How Holidays Affects Consumer Culture

Black Friday shopping is a controversial issue in the United States; while many believe the day after Thanksgiving is a part of holiday festivities, others view it as destructive. Throughout “Black Friday: Consumerism Minus Civilization,” Andrew Leonard argues that the chaos of Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving in which crowds of Americans shop all night for extremely low prices, lessens the sophistication of Americans and the true meaning of the holidays. People become so consumed in the idea of endless sale prices that they forget to embrace what they already have, such as family, food, and shelter. He believes that Black Friday shopping has become out of control and describes the negative effects of excessive consumerism. he explains how most consumers act completely insane while Black Friday shopping and how society encourages this behavior by creating commercials and advertisements. Furthermore, Leonard states that it hurts the economy and damages one’s mental health. While Leonard is probably wrong when he claims that Black Friday shopping is completely troublesome to America’s well-being, he is right that consumerism overpowers the true significance of Thanksgiving.

Andrew Leonard's "Black Friday: Consumerism Minus Civilization" argues that the Black Friday shopping spree has begun to get out of hand in the previous years. Leonard explains that consumerism is a great thing for America, but showing Americans that it is okay to go crazy when shopping for deals is not the way to approach the buying markets. He mentions a Target advertisement and states that, "The Crazy Target Lady is not a joke. Watch her cannibalize her gingerbread man, or strategize her reverse psychology shopping techniques... she is America. She might be a lunatic, but it's a culturally approved lunacy" (Leonard 166). The author emphasizes how Americans embrace the acts of the target lady as funny and amusing, but during Black Friday shopping, some shoppers will take the night to the extreme like the advertisement does. He does remind us that there is light at the end of the tunnel, by reporting how shoppers are seeing the problems with the night of crazy shopping. I agree with Leonard that there are problems with Black Friday ads, and that consumers are realizing Black Friday shopping is taking away from Thanksgiving.

Amel Saleh’s argument that the holiday season is too materialistic, is a well defended statement because she appeals to all three rhetoric appeals, and uses solid evidence to defend her position. Her essay gives insight to how gifting giving has lost its true value, . In Amel Saleh’s essay, it states, “Despite the fact that the United States holds 4.5 percent of the world’s population, we consume 40 percent of the toys. According to Psychcentral.com, a first grader is able to recognize 200 brands and obtains 70 new toys a year. ” This is an example of the author using logos, since America consumes 40 percent of the world’s toys, logically kids would be able to identity a variety of toy brands. It makes parents stop and analyze themselves on

There is no doubt that Christmas is a religious event but nowadays Christmas becomes more commercialized, as it has been defined as a high consumption season because the gifts giving culture becomes the most important part of Christmas and the consumers want to please their children

The exchange of gifts between family members and friends is the commercial aspect of the holiday which has been embraced by shop-owners of large and small businesses. Spending money

The giving of a gift that was used to purchase another is a generous symbol of what Christmas represents and was strongly displayed here.

There are several Symbols associated with Christmas, Santa Claus, Snow or cold weather, Wreaths, garland , wrapping paper and a Christmas tree. Society does not look at Halloween costumes or a hot sunny day and think of Christmas, although when I noticed that some retailers have Halloween, thanksgiving and Christmas décor out, it does not seem to mesh well. But retailers are showing society these symbols getting them thinking about what’s coming soon.

The very first Buy Nothing Day was organized in Canada in 1992. This is a day that people are encouraged to purchase no goods as a way to increase awareness of excessive consumerism. Since then, an online article has urged worldwide acceptance of taking this 24-hour consumer detox. One day a year where no one purchases anything would be a good establishment because it would give consumers a well needed break, show the government/businesses how crucial consumers are, and give the world a view of life without consumerism.

As a country, Americans love to shop. Whether in malls, grocery stores, on the Internet, or elsewhere, the culture of buying is deeply ingrained in American culture. Fueled largely by advertising and the current credit system, America’s consumer culture is depleting our planet’s finite natural resources and polluting our environment. Consumerism has instilled in Americans an artificial, ongoing, and insatiable desire for mass-produced and marketed products, and the money with which to buy them, with little regard to their actual usefulness or necessity. This constant desire to acquire more possessions is poisoning the planet, as it can never be sated and thus results in the never-ending exploitation of the Earth’s natural resources, and

Christmas is the annual festival celebrating the birth of Jesus on the 25th December, at least that is what it began as initially. Since it has expanded into an international phenomenon for consumption, taking priority over our everyday practices of life (Michel De Certeau, 1980). Our time we spend divided between work and leisure in accordance to the codes and conventions of society shifts, Christmas derails these expectations. Yet surprisingly Christmas gains little attention in terms of social research, despite the fact that it can be explored diversely. The inquiry ‘What is Christmas?’ links to multiple aspects of social research. The aspects of Christmas can be subdivided into the following; religion, commercialism, gift-giving, social relationships, sensualism and mythology. This essay will analyse these fundamentals of Christmas through both psychological and sociological perspectives, as the theories among these two social sciences are best suited to the elements which make up Christmas itself.

Each year I see exactlly the same action happening. The idea of Christmas appears earlier and earlier. Last Christmas I saw stores actually putting up Christmas objects up right after Halloween. What happened to Thanksgiving? Stores know they can do this and get away with the action because that is how people are right now. After a certain time, some people go into a Christmas mode. Got to get this item, got to buy these presents, got to set up Christmas decorations and tree. For people Christmas comes earlier and earlier. Stores take a hold of this and destroy the action. They will make sales for certain items, even when black Friday is not yet up yet. Sales on Christmas trees and sales on ornaments. I remember when these sales were directly

Gift giving is essential to the studies of many anthropological debates such as sociability, alienation, sacrifice, religion and kinship.

The impulse to invest time and energy on products that a person does not really need at the time, solely based on a mesmerizing discounted offer, has become distressing. The tempting offers have grown since consumers have been offered an extended opportunity to shop. Advertisements announce stores will begin to extend their hours to purchase more economical priced products to commence on Thanksgiving Day. Consumers cannot resist the urge to wait in endless lines for a few items displayed for a decreased amount.

At one point or another, almost every American over the age of 21 has found themselves a few days away from the Christmas holidays with a cumbersome shopping list still in their pockets. Whether the list included gifts or simply holiday meal items is irrelevant. The fact they only had a few days of shopping before it was too late was the problems at hand.

Understanding consumer buying behavior entails marketing, relationships, and consumer behavior. Consumer behavior comprises all the consumer decisions and activities connected with the choosing, buying, using and disposing of goods and services. Marketers must pay very close attention to consumer behavior that occurs before the purchase and after the particular product has been used. Studying consumer habits is one of the steps in marketing search and analysis. In addition to other basic principles of consumer buying habits, marketers also need to study the decision and actions of real people. Until recent history the study of consumer behavior was focused on generalized consumer decisions. With