The antitheses of mindful consumerism: compulsive, conspicuous, and impulsive shopping
Do you find yourself succumbing to these hyper-consumerist behaviors?
There are ills in our society that cannot be solved by responsible production alone.
The current culture that dictates the way consume — fast, mindless, and with little care for a product’s means and ends — is more harmful than it seems.
From the proliferation of fast fashion to animal-derived products and single-use plastics, these wasteful industries have thrived not only because of greed and the lack of policies but due to society’s continuous (read: unnecessary) demand for them.
Turning a blind eye to how a product is made, used, and discarded is one of the most detrimental societal behaviors that have enabled and led to today’s climate crisis.
While this is in no way meant to excuse nor condone the richest 1 percent that’s responsible for more than twice as much carbon pollution as the poorest half of humanity, acknowledging how society feeds on the excessive and exploitative systems the wealthiest have created is a crucial step to making more informed decisions.
Capitalism often relies on overconsumption to sustain or boost economic growth.
It incentivizes businesses to promote disposability rather than durability and circularity.
Through aggressive marketing, psychological pricing, and planned obsolescence, the monstrous system of capitalism favors instant gratification over long-term ecological impact.
“If we are to address the climate crisis and destructive capitalism, we must question the underlying rules and tools that direct the behavior of capitalism.”
—Régine Clément in her essay ‘Catalytic Capital’ from the book All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis, pg. 174
Hyperconsumerism is the consumption of goods and services beyond one’s necessities and the associated significant pressure to consume those.
Defined as the extreme maximalist consumption of goods and commodities for non-functional purposes, it’s also known to be driven by social media and other factors as the goods and commodities are perceived to shape one's identity.
What does hyper-consumerism look like in daily life?
Below are three examples of hyper-consumerist behaviors — do you identify with any of them?
💸 Compulsive buying
Compulsive buying is characterized by “uncontrolled and excessive purchasing”.1
Embodied by an uncontrollable desire to shop, this behavior can result in spending large amounts of time and money on the said activity.
An example of this would be frequently purchasing items you don’t necessarily need, such as buying multiple pairs of shoes or variations of makeup products despite already owning similar ones.
👠 Conspicuous buying
Conspicuous buying is exemplified by “using goods of a higher quality or in greater quantity than might be considered necessary in practical terms”.2
An example of this would be purchasing a luxury car, watch, or bag primarily to signal wealth and social status rather than for its utility.
🛍️ Impulse buying
Impulse buying is “a consumer's tendency to buy spontaneously, unreflectively, immediately, and kinetically”.3
Think of spontaneously buying things you don’t need from limited-time offers such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales.
These buying behaviors can be driven by multiple psychological, social, and environmental factors. The pressure to conform to social norms, to boost one’s status or self-esteem, and to succumb to limited-time sales are just some of the many various factors that encourage these behaviors.
While it’s normal (see: human 🧘🍵), to fall trap to these behaviors, identifying and putting a name to these hyper-consumerist shopping tendencies can help us make more conscious and mindful purchasing decisions.
Mindful consumption refers to being conscious about your choices as a consumer. In other words, it means thinking carefully about the consequences of your actions as a consumer. (Source: The University of British Columbia)
Before you buy or consume something, ask yourself:
Is this the most ethical choice available to me at the moment?
Do I need this for its utility, or is my intention to satisfy a need or want that was invented by today’s hyper-consumerist culture?
More importantly: Is what I have not enough, and if not, am I letting society dictate what is enough for me?
While nobody is a perfect consumer, and is quite possibly an impossible thing to achieve, little by little, we can do our part and commit to actions that are less harmful to society and the environment.
Here’s to being more mindful of how we consume, supporting sustainable and circular practices, and fostering a cultural shift that reminds us that what we are and what we have is indeed enough.
—Danna from SEArcularity
If you enjoyed this, you might want to read: Closing the loop: what is circularity and why you should care and Mind over matter: Are we programmed to fall for greenwashing? 🧠
Billieux, J., Rochat, L., Rebetez, M. M. L., & Van der Linden, M. (2008). Are all facets of impulsivity related to self-reported compulsive buying behavior? Personality and Individual Differences, 44, 1432–1442. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2010.07.008
Phillips, R. J. (2014, April 22). conspicuous consumption. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/money/conspicuous-consumption
Rook, D. W., & Fisher, R. J. (1995). Normative influences on impulsive buying behavior. Journal of Consumer Research, 22(3), 305. https://doi.org/10.1086/209452