An up to date definition of consumer is a group of people or an individual that only consumes, one that does not produce. That is not what most intellectuals mean by a consumer, the original idea of a consumer was to make consumption to all that can be produced by full production by motivating what it requires beyond real needs. A consumer must keep away from satisfying demand, because if people already had what they want they would not keep consuming enough to provide full production. Management has no place in a consumer and it will consume only what is display in the market. The idea of using increased durability to safeguard would be a radical innovation in a consumer. If consumption means "use-up" then we could say that our wealth is in the order of all that we ever acquired not as much as all that we ever consumed. The two meanings of consumption are mere use or final devastation, are more often than not blurred in academic or in a major research. The development of consumer societies meant the erosion of traditional values and attitudes of thrift and prudence. Expanding consumption was necessary to create markets for the fruits of rising production. Ironically this "required the nurture of qualities like wastefulness, self-indulgence, and artificial obsolescence, which directly negated or undermined the values of efficiency" and the Protestant Ethic that had originally nurtured capitalism. Later than the industrial revolution, the aged value of thriftiness still limited consumption to what was in actual fact essential. With that low level of consumption the automation of production created unemployment. We chose to make well that unemployment by replacing grandpa's thriftiness. They feared that the frugal habits maintained by most families especially in America would be easier said than done to break. “Perhaps even more threatening was the fact that the industrial capacity for turning out goods seemed to be increasing at a pace greater than people's sense that they needed them. With consumer waste. Full employment requires that we consume all that full employment can produce, even if that's more than we want or need.”
Advertisers sought to redefine people's needs, encourage their wants and offer solutions to them via goods produced by corporations rather than allowing people to identify and solve their own problems, or to look to each other for solutions. Research in the field of consumption and environment has grown rapidly since the middle of the 1990s, and also in ecological economics, consumption issues have featured more prominently on the agenda. This overview1 outlines the background and the characteristics of the new wave with a specific focus on ecological economic contributions. First, the roots in environmental research are described, and the breakthrough for the interest in consumption. Then the specific motivation for dealing with consumption in ecological economics is presented, followed by an exposition of the main research questions related to ecological economic research on consumption. As a final point, a few words are added on the development of consumption research in general, as this is important to understand the research taking place at the point of meeting point between consumption and environment. The concluding comment emphasizes that the intersecting field is still in its infancy.
Consumerism also played a major role in legitimizing a social system which rewards businessmen and top commercial executives with incomes a lot of times those of ordinary workers. The consumer society gives ordinary workers some access to the good life. Surrounded by the bounty of their work-the television set, stereo, car, computer, white goods - they are less likely to question conditions of their work, the way it dominates their life, and the lack of power they have as workers. Advertisers all the time tell them these are the fruits of success, that this is what life is all about. To question a system that delivers such plenty would seem headstrong. The world was changed by Technology on a day after day basis. How people be in touch with each other has changed and how they expect companies to communicate with them is changing. Without a doubt, the marketplace has without a doubt moved beyond traditional marketing techniques and tactics into a new world of consumer fragmentation, channel and availability expansion, and increasing disparagement and control from consumers. Marketers are attempting to respond to the new world and with increased spending in opposition to digital and point of sale. In fact, billions of dollars was spent for online marketing in 2007. This number is projected to increase to a larger amount by 2010 maybe twice. But more money is not the answer but by the customization of the consumer. The real question marketers should consider is “In a fast moving, fragmented world, how can brands reach and engage customers to encourage brand choice and the Holy Grail, brand loyalty?” at this point, we try to answer this question by cutting from side to side the hype with practical insights for marketers. While it is easy to think that everyone is paying incredibly close attention to our categories and brands at all times and hanging on our every word, the reality is that the humans are busy and have much better things to do. In fact, one of the essential purposes of memory is to allow people to forget and to only call up the information from storage when needed. The way information is stored and recalled by the brain is essentially through “networks” of neurons working together. These “neural networks” are clustering tools that create associations of things linked together in our memories. So, when we call up a piece of information about something, we call up everything about it – the entire network of associations, emotions, thoughts and images that are all connected together in our brains. Interestingly, research has shown that the imagery that surrounds words and their meaning is more important than the words themselves. You can see this in action – successful brands evoke valuable meaning through associated images, metaphors, myths and legends. There’s no ‘single message’ that goes with a brand.
