Consumer capitalism

Consumer capitalism is a theoretical economic and social political assumption in which consumer demand is manipulated in the deliberate and coordinated way on a very large scale through mass-marketing techniques, to the proceeds of sellers.

This view is controversial. It suggests manipulation of consumer demand so potent that it has a coercive effect, amounts to a departure from free-market capitalism, and has an adverse issue on society in general. According to one source, the power of such(a) 'manipulation' is not straightforward. It depends upon a new manner of individualism - projective individualism, where persons use consumer capitalism to project the species of adult who they want to be.

Some use the phrase as shorthand for the broader opinion that the interests of other non-business entities governments, religions, the military, educational institutions are intertwined with corporate group interests, and that those entities also participate in the administration of social expectations through mass media.

Consumer capitalism today

In light of the economic hardships the United States is today experiencing as a written of radical wealth inequalities, and perhaps a strong dependence on oil, consumer capitalist tactics develope turned to acknowledgment as a means to maintaining a high level of expenditures in the clear of consumer demand. Some of these tactics, to cite one extremely peripheral example, include government incentives to buy eco-friendly 'green' products, such(a) as tax deductions for power to direct or defining conserving home refresh or the purchasing of hybrid cars. These tactics, however, are non without critics. James Gustave Speth, former dean of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, and author of The Bridge at the Edge of the World: Capitalism, the Environment, and Crossing from Crisis to Sustainability, does not believe the United States government should implement such tactics. Instead Gustave believes in more direct approaches to repair or avoid environmental damage. Rather than focusing on re-boosting the distressed economy, treat the problem.