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It has become a cliché that the world that the world we inhabit is a consumer centered world, otherwise known as a consumer society. The modern world has been taken over by a consumer culture that stemmed from the consumer revolution. The desire to have luxurious goods and services has come to be common in the modern society. (Stearns, 2006).

Consumerism in the 18th Century.

The features of consumerism that had prevailed in the pre modernsociety had a global inclination. Pre modern consumerism haddeveloped extensively in Asian nations like China and in the Middle East compared to Western Europe. Consumption then relied heavily on international trade for instance Chinese silk. Consumerism in the westerncountries depended heavily on the global consumerism patterns then. Itwas stimulated by access to new goods from other countries sugar, silk and cotton from India. Also the huge profits and goods they got from global trade and trade in slaves that benefited western European statesand the northern America (Stearns, 2006).

As the contacts of western European’s contacts replicated through colonial acquisitions, businessmen and diplomats from the West modeledconsumer centered aspects. They wanted to replicate consumerbehavior back at their home. Tourism has also contributed to the spread of the European consumerism. Western people persuaded other people to open up to the new forms of consumerism with promises of big marketsfor western made products in exchange with allowing colonialism. Communities which already had some elements of consumerism mergedthese elements with those of the people from the west. Finally consumerism became a norm and came to shape societal elements – the socio-economic changes (Stearns, 2006).

Consumerism then did not spread in an even manner. Some societiesreceived it well while others did not receive consumerism with. Some form of resistance developed then. Expansion of globalism at the global level had common elements the spreading of goods and methods of marketing used in Western Europe. Economic factors affected consumerism. Some communities had poor economies as compared to others. The spread of consumerism contained aspects of westerncivilization. Western consumerism patterns are considered to be the mostsuccessful (Stearns, 2006).

(Hilton, 2003) observes that when the twentieth century is talked about, consumption, prices and a material culture are terms that cannot be evaded. These form a background of how the 20th century wasunderstood. During this century, notions of producing goods, labor andwage among other forms of ideologies combined to bring about a productivist mentality. This mentality was a big contributor of the growth in consumerism.

The sudden rise in production as a result of the early revolution in industry which was accompanied by massive production of goods and servicesencouraged consumption. The market rules and forces of supply anddemand necessitated a rising in demand. Revolution in industry led to revolution in production. Later, the rise in production led to the rise in theproblem of consumption. Need for consumers became the biggestproblem. Consumption was raised to a level that it. However, this religion of consumerism was contrary to the real religion as religion taught a control of desire while consumerism encouraged the desire to consume. In the world of materialism, this culture has to be pulled into science. Business, as a subject was introduced into American universities as an academic discipline. (Hilton, 2003)

Consumerism before the World War 1 era

The United States of America had business boom in the early 1920s. This period was the aftermath of the First World War. The economy experienced a stable growth and expansion. The growth in the economy was fueled by three factors; availability of machines to be used in the production process, factories which dealt with processing and manufacturing of goods and a standardized process of mass production. These three factors brought about a certain cycle which was self perpetuating. Standardization in massive production of goods led to a build up of better and effective machinery in the factories. This in turn fuelled higher productivity of goods which was accompanied with higher salaries and wages. With improved production and good wages, a higher demand for goods to consume was inevitable. This demand in turn led to more standardization in production of goods. The business boom progressed until 1929 (Shultz, n.d.).

The boom in the 1920s was triggered by a number of factors. One of them was the First World War. This war affected technology in a very big way. The consequences of the war stimulated old industries for instancethe steel and petroleum industries thus helping create a ray of new industries like plastic and rayon. The expenditure grew in this period with more being spent on purchasing and establishing new machines for industrial production. Growth in scientific management also came to be at this period. In 1920s, the government of the United States implemented management in science at a very large scale. It invested a lot of money into scientific research. Then, there was a sharp rise in productivity by workers. Earnings of workers swell making them to become regular consumers. There was also the psychology of consumption that had germinated in Americans. Also referred to as conspicuous consumption, the culture seemed to dominate the mindset of Americans at the aftermath period of the First World War. Examples of this culture included radio establishment, motion pictures, invention of electronic appliances and a revolution in automobile goods. The psychology that was inclined to consumption was more visible in the automobile industry. The last factor was the relationship that existed between the government and business. During this period, big businessmen in America enjoyed more than they did enjoy in progressivism. The federal government supported big businesses in an enormous way (Shultz, n.d.).

Consumerism in the Post World War 1 era

After the period of the great depression of the 1930s and the aftermath of the Second World War, more countries began to focus more on science and technology. This was seen as a solution to the manyproblems that were taunting humanity then. There were a lot of innovations and inventions which led to an upsurge of new products in the market. Desire to test the newer products that were being producedbecame the order of the day. The desire to consume grew more andmore. Consumption became more of a way of living with peopleconsuming without even considering the dangers posed by some of theproducts. Concerns about the environment cropped up with people whocared about the environment advocating fro safer consumptionpatterns. Conservatism arose from these concerns. The conservativeswere against the use of products which had detrimental effects to theconsumers and the environment. An example is the debate that arose about the effects of using a chemical called dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane – DDT that was used for making pest control chemicals (Kline 2001).

At the second half of the twentieth century, there was a massive growth in population more so in the United States of America. The growth in population was attributed to America becoming the world’s mostpowerful state. Having gained power, American people exploitednatural resources of the world to a great level in order to become industrialized. There was massive immigration more so from the transatlantic. The populations thus swell encouraging the growth of cities. Both industrial and agribusiness grew. All these factors worked together to encourage a consuming trend (Kline, 2001).

Consumerism in the twentieth century

In the modern time, consumerism is more popular than it has ever been in history. The twenty first century has been characterized a volatilecompetition in science and technology and industry. There are moregoods and services in the world today as compared to the last century. In the old times, consumption was majorly centered on hard goods. In the modern days, consumption in services has really grown. Thecommunication industry has of late been revolutionized with moreproducts coming up everyday. An example is the cell phone industrywhere the number of people using mobile phone and related servicesare increasing day by day. As nations continue to compete, newer andmore diverse goods and services continue to emerge. Therefore, all these are adding up to this culture of consumerism (Henderson, 2008).

Conclusion

The modern world is characterized with the culture of consumerism. Thisculture began in the early years of civilization. However, consumerism gained momentum during the end of 18th century through the earlyperiod of the twentieth century. Consumerism has grown due to a number of reasons which include industrial revolution, population growth, and scientific and technological revolution. Though, with adverse effectsto the environment, this culture is unlikely to be reversed.