CONTEXT OF PRACTICE

COP LECTURE - CONSUMERISM (Notes)

Sigmund Freud 

- psychoanalysis
- primitive sexual forces and animal instincts which need controlling 
- discovering the unconscious mind
- these desires: are incompatible with civilised/ordered society. Make people repress the instinctual gratification

Edward Bernays

- Press Agent/Propagandist/Public relations 
- Freud's nephew: hence knows Freud's theories
- Managing public opinion: manage products

'Torches of Freedom' - not a thing that is fashionable but became a symbolic fact of feminism. 1929.

- product placement
- celebrity endorsements (to be loved. Have status. To dominate.)
- the use of pseudo-scientific reports (use doctors, scientific words to make it sound more legitimate) 

Fordism (1908-1927)

- world of mass production rather than micro 
- things made quicker (industrialisation): assembly time reduced from 12.5 to 1.5 hours 
- possible crisis of over production. 
- market become saturated when consumers lose interest 

Branding 

- Naomi Klein (rise of branding)
- companies need to distinguish their product in the market: give individual identity 
- people's names to seem more human, authentic, hand-made, a lot of investment goes into production (not mechanised) 
- a way of creating identity in a saturated market/through illusory idea that they would meet people's instinctual aspect
- rather than just creating brand: advert showing the lifestyle you perhaps would have (trade off) 
- gimmick: they don't like pancake mix since they think that they couldn't cook. attach an idea of creativity to something (something that makes you more creative than others) more desirable.

Desires
NEED vs WANTS 
Standard of living
Quality of life

Marketing hidden needs (Vance Packard)

Selling:
- emotional security
- reassurance of worth (human instinct)
- ego-gratification
- creative outlet
- sense of power
- a sense of roots
- immortality

Consumerism in a nutshell (my summary)

consumerism - a gateway/escape from problems - answers society's problems - a giant trade show in disguise 

• I didn't realise that the idea of consumerism involves a lot with the human mindset. It's interesting to see that through our desires could be quenched through consumption (which I honestly think that it never will be). It also goes to show that humans are generally materialistic beings and we are so easily persuaded by the media (e.g. product placement). It honestly scares me.