Consumption and Media Essay

Submitted By duncansara
Words: 578
Pages: 3

• What is conspicuous consumption? Conspicuous consumption is an extravagant and ostentatious expenditure. Conspicuous consumption is meant not to satisfy any physical need but to gratify the psychological craving for status or to esteem of others. How does conspicuous consumption influence purchasing decisions? In the mind of a conspicuous consumer such display serves as a mean of attain or maintain social status in the society the more it will be attempted to buy high price items that only the elite can afford. By purchasing high priced items equates to your social class and buyer is leveled with actress and known personalities. Think about a high priced item that you have bought or would like to buy. To what extent does conspicuous consumption affect your decision? One high priced item would be my computer. Conspicuous consumption plays no role in my decision to purchase the computer because no one sees my computer and the high price is simply due to desire for higher performance.
• What is conspicuous leisure? A term that denotes visible leisure for the sake of displaying social status. The term is generally reserved for those of leisure that seem to be fully motivated by social factors. Examples of conspicuous leisure are abundant on television. There are many examples of conspicuous leisure on television, for instance Beverly Hills 90210 displays teenagers and their daily activities based on their social status. Shopping on Rodeo Drive is an example. People will show there, to make it known their social status with money and what they can afford. This people choose to indulge himself or herself in a life of luxury instead of sticking to the bare minimums that they need. . In what ways does social and economic class inform leisure activities? Provide an example of a popular leisure activity. T o play polo one needs a horse ,polo field and other expensive elements . To a large extent that’s been true golf, tennis, swimming and collecting 100 dollar bills. Now when playing basketball, it only requires a ball and a hoop. However, once established activities often develop a class association. The rich play polo while the poor play basketball. Although there is a good deal of overlapping, that class association often stick and to lead to recruiting which is limited to the class which is seen affiliated with the activity. The same thing can be seen in other sorts of activities. Traveling among retired people is often associated with more well-to-do