David

10/30/08

Consumerism and the College Student

Consumerism is defined as “a preoccupation with and an inclination toward the buying of consumer goods”, according to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.  The world is growing; and as it is, consumerism grows with it.  Even in the declining economy, people are spending money and things they want.  Though the economy thrives on spending money, too much buying can cause problems such as debt, which affects everyone.

One large problem with rampant consumerism is whom it can hit.  Consumerism can affect anyone, but with a careful eye on spending and a dose of common sense, anyone can stop it.  Certain age groups have greater trouble coping and dealing with the power of buying than others.  One of the age groups who have a problem with consumerism is college and university students, especially entering students.

Credit card companies target college students as a major market for new credit cards.  Students in college are usually deluged with many credit card offers, and not simply only when the enter college, but also during their entire stay at the university or college.  Why is this?  Many see a credit card as free money, and do not think about the interest rates, the payments, or even the potential debt.  The lure of easy money is fascinating, and a person such as a college student, who must pay everything from tuition to classes to books, a credit card could seem to be a way out of payment.  Spending usually does not end with tuition payments and class costs.  Students living on campus also have to pay room and board costs, and students living off-campus have to pay for things such as transportation, and possible living costs.

According to Nellie Mae, a major provider of student loans, over 75% of all college undergraduates started the 2004 school year with credit cards.  The average outstanding balance on those cards was over $2000.  A credit card could seem to help defer the payments of the college, but due to interest, it comes back in a larger force.  According to a study from the American Council on Education, 25% of students with a credit card use it to pay their tuition.  (Herb Weisbaum)

Most college students, when the enter college, has little to no credit history, and little to no income.  Why target the students, then?  Studies show that if a credit card company is in a person’s wallet in college, the person is most likely to be a repeat user of that company.

This raging use of credit cards by college students not only leads to trouble, but also is a prime example of how commercialism and consumerism affects college students.  Small children want to buy everything they see interesting, and that mentality does not entirely go away with younger students.  Most students would want to buy everything, from the newest call phone to the latest computer.  This urge to buy, coupled with quick and easy access to credit, is a large concern to parents and students alike, since it is a leading cause of college consumerism and can place a great number of students into debt.

Marketing-related diseases such as obesity and type 2 diabetes can be linked to the phenomenon of consumerism and commercialism.  This affects college students, since obesity and the ilk are on the rise, especially in college where eating healthily gives way to more “important” things such as studying and socializing.

A survey in 2003 by UCLA found that only 39% of students said it was a very important life goal to develop a meaningful philosophy of life while succeeding financially is at a 13 year high at 74%. (Herb Weisbaum)  One can recognize when consumerism is taking its toll when having a lot of money is more important to some students than developing a meaning in life.

Advertising is targeting younger and younger kids.  In a Multinational Monitor article, Gary Ruskin and Juliet Schor explain that corporations annually spend about $15 billion to market to children, and in the mid-1990s, those were exposed to an average 40,000 TV ads a year.  By 2000, 94% of high schools allow the sale of soda, and 74% of chocolate.  This selfish show of commercial advertising lead to children eating more and more unhealthy snacks.  Early on, this side effect of consumerism went unnoticed by many people.  However, when obesity levels began rising in recent years, people started paying more and more attention to their kids and what they were eating.

Some analysts and critics say that consumerism and its ideals are not detrimental to society; instead, that consumerism is actually beneficial to society in many ways.  In some ways that can be taken as true.  Society thrives on citizens buying goods and services.  Without anyone buying such things, there would be no economy.  James B. Twitchell, in a magazine article in 2000 called In Praise of Consumerism, says, “We have done more than acknowledge that the good life starts with the material life…”  He goes on to say, “Consumption has become production.  While this is dreary and depressing to some, as doubtless it should be, it is liberation and democratic to many more.”  The main idea of Twitchell’s article is to say that all the advertising, consuming, and branding that goes on in today’s world are not getting rid of thriftiness, passion, and such, but are actually becoming them, replacing them, redefining them.  What Twitchell doesn’t say is that such mind-altering ways of life can be destructive, as evidenced by Veronica, a 23-year-old in West Covina, California.

