Why did you get that new dress? Do you need it? Did you buy it because it was popular on Twitter or because a popular influencer promoted it? In the face of unemployment and inflation, there is a need to understand the difference between needs and wants for sustainable consumer behaviour. Spending habits need to be checked, and the reason for purchase critically evaluated. In this article, we are going to explore what hyper-consumerism is and how to differentiate between needs and wants. More importantly, we are going to see how this human behaviour affects the environment.
Just because you can afford to buy it multiple times does not mean you should. Do we consider the effect of over-consumption on the environment?
Definition of Terms
Hyper-consumerism: This is the consumption of goods beyond one’s necessity. The phrase “hyper-consumerism“, stands for excessive consumption that exceeds basic needs. People all across the world are increasingly buying things based on want rather than need, and driven by aggressive advertising, internet marketing, peer pressure, and the need for social approval. Hyper-consumerism is a contradictory tendency in Nigeria, a nation that struggles with high rate of inflation, volatile currency rates, and widening wealth inequality.
How can we cultivate an excessive consumption culture in a nation where a significant proportion of the population is impoverished?
Needs: Needs are the basic things we can’t do without. They border around food, clothing, and shelter, and are required for survival. If a human body does not have those things, the body cannot function as it should and may die. These are things that are needed for a satisfactory life.
Wants: Wants, on the other hand, refer to desires for goods and services that are not essential but enhance comfort or emphasize status, designer clothes, luxury gadgets, high-end vehicles, and an extravagant lifestyle. It often stems from desire and emotions. It is simply a commodity that someone wants to have. Wants are unlimited, and humans always find alternatives to these wants.
Hyper-consumerism blends the two different narratives, as owning the latest phones or most expensive gadgets is now associated with success. The drive to be associated with such success lead to ever increasing wants which are erroneously translated to needs.
The Desire to Buy
In Buy Now: The Shopping Conspiracy, the documentary discusses how companies indirectly encourage people to buy more. These methods include exploitation and deception. The more people buy, the more they discard and waste products. When people keep buying, where do the wastes go to? A lot of people may argue that some of these items are recyclable, but are they biodegradable? There is a need to understand what hyper-consumerism does to the environment.
Social media in particular, has a significant impact on hyper-consumerism. Influencer marketing, tailored advertising, and the ease that comes with online purchases all contribute to this. It fosters a sense of urgency and encourages impulsive purchases. In order to present tailored advertisements based on user preferences, algorithms evaluate consumer data.
For instance, a person is likely to receive advertisements for skincare products if they search for them regularly. And this will probably encourage someone to acquire something they don’t need, if they encounter such advertisements too often.
Social and societal pressure also play a role in influencing hyper-consumerism. In a country where status and perception hold so much importance, Nigerians oftentimes succumb to peer pressure and expectations from society. Lavish weddings, expensive traditional ceremonies, and extravagant parties are not just social events but avenues for showcasing wealth, success, and a general show-off. This pressure stems from cultural norms, advertising, and the desire to fit in, leading to increased consumption and waste.
Hyper-consumerism creates a cycle where individuals feel the need to buy goods and services to maintain status, express identity, or achieve a sense of belonging. With this, there’s always a need to “keep up” with unnecessary trends. This can lead to financial instability, mental health issues, and environmental degradation.
Environmental Impacts
Hyper-consumerism and over production significantly impact the environment through depletion of resources, pollution, and waste generation. The production, distribution, and disposal of goods associated with hyper-consumerism contribute to these problems. These problems include climate change, habitat loss, depletion of ecosystem and biodiversity reduction. There is a need for sustainable consumption patterns.
Poor waste management systems mean much of the waste such as plastics end up in oceans and coastal waters, threatening aquatic life and reduces the quality of water. These products get dumped in landfills, leading to soil degeneration as most of the raw materials are not degradable.
As said earlier, most of the raw materials used in production are not degradable. How many companies recycle wastes in Nigeria, if we consider the option of recycling? Most waste is burned, buried, or dumped indiscriminately. Hyper-consumerism accelerates the creation of disposable goods that are mostly non-recyclable or not designed for reuse.
How to Differentiate between Needs and Wants as it relates to Hyper-consumerism
- Clearly define your needs and wants: State what is needed for daily importance (food, water, transportation, healthcare etc). Know the wants too e.g. a new phone, especially if there’s nothing wrong with the old one. This will reduce constant purchases, reducing the rate at which items are produced.
- Ask yourself if you really need it: You can live without a TV but you can’t live without electricity to ensure smooth running of your daily activities.
- Avoid peer pressure: Resist the urge to always buy something. Avoid purchasing an item without having a solid reason for it. Don’t let the show-off culture motivate you to get something that can’t be reused.
- Think green: Look out for items that can be re-used, re-purposed and recycled.
Conclusion
In staying up to date with fashion trends, try-on hauls and the need to show off, it is important that we consider how this consumer behaviour adversely affect our environment, especially aquatic animals. Most waste end up in landfills and in oceans. This pose threats to their lives. Think about the fumes and gases that is emitted into the atmosphere just because more items need to be produced on a daily basis. Finally, think about if you really need to make another dress for that owambe if you can re-style the one in your wardrobe.
