advertising and consumerism essay

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12.3 We Buy, Therefore We Are: Consumerism and Advertising

Learning objectives.

• Define consumerism.
• Discuss the power and problems surrounding advertising that creates desires.
• Consider special issues surrounding advertising and children.
• Investigate the penetration of advertising in life.

What Is Consumerism?

The word consumerism is associated with a wide range of ideas and thinkers, ranging from American economist John Kenneth Galbraith and his book The Affluent Society to the French postmodern philosopher Jean Baudrillard. While definitions of the word and responses to it vary, consumerism The identification of ourselves with the products we buy and an accompanying need to buy in order to exist. in this text is defined in two parts:

• We identify ourselves with the products we buy. Consumerism goes beyond the idea that our brands (whether we wear Nike shoes or TOMS shoes, whether we drive a Dodge Charger or a Toyota Prius) are symbols of who we are. Consumerism means our products aren’t just things we wear to make statements. They are us; they incarnate the way we think and act.
• If we are what we buy, then we need to buy in order to be. Purchasing consumer items, in other words, isn’t something we do to dispatch with necessities so that we can get on with the real concerns of our lives—things like falling in love; starting a family; and finding a satisfying job, good friends, and fulfilling pastimes. Instead, buying becomes the way we do all those things. The consumption of goods doesn’t just dominate our lives; it’s what we do to live.

The subject of consumerism goes beyond business ethics to include every aspect of economic life and then further to cultural studies, political science, and philosophy. Staying within business ethics, however, and specifically with advertising, the subject of consumerism provokes the following questions:

• Does advertising create desires (and is there anything wrong with that)?
• Do advertisers have a responsibility to restrain their power?
• Should there be different rules for advertising aimed at children?
• Is advertising too intrusive in our lives?

Does Advertising Create Desires (and Is There Anything Wrong with That)?

Our society is affluent. With the exception of marginal cases, all Americans today eat better, enjoy more effective shelter from winter cold and summer heat, are healthier, and live longer than, say, the king of France in 1750. In fact, necessity in the sense of basic life needs hardly exists. We struggle heroically to afford a better car than our neighbor, to have a bigger home than our high-school classmates, to be thin and pay the doctor for a perfectly shaped nose, and so on, but no one worries about famine. Our economic struggles aren’t about putting food on the table; they’re about eating in the most desirable restaurant.

How do we decide, however, what we want—and even what we want desperately—when we don’t truly need anything anymore? One answer is that we create needs for ourselves. All of us have had this experience. For our entire lives we lived without iPhones (or even without cell phones), but now, somehow, getting halfway to work or campus and discovering we left our phone at home causes a nervous breakdown.

Advertising plays a role in this need creation. Take the Old Spice body wash ad. Body wash as a personal grooming product was virtually unheard of in the United States until only a few years ago. More, as a product with specific characteristics, it’s hard to see how it marks an advance over old-fashioned soap. This absence of obvious, practical worth at least partially explains why the Old Spice ad provides very little information about the product and nothing by way of comparison with other, similar options (like soap). Still, the Old Spice body wash is a hit. The exact techniques the ad uses are a matter for psychologists, but as the sales numbers show, the thirty-second reel first shown during the Super Bowl has herded a lot of guys into the idea that they need to have it. Noreen O’Leary and Todd Wasserman, “Old Spice Campaign Smells Like a Sales Success, Too,” July 25, 2010, Adweek , accessed June 2, 2011, http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/old-spice-campaign-smells-sales-success-too-107588 .

Is there anything wrong with that? One objection starts by pointing out that corporations producing these goods and selling them with slick ad campaigns aren’t satisfying consumer needs; they’re trying to change who consumers are by making them need new things. Instead of fabricating products consumers want, corporations now fabricate consumers to want their products, and that possibly violates the demand that we respect the dignity and autonomy of others. The principle, for example, that we treat others as ends and not means is clearly transgressed by any advertising that creates needs. First, guys out in the world aren’t being respected as “ends,” as individuals worthy of respect when corporations stop producing their required products better or more cheaply. Second, guys out in the word are being treated as means—as simple instruments of the corporations’ projects—when their desires are manipulated and used to satisfy the corporations’ desire to make money.

Another argument against this kind of desire-creating advertising starts from a rights approach. According to the theory that freedom is the highest good, we’re all licensed to do whatever we want as long as our acts don’t curtail the freedom of others. The argument could be made that using sophisticated advertising campaigns to manipulate what people want is, in effect, curtailing their freedom at the most fundamental level. Old Spice’s advertising strategy is enslaving people to desires that they didn’t freely choose.

A final argument against need creation with advertising is the broad utilitarian worry that consumers are being converted into chronically, even permanently unhappy people because they have no way to actually satisfy their desires. If you work to attain something you’ve been told you’re supposed to want, and the second you get it some new company enters with the news that now there’s something else you need, the emotional condition of not being satisfied threatens to become permanent. Like mice trapped on a running wheel, consumers are caught chasing after a durable satisfaction they can’t ever reach.

On the other side of the argument, defenders and advocates of desire-creating advertisements like the one Old Spice presented claim (correctly) that their announcements aren’t violating the most traditional and fundamental marketing duty, which is to tell the truth. The Old Spice ad, in fact, doesn’t really say anything that’s either true or false. Given that, given that there’s no attempt to mislead, the company is perfectly within its rights to provide visions of new kinds of lives for consumers to consider, accept or reject, buy or pass over.

Stronger, advocates claim that consumers are adults and attempts to shield them from ads like those Old Spice produced don’t protect their identity and dignity; instead, they deny consumers options. Consequently, ethical claims that ads aiming to generate new desires should be constrained actually violate consumer dignity by treating them like children. We should all be free, the argument concludes, to redefine and remake ourselves and our desires in as many ways as possible. By offering options, advertising is expanding our freedom to create and live new, unforeseen lives.

Do Advertisers Have a Responsibility to Restrain Their Power?

The Old Spice ad didn’t end after its thirty seconds of fame on the Super Bowl broadcast. The actor Isaiah Mustafa went on to became a Twitter sensation. By promising to respond to questions tweeted his way, he effectively launched a second phase of the marketing effort, one designed to stretch out the idea that body wash is big and important: it’s what people are talking about, and if you don’t know about it and what’s going on, you’re out of the loop, not relevant. The tone of the invitation to Twitter users to get involved stayed true to the original commercial. Mustafa asked people to “look for my incredibly manly and witty and amazing responses” to their questions. Meena Hartenstein, “Old Spice Guy Takes Web By Storm in Viral Ad Campaign, Creating Personalized Videos for Fans, Celebs,” New York Daily News , July 14, 2010, accessed June 2, 2011, http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2010/07/14/2010-07-14_old_spice_guy_takes_web_by_storm_in_viral_ad_campaign_creating_ personalized_vide.html .

On YouTube, Mustafa’s status went to instant legend: not only has his commercial been viewed about 20 million times (by people who actually want to watch and pay attention and at zero cost to Old Spice), there’s also a long list of copycat videos, derivative videos, spoof videos, and on and on. The depth of the advertising campaign is now virtually infinite. You could pass years watching and listening and reading the social media generated and inspired by the original commercial.

All that is advertising. It’s not paid, it’s not exactly planned, but it is part of the general idea. When Old Spice spent big money to get a Super Bowl slot for their ad, they weren’t only trying to reach a large audience; they were also hoping to do exactly what they did: set off a firestorm of attention and social media buzz.

Called viral advertising The exploitation of consumers to do a company’s promotional work. , this consumer-involved marketing strategy drives even further from traditional, informational advertising than the activity of branding. Where branding attempts to attach an attitude and reputation to a product or company independent of specific, factual characteristics, viral ads attempt to involve consumers and exploit them to do the company’s promotional work. When viral advertising is working, the activity of branding is being carried out for free by the very people the advertising is meant to affect. In a certain sense, consumers are advertising to themselves. Of course, consumers aren’t rushing to donate their energy and time to a giant corporation; they need to be enticed and teased. The Super Bowl ad with its irresistible humor and sex-driven come-on does that—it provokes consumers to get involved.

Viral ads—and the techniques of public enticement making them spread contagiously—come in many forms. One ethical discussion, however, surrounding nearly all viral advertising can be framed as a discussion about knowledge and resource exploitation The employment of specialized marketing knowledge and the use of the vast financial resources to condition consumers. . Two critical factors enabled Old Spice, along with its advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy, to generate so much volunteer help in their endeavor to get the body wash buzz going:

• Knowledge of consumer behavior
• Tremendous resources—especially money and creative advertising talent—that allowed them to act on their knowledge

Compared with the typical person watching a TV commercial, the raw power of Old Spice is nearly immeasurable. When they aim their piles of money and sharp advertising experts toward specific consumers, consumers are overwhelmed. Without the time required to learn all the skills and strategies employed by today’s advertisers, they literally don’t even know what’s hitting them. From that fact, this ethical question arises: Don’t today’s sophisticated marketers have a responsibility to inform consumers of what they’re up to so that potential purchasers can at least begin to defend themselves?

Making the last point stronger, isn’t the economic asymmetry In the field of marketing, a large imbalance in monetary power and commercial knowledge favoring professional advertisers when weighed against consumers. —the huge imbalance in monetary power and commercial knowledge favoring today’s professional advertisers—actually an obligation to restraint, a responsibility to not employ their strongest efforts given how comparatively weak and defenseless individual consumers are? The “yes” answer rests on the duty of fairness—that is, that we treat equals equally and unequals unequally. In this case, the duty applies to companies just as it does to people. Frequently people say to large, muscle-bound characters caught up in a conflict with someone smaller, “Go pick on someone your own size.” It’s simply unfair to challenge another who really has no chance. This duty comes forward very graphically on a video snippet from MTV’s Jersey Shore when a thin girl attacks the physically impressive Ronnie. He just shoves her aside. When her boyfriend, however, who’s about Ronnie’s size and age, shows up and starts swinging, he ends up getting a good thumping. Leaving aside the ethics of fistfights, it doesn’t take profound thought to see that Ronnie understands his superior physical power is also a responsibility when harassed by a comparative weakling to hold himself in check. Nicholas Graham, “Jersey Shore Fight: Ronnie Gets Into Vicious Fight,” Huffington Post , August 1, 2010, accessed June 2, 2011, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/08/jersey-shore-fight-ronnie_n_416259.html .

While the case of Old Spice and Wieden+Kennedy isn’t quite as transparent as Ronnie on the street, it does obey the same logic: all their power and marketing expertise is both a power over consumers and an equally forceful responsibility not to exercise it. Compare that situation with the famous “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” advertising campaign. No one objects to powerhouse Apple taking some figurative swings at powerhouse Microsoft since that company clearly has the means to defend itself. When a corporation manipulates innocent and relatively powerless individual consumers at home on the sofa, however, it’s difficult to avoid seeing something unfair happening.

The argument on the other side is that consumers aren’t powerless. There’s no real imbalance of might here because consumers today, armed with their Twitter accounts and Facebook pages, are perfectly capable of standing up to even the mightiest corporations. Viral messaging, in other words, goes both ways. Old Spice may use it to manipulate men, but individual men are perfectly free and capable of setting up a Facebook group dedicated to recounting how rancid Old Spice products actually are. Beneath this response, there’s the fundamental claim that individuals in the modern world are free and responsible for their own behavior, and if they end up voluntarily advertising for Old Spice and don’t like it, they shouldn’t complain: they should just stop tweeting messages to Isaiah Mustafa.

Further, the proposition that consumers need to be protected from Old Spice is an infringement on the dignity of those who are out in the world buying. Because today’s consumers connected to social media are alert and plugged in, because even a solitary guy in pajamas in his basement running his own YouTube channel or Facebook group can be as influential as any corporation, attempts to shield him are nothing less than disrespectful confinements of his power. Protection, in this case, is just another word for condescension.

Should There Be Different Rules for Children?

The discussion of knowledge and resource exploitation leads naturally to the question about whether children should be subjected to advertising because the knowledge imbalance is so tremendous in this particular case.

According to a letter written by a number of respected psychologists to their own professional association, children should receive significant shielding from advertising messaging. The first reason is a form of the general concern that advertising is creating desires as opposed to helping consumers make good decisions about satisfying the desires they have: “The whole enterprise of advertising is about creating insecure people who believe they need to buy things to be happy.” Rebecca Clay, “Advertising to Children: Is it Ethical? Monitor On Psychology 31, no. 8 (September 2000), 52, accessed June 2, 2011, http://www.apa.org/monitor/sep00/advertising.aspx .

The problem with advertising that creates insecurity is especially pronounced in the case of society’s youngest members because once that attitude of constant need and consequent unhappiness is bred into these consumers, it’s difficult to see how it will be removed. Since they’ve known nothing else, since they’ve been taught from the very start that the natural condition of existence is to not have the toys and things that are needed, they have no way of escaping into a different (nonconsumerist) way of understanding their reality. Finally, if this entire situation is set inside a utilitarian framework, it’s clear that the ethical verdict will fall somewhere near reprehensible. If, as that ethical theory affirms, moral good is just any action contributing to social welfare and happiness, then advertisements consigning children to lifetime dissatisfaction must be prohibited.

The second part of the psychologists’ argument elaborates on the condition of children as highly vulnerable to commercial message techniques. Children aged three to seven, for example, gravitate toward the kind of toys that transform themselves (for example, Transformers). Eight- to twelve-year-olds love to collect things. Armed with these and similar insights about young minds, marketers can exploit children to want just about anything. The virtual defenselessness of children, the point is, cannot be denied.

Still, there is a case for child-directed advertising. It’s that where children are defenseless, parents have a responsibility to step in. First, they can turn off the TV. Second, no young child can buy anything. Children depend on money from mom and dad, and to the extent that parents enable children to live their advertising wants, it’s parents who are at fault for any feelings of insecurity and dissatisfaction affecting their kids.

Whether advertising aimed at children is right or wrong, the stakes are certainly high. Children under twelve are spending around $30 billion a year, and teenagers are hitting $100 billion in sales. Rebecca Clay, “Advertising to Children: Is it Ethical? Monitor On Psychology 31, no. 8 (September 2000), 52, accessed June 2, 2011, http://www.apa.org/monitor/sep00/advertising.aspx .

Are Ads Too Intrusive in Our Lives?

Another sentence from that letter written by concerned psychologists indicates a distinct area of ethical concern about advertising: “The sheer volume of advertising is growing rapidly and invading new areas of childhood, like our schools.” Rebecca Clay, “Advertising to Children: Is it Ethical? Monitor On Psychology 31, no. 8 (September 2000), 52, accessed June 2, 2011, http://www.apa.org/monitor/sep00/advertising.aspx .

It’s not just children in their schools. We all go to concerts at the American Airlines Center, our shirts and shoes are decorated with the Nike swoosh, public parks are sponsored by corporations, the city bus is a moving billboard, the college football championship will be determined at the FedEx Orange Bowl. Every day it’s harder to get away from ads, and each year the promotions and announcements push closer to those parts of our lives that are supposed to be free of economic influence. Maybe someday we’ll attend Mass at the Diet Coke Cathedral, weigh guilt and innocence in the Armor All courthouse, elect senators to vote in the Pennzoil chamber.

And maybe that’s OK. The push of advertising into everything is a proxy for a larger question about the difference between business life and life. It could be that, at bottom, there is no difference. We are Homo economicus. The antiromanticists were right all along: love can be bought with money, fulfillment is about consuming, and that bumper sticker “He who dies with the most toys wins” is true.

Since serious thought about what really matters in life began in Greece 2,500 years ago, people have promoted the idea that there are more important things than money and consumption. Those usually ill-defined but nonetheless more important things have always explained why most poets, artists, priests, and philosophy professors haven’t had much in the way of bank accounts. Possibly, though, it’s the other way. Maybe it’s not that there are more important things in life that lead some people away from wealth and consumption; maybe it’s that some people who don’t have much money and can’t buy as much as their neighbors explain away their situation by imagining that there are more important things.

Who’s right? The ones who say money and economic life should be limited because the really important things are elsewhere, or the ones who say there are no other things and those who imagine something else are mainly losers? It’s an open question. Whatever the answer, it will go a long way toward determining the extent to which we should allow advertising into our lives. If there’s only money and consumption, then it’s difficult to see why the reach of the branding factories and viral marketers should be significantly limited. If, on the other hand, there’s life outside the store, then individuals and societies wanting to preserve that part of themselves may want to constrain advertising or require that it contribute to noneconomic existence.

Key Takeaways

• Consumerism places our entire life within the context of consumer goods and services.
• Advertising can create desires.
• Advertising creating desires raises questions about whether ads violate consumers’ dignity and rights.
• The knowledge and financial power of companies (and their ad agencies) may also be an obligation for restraint.
• Children are especially vulnerable to sophisticated advertising and may require special protections.
• Discussion of the advertising that creates needs is a proxy for a larger discussion about the role of money and consumption in our lives.

Review Questions

• Put into your own words the definition of consumerism.
• How can an ad create a desire?
• Why might an advertiser seek to create a desire?
• Make the case that ads that create desires violate a consumer’s basic rights.
• Why might a consumer want advertisers to create desires?
• What is a viral ad?
• With reference to the concept of economic asymmetry, why is advertising aimed at children the subject of special concern?
• Why might an advertising company feel obligated to limit the places in which its work appears in the name of protecting the noneconomic parts of our lives?
• Why might someone want advertising to be everywhere?

Advertising and Consumer behavior Essay

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

Introduction

Works cited.

The purpose of research as per Zain-UL Abideen and Patrick George is to investigate the relationship between television advertisement and consumer behavior, which includes attitudes, emotions and the actual buying behavior.

The studies in both reports are longitudinal but in different countries and economies. Zain does his research in Pakistan while Patrick focuses on the U.S. They both come to a conclusion that there is a relationship between television advertisement and the buying behavior of consumers. People tend to buy brands that are appealing to them emotionally.

Advertising highly influences the behavior of potential customers. Due to a highly competitive market, companies have adopted various advertising strategies as a way of attracting customers. The aim of business institutions and companies is to ensure that customers get to know about their products and services in the most effective manner so that they can respond positively.

Although there are companies that opt to introduce new products as a way of attracting customers, most companies advertise their products to attract more customers (Patrick, Page 15). Advertising is the most effective way of attracting customers since it creates an appealing image and it also entertains consumers. Television advertising is extremely effective when it comes to influencing customer behavior. This paper will focus on the analyses of customer behavior in relation to television advertising.

