1. How would you define consumer society?
What do we mean
by the term consumerism?
In our society, people are buying things to satisfy their own needs.
Consumerism means that the more you own, the more valuable you are,
and as a result, it makes personal values less important. With marketing
and advertising, companies can keep society motivated to buy more and
more products. Some people make conscious decisions and do not buy
unnecessary things.
2. What are your ideas for savvy shopping? Can you think of
some ways to go on a shopping spree without being charged
too much?
It’s hard to fight the temptation of purchasing. Especially when you’re
shopping online, because you are surrounded with lots of adverts on the
website. When you go to the mall, you can also catch yourself
overspending. To avoid this, there are some guides you can follow, for
example making a plan. Creating a list of the most important things to buy
can help you not spend more money than you originally wanted. If you
bring only a certain amount of cash with yourself, you can also avoid
splash out. It is important too to compare the prices of goods in different
shops and online. It can happen that a product is only on sale on the
website, and you can buy it for half of its original price.
3. Which do you prefer: going to the shops or shopping online?
Why?
For me, choosing between online shopping and going to the shops is a
hard decision. It depends on a lot of things, for example the time of the
year. In summer I usually go to the mall, because I have a lot of free time,
but during school semester I don’t even have a couple of hours to spend
on shopping. So instead I search for products virtually, because it takes
much less time and is also an easier procedure. But overall, I prefer going
to the shops, because I have the opportunity to try on clothes and see the
details of a product.
4. What is the "history" of online shopping? Is it a new
phenomenon? What are the pros/cons of online shopping?
(reading text and listening task + handout with the
Hungarian explanation)
Online shopping exists since the mid 1990s, when the Internet
revolutionised the traditional shopping process.
Purchasing virtually is simple because instead of spending time searching
for a desired product, you can find it by just one click. The phrase ’click
and mortal’ is used to refer to stores that have both physical and virtual
supply.
You can also choose the methods of payment and delivery which takes
just a couple of seconds, so overall this process saves a lot of time.
Nowadays you can buy anything online including household appliances
and even food, not only clothing. You can also choose from an incredible
variety of goods, even more than in local stores, because you there are
products from all around the world.
For people who have problems with their nerve systems is online shopping
really beneficial, because they don’t have to tolerate others.
Many people question the safety of Internet, which contains online
shopping either.
High street shops that also have an online platform are clearly more
trustable than not so well-known websites. We need to be more careful
with them, we might get into pitfalls. For example, identity theft is a
common issue, which means the steal of your personal information, and
clicking on random ads uncarefully can be the cause for it. As a result, you
will be bombarded with spam.
Or your credit card information can be stolen by hackers on the internet
too, and they’re most likely to empty your bank account. There are
examples for not getting your delivery in time or it may not even arrive. As
you can’t try clothes on by online shopping, it is often a problem that the
size you bought doesn’t fit you. It can happen that you receive a wrong
colour, or the texture is different than it seemed like in the photo. All these
risks make online shopping frustrating, and in the end people might rather
go to the mall to buy something.
5. Moneyless living - Could you live without money? Can you
think of a person, who managed to live his/her life without
money?
I’ve always wondered how is it to live without money. For people who grew
up in good conditions, it would be probably hard to manage this lifestyle,
because they are used to the convenience.
However, there are lots of people who lived their whole lives in the nature,
building their own house, and foraging for food in the wild. For example, a
man named Mark Boyle lived without money over two years during his
thirties in a caravan, growing his own food. For me, this lifestyle would be
challenging, because hygiene is important to me, and I can get really
irritated after spending a lot of time in uncomfortable circumstances.
6. Advertising: short summary (8 sentences) of the reading text
(in your book pages 102-103) +
history/objectives/techniques/pros-cons of advertising
(ehhez szünet után lesz handout!)
Advertising is a decisive element of the marketing process. When
advertisers are asked what their job is, they’ll say they prepare the launch
of new products and inform consumers about them. They understand that
shopping is often driven by our hearts rather than our heads. To capture
our attention, they bombard us with images and messages that tug at our
emotions. Advertisers even divide society into groups and create their
commercials with different emotional messages for each group.
For example, they target tired working mothers by showing super-women
who seem to have it all together, thanks to the products they use.
Advertisers try to convince people that particular products can enhance
their lifestyles. They brainwash us, and make problems appear worse than
they actually are, only to offer their miracle solutions. Whether it's grey
hair, wrinkles, or skin problems, they promise a positive transformation
once we use their products.
Advertisers can also manipulate us through radio and television. Jingles
are often used in TV and radio commercials to connect with our emotions
and make the message more memorable.
Most companies have big promotion budgets. To increase the popularity of
their brand, advertisers often get sport, music or entertainment celebrities
to promote their products. By seeing your role model using a product,
you’ll be more likely to buy it.
It's always good to be aware of these tactics and make informed decisions
when shopping.
