THE CONSUMER IN THE XXI CENTURY AND THE RELATION BETWEEN NEED - UTILITY

Elena Moise () and Ioana Gabriela Grigorescu ()
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Elena Moise: Romanian-American University, Bucharest, Romania
Ioana Gabriela Grigorescu: Romanian-American University, Bucharest, Romania

Journal of Information Systems & Operations Management, 2018, vol. 12, issue 1, 172-179

Abstract: The consumption civilization has seen three major stages in its becoming: mass consumption, abundance, and hyperconsumption. The mass consumption stage is based on the transformations of the local markets in large national markets with the help of infrastructure and commerce. The development of mass production and consumption has generated the shift from anonymous products to those identified by the brand. At the basis of the consumer society there is a new production strategy and a commercial philosophy that prefers the sale of a large quantity of products with a modest margin of benefits, selling a quantity of thousands of goods with a high margin. The abundance society, the second stage of consumption civilization, was based on increasing productivity and wage purchasing power, being represented by generalizing access to emblematic products (automobiles, televisions, home appliances). This stage of consumption, also called "affluent society" is characterized by creating artificial needs, organized waste and stimulating the desire for novelty - all for mass welfare. In the hyperconsumer society, consumers are interested in quality goods, diversification of supply is accompanied by the process of globalization of companies and increasing the role of multinationals. The features of the modern consumer are: act of buying as pleasure, consuming as experience and expressing emotional states through the purchase of goods. There is a new "virtual" consumer form, whereby the consumer is prepared long before the good comes to the market as the actual offer and so the consumer waits for the new product instead of consuming the already existing products. The practice of consumption is reorientated to a new, more dynamic form of "consumption in consumption", and thus consuming takes place continuously without space-time discontinuities, and the consumer is more flexible and absorbent. The consumer adopts a responsible attitude and focuses on "sustainable consumption" through energy saving, resource and consumption of "bio" products. He will accept paying more for 'clean' products, being concerned about the impact of consumed products on health and the environment.

Date: 2018
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