Television advertising plays a vital role in buying behavior of customers. Being one form of communication, it reaches a wide coverage. Television advertising is both audio and visual and thus it has a lot of impact on customer behavior.

The main aim of television advertising is either convincing customers to buy a certain product, informing customers about a new product in the market, or making a product more familiar to the customers (Zain-UL-Abideen,Page 67). Television advertising influences the awareness, buying behavior and the attitude of prospective customer.

Television advertising is crucial in providing the customer with information that creates a better market, which is accompanied by an appealing image amongst prospect buyers so that they easily make effective decisions regarding whether to buy the product or not. Television advertising also highly alters the feelings and attitudes towards a product and it also affects their buying behaviors especially because it visually provides the primary information about a product.

There are various processes that are involved when a customer is making the decision of buying a product or not. The steps include identification of a problem, search for the necessary information, making an informed decision on the choices available, making a final decision and finally purchase of the product (Patrick, Page 45).

These are crucial steps that are always affected by various advertisements aired on televisions. Television advertising also has a major impact on the behavior of teenagers and children. Their values, attitudes and behaviors sometimes lead to socialization behaviors that are not so desirable like making choices that are not rational, making decisions that are impulse-oriented and developing strong materialistic values (Zain-UL-Abideen,Page 123).

On the contrary, television advertisements also create positive customer impacts on teens such as creating greater knowledge about products. Television advertisement has helped many businesses in creating a positive image for their products and positively influencing the buying behavior of many prospects.

From the discussion, it is fais to stress that advertising, as a promotional strategy, plays very important role in creating awareness about the existence of the product and influencing on a behavior of the customer. Customers are able to make informed decisions about products, especially after coming into contact with television advertisements, which are not only informative, but also appealing and entertaining.

Television reaches the masses making marketing more effective. It influences the attitudes, behavior, lifestyle and exposure of customers, who end up buying the product in the long run. People buy the products that they are emotionally attached to. Television advertising has a very great effect on creating positive emotions of potential customers.

Patrick, George. “A Longitudinal study of television effects affecting Advertising. Journal of consumer research (2003): 267-279. Print.

Zain-UL-Abideen. “Effective advertising and its influence on consumer buying behavior” . European Journal of Business And Management 3.3 (2011): 55-65. Print.

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IvyPanda. (2018, December 19). Advertising and Consumer behavior. https://ivypanda.com/essays/advertising-and-consumer-behavior/

"Advertising and Consumer behavior." IvyPanda , 19 Dec. 2018, ivypanda.com/essays/advertising-and-consumer-behavior/.

IvyPanda . (2018) 'Advertising and Consumer behavior'. 19 December.

IvyPanda . 2018. "Advertising and Consumer behavior." December 19, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/advertising-and-consumer-behavior/.

1. IvyPanda . "Advertising and Consumer behavior." December 19, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/advertising-and-consumer-behavior/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Advertising and Consumer behavior." December 19, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/advertising-and-consumer-behavior/.

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ADVERTISING AND CONSUMERISM IN THE US

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Description of AD The ad message came from COMCAST NBUNIVERSAL and was advertised through the Politica magazine published on October 16th, 2019. A URL has been provided at the left bottom of the magazine. The ad contains an image of people and a laptop which...

Advertisement Analysis: Analysing The Old Spice Ad

Most people watch television everyday, and there are many ads that present themselves in between every program. If you do watch television, then you’ve most likely seen the iconic Old Spice commercials with the rapid talking actor Isaiah Mustafa. The commercial series first went on...

Ad Analysis Of The Allies, Hitler's Campaign

“All propaganda has to be popular and has to accommodate itself to the comprehension of the least intelligent of those whom it seeks to reach” -Adolf Hitler. This is ironic because Hitler used propaganda to help try to exterminate the Jewish people, but he makes...

The Semiotic Advertisement Analysis: Connotations And Denotations

Advertisements are a rich source for semiotic investigation and frequently reveal significant ideological attitudes. Once having analysed L’Oreal’s text, by using semiotic techniques, one will realise that not only are they advertising their well-known products (the lipstick), but they are simultaneously fortifying beliefs and values...

Ad Analysis: The Objectification And Sexism In Original Red

If you were to observe the world around you one would notice that advertisements are everywhere. They surround us in our day to day lives on billboards, phones, media, television, radios, etc. making up a vast majority of our ever-circulating culture. No two are exactly...

History of Wendy’s: Analysis of the Dave’s Single Advertisement

Wendy's is an American international fast food restaurant chain founded by Dave Thomas on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio. The company moved its headquarters to Dublin, Ohio. on January 29, 2006. The chain is known for its square hamburgers, sea salt fries, and their...

Overview of the Effects of Direct Mail Distribution

When a company or business starts, the owners need to advertize it to raise awareness about the certain company. For this task, they advertise themselves by mails, pamphlets and other means available depending on the budget. Direct mail is defined as the delivery of the...

Messages of Political Propaganda in Advertising for Young Children

The definition of propaganda is about spreading information with a cause, whereas advertising is an attempt to influence the buying behaviour of customers or clients using a persuasive message. The similarity of both words is for the cause of spreading, even if it includes engraving...

Overview on Brands Impact on Turning Society Into Lost Personalities 

Americans are worst when it comes to consumerism; that’s a well known fact. If it would be up to numbers for example, they constitute only %5 of the entire world population but they consume %24 of the energy in the world. They eat 200 billion...

The Manipulation of Search Engine Technology in Advertising

Locating the brand also face changes in web search engine marketing which includes spam, fierce competition and fraud click. One of the effective ways of audience acquisition strategy is search engine marketing (SEM), SEM allow firms to advertise their product on search engines (Boughton, 2005)....

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Weight Loss Advertisement and Product Targeting

In today's society there many flyers around the world on huge poster boards showing some sort of product targeting at women and men at ages 15 and up into reducing their own weight. The public tend to feel determined about their physical appearance, so experimenting...

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• Weight Loss

The Breakdown of Burger King's Advertising Strategy

Executive summary For about 60 years, Burger King has served fire seared cheeseburgers at a reasonable cost. In this sense, the inexpensive food chain best known for it’s larger than average sandwich has been only predictable. This paper will analyze the picture changes Burger King...

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Ireland'S Ancient East Campaign Marketing Analysis

Ireland’s Ancient East has been developed by Fáilte Ireland as a branded visitor experience showcasing Ireland’s living culture and ancient heritage that Ireland has to offer in the midlands/eastern half of the country. To date Fáilte Ireland has invested €31 million into developing the brand....

How Advertisement Can Be Very Insulting Towards Women

Some will say that society nowadays is shape by what our politician thinks or believes in, in fact their personal views shapes the society and others will says those whom their accounts are filled with millions of dollars or those managing or owning the biggest...

Analyse Structures And Techniques Of Television Advertisements

In this section you need to analyse and discuss the various techniques used in a range of UK television advertisements. This can be submitted via a typed report or a presentation. Using the materials on Its Learning, you need to EXPLAIN and provide an example...

Analysis Of Persuasive Elements In McDonalds's Advertisements

I started off my writing process by sitting down and really taking the time to analyze the advertisement I choose. I then proceeded to take the information that I gathered from analyzing it, and I incorporated that to the sheets we got in class with...

Analysis Of The Effective Marketing Communication In Ads

The promotion mix is the specific blend of promotion tools that the company uses to persuasively communicate customer value and build customer relationship; Advertising is among these promotion tools and is defined as any paid form of nonpersonal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods, or...

Effects Of Polarized Advertising On Consumers

Nike’s recent advertisement highlighting former NFL quarterback and Black Lives Matter figurehead Colin Kaepernick was met with deep sentiments of polarization (Green, 2018). This polarization resulted in some consumers declaring that they would never buy a product from Nike again, and other customers increasing their...

• Marketing Management

Research Of The Effects Of Featuring Ads On The Apps Used By Smartphone Users

Introduction The marketing and advertising industry have undergone rapid and tremendous changes over the last couple of years owing to constantly changing technology. Marketing techniques have seen a significant deviation from the conventional methods of engaging customers since the steady rise of the internet and...

The Effectiveness Of Online Advertising Towards Amazon

Executive Summary Through this research, we will understand that the effectiveness of online advertising towards Amazon and identify the advertising can create customers satisfaction among online customers in Malaysia. Customers satisfaction is important for business to earn more profits and gain customers’ loyalty. Customers’ loyalty...

• Online Shopping

The Honest Ads Act In The United States

In the US, Senators have suggested the Honest Ads Act, even as they study other procedures. Those who play out political advertisements on television, radio or print are required to reveal who funded the advertisement. This recommended Act seeks to level the playing arena for...

• American History

The Impact Of Edward Bernays On Advertising

We have come a long way from the advertising tactics of old. Where the first advertisements may have had more to do with the features of the product, nowadays we see companies utilizing soft cells, associating with lifestyle, desirability, and many other desires that don’t...

• Mass Communication
• Public Relations

Best topics on Advertising

1. The Role of Advertising in Society: Functions and Effects

2. Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Advertising: Navigating the Digital Marketplace

3. The Role That Consumer Behavior Plays on Advertising and Cancel Culture

4. Should Artists Music Be Used in Advertisements

5. Typography: From Billboards to Street Signs

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7. How Advertising Influences Consumer Behaviour

8. The Advertisement Analysis Of The Pears Soap

9. The Analysis Of Small World Machines Advertisement

10. That’s Nutellable’: An Analysis Of Advertisement Of Nutella

11. Analysis Of Comcast Advertisement, A Popular Ad

12. Advertisement Analysis: Analysing The Old Spice Ad

13. Ad Analysis Of The Allies, Hitler’s Campaign

14. The Semiotic Advertisement Analysis: Connotations And Denotations

15. Ad Analysis: The Objectification And Sexism In Original Red

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I Shop in Moscow: Advertising and the Creation of Consumer Culture in Late Tsarist Russia . By Sally West (DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 2011. xii plus 292 pp. $45.00)

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Christine Ruane, I Shop in Moscow: Advertising and the Creation of Consumer Culture in Late Tsarist Russia . By Sally West (DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 2011. xii plus 292 pp. $45.00), Journal of Social History , Volume 47, Issue 2, Winter 2013, Pages 537–539, https://doi.org/10.1093/jsh/sht069

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The 1917 Revolution has cast a long shadow over the history of consumerism in Russia. The Bolshevik contempt for capitalism and its bourgeois culture operated on two levels: the literal destruction of the pre-revolutionary commercial world and a disinterest in studying it. With very few exceptions, Soviet scholars avoided analyses of consumerism in favor of production studies. Western scholars also eschewed consumerism in large part because of the lack of access to archival materials that would have facilitated such work, although there were some exceptions. This situation changed in the early 1990s. The fall of communism, the opening of the archives to both Russian and Western scholars, and the reemergence of capitalism in the Russian Federation have encouraged scholars to reexamine pre-revolutionary capitalism and its consumer culture. Sally West's fascinating new book, I Shop in Moscow: Advertising and the Creation of Consumer Culture in Late Tsarist Russia constitutes a vital contribution to this new area of research.

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Essay on Consumerism

Introduction to Consumerism

Consumerism, a cornerstone of modern society, is the relentless pursuit of material goods and services, often equated with success and happiness. This phenomenon is ingrained in our daily lives, shaping our identities, values, and aspirations. Consider the frenzy of holiday shopping, where the desire for the latest gadgets or fashionable items drives people to wait in long lines and spend beyond their means. This drive for consumption is not limited to holidays; it permeates our year-round behavior, influencing what we buy, live, and perceive ourselves. While consumerism has fueled economic growth and technological advancement, it raises critical questions about sustainability, social justice, and personal well-being. This essay delves into the complexities of consumerism, examining its historical roots, societal impacts, and the need for a more balanced approach to consumption.

Historical Context of Consumerism

• Early Origins : Ancient civilizations traced consumerism, where luxury goods symbolized wealth and power, back to using gold and spices in trade routes.
• Industrial Revolution : The 18th and 19th centuries saw a significant shift with the rise of industrialization. Mass production made goods more affordable, leading to an increase in consumer culture.
• Advertising and Marketing : The 20th century marked the emergence of modern advertising techniques, influencing consumer behavior through targeted campaigns and persuasive messaging.
• Post-World War II Boom : The mid-20th century witnessed unprecedented economic growth, especially in Western countries, leading to a surge in consumer spending on automobiles, electronics, and other goods.
• Globalization : In the late 20th century, globalization further accelerated consumerism as multinational corporations expanded their reach, offering various products to an increasingly interconnected world.
• Digital Age : The advent of the Internet and e-commerce in the late 20th and early 21st centuries revolutionized consumer behavior, enabling convenient online shopping and personalized marketing.
• Impact of Social Media : Social media platforms have further amplified consumerism, with influencers and online advertisements shaping consumer preferences and purchasing decisions.
• Sustainability Concerns : In recent years, there has been a growing awareness of consumerism’s environmental and social impacts, leading to calls for more sustainable and ethical consumption practices.

Importance of Examining Consumerism

Examining consumerism is crucial for several reasons:

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• Impact on Society : Consumerism influences social norms, values, and lifestyles, shaping how individuals and communities perceive themselves and others.
• Economic Implications : Consumer spending drives economic growth, making it essential to understand consumer behavior for effective market strategies and policy-making.
• Environmental Sustainability : Consumerism contributes to ecological degradation through resource depletion, pollution , and waste generation, highlighting the need for sustainable consumption patterns.
• Social Justice : Consumerism can exacerbate inequalities, as access to certain goods and services may be limited based on socio-economic status, leading to disparities in health, education, and quality of life.
• Health and Well-being : Excessive consumerism links to mental health issues, such as anxiety and depression, along with physical health problems due to unhealthy lifestyles.
• Cultural Identity : Consumerism influences cultural practices and traditions, raising questions about cultural authenticity and heritage preservation.
• Globalization : In a globalized world, understanding consumerism is essential for navigating cultural diversity, ethical considerations, and international trade dynamics.
• Policy and Regulation : Examining consumer behavior helps policymakers develop regulations and incentives to promote responsible consumption and address societal challenges associated with consumerism.

Positive Facets of Consumerism

Consumerism, despite its criticisms, also brings several positive aspects:

• Economic Growth : Consumer spending drives economic activity, stimulating production, investment, and job creation, leading to overall economic growth and development.
• Innovation and Technological Advancement : The demand for new products and services encourages innovation and technological advancement, driving progress in various industries and improving quality of life.
• Enhanced Quality of Life : Access to a wide range of goods and services improves living standards, providing consumers with greater convenience, comfort, and enjoyment in their daily lives.
• Increased Choice and Variety : Consumerism offers individuals a diverse array of choices and options, allowing them to select products and services that best meet their preferences, needs, and lifestyles.
• Social Mobility : Consumerism can facilitate social mobility by providing opportunities for individuals to improve their socioeconomic status through education, employment, and entrepreneurship.
• Global Connectivity : Consumerism fosters global connectivity and cultural exchange, as people around the world share common experiences, values, and aspirations through the consumption of similar goods and media.
• Philanthropy and Social Responsibility : Many businesses engage in corporate social responsibility initiatives and philanthropic efforts, using their resources to support charitable causes and address social and environmental issues.
• Creative Expression and Individuality : Consumption allows individuals to express their creativity and individuality through personal style, tastes, and preferences, contributing to cultural diversity and self-expression.
• Community Building : Consumerism can foster social connections and community building as people come together through shared interests, hobbies, and experiences related to consumption activities.
• Support for Arts and Culture : Consumer spending on arts, entertainment, and cultural events provides financial support to artists, performers, and cultural institutions, enriching society’s cultural landscape.

Negative Consequences of Consumerism

Consumerism also has several negative consequences:

• Environmental Degradation : The production, transportation, and disposal of goods contribute to pollution, deforestation , habitat destruction, and climate change, leading to environmental degradation and loss of biodiversity.
• Resource Depletion : Consumerism depletes natural resources, such as fossil fuels, minerals, and water, at unsustainable rates, threatening the availability of these resources for future generations.
• Waste Generation : The disposal of goods results in massive amounts of waste, including plastic pollution, electronic waste, and landfill overflow, exacerbating environmental problems and harming ecosystems.
• Social Inequality : Consumerism can widen the gap between the rich and the poor, as access to certain goods and services becomes a marker of social status, leading to disparities in wealth and opportunity.
• Materialism and Dissatisfaction : Consumerism promotes materialistic values, linking happiness and success to the acquisition of material possessions, which can lead to feelings of dissatisfaction, envy, and unfulfillment.
• Overconsumption and Debt : Consumerism encourages excessive consumption and spending beyond one’s means, leading to personal debt, financial instability, and stress.
• Health Issues : The pursuit of consumer goods and lifestyles can contribute to health problems, such as obesity, stress-related disorders, and mental health issues due to unhealthy habits and societal pressures.
• Cultural Homogenization : Consumerism can lead to the spread of a global consumer culture, eroding local traditions, languages, and cultural diversity, as Western ideals and products dominate the market.
• Exploitation of Labor : The demand for cheap goods can lead to labor exploitation, including poor working conditions, low wages, and child labor, particularly in developing countries where regulations may be lax.
• Erosion of Values : Consumerism can prioritize material wealth and possessions over intrinsic values, such as relationships, community, and personal well-being, leading to a loss of meaning and purpose in life.

Consumerism and Culture

Consumerism and culture are deeply intertwined, with consumer behavior reflecting and shaping cultural values, beliefs, and practices. Some key aspects of the relationship between consumerism and culture include:

• Cultural Influences on Consumer Behavior : Cultural norms, traditions, and social practices influence consumer preferences, shaping what individuals buy, how they use products, and the meaning attached to consumption.
• Consumer Culture : In many societies, consumerism has become a defining aspect of culture, with material possessions and consumption patterns significantly shaping individual and collective identities.
• Cultural Identity and Consumption : Consumption can be a way for individuals to express their cultural identity, values, and affiliations, as seen in the preference for certain brands, foods, fashion styles, and cultural artifacts.
• Globalization and Cultural Homogenization : Globalization has led to the spread of consumer culture worldwide, resulting in the homogenization of consumer preferences and the erosion of traditional cultural practices and diversity.
• Cultural Authenticity and Commodification : Consumerism raises questions about the authenticity of cultural products and experiences, as it often commodifies traditional practices and artifacts for commercial purposes.
• Consumerism and Rituals : Consumption can be a part of cultural rituals and traditions, such as gift-giving, ceremonies, and celebrations, reinforcing social bonds and cultural norms.
• Media and Cultural Influence : Mass media, including advertising, films, and social media, play a significant role in shaping consumer desires and aspirations, influencing cultural values and norms.
• Subcultures and Countercultures : Consumerism is not uniform across all cultures and subcultures, with some groups embracing alternative consumption practices that challenge mainstream consumer culture.
• Cultural Critique of Consumerism : Some cultural movements and theorists critique consumerism, highlighting its negative impacts on society, the environment, and personal well-being.
• Cultural Resistance to Consumerism : In response to consumerism, some cultural movements advocate for sustainable and ethical consumption practices, promoting values of simplicity, frugality, and environmental stewardship.

