How Humans Became ‘Consumers’: A History
Article from The Atlantic about the history of humans as consumers.
W3 Consumption
Mandatory Materials
The mandatory materials for this week need to be watched, listened to and read in preparation for the seminar.
The Gruen Effect
An episode of the podcast 99% Invisible, describing the history of the American shopping mall as retail spaces that are designed for impulse shopping.
Listen to the podcast, and feel free to read the text.
Planned obsolescence
Learn how planned obsolesce is a part of consumerism and makes bad products with the goal of making money. But can it actually also have benefits?
Story of stuff
Nowadays, consumers want more and more stuff. What is the problem with this and how are the different parts of the product chain involved? This video gives a short visual overview of the story of stuff.
Enriching Materials
Besides the mandatory materials, we would like to show you some other items that are a great source of inspiration. These are not mandatory for the course, but still worth checking out!
The Century of the Self – Pt 2
The video referred to in the lecture on the rise of consumer research in the early 1950s. Using methods to mine the unconscious, leading to the focus group. Also contains that famous story about just adding an egg to instant-cake to remove the barrier of guilt.
History of ideas: Consumerism
Learn about the origin of consumerism, its drivers and its consequences.
Grayson Perry: All in the best possible Taste
A series analying the ideas of taste held by the different social classes of the United Kingdom. Perry produced a series of six tapestries depicting the taste ideas of Britons, entitled “The Vanity of Small Differences.” This one is about the Middle Class.
Sources
Tips ?
If you have an interesting article, podcast, video, or another material that fits this topic, let us know below! We’ll check it out and maybe add it to the page.
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