In olden times, advertising theory was dominated by the very linear A-I-D-A model that is Attention Interest Desire Action. This theory was based on the observation that consumers first think, then feel, then do. In this model, advertisement claims were pushed on consumers with highly cognitive messages. It was believed that if you could get people to think about your brand in a certain way, they would feel differently and respond for that reason. Recent thinking across a wide range of disciplines has changed this theory. We now understand that emotion is actually the first filter that decides if we are going to pay attention. In fact, emotion plays a role not only in our unconscious, but also shapes our conscious thoughts about brands, products and services. The importance of emotion in advertising and brand stimulus cannot be overstated. The other implication of this is the recognition that advertising is only one part of the total view of the brand. We should not put too much value on the impact of one new ad campaign. Advertising is only one part of a holistic view of the brand. The other important part of brand communications to consider in today’s world is the role of digital communications and word of mouth. In the age of Wikipedia and user-created-content, consumers are no longer content to be “talked at” by brands and told to believe what marketers say. Increasingly, people are listening less to what companies are telling them and more to what their peers and others are telling them. Friends and family recommendations are nothing new, but the definition of “friends and family” has expanded dramatically online. Companies no longer control all the communications regarding their brand. People post comments or vides on websites, and exchange information constantly with the touch of a button. This is scary for most marketers unsure of what people will say to millions of others about their brand. So, what should marketers do? Based on the newly applied understanding of how the brain works, we can take away nine key imperatives for marketers as they find ways to connect with consumers in this new world, as well as some key questions you should ask yourself about your brand. A brand is bigger than a mere positioning statement. Communications and activations must primarily generate emotional connections and tap into the full associations that consumers have for brands. This must happen not just with words, but with visuals, storytelling and sounds as well. Do you understand the full picture of the network associations, imagery, sounds, metaphors and stories that consumers have for your brands? Is your brand connecting with consumers on an emotional level or is your relationship strictly rational? Communication development must be grounded in a well-defined target of people, and it must recognize the distinct differences in segments of people. While large, “mass” brands will have multiple target segments, it is critical that specific communications be designed to connect with a defined set of people. Down the middle for lots of different people won’t work anymore. Who are the people that you are trying to reach? Do you fully understand all of your consumers groups – as people, not “target markets?” The point of decision is a critical time to tap into and trigger consumer memories and brand associations in order to impact behavior. How is your brand tapping into the storage bin of associations about it at the point of purchase? If every new communication conjures up the entire network of associations of the brand, what are you doing to ensure that happens at the moment of choice when it’s most relevant? Embracing the digital world means acknowledging that you no longer 100% control the dialogue with consumers. However, it is possible to engage people in your brand and make it easy for them to co-create and transmit to others. Word of Mouth is a critical component of the brand communications plan and must reflect and expand the brand message.
How are you building word-of-mouth into your brand communications in a way that reflects and expands the brand’s message? How are you engaging communities with your brand and empowering co-creation with your loyal fans? The only way to develop expertise is to experiment and learn from successes and failures. Many of the new approaches are beyond the comfort zone of most marketers, but the only way to get more comfortable is to get out there and acts like an insurgent. However, just because this is new, doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be measured. New metrics are being put in place, and it’s up to the marketers to continue to push them. How are you building in experimentation to learn and build for the future? There are no best practices, so how are you building up expertise? What metrics are you using to determine the impact of your digital spending? We have entered a brave new world, not only in our technology but in how we market to our various audiences. To succeed, we as marketers must think like insurgents – we must not become aware of a technological advance after it happens, but as it happens. And, we must learn to look at brands from our customers’ perspectives, and recognize the importance of emotional connections to brands. We can then determine how these changes will impact our brands.
Technology-related products and services will increasingly be shaped by 12 underlying principles, or “technology values.” These values such as simplicity, efficiency, and personalization represent the characteristics that consumers will look for in products, services, and technologies over the next 10 to 15 years. This is the conclusion of a new study from the Washington, DC - based research and consulting firm Social Technologies. As Tom Conger, founder of Social Technologies, notes, “In crafting this research we didn’t want to simply look at what was possible based on a technology point of view or what was happening in the research lab. Instead, we wanted to examine what people actually need and want from future technology-related products and services based on today’s trends and change drivers. We also wanted to look at which emerging technologies were going to help fulfill these needs and desires in the future.” For instance, to remain competitive, product makers in many sectors will need to accommodate the value of “user creativity”—the growing desire and ability of millions of consumers to create, augment, or influence design and content and share these creations with their peers. Methodology, the study’s authors began by creating an inventory of roughly 150 consumer needs and desires, drawing from Social Technologies’ knowledge base of global technology and lifestyle trends, then applying a futures mapping process to extract the 12 key themes. Each theme was then individually validated and amplified through intensive research. The 12 values will have broad impacts across the public and private sectors, with consumers’ collective preferences driving the shape and direction of products and services, according to the report, which draws on more than six years of company research into emerging technologies and changes in global consumer lifestyles. Companies will need to embrace these principles in product design and marketing and understand the emerging technologies that will be needed to support these values if they hope to align with consumer needs and desires now and in the future.
In decades past, as long as the energy flowed when and where required, residential and small commercial customers were satisfied with leaving all the decisions about their energy supply to their trusted providers, even if they were unhappy with the bill. But times have changed. Growing reliability concerns, fear for the environment’s future, and ever higher energy bills have some consumers wanting to manage more of their energy supply decisions themselves. If utilities and regulators allow them to be more active participants, these customers are willing to shoulder more responsibility.