Sustainable Consumption Practices

Sustainable consumption practices are approaches to consuming goods and services that minimize negative environmental, social, and economic impacts. These practices promote responsible consumption and production patterns, emphasizing the need to meet present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Some key sustainable consumption practices include:

• Reduce, Reuse, Recycle : The “3 Rs” of waste management promote reducing waste generation, reusing products or materials, and recycling materials to minimize resource depletion and waste accumulation.
• Minimalism : Minimalist living advocates owning and consuming only what is necessary, avoiding excess consumption, and focusing on experiences and relationships over material possessions.
• Ethical Consumerism : Ethical consumerism involves making purchasing decisions based on ethical considerations, such as the environmental impact of products, fair labor practices, and animal welfare.
• Local and Seasonal Consumption : Buying locally produced and seasonal goods reduces the environmental impact of transportation and supports local economies and farmers.
• Energy and Water Conservation : Conserving energy and water through efficient practices and technologies reduces resource consumption and environmental impact.
• Sustainable Agriculture and Food Choices : Choosing organic, locally sourced, and plant-based foods reduces the environmental impact of food production and supports sustainable agricultural practices.
• Carpooling and Public Transport : Opting for carpooling, biking, or public transportation reduces carbon emissions and promotes sustainable mobility.
• Repair and Maintenance : Repairing and maintaining products instead of replacing them extends their lifespan and reduces waste.
• Sharing Economy : Participating in the sharing economy, such as through car-sharing or clothing rental services, reduces the need for individual ownership and promotes resource sharing.
• Education and Awareness : Educating oneself and others about sustainable consumption practices and their benefits encourages behavior change and promotes a culture of sustainability.

Case Studies

Here are some case studies of companies or initiatives that have successfully implemented sustainable consumption practices:

• Patagonia : Patagonia, an outdoor clothing company, has implemented several sustainable practices, such as using recycled materials, reducing water usage, and promoting the repair and reuse of products through its Worn Wear program. These efforts have helped reduce the environmental impact of its products and build a loyal customer base committed to sustainability.
• Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan : Unilever, a consumer goods company, launched its Sustainable Living Plan, aiming to decouple its growth from environmental impact and increase social impact. The plan includes goals to source 100% of agricultural raw materials sustainably and to halve the environmental footprint of its products by 2030.
• Toyota Prius : The Toyota Prius, a hybrid electric car, has been a successful example of sustainable consumption in the automotive industry. The Prius introduced hybrid technology to the mass market, significantly reducing fuel consumption and emissions compared to traditional gasoline-powered vehicles.
• IKEA’s Circular Business Model : IKEA has implemented a circular business model, which includes offering furniture rental services, recycling materials in its products, and designing products for durability and recyclability. These efforts aim to reduce waste and promote a more sustainable approach to furniture consumption.
• TOMS Shoes : TOMS Shoes pioneered the “One for One” model, where they donate a pair of shoes to a needy child for every pair purchased. While not without criticism, this model has raised awareness about global poverty and provided shoes to millions of children worldwide.

Government Policies and Regulation

Government policies and regulations play a crucial role in promoting sustainable consumption practices and addressing the negative impacts of consumerism. Some key areas where governments can intervene include:

• Product Standards and Labeling : Governments can establish standards for product efficiency, durability, and environmental impact, as well as labeling schemes (e.g., Energy Star) to help consumers make informed choices.
• Tax Incentives and Subsidies : Governments can provide tax incentives or subsidies for sustainable products and practices, such as renewable energy systems or energy-efficient appliances, to encourage adoption.
• Waste Management and Recycling : Governments can implement policies to promote waste reduction, recycling, and proper disposal, such as extended producer responsibility (EPR) programs that make manufacturers responsible for the end-of-life disposal of their products.
• Plastic Bans and Restrictions : Governments can ban or restrict the use of single-use plastics and promote alternatives, such as biodegradable or reusable materials, to reduce plastic pollution.
• Sustainable Public Procurement : Governments can lead by example through sustainable public procurement policies, prioritizing purchasing environmentally friendly and socially responsible products and services.
• Education and Awareness Campaigns : Governments can launch campaigns to raise awareness about sustainable consumption practices and the importance of reducing waste and conserving resources.
• Regulation of Advertising : Governments can regulate advertising practices to prevent misleading or excessive advertising that promotes unsustainable consumption patterns.
• Support for Sustainable Businesses : Governments can provide support and incentives for businesses that adopt sustainable practices, such as grants, loans, or technical assistance.
• International Cooperation : Given the global nature of many environmental issues, governments can work together through international agreements and frameworks, such as the Paris Agreement, to address sustainable consumption on a global scale.

Future Trends

Several future trends are expected to influence consumer behavior and drive changes in consumption patterns toward more sustainable practices:

• Circular Economy : The shift towards a circular economy, where resources are reused, recycled, or repurposed, is expected to gain momentum. This approach aims to minimize waste and maximize the value of products and materials.
• Digitalization and E-commerce : The growth of digital technologies and e-commerce continues, offering consumers more convenience and access to a wider range of products while reducing traditional retail’s environmental impact.
• Sharing Economy : The sharing economy, characterized by the sharing or renting of goods and services instead of owning them outright, is expected to expand, promoting resource sharing and reducing consumption.
• Sustainable Fashion : The fashion industry expects a shift towards sustainable practices, such as using eco-friendly materials, reducing waste, and promoting ethical labor practices.
• Renewable Energy : The adoption of renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power, is expected to increase, reducing reliance on fossil fuels and promoting a more sustainable energy system.
• Regenerative Agriculture : Regenerative agriculture practices, which focus on improving soil health and biodiversity, are expected to become more widespread, promoting sustainable food production.
• Urbanization and Sustainable Cities : As more people move to urban areas, there is a growing focus on creating sustainable cities with efficient transportation systems, green spaces, and eco-friendly buildings.
• Consumer Awareness and Activism : Consumer awareness about environmental and social issues is expected to grow, leading to increased demand for sustainable products and transparency from companies.
• Regulation and Policy Changes : Governments expect to implement more stringent regulations and policies to promote sustainable consumption practices and address environmental and social challenges.

Consumerism is a complex phenomenon with both positive and negative consequences. While consumerism drives economic growth, innovation, and improved living standards, it also leads to environmental degradation, social inequality, and unsustainable consumption patterns. A shift towards more sustainable consumption practices is necessary to address these challenges. This requires collective action from individuals, businesses, and governments to promote responsible consumption, reduce waste, and prioritize environmental and social well-being. By embracing sustainable consumption, we can create a more equitable and sustainable future for future generations.

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Essay On Advertisement

500 words essay on advertisement.

We all are living in the age of advertisements. When you step out, just take a quick look around and you will lay eyes upon at least one advertisement in whichever form. In today’s modern world of trade and business, advertisement plays an essential role. All traders, big and small, make use of it to advertise their goods and services. Through essay on advertisement, we will go through the advantages and ways of advertisements.

The Various Ways Of Advertisement

Advertisements help people become aware of any product or service through the use of commercial methods. This kind of publicity helps to endorse a specific interest of a person for product sale.

As the world is becoming more competitive now, everyone wants to be ahead in the competition. Thus, the advertisement also comes under the same category. Advertising is done in a lot of ways.

There is an employment column which lists down job vacancies that is beneficial for unemployed candidates. Similarly, matrimonial advertisement help people find a bride or groom for marriageable prospects.

Further, advertising also happens to find lost people, shops, plots, good and more. Through this, people get to know about a nearby shop is on sale or the availability of a new tutor or coaching centre.

Nowadays, advertisements have evolved from newspapers to the internet. Earlier there were advertisements in movie theatres, magazines, building walls. But now, we have the television and internet which advertises goods and services.

As a large section of society spends a lot of time on the internet, people are targeting their ads towards it. A single ad posting on the internet reaches to millions of people within a matter of few seconds. Thus, advertising in any form is effective.

Benefits of Advertisements

As advertisements are everywhere, for some magazines and newspapers, it is their main source of income generation. It not only benefit the producer but also the consumer. It is because producers get sales and consumer gets the right product.

Moreover, the models who act in the advertisements also earn a handsome amount of money . When we look at technology, we learn that advertising is critical for establishing contact between seller and buyer.

This medium helps the customers to learn about the existence and use of such goods which are ready to avail in the market. Moreover, advertisement manages to reach the nooks and corners of the world to target their potential customers.

Therefore, it benefits a lot of people. Through advertising, people also become aware of the price difference and quality in the market. This allows them to make good choices and not fall to scams.

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Conclusion of Essay On Advertisement

All in all, advertisements are very useful but they can also be damaging. Thus, it is upon us to use them with sense and ensure they are entertaining and educative. None of us can escape advertisements as we are already at this age. But, what we can do is use our intelligence for weeding out the bad ones and benefitting from the right ones.

FAQ on Essay On Advertisement

Question 1: What is the importance of advertisement in our life?

Answer 1: Advertising is the best way to communicate with customers. It helps informs the customers about the brands available in the market and the variety of products which can be useful to them.

Question 2: What are the advantages of advertising?

Answer 2: The advantages of advertising are that firstly, it introduces a new product in the market. Thus, it helps in expanding the market. As a result, sales also increase. Consumers become aware of and receive better quality products.

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Home | Economics | Consumerism

Essays on Consumerism

44 essay samples on this topic, essay examples, essay topics, advantages and disadvantages of consumerism.

Consumer Behavior

Consumerism

Ecology and Consumerism in Film Wall-E

Movie Review

Correlation of Consumerism and Environment Pollution

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Consumerism is a social and economic order based on the systematic creation and fostering of a desire to purchase commodities or services. The term refers to “consuming,” or making purchases, which in turn creates capital for businesses. Materialistic views emphasize the role of mass media advertising, such as TV commercials, in instilling the desire to purchase and consume.

Most students, when told to write about consumerism essays, will face difficulty choosing a topic. This is because it is a vast subject that covers several areas, ranging from how shopping malls are organized to the ongoing debate about capitalism and its effects on society. In writing an essay on consumerism, you should begin by looking through some of the Consumerism essay samples available to build your understanding of the topic. These essays on Consumerism will be helpful to you when it comes to writing your paper.

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Public Diplomacy and Consumerism during the early Cold War

Introduction.

During the 1920s, American consumerism increased due to technical advances and innovative ideas and inventions in communication, transportation, and manufacturing. Americans moved from the avoidance of debt to the concept of buying goods on credit. The operating assumption was that the more items people purchased, the happier and more fulfilled they would feel. Americans were willing to buy new devices and inventions, and spending increased dramatically. The U.S. supported a consumer culture as capitalism and materialism molded the average person to buy more goods and improve their standard of living. Political and business leaders claimed consumerism was more than shopping as it defined the benefits of capitalism. The basis for a capitalist society is an insatiable appetite for goods and services. The United States government wanted to develop lifelong consumers to develop needs, wants, and product preferences to expand the economy for a prosperous postwar nation.

When President Franklin Roosevelt delivered his annual message to Congress in 1941, he gave his "Four Freedoms Speech," describing extending American ideals worldwide. Roosevelt expressed his concern about human rights and freedom. His famous speech proposed "four essential human freedoms, freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear." When Western Europe lay under Nazi domination, Roosevelt presented a vision in which America should spread those ideals worldwide. In his State of the Union Address, he told Congress that "four freedoms," including "freedom from want," would define the post-WWII international era. After years of wartime rationing, American consumers were ready to spend money, and factories switched from war to peacetime production.

During the Cold War period of the late 1940s and 1950s, winning the "contest for the hearts and minds" of the American people became a challenge in the battle of mobilizing societies for a new geopolitical rivalry. After the containment of the Soviet Union on the military front during the Cold War, economics and consumption played a significant role in swaying public sentiment toward higher living standards, political freedom, and social mobility. The United States used government-sponsored efforts to persuade European people that democracy and capitalism were superior to Soviet alternatives. The lengthy battle between the economic systems of capitalism and Communism would set the stage for the eventual fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

In 1959, the "kitchen debate" is a prime example of a pivotal economic discussion on consumption at a heated debate in Moscow. U.S. vice president Richard Nixon and Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev traded barbs at the American kitchen exhibit as they illuminated the deep socio-political and cultural divide between the two superpowers in the 1950s. These kitchen debates were about standards of living and technological advances in the U.S./USSR. They showed how Americans were buying these consumer goods as they needed to have a "good life." The exhibits aimed to develop better mutual understanding and friendlier relations between people in the East and West. This attention to consumerism became central as America countered the ideology of the Soviet Union.

During the Cold War, the U.S. and Soviet Union competed fiercely to prove superiority. While the Soviet Union was ahead of the U.S. in rocket technology, the U.S. was winning in consumer products. The contest was on as Khrushchev decided to enter a competition to catch up and overtake America. Using the kitchen debate to highlight these efforts, students will learn how the U.S. government manipulated its citizens through consumption, propaganda, and advertising to buy consumer goods. The unit will combine concerns of the Cold War and elaborate on how consumerism and propaganda were tools used to convince Americans to increase their consumption and living standards.

Content Objectives

American prosperity vs. soviet shortages.

In this unit, students will study how the U.S. government aimed to combat Communism, not with nuclear weapons, but through a capitalistic society that included automobiles, refrigerators, washing machines, and consumer goods. Americans prospered as Soviet citizens suffered from chronic shortages of consumer goods. While the Soviet Union was busy trying to feed and supply clothes for its citizens, the United States pushed "the American Dream" toward the middle class. The decades following World War II were a time of significant economic growth and prosperity. This unit will highlight how consumer demand spurred economic growth and how rising incomes, marketing, and advertising created the culture of consumption and consumerism in the 1950s.

Demand vs. Planned Economy

The unit will show how capitalism succeeded by creating a financial system with benefits, improving individuals' lives, and giving people power. A demand-driven economy would offer the best route to recovery and affluence, but it would also nurture the long-sought ideal of a more equal and democratic nation. Citizens living better than ever would be on an equal footing with their similarly prospering neighbors. The American government used propaganda to manipulate Americans into believing that being good citizens and consumers is the "American Way." The theory is that spending on consumer goods and services, building supply and demand, is the primary driver of the economic success of a capitalistic society. Communist countries created centrally planned economies that led to many shortages because the government dictated production.

What was the "Cold" War

Students will study the Cold War and the goals of the U.S. to restrict and stop the spread of Communism and encourage democracy and capitalism. The United States entered the post-World War II era as the most powerful country in the world. The challenges facing the country were: The spread and containment of Communism, leadership in the global economy, and preservation of security at home and abroad. The United States and the Soviet Union competed militarily and economically for over forty years.

Classroom Environment

I teach Oklahoma History, U.S. Government, and special education to high school students in Tulsa Public schools. The students at school have varying academic levels and socioeconomic and social-emotional statuses. Students dropped out of school from COVID and anxiety and are now making up for the lost time. Building relationships and mentoring are crucial to engaging students. Working with students personally and helping to inspire them with local and world events are essential.

It is challenging to instruct students with varying academic levels. The key is to engage students through differentiation, scaffolding, and group and individual lessons. Having students come together for a lively discussion and debate helps them develop academic and social skills to support lesson content and critical thinking. Small group and independent study will reinforce class content through projects, discussions, and individual lessons. This curriculum will meet Oklahoma standards for students to learn and gain new insights into the historical and cultural context of the Cold War.

It takes careful thought and analysis to study the history of our country's foundations, especially in our current political climate. All sections of this unit will be appropriate for high-school students. Students are engaged when incorporating current events and civics into history lesson units. Bringing students experiential learning that will broaden their horizons and help connect them to real-life activities will help them see value in history. I will teach this unit in U.S. History. This unit will also explore history through T.V., radio, and advertising to help students understand the popular culture of the times and then apply background knowledge to understanding content.

Students will learn how the years of fighting against Cold War Communism in the U.S. reflected in the anxieties that affected everyday life and heightened when anti-communist hysteria changed the lives of citizens. The Cold War was a war of words, not guns. It was the fear of the atomic bomb. It was a diplomatic struggle between the democratic nations of the West, such as the United States, Great Britain, and France, and the nation's allies with the former Soviet Union. The fear of the Red Scare of Communism influenced American attitudes, beliefs, and actions. Threats of nuclear war, foreign invasions, and national security had Americans "duck and cover" in schools and their homes. The Federal Civil Defense Administration's strategies for surviving a nuclear attack included fallout shelters, duck and cover drills, and the protection of U.S. government institutions. All these factors contributed to the increased tensions that affected the citizens of America.

The Cold War was fought in the White House and the Kremlin but also entered peoples' kitchens. In American and Soviet homes, the capitalism-communism divide was a topic of conversation at kitchen tables. The world leaders debated the merits of American-style capitalist consumerism and Soviet-style Communism in a battle of ideas and beliefs. Khrushchev talked about how their economy, with Soviet scarcity, would lead to dreams of abundance and how "one office, one factory, could be directed, as capitalism could not, to the fastest fulfillment of human needs. 1   Therefore, Khrushchev said that Communism could easily outproduce the wasteful chaos of the marketplace in the United States. In short, Khrushchev talked of the fantasy of the ability to satisfy the Soviet's needs, while President Eisenhower spoke about comfortable homes.

One of the factors in the Cold War during the 1950s was consumerism and living standards. 2 As early as 1957, it became clear that Soviet leaders had underestimated the power of the cultural Cold War and the role of living standards, convenience, and leisure. While Khrushchev preferred to make outer space, Sputnik, and the Space Race, a central theme, the American way of life was slowly becoming a global phenomenon. The Soviets, more than ever, were struggling to control the beliefs and images of American life. One of the mistakes the Kremlin made was to allow interest in America to become a threat to its policies and reforms. 3 In doing so, it created a paradox for the cultural discussions that were about to take place. When Khrushchev visited the United States for the first time, people in the U.S. thought the exchange would lessen world tensions. However, to Communists, it stood for a chance to use the pressure to still further victories of manipulation.

