Sociology 2240E Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Magical Thinking, Commodity Fetishism
Document Summary
Societies where social relations are organized by or mediated by the consumptions of commodities. Our culture is based on over consumption (shopping for both necessity and recreational therapy) Consumer culture is market by the shift from advertising to branding advertising vs branding advertising: branding: Ex: nike spending more money on advertising during hard economic times in order to make nike that much more special. This was done successfully and the nike brand became that much stronger. Slater argues that consumer culture has a long history that is rooted in social and economic changes linked with modernity (1450"s): People consume goods as if they are disposable. People have lower standards about how long their products will last. Sense of identity drives are consumption ex: jocks where sports brands. People with less money wearing the same brands as people with money. More people around you creates more pressure on people about their identity.