Veronica applied for her first card at the beginning of her first year in college.  Before the end of that school year, Veronica had six cards and a debt of $33,000.  She said collection agents would call her and tell her to get money from her parents, which Veronica refused to do.  Instead, she decided to drop out of college and declare bankruptcy.  (Herb Weisbaum)

In You Are What You Buy, a 2000 Smithsonian article by Richard and Joyce Wolkomir, says this: “That idea of two seemingly for the price of one took hold in the 1940s, especially with Alka-Seltzer, which you originally took only one tablet until the halved the dosage so you’d take two…”  Ironically, they took the quote from an interview with James B. Twitchell, the one and the same who wrote In Praise of Consumerism.  The quote goes to show that advertising has always been a factor, ever since items were mass-produced and propaganda could be spread to the public.  The Wolkomirs say, “Today's average American consumes twice as many goods and services as in 1950, and the average home is twice as large as a post-World War II home.  A decade ago, most grocery stores stocked about 9000 items; today's stores carry some 24 000.”  Consumerism does not just affect college students, it affects everyone nationwide.  College students are simply hit the hardest, for they have to pay not just for the costs of living, but also for college itself.

Fashion in college is important to many students as it is, as the Wolkomirs say Twitchell said, “Displaying our feathers to potential mates.”  Everybody spends money on clothes, simply to get by with living, but many people see fit to spend ludicrous amounts of money on fashion.  College student in particular can be seen walking around in designer-label jeans, sunglasses, and handbags.  While expensive clothes and accessories are not bad in and of themselves, the fact that such blasé flaunting of money in an educational institution is a cause for concern.  The money spent on all the designer accessories and clothes can cause many students to ring up a debt like Veronica, and can be put to a much better use in college.

Consumerism is a catch-22.  If people can't afford products, then businesses go under.  If businesses go under, then people lose jobs and can't afford products.  Capitalism depends on the concept of an ever-expanding population to buy products; yet unchecked population growth will inevitably end up consuming all the resources anyone and everyone has to offer.  We Americans, especially the younger generations, have accepted our capitalistic ways of free enterprise as the best form of economics, while an economic structure concept based on eternally being able to supply an ever-growing consumer base is fundamentally unstable.

There are a few ways rampant consumerism can be countered.  Smart spending can help people manage their money, and save the money for more important things than fashion and technology.  A student’s credit cards should be extremely watched over by their parents, or even a third party such as an advisor.  Advertising should also be limited in what it can and can’t do, where it can and can’t be, and whom it can and can’t target.  However hard these things might be, the economy depends on these kinds of actions.  The economy is currently in a slump because of many factors; consumerism need not be one.

Works Cited

Ruskin, Gary, and Juliet Schor. “Nook and Cranny: The Dangerous Spread of Commercialized Culture.” Multinational Monitor Jan.-Feb. 2005. Rpt. in College Composition 1. By Katherine Anne Ackley. Mason, Ohio: Cengage Learning, 2008. 621-25.

Twitchell, James B. “In Praise of Consumerism.” Reason Aug.-Sept. 2000. Rpt. in College Composition 1. By Katherine Anne Ackley. Mason, Ohio: Cengage Learning, 2008. 607-13.

Weisbaum, Herb. “Credit cards [sic] risky for college students.” LexisNexis Academic. 4 Aug. 2006.  LexisNexis. 9 Dec. 2008 <http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe>.

Wolkomir, Richard, and Joyce Wolkomir. “You Are What You Buy.” Smithsonian Oct. 2000. Rpt. in College Composition 1. By Katherine Anne Ackley. Mason, Ohio: Cengage Learning, 2008. 613-20.