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Consumerism In America

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Does purchasing and accumulating more items make us happier? Are you an avid shopper? The chances are yes, you are an avid shopper. “Assuming a woman lives an apparently average 63-year long life, she will spend 25,184 hours and 53 minutes buying things. On a yearly basis, this adds up to just shy of 400 hours — 399 hours, 46 minutes, to be exact” (Pfetten 1). In the article Verena Von Pfetten writes about exactly how shopping has taken up a huge majority of women’s lives. That shouldn 't be hard to believe; women and men alike constantly buy various things in they believe improve or add to their lifestyle. This has happened throughout all of history, even in ancient Greece men and women would travel to the central shopping area, called the “agora” to purchase goods from merchants. I do believe money can buy happiness but not through acquiring multiple items;. if you spend wisely, it definitely can help buy happiness. America is a materialistic society and our society encourages and thrives on consumerism. "American society revolves around consumption to such an extent that more than two-thirds of the economy involves the buying and selling of consumer goods" (Masci 1). …show more content…

It is a well-known fact that women tend to be more interested in spending hours at the mall whereas most men would rather not. That being said, men are still the ones primarily leading the online shopping craze. In the article ―Online Shopping Gender Gap that was in the Wall Street Journal: "―But men also spend money online…sales rose 4.4 percent to $57.2 billion last year, compared with a 1.1 percent increase to $103.1 billion for women’s apparel…" (Wall Street Journal 1). Because of the convenience of online shopping, paired with the fact that men no longer have to spend so much time in a store, they are spending more money than ever; this has definitely increased revenue relating to consumer

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