aspects of the self.
 Actual Self:
How a person actually
perceives himself

Ideal Self:
How a person would like Situational Self:
to perceives himself. A person’s self image in a
specific situation.

Social Self:
Expected Self:
How a person thinks An image of self somewhere
others perceive him. between the actual and ideal
self.

Ideal Social Self:

How a person would like
others to perceive him.
 Filipino Buying Behavior

Filipino consumers are more likely to

stick to brands they know and buy
products if these are accompanied by
freebies. This was according to Nielsen
online survey of over 29,000 internet
respondents in 58 countries.
goog l e 4 key insights from online survey:
All Images News Videos Maps

Filipinos love freebies

Filipinos shop around, loyal to brands
TV remains main source of product information
Advertising influence brand
“We cannot be indifferent to those who are suffering from
hunger, especially children, when we think of how much food is
wasted every day in many parts of the world immersed in what I
have often termed the throw-away culture. Unfortunately, what
is thrown away is not only food and dispensable objects, but often
human beings themselves, who are discarded as unnecessary.
For example, it is frightful even to think there are children, victims
of abortion, who will never see the light of day…”
– St. Pope John Paul II
I SHOP THEREFORE I AM: I
HAVE, THEREFORE I AM?
The early 20th century had created a new type of person
and a new culture: the consumer and the consumer
society respectively. As a result of the efficiency of
production brought about by the technological
advancements in the industrial age, the supply of goods far
exceeds the existing demands of the early industrial
societies. Thus, a culture that promotes consumption was
eventually established.
How did the culture of
consumption emerge
Briefly expressed, the creation of a consumer society goes on like this:
1. The birth of print media has already aided inferior and new products to the market
but it has not fully induced people to consume;
2. The coming of the Industrial Revolution drove people to towns and cities away
from the agrarian areas causing a surplus of labor. The capitalists took advantage of
this surplus and provided workers with oppressive and impoverished conditions;
3. Advertising was formally established to encourage people to consume.
 How to create a
Consumer Society
goog l e Important Trails in the Road to Creating a Consumer Society:
The Formalization of Consumer Culture

All Images News Videos Maps

Through the Industrial Age, the culture of consumption slowly creeps up into the different societies across the world. By
the early 20th century, the consumer society has already been solidified.

Advertising was already present even before the invention of print media. However, it was in the 18 th century when
advertising in printed form started to become part of the social setting. Through newspapers and posters, advertisements
for products started to promote consumption.

In the gradual movement to the establishment of the consumer society, the oppression, alienation, and
impoverishment of the workers in the production period have played a very significant role.

Before the arrival of the worker-as-consumer, workers generally do not have enough purchasing power. Their
wage is just enough for subsistence

For a capitalist, the ideal situation is to pay the workers the lowest wage possible to cut the cost of production and increase
profit. And the surplus of labor in the industrial societies allowed the capitalist to pay their workers the lowest possible wage.

The intellectuals of the working class started to spread awareness of the power of their labor – that without them production will
be impaired.

The capitalists on the other hand, started to realize and feel the ineffective oppressive labor conditions brought about by low
wages and long working hours.
goog l e SIGN CONSUMPTION AND THE SOCIETY OF THE
SPECTACLE
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The practice of consumption today is changed by adding the element of sign
value in a commodity. How did this happen?

Commodity – is an item available in the market – a product. And usually, a commodity has use value,
exchange value, and market price
Use value – refers to the worth of the commodity based on its utility. For instance, water may have
more use value than paper
Exchange value – refers to the worth which a commodity can be traded for. For example, I am willing to trade
my guitar for a radio, but I am not willing to trade my guitar for a hairbrush because I believe that they do not have
the same exchange value
Market price – refers to the actual value that the commodity has in the market, say P10.00 for a 350ml bottled water. The
market price is usually determined by the use value, exchange value, and the supply and demand of the commodity

Sign value – is an element added by the manufacturers into their products. Through the use of advertisements, the
commodities will acquire a certain reputation and prestige for the sign that it carries.

The capitalists on the other hand, started to realize and feel the ineffective oppressive labor conditions brought about by low
wages and long working hours.
 ADIDAS APPLE

MOSCHINO

NIKE
CHANNEL
 What are the effects of this sign value to
consumers?

>Consuming a particular commodity then creates a feeling of belongingness

to the established culture and identity of the sign.
>Consumers are then buying the commodity not because of the traditional
functional utility that it serves, but because of the prestige and status that
the signs symbolize.
>People are no longer consuming commodities but only the signs of these
commodities – clearly this is sign consumption.
>The proliferation of signs in the consumer society reduces human relations
to sign relations. We are directed towards an interaction based on signs.
>We have become, what the French philosopher Guy Debord called, the
society of spectacle.
WHAT IS SOCIETY OF
SPECTACLE
>A society that has been reduced to sign or image relations.
>“The spectacle is not a collection of images, but a social relation among people, mediated by images.”
>People are more focused on having than in actual living
>And through having one starts appearing. it is the possession of certain goods with signs that will enable the
consumer to be seen and be recognized in the consumer society.
>Through advertising, the consumer culture dictates to people what they need to have to attain a happy life.
This leads to the point where most of what we think we need, are actually false needs.
>To successfully incorporate the seeming urgency of a commodity, the advertisers need to use effective
spectacles – and this is where celebrities come in. the stars in the different realms – movies, music, sports, arts
and literature, government service, politics, business, etc. – help establish the society of spectacle by portraying
the kind of culture, status, identity, and lifestyle that the manufacturers, through advertising, want them to
portray.
>Even the way we spend our time is dictated by the society of spectacle. We are supposed to travel and visit
places that offer a great spectacle. And we should be accompanied by our devices to capture the spectacle and
prove to everyone that we have seen the spectacle.
>Sign consumption in the society of spectacle dictates how our free time should be consumed – that it should
be spent with our loved ones in the comfort of their resorts, hotels, shopping malls, restaurants, beauty shops,
bookstores, etc
EFFECTS OF SIGN CONSUMPTION IN THE SOCIETY OF
SPECTACLE
 Critical Thinking is suppressed as images and signs
flood our vision and thoughts

