Consumerism: The Most Important Role In A Capitalist Economy

In capitalist economy, the most important factor was the production and consumption of goods. The industrial revolution has allowed for new methods of production. It broadens range of the services, what significantly expanded their reach. The mass migration of people from rural to urban areas has resulted in a steady increase in the demand for new goods and services - everyone wishes to 'keep up with the Joneses ': to have their own home, car and dishwasher, as well as hottest smartphone app and ridiculous kitchen gadgets. This constant need for new accessories to improve our lives is forcing production of more and more new goods and services. Moreover, we can assume that even if some things are useless or that we use them very rarely, most of us possess them.

However, with the overconsumption and dynamic growth of production on an unprecedented scale, new problems have emerged. Such as intensive exploitation of limited natural resources, industrial pollution affecting health, or loosening personal relationships, as people are busy trying to earn more to maintain their standard of living. Consumerism is also a contributing factor to poverty around the world and numerous other social and ecological problems.

As a humankind, we started to ask questions about what we would leave behind to future generations. Thus the

In addition, other statistics are quite promising and indicate increasing customers’ awareness of the impact of buying decisions on the environment. The data show that increased interest in collaborative consumption is a derivative of the economic crisis, which means that consumer attitudes have changed from egocentric to more social. Thanks to growing importance of community and authenticity, people do not want only to passively follow hyperconsumerism - they want consciously make decisions in accordance with their own