Fashion Shopping: A Necessary Ritual for Consumers - Essay Sample

Introduction

In the products and services market, consumers have different tastes bringing to diverse demand. The purchase of goods and services is to satisfy the emotional, physical, and social needs. Shopping for commodities has recently emerged as a culture and hobby where it can be an excellent idea for leisure time. Consequentially, the goods end up being essential, which the buyer cannot do without.

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Born and raised in a family of fashion enthusiasts, our consumption patterns are highly ritualistic, and we have made it a tradition. The house is traditionally smeared with fragrances from air fresheners, our perfumes, and colognes. I experience some discomfort in the absence of those fragrances, and all of us are in our best moods on using the perfumes. We also share the instinct for fashionable footwear. Our shoe racks are always stacked with the newest shoe trends. These soft commodities, however, do not serve for long before they are discarded. In less than six months, all these products are typically disposed of.

My consumption of mostly fashion accessories varies in two ways; planned and perceived obsolescence (Leonard, 2007).Planned obsolescence is exhibited in my perfume consumption in that they are stimulating and the fragrance is enjoyable, however, they run out fast. I, therefore, quickly dispose of perfume cans and bottles, then buy new ones (Leonard, 2007). My consumption habits also exhibit perceived obsolescence in that I see still useful items to be already out of fashion and inappropriate and go buying new ones (Leonard, 2007). The sneakers in my shoe rack, for instance, are judged by what is on the displays in shoe stores. The sneakers, which could still be useful, get dumped, and new ones perceived to be of the current trend are brought.

The labor market is one of the major avenues which globalization affects developing nations(Rama, 2003). With our high consumption of goods and capital mobility, globalization should be able to equalize the factor prices in all nations. Consequentially, earnings of laborers in both developed and developing countries will be the same, thereby benefiting workers in developing countries.

Arjun Appadurai advanced the global cultural flow theory, where he suggested that global movement operates through what he famously called the 5 "scapes" (Van der Vlies, 2008). In the videos, ethnoscapes, which refers to change in cultural orientation, is seen where people migrate into industrial countries and urban areas to work in production premises like factories. The technoscapes aspect of globalization is evident on the internet, which has redefined global communication and cultural interactions. Financescapes explains globalization through the circulation of money through the trade of raw material and finished products, among other forms of commerce. Mediascapes explains the role of the media in globalization, where information is disseminated in the form of adverts and news. It is closely related to ideoscapes, which explains the flow of ideas majorly through media.

Conclusion

Conclusively, the consumption of commodities is a significant issue of concern with regards to environmental safety. The mindsets of manufactures can be said to be part of the mess by looking at profitability. They end up manufacturing goods that run out fast, which triggers the urgent need to replace them. Waste disposal techniques are not the best ones, leading to hazardous emissions. Consumption of goods has greatly influenced globalization, with diverse people converging in production zones, as well as increased commerce in the distribution of finished products.

References

Leonard, A. (2007). Story of stuff referenced and annotated script. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, 13(1). Retrieved from emse.fr

Rama, M. (2003). Globalization and workers in developing countries. The World Bank. Retrieved from elibrary.worldbank.org

Van der Vlies, A. (2008). Outside the Nation (al):'South African'Print and Book Cultures, and Global 'text-scapes'. In Books Without Borders, Volume 1 (pp. 173-185). Palgrave Macmillan, London. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9780230289116_11