Essay
George Ritzer - The Mcdonalization of Society
Cara Acred - Consumerism
Wayne Ellwood - The no-nonsense guide to globalization
Essay Question:
How far branding can push consumerism and the social, ethical and economical effects it has on our society.
Issues:
30% of UK consumers say "I do not feel any loyalty to buying British food and drink"
58% of UK consumers say "The price and the quality of what I buy is what matters, not where it is produced"
51% of UK shoppers agree that well known branded footwear is worth paying for
As before, the European online market is dominated by the UK, Germany and France which together are responsible for the 81.3% of European sales.
40% of consumers admit to being influenced by networks when buying online
McDonalization:
pg12: In a society where both parents are likely to work or where a single parent is struggling to keep up, efficiently satisfying hunger is very attractive. In a society where people rush from one spot to another, usually by car, the efficiency of a fast food meal, perhaps even a drive through meal, often proves impossible to resist.
For consumers McDonalds offers the best available way to get from hungry to being full.
pg24: Bureaucratisation: is a large scaled organisation composed of hierarchy offices.
pg33: Greater efficiency would lead to lower prices, increased sales, and greater profitability.
pg33: Henry Ford generally receives credit for their invention of the assembly line, although it was mainly a product of Ford engineers.
... The automobile assembly line was created mainly because Ford wanted to save time, energy and money. (That is to be more efficient)
pg34: It can be a dehumanising setting in which to work. Human beings, equipped with a wide array of skills and abilities, are asked to perform a limited number of highly simplified tasks over and over. Instead of expressing their human abilities on a job, people are forced to deny their humanity and to act like robots.
pg41: McDonald's and Mcdonaldisation did not occur in a historical vacuum; they had important precursors that remain important to this day.
- Effiency
- Henry Ford
- Dehumanising
- Global and health effects
- Branding
Consumerism:
- Benefits
- Reality of it (bad effects of globalisation)
- History (how far its came)
- Marketing strategies in stores + fair trade
- Economy, ethical values
Globalisation:
pg9: Though the vocabulary is relatively new, the concept of globalisation is as old as capitalism itself, a continuing saga of shifting markets and melding cultures.
pg11: Gaps between the rich and poor are widening, decision making power is concentrated in fewer and fewer hands local cultures are wiped out, biological diversity is destroyed, regional tensions are increasing and environment is nearing the point of collapse.
pg 11: The hard facts are clear: unless we begin to alter the current global economic system and soon, the tangible benefits of globalisation will be swamped by a rising tide of inequality and injustice.
pg13: Globalisation, even then had moved quickly from an innocent process of crass-cultural exchange to a nasty scramble of wealth and power
pg13: Columbus adventure in the Americas was notable for many things... And it was this centuries long imperial era that laid the groundwork for today's local economy.
Supermarkets exploit human nature to increase their profits.
www.dailymail.co.uk-ripoffslooklikebargains
Joanna Blythman - Shopped: The shocking power of British supermarkets
" A staggering 40% of all food bought in the UK is thrown out uneaten."
"Consumers of fasionable brands, the latest gadgets and the coolest looks are getting even younger. Yet children who immerse themselves in consumer culture feel worse about themselves, not better"
- Researchers of the University of Sussex.
Branding:
Wally Ollins: The Brand handbook
"In recent times enormous changes have taken place in the world of branding which have put it right in the spotlight"
- The development of digital technology
- The emergence of the high profile company
- Branding moving from the periphery to the centre of corporate concern
- Branding moving into countries regions and cities and also into charities, the arts and academia
- The changing attitude of society to environmental dangers, and the beginning of the emergence of a more caring twenty first century society. The handbooks reflects these new trends
Tesco and Waitrose in Britain:
- Viewed very differently
- Tesco is hated, Waitrose admired
"For some people Wal-Mart represents branding at its most triumphalist, globalist, greedy and oppressive"
- Consumer capitalism
- Kills small businesses
- Kills city centres
- Pays Employees badly
- Imports from China
- Destroying US jobs
"Brands, they say, represent the consumerist society at its sickest"
- Brands representing the most extravagant and wild excesses of a society in love with consumerism and display
Corporate Branding:
- Organisations investing in 'corporate branding'
- Overlapping range of audiences both internal and external to respect and admire them.