 It has now become difficult to cipher real needs form manufactured

needs. We tend to submit to the dictates of the advertisers and support
them in justifying the necessity of their commodities.
 We are ready to dump our old possessions as soon as something new in
the market has surfaced. We have been convinced that what they offer
are part of the necessities in life.
 The person is made to believe that success and happiness will be
achieved by consuming their products
 Materialistic lifestyle

 Advertising paints a picture that the ultimate goal in life is to have. Life’s
meaning is no longer being, but having. And at a very young age,
children form a concept of themselves based on what they have.
 What we have is now equivalent to who we are. We are given the
choice to define who we are by participating in the illusory culture and
identity that the society of spectacle has established.
 DISCRIMINATION

 We judge and treat people according to what they have. It is only in the
society of signs and spectacles that one can genuinely ask questions such
as: “Who are you wearing?” or “What is your car?”
 People who have are valued while people who do not have are not.
 Our relationship with others are now materially established.
Unfortunately, even at a young age, children are taught the same.
 How can we blame children from being materialistic and discriminatory if
in their own homes love is exhibited by providing material things? The
readiness of their parents and relatives to consume for them becomes
the measure of love and care.
 Consequently, people have become discriminating to those who cannot
give because they do not contribute to one’s having.
 SOCIAL RELATIONSHIP AND ACTIVITIES ARE
REDUCED TO ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES

 Human relationships are now geared towards consumption. We are

made to believe that the way to build and strengthen our relationships
with other people is to spend time with them in a get-away place – in a
resort, or hotel, or restaurant, or to treat them with dinner, shopping, or
movie.
 Family and friends enjoy going out because they are able to spend time
together – consuming
 We do not stop participating in consumption because even our leisure
time must be spent according to the dictates of the consumer society.
THROW-AWAY SOCIETY
 Excessive production and consumption transformed our societies
into throw-away societies. As the label clearly states, our society is
characterized by an attitude of throw-away. Most of the things that
we have today have the characteristic of disposability. Because
there is an excess of almost everything, we can easily dispose of
things and find a replacement – which in turn will be easily disposed of
as well, and the cycle continues.
3 ASPECTS OF A THROW-AWAY CULTURE IN OUR
SOCIETY
 THE THROW-AWAY PRACTICE IN FOOD
CONSUMPTION

 Those with excessive mean to provide food for themselves are very
prone to the practice of throw-away.
 There are families who cook excessively every day and throw-away
whatever is left.
 There are those who eat in restaurants, orders lots of food, and do
not finish everything
 The availability of food reserve allows people to simply throw their
food away. The idea is that one can always buy or secure food
whenever it is needed.
 The throw-away packaging of products.

 Most of the products available in the market are packaged in

throw-away materials – plastic, paper, can, bottle.
 Products are packaged using these materials because of several
possible reasons; but one thing is for sure, it is for profit reason on
the part of the manufacturers.
 When we go to supermarkets, everything is practically packaged
with disposable materials. When we go to fast-food chains, almost
everything will be served using disposable materials.
 We are surrounded by goods packaged in disposable materials
 The proliferation of throw-away products

 Products today are specially designed not to last long. Manufacturers will
sometimes design a product or a part of a product that will not last long. This
will pressure the consumer to buy again in the event of the damage or failure
of the product
 The longevity of a product does not necessarily refer to the functionality of the
product. Many people buy new products not because their devices or gadgets
stopped functioning, but because newer products with better and improved
performance and features are now available in the market.
 With the help of advertisements, the older products lose their desirability and
the newer products call the consumer to have them.
 The conceptualization of products today must already include the ways and
means by which the manufacturers can regularly introduce improved and
upgraded versions of the product. This practice is a business strategy called
planned obsolescence, wherein products must be declared obsolete within a
certain period of time to give way to its better version
 In other words, the consumer society is really based on a throw-away mindset;
for even prior to the production of goods and other products, their disposability
has already been engineered
TAKE AWAYS:
• Our being-in-the-world with things is being shaped with the throw-away mindset,
and everything becomes disposable. It creates a materialistic tendency where
we start to accumulate so many things without realizing how little we give value
to those things.
• The throw-away society creates an acquire-and-throw-acquire-and-throw
cycle. And it seems that we have developed an addiction for acquiring what is
new, and disposing of what is old
• Perhaps, the most disturbing effect of the throw-away society is how everything
becomes disposable – including human beings.
• The excessive consumption practices result to an increase of our garbage and
waste disposal, which poses an environmental threat.
• The awareness to this culture is the first step toward CHANGE.
• It is difficult to resist a dominant culture in our society. However, our own
personal acts whenever we resist the throw-away culture will be our greatest
contribution to the change that must be established in our society.
Is it bad to spend most of your earnings or allowances that you had?
No! because that’s yours, you can do anything you want because it’s
your, But! The thing is that your not saving some for rainy days. And
you might extravagantly spent it on useless, unproductive things.
google
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