Essay --

Money can’t buy happiness. Or can it? In the modern society that we live in nowadays, the theory of consumerism and a person’s happiness, or quality of life, are inseparable, especially in Canada. So much that consumerism seems to be dominating every aspect of our Canadian lifestyle, even the aspects that weren’t by the slightest amount affected by the behavior of consumers ten years ago. Consumerism is a theory that greatly contributes to the enriched quality of life that Canadians enjoy. This economic theory allows for consumer behavior to be central to economic decision-making, higher employment rates to be established, and to initiate a significant increase in globalization. Consumerism is defined as linking prosperity to consumer demand and making consumer behavior central to economic decision-making. This means that we, as consumers, have the ability to influence the quality of life, citizenship, and identity of ourselves and the people around us. Based on our values and beliefs about our identity, health and safety, employment, the environment, and product marketing, we can have our say about a certain product by influencing the demand of it. This can be accomplished by deciding whether or not we want to purchase that product. However, the degree of influence can by greatly augmented by use of boycotts, when a group of consumers choose not to buy or use a product or service to bring about change. We can use this strategy to substantially draw the attention of the targeted company and push them to consider the demand of us consumers and change their actions accordingly. For example, in the year of 2007, the Animal Rights Group initiated a boycott towa rds several cosmetic companies to stop the testing of cosmetics on animals... ...e goods that are shipped out of our ports to countries all around the world. The interrelation of consumerism and globalization helps to create a global bond that most Canadians would be distressed to live without. Consumerism has proven to be central to today’s society and economy. Its promotion of consumers’ interests allows us, as consumers, to manipulate different aspects of the world’s businesses and markets. The chain effect of consumerism is a big factor in maintaining Canada’s employment rate, and increasing each person’s financial status. Globalization and its connection with consumerism works to bond people of all different origins, and spread the world’s markets. Consumerism proves to be a major component of today’s society, enhancing quality of life for Canadians. It could even be thought of as a culture that we all live upon, that links us together.