Unit 12 - Affluence

Question 1

Affluence

Answer 1

Affluence implies having the economic means to privately afford leisure time and luxury consumption

Question 2

Leisure time

Answer 2

As individuals in society, we make choices as to whether we should spend more time in leisure or working

We should rationally balance our leisure time to maximize utility

Each person will have a different perspective on this, and some like to work or do leisure more than others

Question 3

19th and early 20th century

Answer 3

Through the 19th century and early 20th century, workers unions pushed for 40 hour work weeks (8 hours a day) and weekends off

Wages increased to allow for a comfortable life

Question 4

6 hour work day

Answer 4

With basic needs met, there was a continued union push in the 1920s for establishing a 6 hour work day plus weekends (30hrs/week)

During the great depression, the gov’t supported reduced working hours to try to spread employment out

Question 5

7 deadly sins were greed, glutton, envy, lust, pride and sloth. What is the meaning behind this?

Answer 5

Culture frowned upon high consumption, and it was ideal for people to consume less than they need

Question 6

Working Class Consumption Growth: What caused it

Answer 6

As goods became available in dept. stores and mail order catalogues came out, consumption increased a modest rate as people were demonstrating a greater interest in reducing their time working

Question 7

Government worries of consumption in early 20th century

Answer 7

With a fairly closed economy, the federal government and producers of the early 20th century worried that without increased demand among the middle and working classes, the economy would stagnate.

Question 8

Corporations influence on consumption

Answer 8

Aim to encourage consumption beyond basic needs because they make more money
You really only need one or two pairs of shoes, but corporations make you feel like you need shoes for numerous different occasions

Question 9

How to accelerate consumer demand

Answer 9

Increase pay for working class, but push back against reduced working hours

Improve access to credit

Planned obsolescence

Advertising

Question 10

Increase pay

Answer 10

Henry Ford increased his pay to employees so that they could afford his cars

Question 11

Planned physical and psychological obsolescence

Answer 11

Products now break down easier, and people feel teh need to buy new items sooner

This allows for consumption to increase over a person’s lifetime because people will buy things even when they don’t need to

Question 12

Significant Overconsumption

Answer 12

consuming too much at a collective level

Too much is being consumed to be sustained leading to catastrophe for species unless something changes

Question 13

Misconsumption

Answer 13

At an individual level, this is when someone consumes in such a manner that it undermines his/her own well-being (sub-optimal consumption)

Question 14

Social Identity and Consumption
- Checkpoint for post-midterm 2

Answer 14

Decisions to make purchases are part of an attempt to find meaning, status, and identity (results in misconsumption)

Such decisions are heavily influenced by the cultural environment (of which advertising is a part)

Products are no longer sold by Advertisers, instead lifestyles are sold, with products/brands acting as conduits to the lifestyle

Tim Horton’s connected being Canadian with drinking their coffee

Question 15

Conspicuous consumption

Answer 15

When you buy things for status reasons, not just for their functional benefit

Consider the $400 toaster, this is purely for status and not because a $400 toaster is exceptionally better

Everyday conspicuous consumption is now about fitting a certain standard, so that you don’t stand out

Question 16

Status Seeking

Answer 16

Focus of members of society then becomes maintaining and enhancing status

Problem: Status is a Zero Sum Game so at a societal level economic growth may be doing nothing to improve total ‘happiness’ and in fact may be reducing it through encouraging misconsumption and overconsumption

Question 17

Social Marketing & Persuasion: Commercial Marketing

Answer 17

Commercial Marketing: persuasion driven by industries that want you to consume their product

Question 18

Social Marketing & Persuasion: Social Marketing

Answer 18

Social Marketing: Governments, NGOs and other parties influencing people to change their behavior to support the social good

Question 19

Early Efforts of Social Marketing

Answer 19

Much of it used high cognition marketing, seeking to explain facts

involved mostly injunctive norm messaging, telling someone how they should behave

Often with an unintended message that says most people do the wrong thing
Limited effectiveness in changing behavior - the Tragedy of the Commons affect leads to self-interest often overriding “moral” messaging about doing the right thing

Question 20

Recent efforts of Social Marketing

Answer 20

Has increasingly used low cognition tactics

Often employs social identity fears and Descriptive Norm Messaging to make good environmental behavior desirable and poor environmental behavior undesirable

Question 21

Descriptive Norm messaging

Answer 21

Descriptive norm messaging: an effort to ‘normalize’ good behavior, and denormalize the behavior you are trying to stop

Also uses celebrities, public figures and humor to persuade people

Consider the Crying Indian Ad

Question 22

Descriptive Messages

Answer 22

Identifying what others are doing and using self-concern about fitting in to influence behavior
More powerful than using injunctive norms alone

Consider the energy usage letter sent to homeowners, comparing people to their neighbors

Question 23

Are marketers focused on the Long run or Short Run

Answer 23

Commercial marketers know that there are some short term effects of marketing, but the majority of efforts are aimed at changing long run views

Long run change involves changing habits, norms and beliefs