Students will learn how capitalism functions and how it offers business owners and corporations the most significant level of freedom and flexibility. In a capitalist economy, the economy is free from state control, and freedom of enterprise is cherished. Capitalism is an economic system in which private individuals control property and enterprise for their interests. Capitalism is built on the ideals of personal property, profit motive, and market competition. The essential purpose of capitalism is that profits drive the free-market capitalistic economy by supply and demand. Capitalism establishes a price system that ensures resources are conserved by producing market demand and anticipating consumer preferences.

In Cold War America, capitalism held a prominent place in economic development. The rhetoric of choice and abundance was pivotal in America's attempts to propagandize the "American Way." In America in the 1940s and 1950s, goods were mass-produced and targeted at the middle class. Americans were able to consume more cheaply than ever before and were also able to buy on credit. Between 1945 and 1949, Americans bought 20 million refrigerators, 21.4 million cars, and 5.5 million stoves, a trend that continued well into the 1950s. 4

Both superpowers wanted high productivity from their workers. The Western model of capitalism was a free market economy, one of supply and demand. Capitalism is incompatible with the Communist system. During the Cold War, buying items for the home helped alleviate traditional American uneasiness with consumption. President Eisenhower's question about how Americans could help the economy was: Buy!"- "Buy What?"- "Anything." In a discussion on the economy, historian Elaine Tyler May noted, "the values associated with domestic spending upheld traditional American concerns with pragmatism and morality, rather than opulence and luxury." 5

In contrast to a planned economy, capitalism promotes private ownership. Individuals have the right to own property and the freedom to do what they want. Because of capitalism, individual businesses can grow and expand as large as the market allows. Capitalism offers the most significant level of freedom to business owners and corporations.

Most forms of Communism are grounded in Marxism, a theory conceived by Karl Marx during the nineteenth century. Marx thought the only way to have a balanced society was to put workers in control and live in a communal system. Communism promised prosperity and equality, even though it delivered neither. In the Soviet Union, during the early Cold-War, the ruling elite gained the most and the workers suffered. As the Soviet economy grew and modernized, it became common for the nation to experience shortages. Ordinary citizens often had to wait in line to acquire necessities like cars, housing, and clothing. There was a deep contrast between the people who live relatively well and the remainder of people whose standard of living is low.

During the early Cold War, the Soviet government-controlled prices, and decisions about how many goods to produce. The Soviet economy was based on state ownership and central planning. The government controlled all communication and transportation and owned all factories, agriculture, and farms. Individuals held no private property or assets. In this system, workers earned the same pay. The Communist government rationed items that the people wanted, creating shortages and used many resources to maintain nuclear and military arsenals. They worked on the supply side of economics and would only manufacture a limited supply of goods, thereby controlling prices.

Communist countries created centrally planned economies that led to many shortages because the government dictated production. A planned economy (also called a command economy) is an economic system in which the government makes critical decisions about producing and distributing goods and services. Under a planned system, there are disadvantages, including a lack of efficient resource allocation, lack of innovation, and the needs of society are not fulfilled. In a market economy, companies produce goods that are in demand.

In the 1940s, massive food shortages and droughts in the Soviet Union led to a shortage in the grain supply. During the 1950s, the Soviet Union had moved from a mainly agrarian society into an industrial power. There was a lack of skilled workers in this transformation, and this also led to shortages in consumer goods. When goods were available, consumers stood in long lines; this created the "black market" for goods. Soviets wanted cigarettes, shampoo, liquor, jeans, sugar, and milk, among other products. The "black market" was illegal but was essential because the Soviets wanted consumer goods. This mode, termed the "second economy," provided party propagandists with a scapegoat for shortages and lined the pockets of party officials.

Containment and Rebuilding

By focusing on government policies, students will be able to learn how the U.S. government helped countries rebuild after WWII to stop the spread of Communism. In 1947, the Containment Policy proposed by George F. Kennan focused on Soviet Communism that was spreading at this time. Kennan determined this policy and strategy to stop the spread of communist influence and control wherever it threatened to surface. The policy said that

Communism needed containment and isolation, or it would expand and spread to neighboring countries; therefore, becoming a threat to the U.S. as Communism stood for a system to fear. In the "Truman Doctrine," on March 12, 1947, President Harry S. Truman presented his address before a joint session of Congress. Truman asked Congress for $400 million in the military and economic aid for Turkey and Greece (threatened by the USSR). Harry S. Truman said the U.S. would supply financial and military support to any country threatened by a Soviet takeover.

In 1947, George Marshall argued that Soviet propaganda had instilled perverse notions that Americans had unlimited wealth and that "monopoly capitalists" dominated the imperialistic U.S. government. He stated that Soviet propagandists declared, "American democratic principles are loudly proclaimed as a cloak for undemocratic practices and to conceal widespread racial and economic discriminations and extensive concentration of the political and economic power in the hands of a few." 6 To meet this emergency, Secretary of State George Marshall proposed that European nations should create a plan for their economic reconstruction and that the United States provide monetary assistance.

George Marshall promised that the U.S. commitment to reconstructing Europe would not only restore the market for American goods but would help to repair poverty, desperation, and chaos. He used his speech to promote economic health in the world, without which there can be no political stability. In his plan, he proposed that the United States supply financial aid to restore the economic infrastructure of postwar Europe. Over the next four years, Congress appropriated $13.3 billion for European recovery. This financial aid supplied much-needed capital and materials that enabled Europeans to rebuild the continent's economy. For the United States, the Marshall Plan supported free markets for American goods that would increase consumption, create dependable trading partners, and support the development of stable democratic governments in Western Europe.

On April 3, 1948, President Truman signed the Economic Recovery Act of 1948 (Economic Cooperation Act of 1948), which became known as the Marshall Plan, named after Secretary George Marshall. The Marshall Plan supported the development of stable democratic governments in Western Europe and signaled bipartisanship of WWII into the postwar years. 7 These plans sent aid to war-torn Europe after WWII, mainly focusing on preventing the spread of Communism. The Marshall Plan was created to avoid the spread of Communism in Western Europe and stabilize the international situation in a way favorable to America with its considerable investment in developing political democracy and free market economies. Americans became convinced that the Europeans would not be able to get back on their feet either economically or militarily without massive American commitment and infusion of funds. Students will learn how the U.S. government tried and succeeded in helping to rebuild postwar Europe to spread democracy and freedom.

During the 1950s, many events led to significant changes between the two superpowers. Rapid economic growth in the U.S. and western Europe, the death of Stalin in 1953, the beginning of the Space Race, and Sputnik in 1957, became an outgrowth of the increasing relevance of consumption and production in the era of Cold War competition in a nonmilitary way. Also, television became a significant phenomenon that changed American life. The new medium's power revolutionized news broadcasting and transformed the U.S. to forge a national popular culture. By the late 1950s, television became more about consumerism when Americans sat at their dining tables and living rooms.

The Kitchen Debate- 1959

This information in the kitchen debate is essential for students to learn as it will build context and lead to a debate in the final project in this unit. Historians regard the kitchen debate as one of the most symbolic events that revealed distinctive Cold War elements. Richard M. Nixon was a central figure throughout the history of the Cold War. Nixon traveled widely as vice president, including a celebrated trip to the Soviet Union in 1959. Nixon went to Moscow to promote the American National Exhibition and America's consumer society. The most famous moments of Nixon's Soviet trip came in Moscow, as he went with Soviet leader Nikita S. Khrushchev around the U.S. kitchen exhibition in Sokolniki Park. Stopping at the display of a model kitchen, Nixon and Khrushchev engaged in one of the most compelling bits of theater in the history of the Cold War. The "kitchen debate" was a robust discussion of the merits of capitalism and Communism between the two world leaders.

Their debate exposed differences in the late 1950s that were exchanged by superpowers to best advocate and protect their respective ways of life. To the average Soviet, items such as televisions and automobiles signified a comfortable, secure life rarely available in the Soviet Union. Most Soviets were happy just to have food and clothing. Most Soviet visitors were impressed with the exhibition, and U.S. officials underestimated the appeal of consumerism, consumption, and democratic values to the average Soviet person. 8 U.S. information strategists realized that future exhibits should emphasize what capitalism afforded U.S. citizens.

The Kremlin's counterattack, reflecting profound insecurities about the impact of Western consumer culture, tried to undermine the appeal of the American exhibition. The Soviet Communist Party (CPSU), backed by various allied committees, employed a variety of means to discredit the American way of life. This approach backfired as many Soviets enjoyed the exhibit. The guides at the exhibition received notes in which people confessed their dissatisfaction with Soviet life; some had hostility toward Communism. Despite years of intense anti-American propaganda, Americans were struck by "the friendly attitude of most Soviet visitors toward America and Americans, in contrast to the indifference of most Americans towards the Russian people." 9

When the debate aired on U.S. television on July 25, 1959, and two days later, it aired on Soviet television; Nixon and Khrushchev debated the social systems of ordinary citizens to decide which country had a better method of government. Time magazine described how "Nixon sold the American way, as he was getting through to the Russian people with a message that told of one man, a system, and a country dedicated not to war, as Communist propaganda had insisted, but also to prosperity and peace." 10 On August 3, 1959, Newsweek included coverage of the debate transcript and described two hundred reporters and photographers pressing close to the adversaries (Nixon and Khrushchev) to cover the widely celebrated event. 11

The exhibition provided the U.S. with an ideal forum to respond to Khrushchev's claim that the Soviet system would overtake and "bury" the capitalist West. The crowds at the exhibit now knew firsthand that their country, the Soviet Union, lagged behind the U.S. in the quality of life it could supply its consumers. While the hope was to relieve tension between the clashing countries, it inevitably did the exact opposite. An estimated 2.7 million people came to the exhibit over the six weeks, and many more would have come if there would have been more tickets available. 12 Young people jumped the fence, especially wanting to see "Americana" at its best, including the newest model automobiles, appliances, Pepsi, fashion, rock and roll music, and Disney films.

Most importantly, however, the debate proved that the Cold War had moved into a new phase, one characterized less by the threat of looming military conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union and more by a contest to win over the people of the developing world and living standards. It was a consumer propaganda campaign masterminded to sell the American Way as superior. The debate was "in the kitchen,” where the future of women's work was debated and discussed amongst politicians and the public. During the discussion, Nixon claimed that "the newest kitchen model would make life easier for our housewives." 13 The USIA (United States Information Agency) concluded that the Moscow exhibition was "the largest and probably the most productive single psychological effort ever launched by the U.S. in any Communist country." 14

Their debate illuminated how both leaders used the kitchen to expose the rivalries between the two countries during the Cold War period. Critics had long disparaged what they viewed in Khrushchev's words as "the capitalist attitude towards women" in America. 15   They argued that capitalist systems kept women at home and discussed how women would be enthusiastic about family over society. During the conversation, Khrushchev accused Nixon of trying to threaten the Soviet Union indirectly. Nixon responded to Khrushchev by saying the Soviet Union had better weapons than the United States and was also making an indirect threat to him. In the debate, Khrushchev claimed that "Nixon's grandchildren would live under Communism, and Nixon claimed that Khrushchev's grandchildren would live in freedom." 16

The Suburbs in America

Experts fought over which values best exemplify "America." The Kitchen Debate does reveal numerous issues that became emblematic of the Cold War, including issues of economics, gender ideology, and the movement of white families to the suburbs during the baby boom generation. Fighting the Cold War at home and the growth of the middle class during this era would be a permanent reminder of the ongoing battleground of consumer expectations and desires. The Cold War propaganda showed that strong nuclear families would help the U.S. beat the USSR.

During the 1950s, suburbia was undoubtedly on the rise in America. Americans were moving out of cities into the suburbs with the rise of automobiles and highways. Government guarantees for home and business loans, and the GI Bill, were significant factors in the post-war period, prompting an economic boom, and financing the construction of thousands of new homes, like those that sprang up in the suburbs such as Levittown, New York. 17 Women faced enormous social pressures to marry young and have a big family. From 1940 to 1950, the estimated number of families with three children doubled, and the number of families with a fourth child quadrupled. 18  Families were ultimately creating more consumers to buy goods. In 1960, the U.S. census revealed that the suburban population equaled the urban population.

The growth of the suburbs did not come without a dark side. Urban areas declined, and racial segregation was on the rise. The suburbs did not include people on the margins of society, immigrants, minorities, the elderly, and the working poor in this prosperity. This conformity also had damaging issues. For white women, the charms of suburban life began to wear thin after a few years. Almost thirty percent of women did work outside the home during the 1950s. 19 Nevertheless, popular culture was full of messages influencing women that their most excellent contentment in life would come from raising children, tending to their husband's needs, and owning all the labor-saving household appliances that money could buy.

Many women realized that there was more to life than childcare and housework. Minority women did not experience suburban life because they were barred from suburbia altogether. Homebuilder William Levitt, the father of the suburbs, declared openly that his subdivisions were intended for whites only. In 1960, not a single resident of Levittown, New York, was black. 20 Racial segregation was on the rise in America during the civil rights movement. This segregation became clear in suburbia, education, and the workplace.

Soviet Women

Expectations for women increased in the Soviet Union as many Soviet men died during WWII, and women had to work and raise their families. Like their American counterparts, Soviet women were also called on to be loyal homemakers and impeccable housekeepers after World War II. Soviet women worked outside of the home far more than American women. The period that followed Joseph Stalin's death in 1953 is commonly known as "the thaw," a time of limited political or cultural transformation of freedom. "The thaw" was often mentioned in connection with Khrushchev's liberalization policies as he tried to end some of Stalin's repressive tactics. The thaw allowed openness to economic trade and the arts, media, and popular music, significantly influencing the people's public consciousness in the Soviet Union. This period implied "a symbolic reversal" of Russian strategy as Khrushchev tried to categorize public life using an array of moral values. 21 The Soviet economy increased in the 1950s, giving greater expectations to the Russian people.

Both superpowers used gender stereotypes in their propaganda. They presented men as courageous, intelligent, and diligent. Neither American nor Soviet propaganda mentioned the apparel or appearance of men. In contrast, the Soviets stressed the strength, political commitment, work expectations, and virtue of communist women while deriding American women as lazy, expressive, and bland. The USIA retaliated by criticizing femininity, motherhood, and fashion behind the Iron Curtain. 22 Soviet women held jobs and had advanced degrees. During the Soviet period, most women had no choice but to wear frumpy clothes, work full-time jobs and carry the double burden of keeping the home with little help from their male family members.

In the 1950s, Madison Ave. used fashion to further the propaganda wars. On the cover of Life magazine, August 10, 1959, Pat Nixon was photographed with Mrs. Khrushchev and others who had gone to Moscow for the kitchen debates. Pat Nixon glowed in her natural raw silk suit and a fancy hat. She looked just as she was supposed to: like a sophisticated and lovely American homemaker. The message was clear: the Russians might be ahead in space research and education, but they could not match the sophistication of Western dress and the easy smoothness of an American lady going about her everyday life.

In contrast, Mrs. Khrushchev was clad in the plainest dress, buttoned at the front, called khalat . This style had become a domestic uniform for Soviet women. 23 Women wore khalat at home, whether going about their domestic work, cooking, resting, or entertaining. The cover of Life magazine blatantly displayed the disparities between American and Soviet women through the clothes they wore. Students will see how ad agencies used images to establish the differences between the two cultures and how they manipulated their citizens.

During many historical events, leaders used diverse types of propaganda to affect their citizen's ideology. During World War I, propaganda became a common term around America when posters and films were used against enemies to rally troop enlistment and gain public opinion. Propaganda became a modern political tool generating fear or support across broad demographics and achieving the country's benefit depending on how the government manipulated citizens domestically and overseas. Propaganda promotes a particular agenda or point of view. The goals of deception can vary, but common goals include shaping people's opinions, convincing them to support a specific cause or political candidate, and encouraging them to behave in a certain way.

In World War II, the techniques governments worldwide used were political propaganda posters. Hitler understood the power of propaganda and created the Ministry of Enlightenment and Propaganda in 1933. 24 Posters at this time incited fear and demanded allegiance. Posters are still part of the arsenal of the art of persuasion, but other forms of media overshadow them. The U.S. had "Uncle Sam" and "Rosie the Rivetter" to remind citizens of the nationalism of the war effort during this time. The end of World War II set the stage for the beginning of the Cold-war Era, which was an anxious time for relations and world competition between the United States and the Soviet Union as mistrust set in between the once wartime allies. The continued fear of the Red Scare of Communism influenced American attitudes, beliefs, and actions that our government used to indoctrinate, influence, and mobilize.

Advertising

The end of WWII signaled the end of a thrift consciousness that Americans had held since the Great Depression. Businesses used advertising and Madison Avenue to promote material purchases that "people could not live without" in the United States. Advertising boomed in the 1950s because of America's popular culture at this time and television's massive reach. Advertising played a significant role in the economy as public consumption peaked at a historically elevated level. Advertiser’s supplied helpful information to consumers about products and service choices and compare features, benefits, and prices. With all this information, consumers choose to buy more products and services.

Advertising and marketing became an integral part of the 1950s due to the rise of television and consumerism. Advertisers targeted women who did the shopping at this time. The people who created these ads were male. Advertising changed American life by ensuring that consumers see that what were once luxuries were now necessities. Consumption was encouraged in the 1950s by forced obsolescence and advertising to persuade Americans to buy things they did not need. Americans bought into the idea of "keeping up with their neighbors" to purchase and become mass consumers. The baby boomers and teen culture also contributed to the new markets for advertisers to sell their goods to and build consumers.

Television became an essential part of nearly every American home, reinforcing the images synonymous with depicting the good life through consuming the latest goods and services. Television programs such as " Leave it to Beaver ," " Father Knows Best ," and " The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet " glorified the perfect "white" suburban family, something that often felt separate from the reality of the nuclear family. 25 These shows were a version of white middle-class tastes and values with little effort to add any nuisance to the picture of the "perfect" home life for Americans.

Teaching Strategies

One of the core goals of this unit is for students to develop a strong understanding of how the Cold War during the 1940s and 1950s influenced U.S. history through propaganda, economics, and popular culture. America experienced a fundamental change during this period of consumption, manipulation, and the actions taken by our government to achieve these goals. These concepts are critical for students to understand to be more educated about the U.S. and World history.

