physorg.com — Peer pressure, targeted marketing campaigns and bad parenting have all been blamed for increasing materialism in children. Until now, there has been little evidence showing when this drive for material goods emerges in kids and what really causes it. In one of the first studies to focus on the development of materialism among children, Deborah Roed
Nov 26, 2007 View in Crawl 4
draeborNov 26, 2007
Did they really need to go to all that trouble to prove that the same demographic buying expensive sports cars are the ones buying male enhancement drugs?
braincloneNov 26, 2007
Materialism? Hmmm....I look at my kid, and he was fine until he got around his older cousin.That other kid showed him toys, then ran away with them. He then came back and took my kids toys, and ran away barely holding on to everything. After about 5 visits, my kid learned the word 'mine' from him, and realized he wouldn't be able to play with his older cousin until he stood his ground. Now they both push each other and say 'mine, mine, mine' ... even though they don't play with the dang toy they are holding. Now, I am teaching my kid to kick his cousin's ass. I think this is how the materialism came about in our society... and the cold war started. I guess we never really grow out of this stage...
Closed AccountNov 26, 2007
It's really interesting, if you watch 'The Century of the Self", to see the factors that went in to making the cultural shift from a needs-based society to a wants-based one. Edward Bernays, nephew of Sigmund Freud, was one of the early PR men. His techniques usually revolved around associating a status or emotion with a product. For instance, in order to convince women to smoke in public (which was, at the time, taboo), he staged an invent where during a popular parade, some attractive social debutantes would, on a given cue, light up. He then told the press that some suffragettes were going to be lighting "freedom torches". Suddenly, the cancer tubes were now symbols of freedom and couldn't be condemned. It was pure genius really. Before this era, most people bought on need. Now they bought on want. Clothing, for instance, became a symbol of self-expression. How mass-marketed products represented any kind of self never really made sense to me. Gandhi was one of the few who sincerely used clothing as a form of expression. But, that's digression.The important thing is that marketing only works if you feel like crap for what you lack.
drummerdave96Nov 26, 2007
I find myself buying trendy stuff purely for the sake of feeling better about myself. I try to define myself with my possessions, rather than my personality and character. I'm only 17, so hopefully I'll grow out of it......eventually.
fanclerksNov 26, 2007
You know, I'd almost feel bad about spending $100+ on some shoes... but not when my shoes last 5+ years! God I love Dr. Marten's. These things last forever.
ryanisnotsuperNov 27, 2007
For some people, sports cars aren't for showing off, they are for driving fast.
ryanisnotsuperNov 27, 2007
I take it you never saw "The gods must be crazy".
nullifidian0Nov 27, 2007
Congratulations for confusing consumerism with metaphysical naturalism.
romantic101Dec 23, 2008
Don't understand about it Brian<a class="user" href="http://giftsidea.oggix.org">http://giftsidea.oggix.org</a><a class="user" href="http://101freedatingtips.blogspot.com/">http://101freedatingtips.blogspot.com/</a><a class="user" href="http://1000-cash-loan-payday-check.blogspot.com/">http://1000-cash-loan-payday-check.blogspot.com/</a>