User creativity. Consumers increasingly want to create, augment, or influence design and content, and share these creations with their peers. Supporting user creativity will be increasingly important to consumer technology, and will become more mainstream in coming decades. Personalization. Consumers will increasingly look for products and services that align with their specific personal needs and preferences—whether in the aesthetics of a product or in its functional design. More goods will be created to match individuals’ unique specifications. Simplicity. Simplicity will have growing value for consumers confronted with information overload, time stress, and technological complexity. Simplicity’s influence is already evident in new, stripped-down devices that offer just a few functions, as well as in minimalist interfaces that conceal breathtaking complexity. The common denominator of all these efforts is that they are human-centered—and thus easy to learn and integrate into busy lives. Assistance. As consumers are bombarded with more tasks, choices, and information, and as demographic changes such as aging reshape consumer markets, they are looking to assistive technologies for help. Consumers will seek to bolster and extend their natural abilities—with technologies ranging from pharmaceuticals that enhance mental performance to robot aides for the elderly. Appropriateness. Products and services will need to embrace the principle of appropriateness to ensure that they are suitably designed for users with varying physical needs, resources, cultural characteristics, literacy levels, etc. Appropriateness will aid in the spread of technology products and services to new markets and to diverse user segments. Convenience. Already well-established in mature markets, demand for convenience will rise as a technology value for consumers all over the world. Consumers will look for technological products and services that give them what they want and need on demand and that reduce effort and relieve time pressure. Connectedness. Connectedness gives consumers what they want, when they want it, and will grow exponentially with the expanding global information infrastructure. Consumers will look for products and services that seamlessly integrate with this global network. Efficiency. Efficiency is the ratio of output to input—or, put simply, the ability to do more with less. It will become more important to technology as consumers search for products and services that let them manage emerging resource uncertainties, rising costs, and other pressures. Intelligence. Intelligence will be enabled by innovations that increasingly shift information and decision-making burdens from the user to the device or service. The demand for greater intelligence will come in response to factors including complexity, aging, and the desire for personalized experiences. Protection. Protection will be sought by consumers in a world that feels increasingly insecure. Consumers will look for technology-enabled products and services that strengthen their sense of personal security and protect their families, homes, wealth, and privacy. Health. Consumers will look to technological products and services to maintain and, increasingly, improve their health and wellness. The search for health-enabling solutions will extend beyond traditional health and medical products and services to include more of the things consumers use in their everyday lives, whether at home, work, or play. Sustainability. Consumers will increasingly look for products and services that embrace sustainability—reducing the “human footprint” on the environment while maintaining quality of life. A variety of technologies offer ways to minimize resource use, waste, and pollution while improving human welfare.
And because of the innovation of technology and its influence to the older consumer and now emerged as prosumer. The concept of a prosumer is a late 20th century idea that combines some of the common characteristics of a professional and a consumer. The term is generally applied to situations where consumers are considered to have reached a level of sophistication that the professional-consumer can effectively dictate the perimeters for the production of goods and services in terms of quality and structure. The difference between the garden variety consumer and the prosumer is that the latter typically possesses such a strong working knowledge with the product that he or she can successfully determine and perhaps even design a better product offering. Prosumers are now common in many fields that were once the sole province of professionals. One of the areas where the prosumer has gained a high degree of visibility is in the home improvement industry. A number of household tasks, such as the installation of ductwork, plumbing, wallpaper hanging, and installing major appliances, are now done by many homeowners. In times past, these were all functions that were considered to be the work of professionals, with only the occasional amateur attempting this sort of high profile work. Cooking is another area where amateurs have become more proficient. As a result, prosumers now bridge the gap between people who prepare simple meals for the household and persons who are trained as professional chefs. One of the avenues that allow amateurs to expand the level of culinary education is cable television. Since the medium became widely available in the late 1970’s, many people have become exposed to the preparation of cuisine that was usually available only in upscale restaurants. The result has been the creation of a large audience of prosumer enthusiasts that delight in expanding their culinary skills, without necessarily planning on making a living in the industry. The combination of affordable computer technology and the Internet have also made it possible for the prosumer to assume a place in the world of publishing. Thanks to software programs and high quality printing materials and equipment, the prosumer can now produce hard copy and electronic magazines on a favorite hobby or interest. Desktop publishing also allows these highly skilled amateurs to produce high quality greeting cards, promotional brochures, and a wide range of published material. Even fledgling writers can be classified as prosumers, simply by using current technology to product an electronic book for distribution. The prosumer can also be associated with a number of other fields as well. Photography, interior decorating, and even the beverage industry have a number of people who qualify as prosumers. As technology continues to evolve, there is no doubt that the prosumer phenomenon will continue to grow. And as the end of our discussion, Dr. Randy Gamboa posed a challenge to us, for as a student of Information Technology, it is our goal to change prosumer to another level.
http://home.earthlink.net/
http://www.pacificecologist.org/archive/consumerhistory.html
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-prosumer.htm
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