Students will have the necessary background information covered in this unit through various pedagogical techniques and activities. These include direct instruction via lecture, close-reading of primary sources, multimedia literacy, whole-class, small group discussions, and debates. The activities in this unit will challenge students to consider their beliefs and how they align with actions taken by our government in political and consumer culture.

Venn Diagram

Students will define the fundamental differences between capitalism and Communism. Students will be able to list the basic principles of both economic approaches and compare these systems to each other by creating a Venn diagram. Students will learn about the advantages and disadvantages of these structures through a class discussion.

Propaganda Visual Analysis

Students will individually answer various questions for each poster or advertisement to list different propaganda techniques used for an image. For each photo, students will answer the following questions on a piece of paper: Who was the intended audience for this image? Where would this image have been used or displayed? What emotions does this image prompt? Was it meant to invoke good feelings or bad toward the subjects? Does this image effectively convey its message to its audience? What is left out entirely? (Ideas, facts, points of view) What facts are being skewed or misrepresented? Are there any outright lies?

Debate Circles

Students get in debate circles, using small groups, prepping for both sides of the argument, and presenting their case; the other side then argues, then there is a judge to decide which side wins.

Duck, Duck, Debate

The culminating activity for this unit is a class-wide debate, using duck, duck, argument; students will be the historians to use knowledge and evidence from the team to answer questions. As Nixon and Khrushchev debated in 1959, is Communism or capitalism a better economic system? Students will take a stance on this issue and discuss their responses in a debate using evidence from prior class activities.

This strategy requires students to prepare ahead of time pros and cons on a debatable topic, citing textual evidence on their pros/cons lists. When they get to class, the teacher chooses a student to go first (I would randomly draw a name or use an app that will do that). That selected student gets to pick what side to argue first. After they present their argument in a timed format (one minute), they can play a little duck, duck, and debate. They choose the person who will debate next, but they automatically must argue with the other side. The class can vote on which side won in between rounds. As an extension of this strategy, students can write a persuasive paragraph or essay on the topic.

Classroom Activities

Lesson 1- capitalism vs. communism.

Objective: In this lesson, students will be able to define the fundamental differences between capitalism and Communism. Students will be able to list the basic principles of both economic systems and compare them to each other by creating a Venn diagram. Students will decide the advantages and disadvantages of each system through a class discussion.

Materials for capitalism:

Students will watch a video on the definition of capitalism

Students will analyze a Pyramid of the Capitalist System .

Students will read excerpts from The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith, 1776

Students will study, The Purpose of Government by Jean-Jacques Rousseau (The Social Contract)

Procedure and elements: This activity, using a Venn diagram and class discussion, will enable students to understand and learn about the definition of capitalism, understand its meaning, and see different examples of capitalism. Capitalism is a system where people have the freedom to run their own companies and manage their money. Capitalism is built on the forces of the free market instead of the foundation of government power. In capitalism, taxes are set at a specific rate and do not require all the people's earnings to go to the government. Students will research and write about the following terms below, leading to a class discussion to decide the essence of a capitalist society. Students will reflect on the elements they feel most strongly about and which are negotiable.

Building on questions to start with, the class will discuss who manages a person's well-being, the government or the individual. Should the government be involved in an economy? If so, to what extent?

The main terms to define:

Ownership, competition, government intervention

Corporate Capitalism, Finance Capitalism, Free-Market Capitalism

Materials for Communism:

Students will watch a video on the definition of Communism.

Students will analyze selected Karl Marx (German philosopher and political economist) quotes.

Students will read an excerpt from the Communist Manifesto by Friederich Engels and Karl Marx in 1848.

Students will listen to two of Nikita Khrushchev's speeches:

January 1959- Soviet Seven-Year Economic Plan- Khrushchev spoke about his belief that the Soviet Union was transitioning from an economy of sacrifice to one of abundance.

July 28, 1959- Khrushchev spoke about how the Soviet Union was well on its way to winning the "peaceful competition" between capitalism and socialism.

Procedure and elements: This activity will enable students to understand and learn about the definition of Communism, understand its meaning, and see different examples of Communism. The basic idea of Communism is to end wealth inequality and traditional class hierarchies with heavy state control to end class inequality. Although the exact meaning of Communism can vary based on context, Communism is an economic ideology that generally seeks to create a classless society through state intervention in and control of the financial system and society. Communist countries also create planned economies where the government dictates production instead of laws of supply and demand, which decide output in capitalist economies.

The proletariat, Planned economy, Interventionism

Communism, Communist Manifesto

Lesson 2: Propaganda and Consumerism

Objective- In this lesson, students will visually analyze the impact posters made on the belief of politics and consumerism in the 1950s and compare the key elements of the Soviet and American domestic landscape through advertising. In pairs, students will select two pieces of advertising standing for Soviet and American ideologies. Using a template, they will decide the rhetorical appeal (ethos, pathos, logos) used and name three advertising propaganda techniques (bandwagon, name-calling, card stacking) in each piece.

Library of Congress- Russian and U.S. posters from the 1950s.

Procedures and elements: Students will analyze primary source posters, magazine advertisements, and T.V. commercials from the Cold War Era. This strategy will help students analyze visual sources, decide the meaning of these posters and ads, and who is the target of the advertising. This lesson will include a poster analysis in which students explain what they notice about each source, its context, intended audience, and purpose. Students will then search for other posters and ads online to find the meaning, whom the posters target, and how different ideological beliefs collide. This lesson will also include examining T.V. advertising during the 1950s to analyze propaganda techniques.

This activity will use the propaganda visual analysis for each poster or advertisement, and students will individually answer various questions to list different propaganda techniques used for the image. This strategy will help students learn about U.S. and Soviet/Russian relations during the Cold War with visual media as primary sources using historical background and digital resources. This strategy is to support the teaching of this critical period in U.S. history through visuals that convey the U.S./USSR perspectives to encourage inquiry-based learning through the concepts of visual representation, national identity, and media.

Lesson 3- Domestic Life

To what extent did the Cold War shape American and Soviet domestic life in the 1950s using the kitchen debate?

Objective: In this lesson, students will continue discussing Communism and capitalism. Students will decide how exhibits like this and the kitchen debates influenced the beliefs of Russian and the U.S. people. Teams will create a propaganda poster supporting either the Communist or capitalistic position. Then students will debate which team's propaganda poster is most effective and how the kitchen debate influenced US/USSR relations.

Video clip of the Nixon-Khrushchev debate, transcript of The kitchen debate.

Newspapers and Magazines of the era and their coverage of the debates, including The New York Times , Life , Time , Newsweek , The Wall Street Journal , and USSR Izvestiia newspaper.

Procedure and elements: This activity will enable students to debate the following questions: How did Khrushchev hope the exhibit might improve relations between the United States and the Soviet Union? How did Nixon think Soviet visitors would respond to the exhibition? Why does Nixon believe communication, especially television, is necessary for both nations? How is Khrushchev's claim that American homes only last 20 years, and what is his criticism of capitalism? How does Nixon respond? Students will read and analyze various newspaper articles and the event coverage for their arguments.

The culminating activity for this unit will be a class-wide debate using duck, duck, and debate. This strategy will help students to consider how the Soviets and the Americans perceived the Cold War, respectively. Using documents from primary and secondary sources, students will analyze these sources and represent viewpoints to back up their claims. Using the video clip of the Nixon-Khrushchev debate and transcript, students examine various speeches during the kitchen debates, as these debates took place over several days in multiple locations. Students will learn how domestic culture and global politics collided during the Cold-War era.

Annotated Bibliography

"The 1959 Kitchen Debate." C-SPAN.org. Accessed July 21, 2022. https://www.c-span.org/video/?300285-1/1959-kitchen-debate. This debate highlights how Nixon and Khrushchev used their oratory and persuasive skills to argue values for their citizens.

Auclert, Raphaelle. "The 'Armed Thaw': Cultural War under Peaceful Coexistence A Comparative Study between the 1950s and Today." Journal of Russian American Studies 2, no. 2 (2018).

Belmonte, Laura A. Selling the American Way: U.S. Propaganda and the Cold War . 2010. This book examines the content and context of propaganda from both sides of the argument. It shows how the U.S. was perceived abroad and at home.

Engerman, David C. "The Romance of Economic Development and New Histories of the Cold War." Diplomatic History 28, no. 1 (2004), 23-54. This article discusses economic development and how various government policies got entangled in Cold War politics.

Fried, Richard M. The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming! Pageantry and Patriotism in Cold-War America . New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. This book explores the patriotism and commitment to a unified America in the tension-filled Cold War era. It also shows how the U.S. mounted campaigns to sell America to the Americans.

"Gender and Culture in the 1950s." Women's Studies Quarterly 33, no. 3/4 (Fall 2005), 114-137. This journal discusses the policies of Khrushchev and how the period of post-Stalin-affected women.

Hixson, Walter L. Parting the Curtain: Propaganda, Culture, and the Cold War . London: Palgrave Macmillan, 1998. This book discusses how regimes implemented psychological warfare and cultural infiltration of their citizens.

"How the Kitchen Debate Gave a New Meaning to the Cold War Home Front." Time . Last modified July 24, 2019. https://time.com/5630567/kitchen-debate-women/.

Journal of Cold War Studies 4, no. 2 (2002), 85-107. This article discusses the unconventional war fought between the U.S. and the USSR during the Cold War.

Kennedy, Liam, and Scott Lucas. "Enduring Freedom: Public Diplomacy and U.S. Foreign Policy." American Quarterly 57, no. 2 (2005)

"The Kitchen Debates." Newsweek . August 3, 1959. This article supplies a detailed transcript of the infamous debate.

Magnúsdóttir, Rósa. Enemy Number One : The United States of America in Soviet Ideology and Propaganda, 1945-1959 . New York: Oxford University Press, USA, 2019. The author tells the story of how the Soviets controlled information about the United States in the post-WWII era. The books reveal how Khrushchev had policies of peaceful coexistence with the United States.

"Marshall Plan (1948)." National Archives. Last modified February 8, 2022. https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/marshall-plan.

Phillips, Sarah T., and Shane Hamilton. The Kitchen Debate and Cold War Consumer Politics : A Brief History with Documents . Macmillan Higher Education, 2014. This book connects the kitchen debate with the Cold War's economic, social, and cultural issues. The authors give a step-by-step analysis from a historian's point of view. It is a document-based book that combines the domestic and international sides of the Cold War.

Reid, Susan E. "Cold War in the Kitchen: Gender and the De-Stalinization of Consumer Taste in the Soviet Union under Khrushchev." Slavic Review 61, no. 2 (2002), 211-252. doi:10.2307/2697116.

Spufford, Francis. Red Plenty . London: Faber & Faber, 2010. This book tells a unique perspective on Communist Russia from World War II to the end of the Khrushchev era.

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/capitalism-communism-better-women-kitchen-130051477.html.

https://www.c-span.org/video/?300285-1/1959-kitchen-debate

Appendix on Implementing District Standards:

USH.6.1 Analyze the origins of international alliances and efforts at containment of Communism following World War II.

USH6.1A Identify the origins of Cold War confrontations between the Soviet Union and the United States, including the leadership of President Harry Truman, the Iron Curtain, and the Marshall Plan.

USH.6.2 Describe domestic events related to the Cold War and its aftermath.

USH.6.2A Summarize the reasons for the public fear of communist influence within the United States and how politicians capitalized on this fear, including the leadership of President Dwight D. Eisenhower and the Second Red Scare.

USH.6.2C . Evaluate the continuing role of radio, television, and other mass media with the Nixon and Kennedy debates as part of the 1960s and later elections.

USH6.4 Analyze the political and economic impact of President Nixon's foreign policies, including détente.

WH.3.4 -Analyze how the Industrial Revolution gave rise to socialism and Communism, including the ideas and influence and influence of Karl Marx.

WH.4.7 Evaluate the effects of World War II, including military and economic power shifts, the purposes of the United Nations and NATO, and the origins and escalation of the Cold War.

WH.5.5 Evaluate the people, events, and conditions leading to the end of the Cold War, including the fall of the Berlin Wall and the breakup of the Soviet Union

4 . Read Critically and Interpret Informational Sources

Students will engage in the critical, active reading of grade-level primary and secondary sources related to key social studies concepts, including systematic analysis and interpretation of the informational source.

4A . Students will understand, evaluate, and synthesize textual sources to get and refine knowledge in social studies.

4.A.9-12.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, evaluating features such as author, date, and origin of the information.

4.A.9-12.2 Analyze information from visual, oral, digital, and interactive texts (e.g., maps, charts, images, political cartoons, videos) to conclude and defend arguments.

4.A.9-12.3- Appropriately apply and show understanding of academic vocabulary in a social studies context.

4B . Students will apply critical reading and thinking skills to interpret, evaluate, and respond to a variety of complex texts from historical, ethnic, and global perspectives

4.B.9-12.3 Actively listen, evaluate, and analyze a speaker's message, asking questions while engaged in collaborative discussions and debates about social studies topics and texts.

5.B.9-12.3 Construct visual and multimedia presentations using various media forms to enhance understanding of findings and reasoning for diverse audiences.

1 Spufford, Francis. Red Plenty , 5

2 Magnúsdóttir, Rósa. Enemy Number One, 119

3 Ibid., 120

4 pbs/wgbh/americanexperience.org

5 www.archive.gov.

6 Belmonte, Laura A. Selling the American Way: U.S. Propaganda and the Cold War . 92

7 Ibid., 185

8 "The Kitchen Debates." Newsweek . August 3, 1959

9 Phillips, Sarah T., and Shane Hamilton. The Kitchen Debate and Cold War Consumer Politics: A Brief History with Documents .

10 "How the Kitchen Debate Gave a New Meaning to the Cold War Home Front." Time . Last modified July 24, 2019. https://time.com/5630567/kitchen-debate-women/.

11 "The Kitchen Debates." Newsweek . August 3, 1959. This article provides a detailed transcript of the infamous debate.

12 Phillips, Sarah T., and Shane Hamilton. The Kitchen Debate and Cold War Consumer Politics: A Brief History with Documents . 98

13 Ibid., 10

14 Ibid., 8

15 Ibid., 10

16 Ibid., 35

17 https://ushistoryscene.com/article/levittown

18 https://census.gov

19 https://www.history.com

20 http://ushistoryscene.com/article/levittown

21 Auclert, Raphaelle. "The 'Armed Thaw': Cultural War under Peaceful Coexistence A Comparative Study between the 1950s and Today."

22 Phillips, Sarah T., and Shane Hamilton. The Kitchen Debate and Cold War Consumer Politics: A Brief History with Documents .9

23 https://www.smithsonianmag.com/cold-war-fashion

24 www.archives.gov

25 Phillips, Sarah T., and Shane Hamilton. The Kitchen Debate and Cold War Consumer Politics: A Brief History with Documents .18

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Consumerism Essay | Essay on Consumerism for Students and Children in English

February 14, 2024 by Prasanna

Consumerism Essay: The word consumerism means the economic order by which the public demands the acquisition and consumption of goods and services in a social setup. While discussing consumerism, the first thing that strikes one’s mind is the word ‘consumption’. In economics, consumerism means economic plans and policies that emphasize consumption. Consumerism affects the production and manufacture of goods and services to a greater extent, depending on the consumer’s choice. A consumer is well aware of what to purchase and how much to purchase, which encourages the manufacturing units to produce according to the choice of the consumers. It is rightly said that the choice of the consumer should match the choice of the producer.

Sometimes the consumers do not get what the seller promises them. In that case, they are being deceived by the seller or the manufacturer. Consumerism is their combined efforts of the consumers seeking redressal and remedy for their dissatisfaction with the product.

You can also find more  Essay Writing  articles on events, persons, sports, technology and many more.

Consumerism, in short, is the process of seeking redressal against sellers who deceive the consumers. It is a social effort whereby all the consumers seek remedy against the products and services that have dissatisfied them or realises a much less value from the product than promised by the seller.

Long and Short Essays on Consumerism for Students and Kids in English

Long Essay on Consumerism is helpful to students of classes 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12. Short Essay on Consumerism is helpful to students of classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

Short Essay on Consumerism 300 Words in English

Consumerism can be simply defined as the effects of equalizing the level of satisfaction with purchasing worldly possessions. The world we live in is much controlled by the choices and the preferences of the consumers. Without consumers, it would have become difficult for manufacturers to survive in a highly competitive market. A consumer prefers those products that provide them with utmost satisfaction. When a consumer is deceived by a seller and seeks redressal, it is called consumerism. The word consumerism emphasizes the consumers’ satisfaction level and their tastes and preferences.

Consumerism has existed from the beginning of the industrial age. It gives utmost importance to the prevention of the public from illegal and deceiving marketing practices. It is considered as a social movement and not just a protest by an individual customer. Consumerism is never against the idea of companies making profits, but it is a movement against those who make profits by deceiving consumers.

Consumerism first came to effect during the early 1900s when the sellers were least concerned about the consumers. The concept of consumerism became very popular when the meat vendors packed the meat in an unhealthy manner. It affected the health of most of the consumers, and thus, consumers went to seek redressal against the unfair practices of the meat sellers. This was how the concept of consumerism came into existence.

Consumerism will not exist if the business houses follow the norms of product delivery and conduct legal marketing practices in the areas in which they operate. Consumerism directly affects the goodwill and reputation of the company and makes it difficult for the company to survive in the market. All the companies should take a proper step for the consumers who seek redressal and see to it that their products satisfy the consumers as promised in their advertisements.

Long Essay on Consumerism 400 Words in English

Consumerism is not a concept that has arrived in the modern age. Instead, consumerism has existed for ages. The false agendas of the sellers have deceived people from the beginning of the industrial era. People have become more friendly with the term and concept of consumerism in recent times. Consumerism is a simple concept that helps prevent consumers from the unethical marketing practices of private and public companies.

With the rapid change in the way of doing business and industrialism, the importance of the term consumerism grew more. The concept came into existence in the early 1900s when the meat vendors packed and sold meat in an unhygienic manner. During the 1960s the importance of consumerism grew more as people by that time were more educated and wanted a good quality of products. They were more concerned and enlightened by the standard of goods and services being delivered to them by the sellers.

In the year 1962, the government passed legislation to protect consumers against unfair trade practices and advertising. Consumerism proliferated when issues regarding the unsafety of automobiles, causing the death of people increased in the United States. With this, the government passed different legislation that asked automobile companies to adhere to the safety norms of vehicle production.

