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Cultural Materialism. ... The result of this is that cultural materialism focuses only
on events that are observable and quantifiable and replicable (Harris 1979). ...
American Materialism. ... First, the most obvious benefit bestowed upon America
by materialism is the increased productivity of its people. ...
Postmodern Materialism And Subsemantic Cultural Theory. ... Any number of
deappropriations concerning postmodern materialism may be discovered. ...
Materialism. I can get no satisfaction… There is something perverse about
more than enough. ... Unknown. Materialism is today’s religion. ...
Ethics of Materialism. Repercussions of Materialism Materialism and the want of
consumer goods, has proved to be a prevalent force in the last century. ...
Submitted by Polito on March 28, 2008
Category: Social Issues
Words: 1332 | Pages: 6
Views: 118
Popularity Rank: 87,947
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I can get no satisfaction…
There is something perverse about more than enough. When we have more, it is never enough. It is always somewhere out there, just out of reach. The more we acquire, the more elusive enough becomes.
–Unknown.
Materialism is today’s religion. We always value ourselves by what we wear, what we drive or how much we can spend. Brands are taking over the world very fast and today a 3 year old child is more likely to recognize and remember McDonalds than to know his last name. (Lynas, 2007)
As the quantity and variety of brands and products grow, so does our need to have it all, apparently we can get no satisfaction. But what is materialism and why is it spreading so quickly around the world?
The two most important definitions of materialism include those of Belk (1984,1985) and Richins and Dawson (1992). Belk describes materialism as “believing the acquisition and possession of thing is the ultimate source of happiness”. Richins and Dawson define materialism as a "set of centrally held beliefs about the importance of possessions in one's life."
The people who follow this trend are the perfect consumers, willing to buy anything the industry convinces will make them feel better. They are easy prey for advertisement and follow it without further thinking. When buying they are low involved and not pay attention to the product characteristics.
But why do people focus so much on their possessions and turn into materialists?
Researchers have found that family communication is a decisive factor when determining if a person will become materialistic or not. Families where parents do not fulfill the children’s needs,...
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