After a few more years, the companies, after being heavily criticized for their unfair policies, set up a few customer care cells to attend to the customers’ disputes and allegations. These cells made it easier for companies to communicate with the consumers and help them with their problems. It also protected the reputation of the companies by providing on-time redressal of the customer’s problems.

In India, consumerism has been for the past few years. A few years ago, under the Food Adulteration Act, the government set up inspection departments in each state of India to ensure that the food items are free from adulteration and are prepared in a healthy and hygienic environment. The primary reasons that gave a push to consumerism in India are a short supply of products, increasing prices, inferior product and service quality, etc.

Consumerism helps the consumers to seek redressal for their grievances against the unfair policies of the companies. It teaches the consumers about their rights and duties and helps them get better quality of products and services. Lastly, it can be said that consumerism is good when it is used in an appropriate manner.

Very Long Essay on Consumerism 500 Words in English

Consumerism is a simple word, yet it has a deep meaning and keeps utmost importance for the consumers. It deals with the rights of the consumers and helps to protect them against unlawful marketing and trade practices. It is the most delicate issue of today. As consumers today are well educated, and they know what they need for their consumption. The people have become more advanced and well-informed, and they know how to protect themselves from unfair product advertisements.

The word consumerism came into existence in the early 1900s, when the concern about the unhealthy meat supply came to public notice. By the beginning of the 1930s, the consumers became more enlightened and educated about their rights. This led to the increasing importance of consumerism. Even during the year 1936, the government came up with certain acts and regulations to control the marketing mal-practices made by certain companies.

With the growth and development of industries, the importance of consumerism grew even stronger among consumers. It became a social-movement in many developed countries in the mid-1960s. The government of many countries came up with different legislations to protect the rights of a consumer. They also set up courts to punish corrupt business houses and protect consumer rights.  The companies were strictly ordered to adhere to the regulative norms of product manufacture and delivery. Many companies even had to set up customer care cells to help the customer with their grievances.

In India, Consumerism is still in the infancy stage, and therefore the consumers need more support from the government to protect their rights as a consumer. In India, the shortage of essential commodities occurs more often, which leads to black-marketing and corruption. Most of the sellers advertise their products to sell off their finished products at a good profit. They don’t advertise with the view to serve the public. Most of the consumers are not well aware of their rights, making them easy victims of these black-marketers and corruptions.

Customer orientation should be made compulsory in countries like India to make the people aware of their rights and duties as consumers. This will also help them to safeguard themselves from unfair trade practices.

The act for consumer protection was passed in the year 1986 in India. This act helps to seek redressal for consumer grievances. The Consumer protection act of 1986 is applicable to all types of goods and services in India. Under the act, the government of India has set up courts in each state to listen to the problems and grievances of the common people and provide justice.

Consumerism is never against monopoly markets or profit-making. It has nothing to do with the foreign exchange control measures, but it is only there for the protection of the consumers. Lastly, to conclude, It is the duty of the government and the businessman to provide good service and quality products to the consumers. And consumers should also be aware of their rights and duties to stay protected from unlawful marketing.

Conclusion on Consumerism Essay

In conclusion, it can be said that consumerism is a vast concept, and it helps to provide the customers with their desired products and services. It also helps them to seek redressal for their grievances. It makes them aware of their rights as consumers and helps them raise their voices against corrupt sellers.

Consumerism is a vast concept that includes not only consumer protection but also environmentalism. It protects the wastage of natural resources that are scarce. It states that the natural resources of a country must be well conserved for its economic stability and growth.

In simple words, consumerism is a boon as well as a curse to society and to companies operating in society. If used in a rightful manner, it will act as a blessing for both the company and the consumer. But if the consumers misuse it, it can take a dramatic turn and ruin the name and fame of a company. The government has to take the right initiative for the benefit of both consumers and businesses.

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Consumer vulnerability dynamics and marketing: Conceptual foundations and future research opportunities

• Original Empirical Research
• Open access
• Published: 12 August 2024

Cite this article

You have full access to this open access article

• Martin Mende 1 ,
• Tonya Williams Bradford 2 ,
• Anne L. Roggeveen 3 , 4 , 5 ,
• Maura L. Scott 1 , 6 &
• Mariella Zavala 7  

Inspired by the goal of making marketplaces more inclusive, this research provides a deeper understanding of consumer vulnerability dynamics to develop strategies that help reduce these vulnerabilities. The proposed framework, first, conceptualizes vulnerability states as a function of the breadth and depth of consumers’ vulnerability; then, it sketches a set of vulnerability indicators that illustrate vulnerability breadth and depth. Second, because the breadth and depth of vulnerability vary over time, the framework goes beyond vulnerability states to identify distinct vulnerability-increasing and vulnerability-decreasing pathways, which describe how consumers move between vulnerability states. In a final step, the framework proposes that organizations can (and should) support consumers to mitigate vulnerability by helping consumers build resilience (e.g., via distinct types of resilience-fueling consumer agency). This framework offers novel conceptual insights into consumer vulnerability dynamics as well as resilience and provides avenues for future research on how organizations can better partner with consumers who experience vulnerabilities.

Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.

Calls for marketplaces to be more inclusive are increasing in frequency and vigor (e.g., Aksoy et al., 2019 ; Boenigk et al., 2021 ; Field et al., 2021 ). For example, Fisk et al., ( 2018 , p. 851) emphasize that service systems need to better include the full diversity of people so that “all customers have the ability to receive the same level of value that is inherent in a marketplace exchange.” Footnote 1 However, to make this notion a reality, marketers must better understand the range of vulnerabilities that diverse consumers may experience in order to (co-)create strategies—in partnership with consumers—to help reduce, or ideally eliminate these vulnerabilities.

Consumer vulnerability is not a new topic in marketing (e.g., Dunnett et al., 2016 ). Baker et al. ( 2005 ) first defined consumer vulnerability, and Shultz and Holbrook ( 2009 ) discussed the paradoxical relationship between how marketing both reduces and contributes to consumer vulnerability. Building from those foundations, Hill and Sharma ( 2020 ) reviewed academic and applied definitions of consumer vulnerability to develop a framework that organized antecedents and consequences of consumer vulnerability and evolved the definition of vulnerability as “a state in which consumers are subject to harm because their access to and control over resources is restricted in ways that significantly inhibit their abilities to function in the marketplace” (p. 554). Footnote 2 Salisbury et al., ( 2023 , p. 659) extended this definition to encapsulate the idea that consumer vulnerability is a “dynamic state that varies along a continuum as people experience more or less susceptibility to harm, due to varying conditions and circumstances.” Inspired by these insights, our examination aims to further expand the conceptualization of consumers’ lived vulnerability experiences and their dynamics, so that organizations can better partner with and support consumers in reducing (and, ideally, preventing) their vulnerability.

Specifically, we introduce the concept of consumer vulnerability pathways, which capture how consumers move between different vulnerability states (i.e., moving from a nonvulnerable state into a vulnerable state, and vice versa). We conceptualize an individual’s vulnerability state as a function of both the breadth and depth of their vulnerability. Breadth is the number of different factors (e.g., income, age, disabilities, race, language proficiency) that contribute to the individual’s vulnerability, and depth is the degree of vulnerability within each of those factors. With this backdrop of consumer vulnerability experiences, we then offer novel insights into how marketers can support consumers by developing more inclusive, equitable environments and by proactively helping to reduce consumers’ vulnerability and build resilience.

This research contributes to the marketing literature by, first, incorporating concepts from disaster research (e.g.,Vázquez-González et al., 2021 ) that allow us to introduce a novel conceptualization of vulnerability states as the interplay of two dimensions: vulnerability breadth and depth. Because the notion of vulnerability dynamics implies change over time, these dimensions are a crucial conceptual prerequisite to explore dynamics as variations in breadth and depth. Drawing from disaster research (e.g., Beccari, 2016 ), we then illustrate vulnerability indicators to better elucidate the concepts of breadth and depth for marketers; these insights expand the existing realm of marketing indicators to emphasize the fact that marketers’ standard measures of vulnerability may not always coincide with the consumers they are serving.

Second, grounded in the idea that breadth and depth of vulnerability can vary, we build on life course theory in sociology (e.g., Bernardi et al., 2019 ; Elder, 1995 ) to identify distinct vulnerability pathways ; specifically, our framework goes beyond discrete vulnerability states to incorporate vulnerability-increasing and vulnerability-decreasing pathways . These pathways reveal novel insights for marketers into the nature of consumers’ vulnerability journeys, thereby recognizing that vulnerability is a lived experience and that no case is truly the same (Shaw et al., n.d. ). Understanding that a consumer’s vulnerability state is a function of her vulnerability pathway is crucial for marketers because—although consumers might currently be in a similar vulnerability state—their pathways toward that state can be drastically different and, therefore, might require organizations to serve consumers in unique ways.

Third, we draw on recent research in psychology that conceptualizes resilience as a dynamic construct (e.g., Masten et al., 2021 ) to identify how marketers can proactively assist consumers in reducing their vulnerability and in building their resilience. Specifically, we propose that organizations demonstrate the notion of “service thinking” (Alkire et al., 2023 ) such that they intentionally engage with and support consumers in developing resilience capacity through factors such as social support, problem-solving, and through promoting consumers’ agency to anticipate, prevent, prepare, adapt, and transform (Manyena et al., 2019 ; Vázquez-González et al., 2021 ). Against the background of our conceptual framework, we conclude with a discussion of future research directions for marketing intended to help organizations better serve consumers experiencing vulnerability.

Conceptual evolution of vulnerability dynamics

While there has been a fair amount of research into vulnerability in marketing in terms of its antecedents and consequences (for reviews see Basu et al., 2023 ; Hill & Sharma, 2020 ; Riedel et al., 2022 ), only recent examinations in the marketing literature consider the dynamism of vulnerability. Hill and Sharma ( 2020 ) first discussed it by considering that resource/control combinations change over time and that consumers’ coping mechanisms also fluctuate. Salisbury et al. ( 2023 ) made the dynamic nature of (financial) vulnerability even more central to their model by considering multiple time periods, thereby recognizing that financial resource access can lead to immediate or lagged impacts on vulnerability; the authors also recognize the presence of inflection points, or times when a consumer’s vulnerability shifts significantly due to changing circumstances, life events, or consumer choices. Blocker et al. ( 2023 ) provide insights into vulnerability as they examine how shock and slack impact the ways in which resources are developed, aggregated, maintained, or lost over time; this then creates resource trajectories that are an “aggregate bundle of fluctuating resources relative to one’s overall resource sufficiency over time” (p. 499). Table 1 presents key tenets of these papers on vulnerability dynamics in marketing.

Building from this prior research, we draw on life course theory from sociology to deepen our conceptual understanding of vulnerability dynamics that will be insightful for managers as they strive to help consumers reduce their vulnerabilities. The life course represents the “steady flow of an individual’s actions and experiences, which modify domain-specific biographical states and affect individual wellbeing over time” (Bernardi et al., 2019 , p. 2). Adopting a pointedly dynamic perspective, life course theory (LCT) aims to explain “how biological, psychological, and socio-cultural factors act independently, cumulatively, and interactively” to shape life journeys (Hutchison, 2019 , p. 351) and transitions of people from one biographical state to the next (Bernardi et al., 2019 ). Regarding these transitions, LCT predicts that what happens in one period of life is connected to what happens in subsequent periods.

A life course perspective allows a particularly deep understanding of vulnerability (Ferraro & Schafer, 2017 ; Hanappi et al., 2014 ) for multiple reasons: first, it underscores that vulnerability “processes may be very different in relation to when (at what age, historical period, or cohort), where (in specific groups, institutions, welfare regimes, normative climates, etc.), and for whom (heterogeneity of individuals, social origins, gender, etc.)” vulnerability processes emerge (Spini et al., 2017 , p. 20). Second, LCT underscores that vulnerability is an inherently dynamic process during which risk exposure changes and the level and range of available resources also fluctuate. A life course perspective helps capture these systemic and dynamic properties of vulnerability, because LCT accounts for three realities related to vulnerability (Spini et al., 2017 , p. 9): “(1) The diffusion of stress and the mobilization of resources is multidimensional : it occurs across life domains;” (2) it is multilevel : it occurs between the individual, group, and collective levels; and (3) “it is multidirectional : it is by definition dynamic and develops over time over the life course.” Drawing from these central tenets of LCT, we develop a conceptual framework of vulnerability dynamics that includes vulnerability states and vulnerability pathways. This framework leads us to propose how organizations can deliberately and proactively help reduce consumer vulnerabilities and increase consumer resilience.

Vulnerability states as a function of vulnerability breadth and depth

Vulnerability dynamics reflect change over time; therefore, a conceptual prerequisite is to explore dynamics across vulnerability states. Against this background, we conceptualize a consumer’s vulnerability state as a function of both the breadth and depth of their vulnerability . While breadth represents the number of indicators that contribute to the consumer’s vulnerability, depth represents the degree of vulnerability within each of those factors.

Individual vulnerabilities are influenced by a variety of factors that include the psycho-physiological functioning (e.g., biological profiles/genetics) and dispositions of the person (e.g., personality traits, values, attitudes); Footnote 3  individual vulnerability also varies based on a person’s distinct life domains and contexts (e.g., those related to employment or family configurations) and of socio-structural achievements, barriers, and characteristics (e.g., education, social status) (Fineman, 2008 ; Luna, 2019 ; Spini et al., 2017 ). Finally, individual vulnerability is a function of the types and amounts of resources a person can invest and any special legal rights or social privileges (e.g., citizenship, gender) they can leverage (Bernardi et al., 2019 ).

To help organizations better understand these vulnerability factors and to help them construct corresponding vulnerability indicators (e.g., in financial /healthcare settings), we integrate LCT with disaster management research. Footnote 4 In light of increasing frequency and impact of crises (e.g., natural disasters, military conflicts), a growing literature aims to quantify social vulnerabilities, which are defined “in terms of the characteristics of a person or community that affect their capacity to anticipate, confront, repair, and recover from the effects of a disaster” (Flanagan et al., 2018 , p. 34). One prominent approach to quantifying vulnerabilities is composite indicators (Asadzadeh et al., 2017 ; Spielman et al., 2020 ), which—ideally guided by a conceptual framework—aggregate underlying sub-indicators of vulnerability into an overarching composite indicator (similar to the concept of a higher-order construct). Because indicators of vulnerability often do not occur in isolation but together, composite indices typically combine variables across multiple domains. Although there is currently no generally agreed-upon framework to construct composite indicators, the idea of composite indices has been extensively used to assess vulnerability or resilience at national and regional levels (see Asadzadeh et al., 2017 ; Beccari, 2016 ; Spielman et al., 2020 ).

Example of a composite overall vulnerability score via breadth and depth

An exemplar of quantifying vulnerability is presented by Flanagan et al. ( 2018 ) who construct a composite index of social vulnerability. Those scholars integrate multiple socioeconomic and demographic factors that influence the resilience of communities, operationalized via four domains of census variables: (1) socioeconomic status (inclusive of income, poverty, employment, and education), (2) household composition (capturing age [< 18 or > 65 years], single parent-household, and disabilities), (3) minority status and language \(comprising race, ethnicity, and English language proficiency), and (4) housing and transportation (reflecting focal housing structures [mobile homes] and vehicle access) (Flanagan et al., 2018 ; Spielman et al., 2020 ) (see Fig.  1 ). Footnote 5 Together, we propose that these factors provide an understanding of the depth and breadth of one’s social vulnerability, and we believe such an approach to be necessary for organizations to more fully understand and address consumers’ lived vulnerability experiences.

Considering such a portfolio of indicators (Fig.  1 ) allows us to conceptualize a consumer’s breadth and depth of vulnerability. The breadth of vulnerability refers to the number of (sub-)indicators (e.g., akin to a [0/1] count) that apply to a focal consumer. With depth of vulnerability, we refer to the degree of impact, for example, the deviation of a consumer’s income from the poverty level. Footnote 6 Such (sub-)indicators of breadth and depth can then be aggregated and compared, for example, to an organization’s customer population. As such, the two dimensions of breadth and depth provide initial insights into different vulnerability states. Accordingly, we propose that managers—similar to policymakers and disaster managers for whom such social vulnerability indices are typically intended—can benefit from analogous indices to better understand their customers’ vulnerability breadth and depth.

Note that our perspective to assessing vulnerability experiences is akin to established approaches for risk-based pricing. Some sectors estimate consumer vulnerability to certain risks (e.g., the risk to default for consumer loan settings, or the likelihood of having a car accident in insurance settings), which then is reflected in risk-based pricing. As such, some organizations already have experience and expertise in quantifying consumer vulnerabilities, at least from the risk-based pricing perspective. A related marketplace novelty is FICO’s “Resilience Index,” which is designed to more precisely predict borrower’s resilience to economic disruptions ( https://www.fico.com/en/products/fico-resilience-index ). This index “uses credit bureau information from both before and after the Great Recession of 2007 to 2009 to measure a person’s likelihood of paying the bills on time, even during times of financial uncertainty” (Frankel, 2020 ), and then rank-orders consumers by their sensitivity to a future economic downturn. Notably, although this composite index could be a helpful tool to protect consumers from vulnerabilities and bolster their resilience, its validity and reliability are relatively untested. Even more importantly, FICO designed this index for organizational risk management; as such, care must be taken so that such resilience scores are not inadvertently utilized in a way that can harm consumers who experience vulnerabilities. Instead, an organization’s expertise in assessing and predicting threats should be leveraged to proactively offer these consumers tailored services that mitigate their vulnerability and promote their resilience.

Vulnerability pathways as the links between vulnerability states

Pathways connect vulnerability states.

The idea of breadth and depth of vulnerability circumscribes a two-dimensional perspective that provides an opportunity for marketing scholars and managers to map distinct vulnerability pathways. On a conceptual level, consumers can experience an increase or a decrease of the (i) breadth of their vulnerability, (ii) depth of their vulnerability, (iii) breadth and depth at the same time, or (iv) counter-directional pathways where breadth and depth change in different directions (i.e., one increases while the other decreases), as Fig.  2 illustrates. As such, our framework takes a long-range view of vulnerability recognizing that states are temporal and that there is movement between them. More specifically, we codify vulnerability state A as one where vulnerability impacts a few dimensions of the lived experience (breadth) and that those impacts are less invasive (depth). In vulnerability state B, there are few dimensions impacted (breadth) yet the impacts are more significant (depth). Vulnerability state C is where more aspects of the lived experience are impacted (breadth), though less significantly (depth). And vulnerability D is when many dimensions of the lived experience (breadth) are significantly impacted (depth). It is important to note that the manifestations of each vulnerability state will vary by individual as well as their social and geographic circumstances.

Concepualizing vulnerability states and distinct pathways

This framework highlights that vulnerability is not merely a state, but that a person’s current vulnerability evolves from vulnerabilities they previously experienced. While understanding vulnerability states (indicated as A, B, C, and D in Fig.  2 ) is important, focusing only on a single state overlooks critical insights as to how consumers “arrive” or “depart” from it. This can result in “blind spots” and an insufficient understanding of these consumers. For example, in a static view, a financial service firm could perceive two customers—who both experience vulnerability “state C”—as similar. Yet, a dynamic view reveals that a customer can arrive in state C via different vulnerability pathways. More specifically, consumer 1 may have arrived in state C from state A due to a recent medical diagnosis (an increase in vulnerability breadth), whereas consumer 2 may have arrived in state C from state D after receiving a promotion at work that increased her income and reduced the gap between her income and the official poverty level income (a reduction in vulnerability depth).

Our dynamic lens captures increasing and decreasing levels of vulnerability. As such, it unearths interdependencies inclusive of temporal dimensions reflected in a consumer’s life course reflecting their history (accumulated experiences and resources at T n-1 ), their current life circumstances (T n ), and the short- and long-term effects of behaviors on their future life course (T n + 1 ) (Bernardi et al., 2019 ). It is important to understand what causes these shifts to occur; therefore, building from LCT (Bernardi et al., 2019 ; Hutchison, 2019 ), we incorporate the concepts of turning points and path dependencies, which influence vulnerability pathways.

Turning points and path dependencies help explain vulnerability pathways

Turning points represent a “deviation or disruption in the trajectory an individual has been on or from one that was personally or socially expected in the future” (Bernardi et al., 2019 , p. 4). At turning points, the life trajectory makes a distinct shift—upward or downward—which alters future opportunities and experiences in the short- and, potentially, long-term. Notably, the idea of turning points is related to inflection points, which Salisbury et al., ( 2023 p. 659) define as points when a consumer’s financial vulnerability “shifts significantly due to changing circumstances, life events, or consumer choices.” We employ the term “turning points”, which encompasses a broad range of disruptions, inclusive of financial, to explain vulnerability pathways.

Research on LCT found that turning points change how people perceive and understand their life (e.g., perceptions of (in)stability and (un)certainty), and can transform an individual’s self-concept, beliefs, or expectations; as such, turning points represent a shift in “how a person views the self in relation to the world and/or a transformation in how the person responds to risk and opportunity” (Hutchison, 2019 , p. 354–5). Turning points can result from conscious decisions, for example, when an individual starts their own household, gets married, changes careers, or adopts a healthier lifestyle. However, turning points can also be the result of external shocks, such as becoming unemployed, getting a divorce, or being in an accident. Turning points may have differential impacts on vulnerability when encountered during distinct risk periods, which include, among others, young adulthood, retirement, unemployment, lone parenthood, or health impairments (Vandecasteele et al., 2021 ).

Path dependencies account for “the relevance of the past, not just the recent past but also the far-away past, in determining the present;” accordingly, some scholars describe this reality as “ shadows of the past” (Bernardi et al., 2019 , p. 3) On a conceptual level, path dependencies are related to the trajectories that Blocker et al. ( 2023 , p. 496) define as a “continuous path of aggregate and fluctuating resources relative to overall resource sufficiency (consumption adequacy) over time.” Path dependencies provide an understanding of vulnerability dynamics because “early life privileges or hardships can pile up and be compounded over time” (Bernardi et al., 2019 , p. 3); therefore, vulnerabilities at any point in time are the result of the accumulation of (dis-)advantages over time. In other words, path dependencies capture the fact that the probability that a vulnerability-shifting event occurs and the direction of a change in a consumer’s vulnerability at time T depends on her longer life history. This also means that the universe of future pathways is influenced by the consumer’s history and that the corresponding degrees of freedom might be limited or restricted as a function of the causal impact of previous experiences, events, and decisions in life (Bernardi et al., 2019 ; Spini et al., 2017 ).

Taken together, drawing on the idea of turning points and path dependencies and following prior work on vulnerability, we propose a framework that goes beyond vulnerability states (A, B, C, D in Fig.  3 ) to indicate the importance of vulnerability pathways that connect these states as identified by the arrows in Fig.  3 (vulnerability-increasing pathways: 1.1.-1.5; vulnerability-decreasing pathways: 2.1–2.5).

Vulnerability-increasing and vulnerability-decreasing pathways

Our focus on vulnerability dynamics also unearths insights into the mechanisms underlying up- and downward pathways (i.e., consumers moving from a nonvulnerable state into a vulnerable state, and vice versa). By mapping the portfolio of vulnerability pathways, we reveal the threat of distinct vulnerability-increasing paths (Fig.  3 , left panel) and the opportunities of distinct vulnerability-decreasing paths (Fig.  3 , right panel) that influence the trajectory of vulnerability pathways. To illustrate, as the experience of becoming more vulnerable (e.g., paths 1.1 or 1.2) is stressful and threatening, it is likely that consumers must invest more (e.g., financial, physical, psychological) resources to navigate this threat. Once an initial increase in vulnerability occurs, consumers may consequently become even more vulnerable due to the ongoing diminishment of their resources in a process “by which initial loss begets further loss” when those with fewer resources are vulnerable to resource loss and lack the resources to offset the losses previously incurred (Hobfoll, 2001 ; Lin & Bai, 2022 , p. 726). The consequence can be a self-perpetuating and damaging cycle of escalating vulnerability because of a downward spiral. Such spirals of consumer vulnerabilities can also result from spillover effects: Spillover effects reflect the interdependences between life domains where the individuals’ goals, resources, or behaviors in one domain (e.g., work or residence) are connected to goals, resources, or behaviors in other domains (e.g., education or leisure) (Bernardi et al., 2019 ). To illustrate negative spillovers, consider a consumer losing her job. Such a loss can trigger not only financial vulnerabilities but also mental health or marital challenges.

In contrast, vulnerability-decreasing paths (e.g., paths 2.3 or 2.4) arise because individuals who become less vulnerable (i.e., gain more resources) become more capable and access greater resources. Thus, initial decreases in vulnerability (and the corresponding resource gain) beget future gains, thus generating positive, self-perpetuating upward spirals (Burns et al., 2008 ). This can elicit positive spillover effects. Consider how a change in employment might not only increase financial resources but also contribute to physical/psychological well-being. These spillover effects—negative or positive—occur because actions and circumstances in one domain are interconnected with other domains of a consumer’s life (Spini et al., 2017 ).

Taken together, these considerations illustrate that consumers in state B may have distinct vulnerability pathways, which shape their needs, preferences, and desires in the marketplace, which in turn may impact the organizations they interact with and how they (can or desire to) interact with those organizations. We expect that organizations can serve customers better and more benevolently when they understand these vulnerability pathways and the opportunities and threats related to vulnerability-increasing and vulnerability-decreasing pathways. Therefore, consistent with recent work (Blocker et al., 2023 ; Hill & Sharma, 2020 ; Salisbury et al., 2023 ), we propose a more deliberate and proactive focus on vulnerability dynamism in marketing. Next, derived from our dynamic perspective, we offer suggestions on how firms might partner with consumers to co-create tools and strategies that reduce consumer vulnerabilities and help consumers build resilience.

Reducing vulnerability and increasing resilience: A consumer agency lens

Resilience refers to a person’s “reduced vulnerability to environmental risk experiences, the overcoming of stress or adversity, or a relatively good outcome despite risk experiences” (Rutter, 2012 , p. 336). It is important to recognize that there are a variety of factors which contribute to an individual’s resilience; for example, social support, sense of belonging, self-regulation, problem-solving, hope, motivation to adapt, purpose, positive views of self, and positive habits. Interventions that leverage these factors can help increase resilience. For example, “interventions based on a combination of cognitive behavioural [sic.] therapy and mindfulness techniques” are effective in promoting individual resilience (Joyce et al., 2018 , p. 1, see Liu et al., 2020 for additional findings from a meta-analysis). These factors can serve as an initial inspiration for organizational efforts to promote consumer resilience, as Table  2 illustrates in the contexts of financial services and healthcare. In parallel, it could be even more beneficial for organizations to design a comprehensive and systematic approach to proactively support consumers in building resilience. In the next section, we merge insights from research on resilience as a dynamic concept with disaster research to derive a systematic approach that can guide organizations in co-creating distinct types of consumer agency that fuel resilience.

Building resilience-fueling consumer agency

Aligned with the emerging focus on vulnerability dynamics in marketing (Blocker et al., 2023 ; Hill & Sharma, 2020 ; Salisbury et al., 2023 ), research in psychology has underscored the dynamic nature of resilience (e.g., Masten et al., 2021 ). In fact, scholars are increasingly suggesting that resilience should “be viewed as a process and not as a fixed attribute of an individual” (Rutter, 2012 , p. 335). This process-based view implies that resilience can be developed, which is consistent with the emphasis that life course theory (LCT) puts on an individual’s agency for adaptation and change (Bernardi et al., 2019 ; Elder, 1995 ). LCT underscores the role of human agency—defined as the use of personal power, volition, and capability to achieve one’s goals—to account for the reality that people can take independent action (e.g., setting goals, planning a course of action, and persisting despite distractions and obstacles) to cope with stressors, threats, and difficulties they experience over the course of their lives (Hutchison, 2018 , p. 2147; see also Bandura, 2006 ). Against this background, we suggest that organizations help consumers build such personal agency, and thus increase consumer resilience. Specifically, grounded in research on community resilience to (natural or man-made) disasters, we propose that organizations can adopt a systematic approach to supporting consumer resilience by co-creating five types of resilience-fueling consumer agency: the agency to (1) anticipate, (2) prevent, (3) prepare, (4) adapt, and (5) transform (Manyena et al., 2019 ; Paton & Buergelt, 2019 ; Vázquez-González et al., 2021 ).

Resilience via consumer agency to anticipate, prepare, and prevent

The first three types of resilience-fueling agency occur in “vulnerability state A.” This state, where vulnerability is low, is an opportunity for organizations to collaborate with consumers and focus on anticipation , preparedness, and prevention in recognition of potential crises (Manyena et al., 2019 ; Vázquez-González et al., 2021 ). This collaboration is essential to ensure that organizations’ view of vulnerability is consistent with those they serve (e.g., consumers’ perception and understanding of their own vulnerability). Through open dialogue and collaboration, organizations may better understand consumers’ lived experiences and gain a more accurate and holistic view of the vulnerabilities they can help prevent or mitigate.

Research on disasters underscores the need to anticipate future threats as crucial for proactive crisis management (Van Niekerk & Terblanché-Greeff, 2017 ). As such, organizations should help consumers to identify, understand, and anticipate their vulnerabilities via early-detection “horizon scanning” systems. Such anticipatory systems should include extrapolated vulnerability scenarios so that crises are not only anticipated but prevented (akin to medical screening for preexisting conditions; Manyena et al., 2019 ). In summary, a key objective for consumers and organizations is to collaborate to put in place a portfolio of measures that prevent damage or mitigate root causes of consumer vulnerabilities. We briefly illustrate how marketers might co-create these types of consumer agency.

Illustrations of building consumer agency to anticipate, prepare, and prevent

As a starting point for anticipation, preparation, and prevention, organizations and consumers need to account for spillover effects—the reality that events and actions in one domain of a consumer’s life can affect gains and losses in other domains (Spini et al., 2017 ). Thus, organizations should be attentive to vulnerabilities related to customers’ life transitions (e.g., parenting, marital, or employment status) and anticipate that vulnerabilities emerge related to unpredictable (turning point) events (e.g., accidents, job loss). In anticipation of such events, organizations can design tailored service solutions that mitigate vulnerabilities and reduce the risk that consumers slip into spirals of increasing vulnerabilities. In parallel, organizations can leverage evolving technologies to provide early warning systems that include proactive real-time and context-specific information about consumer vulnerabilities (e.g., real-time financial risk exposure, account balances, and credit scores at the time of purchase ) or health-related vulnerabilities (e.g., real-time bio-/medical indicators through wearables or implants) that empower consumers to take actions that prevent risks.

Moreover, creating resilience is linked to the idea that knowledge fuels the empowerment of people experiencing vulnerability. For example, banks may anticipate that homeowners with variable mortgage rates are at risk if interest rates increase. To prepare consumers, a bank may need to educate customers on the risks of variable-interest mortgages and encourage those consumers to shift to fixed-rate mortgages. This education helps prevent customers from defaulting on their mortgage payments. Broadening the anticipatory and preparatory lens, some banks—when a customer takes out a loan for a car—might offer an educational program regarding how to maintain the vehicle with regular service. Such a program supports customers in maintaining their vehicle in good condition throughout the length of the loan product and retaining some value for resale.

Importantly, all efforts to promote customer education ought to be deliberately designed to build the agency to anticipate, prepare for, and prevent vulnerabilities. While organizations often host literacy events or product information sessions, it is important for organizations to recognize the unique needs of their various customers and, especially, provide tailored tools to empower customers experiencing vulnerability. For instance, there is a plethora of generic financial information available in the marketplace, and (especially) consumers with vulnerabilities might be easily overwhelmed by the amount and complexity of this information. When a consumer lacks the knowledge required to understand financial markets and services, it can be difficult for them to ask questions as they may be embarrassed by their lack of knowledge or simply not have the language or understanding necessary to formulate relevant questions. In the spirit of marketplace inclusion, effective information for the most vulnerable groups should be presented in language that is easy to understand, made available through interfaces and channels that consumers experiencing vulnerability are likely and able to access, must be relevant to the consumer’s most pressing and common challenges in light of their pathways, and be trustworthy and guided by empathy so that it has consumers’ best interests at heart (Arashiro, 2011 ). Following these principles helps firms to empower customers with vulnerabilities via the agency to anticipate, prepare, and prevent.

Resilience via the consumer agency to adapt and transform

The remaining two types of resilience-fueling agency occur outside of “vulnerability state A.” In other words, an event has occurred which has made a consumer more vulnerable; at this time, consumers must display adaptive agency or transformative agency to absorb and overcome the impact of the crisis (Vázquez-González et al., 2021 ).

Adaptive agency means consumers adjust in response to a crisis (e.g., change aspects of their professional or personal lives) to absorb the damage. At this point, response plans (that have been designed as part of the above preparation efforts) are activated, for example, ‘risk transfer mechanisms’ such as insurances. A related component of adaptive agency is the consumer’s recovery time, which represents the time it takes a consumer to restore their basic functioning in their (personal/professional) life to the levels from before the crisis (Vázquez-González et al., 2021 ). Thus, the earlier stage of “preparing” resilience needs to include a focus on (a short) recovery time. In the disaster research literature, adaptation has also been characterized as “bouncing back” to the original (pre-crisis) state. That is, adaptation tends to support the maintenance of the status quo, which could have contributed to (or even caused) the crisis in the first place (Manyena et al., 2019 ). Thus, although anticipation, prevention, and preparation are beneficial, they might “simply” maintain the pre-crisis status quo. Consumers might “bounce back,” but they do not learn from the crisis and might remain vulnerable to its underlying causes. This important insight points toward the benefits of the agency to transform.

Transformative agency indicates that consumers “bounce forward” by learning from and pursuing new opportunities related to the crisis. In other words, crises are recognized as opportunities for consumers to acquire new knowledge about their behaviors (e.g., habits, practices, decision-making) as well as their environmental and social structures (Paton & Buergelt, 2019 ). Because transforming highlights the importance of removing structural elements that make consumers vulnerable, the metaphor of “bouncing-forward” points to interventions that address the root causes of a consumer’s vulnerability post-crisis (Sudmeier-Rieux, 2014 ).

Illustrations of building consumer agency to adapt and transform

Because vulnerabilities can occur and escalate quickly, organizations ought to structure flexibility into their offerings so that they can be swiftly tailored for consumers experiencing vulnerability at the time of crises. For example, consumers who experience an increase in vulnerability might quickly have difficulty paying for essential services (e.g., transportation, electricity, telecommunications). Yet, organizations can alter the default design of their offerings to buffer consumers against short-term or long-term vulnerabilities. Some financial service firms have such programs in place: consider Wells Fargo Assist SM , which can help customers with challenges related to credit card and loan payments ( https://www.wellsfargo.com/financial-assistance/ ). Still a step further goes the idea that organizations can assist consumers in adapting or transforming by providing assistive services. For example, financial service firms might assist customers when a medical emergency triggers vulnerabilities such that various healthcare providers become part of a consumer’s vulnerability pathway. As one marketplace example, note that Discover Bank has partnered with an organization called SpringFour to connect customers who experience financial hardships (e.g., from medical issues, disabilities, serious accidents, and unemployment or income changes) with “local resources to save money on things like groceries, utility costs, and prescription medications” ( https://springfourdirect.com/discover/ ). In doing so, organizations expand partnering opportunities with their consumers and other organizations, which has the potential to result in benefits for consumers and the organizations involved.

Future research directions and opportunities

Increasing inclusivity within marketplaces requires organizations to (co-)create more tailored services that allow (more) diverse types of consumers to interact with and access the organization’s offerings. In order to become more inclusive, marketing research can “benefit from adopting a more dynamic view of consumer vulnerability” (Hill & Sharma, 2020 , p. 552). Against this background, our work offers multiple opportunities for future research (see Table  3 ) to help make this perspective become part of marketplace reality. Prior empirical work on consumer vulnerability tends to investigate only parts of highly complex and nonlinear vulnerability dynamics that are driven by the interplay of life domains, levels, and time (for an exception, see Salisbury et al., 2023 ). Such approaches largely miss the opportunity to explain the distinct pathways identified in Fig.  3 .

Our development of a dynamic view of consumer vulnerability provides organizations with an opportunity to assess and refine their internal capabilities to proactively support consumers with vulnerabilities. By understanding how vulnerability states may emerge and transform in the lived experience of consumers, organizations can better engage in transparent and open dialogue with consumers. Notably, consumers are not solely responsible for navigating vulnerabilities, but rather firms and consumers should navigate these situations together by co-creating effective strategies for consumers. Understanding vulnerability states and pathways allows marketers to proactively create processes in support of consumers with vulnerabilities. With that understanding, organizations can more effectively support consumers as they navigate those vulnerabilities, and ideally identify opportunities to mitigate experiences of vulnerability. Our approach supports, but also extends, Alkire et al.’s ( 2023 ) view of responsibilities of organizations to improve the well-being of its stakeholders with a dedicated focus on consumers experiencing vulnerability, who often remain overlooked.

Conceptual foundations: Novel types of consumer vulnerabilities

In their insightful research, Salisbury et al. ( 2023 ) underscored that, to understand vulnerability dynamics, it is important to consider the types of access to financial resources consumers have (e.g., via personal funds, financial services, social bonds, governmental programs) and the types of harm they may have experienced (e.g., economic, consumption, health, social). These ideas are aligned with and can be platforms to extending our idea of distinct pathways. Specifically, we encourage more research on typologies / taxonomies of vulnerabilities. For example, in the financial realm, Chipunza and Fanta ( 2023 , p. 784) distinguish three dimensions of vulnerability as the “inability to accumulate savings after meeting basic living costs (saving vulnerability), the inability to attend outdoor recreational activities (lifestyle vulnerability), and the inability to meet rudimentary living costs (expenditure vulnerability).” Empirical marketing research could explore how such types relate to corresponding consumer responses and our pathways. Recalling the recent FICO Resilience Index, we believe there are opportunities to identify industry-specific vulnerability indicators to help managers better understand the breadth and depth of vulnerabilities their customers may experience (e.g., types could emerge as a function of distinct breadth-x-depth configurations).

Conceptual foundations: New constructs

Our framework aims to inspire marketing scholars to identify, describe, and explain the different pathways and their distinct psychological mechanisms and behaviors in more detail. For example, more work is needed on the role of heterogeneity with respect to the unique vulnerability pathways different individuals experience in life. This provides the opportunity to go beyond marketing constructs that have received the majority of scholarly and managerial attention (e.g., customer satisfaction and loyalty) to include new constructs that are more closely related to experiences of vulnerability (e.g., consumer-perceived dis-/respect, dignity, hope/-lessness). Consider, for example, that economists suspect that despair induced by financial stressors helps explain increases in suicides and drug/alcohol abuse (Shanahan et al., 2019 ). Marketing research can examine whether certain paths in our vulnerability framework influence such life-threatening behaviors and, on a more positive note, how marketing interventions might help prevent them. Moreover, we note that not all stress experiences are negative (i.e., distress); rather, some stressful episodes, called eustress experiences, can be associated with positive feelings and well-being outcomes (Selye, 1973 ). Thus, appraising a vulnerability as a challenge could elicit eustress and activate consumers to overcome this challenge (e.g., Mende et al., 2017 ). These distinct stress constructs might shed light onto the dynamic mechanisms that fuel increasing and decreasing vulnerability paths.

Dynamics of spillover effects

Future empirical research should examine spillover effects and how such spillovers may impact consumers along vulnerability-decreasing or -increasing pathways. For example, marketing scholars can examine whether (and in which forms) spillover effects occur (e.g., complementary, competing, and compensatory spillovers or spillovers from a person’s professional realm into the personal realm or vice versa) or whether distinct spillovers result related to turning points versus path dependencies. Such research could, for example, be linked to prior work on compensatory consumption behaviors (e.g., Mandel et al., 2017 ). Relatedly, marketers might examine to what extent consumers can anticipate and prevent such spillover effects and how organizations can help consumers understand complementary, competing, and compensatory spillover effects that might occur across domains (e.g., finances and health).

Dynamics of “shadows of the past and the future”

Consistent with calls for more marketing research that incorporates longitudinal perspectives (e.g., Chintagunta & Labroo, 2020 ), we encourage marketers to study distinct trajectories (“shadows of the past,” Bernardi et al., 2019 ) and their impact on current decisions. Researchers can also examine consumer anticipation (i.e., “shadows of the future”) and forward-looking decisions and related concepts (e.g., hope, optimism). To explore such questions, marketers can draw on life-course research that conducted large-scale panel studies, which become increasingly feasible and preeminent in social sciences. Such studies could employ event history methodology or conduct multilevel, multidimensional longitudinal analysis (e.g., latent growth-curve modeling and sequence analysis to analyze multidimensional life course trajectories; Bernardi et al., 2019 ). Relatedly, our framework raises the question of which novel methods and data (e.g., composite indicators) can capture and model the complexity of vulnerability pathways best (i.e., over time and across multiple domains of consumers’ lives).

Dynamics of duration and timing of vulnerability experiences

To extend prior work on the effects of distinct time-related types of vulnerability experience (e.g., chronic vs. transient; Blocker et al., 2023 ), marketing research could investigate the effects of (a) the duration of vulnerability experiences, as well as (b) the life stage in which these experiences occurred (e.g., Mende et al., 2023 for a discussion of these aspects in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic). For example, with respect to the duration of the vulnerability experience, LCT suggests that longer durations tend to result in more enduring psychological / physical consequences for an individual (et vice versa). In terms of the life stage, LCT proposes that the effects of vulnerability likely depend on life stages that are particularly sensitive to certain types of effects, such as the elderly and young (Settersten et al., 2020 ). Thus, additional research is warranted to better understand the impact of life stages on vulnerability experiences.

Dynamics of consumer resilience

Marketing research needs to examine how marketers can develop and maintain consumers’ agency to anticipate, prepare, prevent, adapt, and transform. We need empirical insights into when and why which type of agency matters more (or less) and how intended, positive (or unintended) effects of these types of agency manifest. For example, under which circumstances might consumers choose (not) to invest in building resilience-fueling agency? Beyond our specific conceptual focus on consumer agency, marketing research needs to identify more predictive measures and indicators of consumer vulnerabilities (beyond extant measures like credit scores and risk aversion trait differences). Another perspective can draw on the resilience literature in psychology, which suggests that experiences of “adversities may either increase vulnerabilities through a sensitization effect or decrease vulnerabilities through a steeling effect ” (Rutter, 2012 , p. 337, emphasis ours). Marketing research can help examine when such sensitization or steeling effects emerge and which mechanisms help explain them.

Interdisciplinary inspirations: Multi-level perspectives

In their inspiring work on poverty, Blocker et al. ( 2023 , p. 490) call for marketing research to build on sociological perspectives to develop new questions at interdisciplinary intersections to enhance marketing’s theoretical reach. Directly responding to this call, we draw on life course theory in sociology (e.g., Bernardi et al., 2019 ; Elder, 1995 ) to identify a novel portfolio of vulnerability-increasing and vulnerability-decreasing pathways . Yet, our multidimensional framework can be extended via a multilevel perspective to further capture the reality that consumers are linked with the life courses of others, as well as social networks and the broader external social, historical, and economic contexts (Bernardi et al., 2019 ; Elder, 1995 ). Such multi-level perspectives focus on “interactions between individual (e.g., personality traits, self-regulations, coping strategies, information processing), group (e.g., groups and networks, intergroup relations), and collective (e.g., institutional and cultural processes, descriptive and prospective norms) levels” to better observe, describe, and explain their relevance in influencing (nested) vulnerabilities and consumers’ experiences and behaviors (Spini et al., 2017 , p. 14; also Bernardi et al., 2019 ; Macioce, 2022 ). Another stream of research could extend our focus to study how the aforementioned types of consumer agency can be built on a household- or community-level. To do that, marketers can draw on literature on resilience at the supra-individual level (e.g., on community resilience, see Berkes & Ross, 2013 , Barrett et al., 2021 ; Mochizuki et al., 2018 ; for a theory of group vulnerability, see Macioce, 2022 ).

Interdisciplinary inspirations: Novel theories

While we drew from disaster research and life course theory in sociology, other theoretical backdrops can further enrich marketing research on vulnerability. For example, grounded in legal philosophy, Fineman ( 2008 , 2013 , 2017 ) conceptualizes vulnerability as universal, inherent in the human condition for every individual, and constant throughout a person’s life, although she recognizes that the specific circumstances affecting vulnerability can change. Against this background, Fineman identifies the importance of embodied and embedded differences related to vulnerability: embodied differences evolve within each individual body (the progressive biological and developmental stages within an individual life) and include physical variations (e.g., age, physical and mental ability, other bodily differences). In parallel, embedded differences emerge as a function of networks of economic, social, cultural, and institutional relationships (e.g., in educational, employment, financial, and other institutions). This perspective leads Fineman ( 2013 ) to propose thought-provoking ideas that marketing research can draw on, for example, that those who obtain power and wealth are seen as having done so purely on their own, which, in turn, undermines a sense of social solidarity and diminishes sympathy and empathy for those in need.

From the field of bioethics , Luna ( 2009 , 2019 ) proposes a deliberately more fluent perspective and argues that there are different vulnerabilities resulting from distinct though potentially overlapping layers of vulnerability; some of them may emerge due to a person’s social circumstances or reflect relations between the person (or a group of persons) and their situational circumstances or context. Broadly, the theory argues that these different layers may be contextually acquired or removed one by one. This view results in cascades of potential vulnerabilities and emphasizes that a particular situation can render someone vulnerable; yet, if the situation changes, the person may no longer be considered vulnerable. The idea of layers provides more flexibility to the concept of vulnerability and makes it a deliberately contextual and relational one; it also suggests that marketers ought to focus on minimizing and eradicating layers of vulnerability. Appendix A Table 4 provides some further details in comparing key characteristics of the universalist theory and layered theory to inspire marketing research.

Organizational proactivity: Linking service development and innovation to consumers’ lived vulnerability experiences

Our work is aligned with recent research suggesting that understanding consumer (financial) vulnerabilities can and should be directly linked to marketing strategy, for example, a company’s product portfolio management (Salisbury et al., 2023 ). Closely related to this insight, our discussion suggests that organizations should systematically develop services to address consumer hardship. Specifically, our framework points to the need and opportunities for organizations to develop dedicated vulnerability-focused service solutions. To provide fitting solutions for vulnerable customers, organizations need to proactively develop vulnerability-related innovation capabilities. Notably, not all organizations possess these capabilities. For example, organizations in developed countries (deliberately or unwittingly) frequently do not focus on serving the needs of consumers in the context of their distinct vulnerability profiles. This reality not only undermines consumer well-being but also results in organizations missing opportunities to serve markets of consumers who are experiencing vulnerability (e.g., underbanked consumers, see Mende et al., 2020 ). To develop such capabilities, and especially to identify the needs of people experiencing vulnerability, managers might draw on research on other “overlooked” segments, such as customers at the Base-of-the-Pyramid (BoP) (Prahalad, 2012 ). Management concepts such as inclusive innovation, grassroots innovation, and social innovation, which develop new ideas that aspire to enhance social and economic well-being for people in society (Brem & Wolfram, 2014 ; George et al., 2012 ; Luiz et al., 2021 ) can all be fruitful inspirations for organizations. For example, Pansera and Sarkar ( 2016 ) find that innovations generated by a low-income population not only improve an organization’s ability to satisfy previously unmet and ignored consumer needs, but also enhance its productivity and sustainability. These ideas are well-established in the innovation literature. Ironically, those notions are typically thought of for consumers in developing countries but rarely considered to serve consumers experiencing vulnerability in developed countries . More marketing research is needed to study how organizations in developed markets can incorporate a focus on consumers with vulnerabilities in their service design and innovation processes.

Organizational proactivity: Better targeting segments of consumers with vulnerability

Another challenge that is related to not recognizing the needs of consumers with vulnerabilities is that organizations might not be able to identify and target corresponding consumer segments. Accordingly, more research is needed that can inform and improve organizational customer segmenting and targeting efforts (Salisbury et al., 2023 ). In this regard, managers should note that developing nations have utilized a variety of approaches to improve the socio-political inclusion of people with vulnerabilities (e.g., micro-financing, social security, and market-based solutions; Singh & Chudasama, 2020 ). One crucial finding from such poverty alleviation programs is the importance of targeted efforts. For example, to lift its more than 70 million rural impoverished people above the poverty line, the Chinese Government initiated a policy in 2014 that included targeted measures of accurate poverty identification (including the specific needs of people who are impoverished for distinct reasons such unemployment or diseases) and corresponding interventions to ensure that assistance reaches the poverty-stricken households and communities (e.g., by mobilizing support at the local municipal and county-level government); the objective of these targeted programs is to improve the accuracy and effectiveness of poverty alleviation efforts (Chong et al., 2022 ).

Such governmental programs can inform and inspire organizations so that marketers can more accurately identify the needs of consumers experiencing vulnerability and develop solutions. Footnote 7 For example, some programs in China emphasize the importance of local knowledge ―specifically, the interplay of know- who and know- how ―for identifying households with the greatest needs, establishing relationships with them, and selecting fitting interventions. Indeed, Cai et al. ( 2022 ) observe that “using people who are familiar with the poor household has become the key mechanism to solve the targeting problem.” This insight can help organizations in serving consumers experiencing vulnerability in developed countries. For example, financial service firms could leverage their branches to embed “resilience managers,” as champions for consumers who are experiencing vulnerabilities in their local market. Such localized initiatives can help improve inclusion in areas that are traditionally underserved. This intentionality in collaboration of firms with consumers can enrich the development of programs that aim to alleviate or prevent vulnerabilities by providing nuanced insights into how consumers perceive themselves and the world. Such nuanced insights on an individual level can be crucial as we acknowledge the relevance of consumer heterogeneity. For example, the motivation and capacity for consumers to move from one vulnerability state to another might be influenced by individual-level and/or cultural heterogeneity (e.g., political orientations, or cultural dimensions such as Hofstede, 2016 ). To illustrate, consumers with more collectivist (vs. individualistic) cultural orientation might be more likely to welcome organizational efforts to co-create vulnerability mitigation strategies. Similarly, Hofstede’s dimension of “motivation towards achievement and success” (formerly called “masculinity vs. femininity”) might be relevant because it refers to the societal preference for achievement, assertiveness, and material rewards for success; thus, consumers with a relatively more “feminine” (vs. “masculine”) orientation might be more welcoming vis-a-vis a company’s aim to co-create vulnerability mitigation strategies with them.

Relatedly, it is equally important for managers to note the reality that consumers may have different visions of themselves and their level of vulnerability; that is, two consumers who are objectively equally vulnerable (per quantifiable vulnerability sub-/indicators) might (subjectively) perceive their vulnerability differently from each other, which can then affect how they interpret strategies designed to reduce vulnerabilities and the extent to which they are willing to collaborate with organizations to build consumer resilience. In short, organizations need to consider that consumers who experience different types of vulnerabilities are likely to be influenced by (sub-)cultural and geographical diversity; such heterogeneity can undermine their motivation to collaborate with organizations. However, we prescribe to an optimistic paradigm that proposes that by collaborating, consumers and organizations can co-create strategies that more appropriately meet the needs of consumers and effectively reduce their vulnerabilities.

Finally, related to our optimistic paradigm, we underscore that any organizational co-creation efforts to reduce consumer vulnerability should not be used to exploit consumers for profit or to undermine their freedom of choice via a “paternalistic” approach. That is, managers must act ethically when determining the breadth and depth of consumer vulnerability and when developing strategies to reduce vulnerabilities and build consumer resilience. Such an ethical approach to collaboration also helps ensures organizations promote multi-stakeholder efforts (Alkire et al., 2023 ) in reducing vulnerabilities.

This research expands the understanding of consumers’ lived vulnerability experiences by focusing on the dynamic aspects of vulnerability. Understanding shifts in the breadth and depth of a consumer’s vulnerability, as well as how that consumer arrived in that state of vulnerability, is critical from a marketplace inclusion perspective as it helps marketers reduce consumer vulnerabilities and enhance consumer resilience. Although such a perspective might not be intuitive (e.g., from a pure shareholder perspective), we notice that novel business approaches are emerging that seem to be consistent with our rationale. Consider the emergence of “ethical banking,” which includes a set of banking practices that aim to counteract problems such as social inequality, gender discrimination, as well as climate change, and environmental sustainability (Valls Martínez et al., 2021 for a detailed analysis). In contrast to conventional banks—which typically aim to maximize their profit—ethical banks follow a threefold principle in their operations, namely the balance of profit, people, and planet; consequently, the foundational premise of ethical banking is to position the client as the center of a banking business that is driven by social mentalities and active solidarity (Valls Martínez et al., 2021 ).

The emergence of ethical banking can serve as inspiration for other industries to consider consumer vulnerabilities as related to their core business (model). Against this background, we hope our research offers an enhanced understanding of lived vulnerability experiences as we extend existing research of consumer vulnerability dynamics (Blocker et al., 2023 ; Hill & Sharma, 2020 ; Salisbury et al., 2023 ) to introduce an expanded framework that brings in tenants from other disciplines. We hope that our framework encourages marketing research on how organizations can better assess vulnerability states and pathways to ultimately reduce consumer vulnerabilities and promote consumer resilience.

This emphasis on inclusiveness emerges from the paradigm of Transformative Consumer Research (Anderson et al., 2013 ; Mick 2006 ), and it is consistent with efforts by leading outlets such as JMR ’s ‘Mitigation in Marketing’ and JM ’s ‘Better Marketing for a Better World’ initiatives, as well as the Responsible Research for Business and Management (RRBM) initiative (Mende and Scott 2021 ).

This paper utilizes the terms “consumer vulnerability” and “vulnerable consumer” when referring to previous research on the topic as used and defined by those sources. However, recognizing that a strength-based approach can help avoid further stigmatizing or objectifying people experiencing vulnerability and acknowledging that a person-first language is important (e.g., Boenigk et al., 2021 ), other terms are used throughout this paper. We are grateful to one of the anonymous reviewers emphasizing the importance of these terminological aspects.

An individual’s demographic characteristics alone do not, per se, cause them to be more vulnerable; as such, we do not intend to promote the idea of ‘victim groups’ or ‘rescue groups’ (see: Flanagan et al., 2018 ).

Because there are dozens of composite indicator frameworks in disaster management research that were derived from 50 + methodologies, our goal is not to provide a systematic overview (e.g., see Asadzadeh et al., 2017 ; Beccari 2016 ), but simply to illustrate how companies might construct such indices (see Fig.  1 ).

The assemblance of such vulnerability data must go hand-in-hand with ethical principles and a comprehensive and systematic stakeholder (rather than shareholder) focus such that company actions are guided by the principles of mitigating consumers’ lived vulnerability experiences.

For example, a consumer is more vulnerable—ceteris paribus—when they rank at the 60% percentile rather than the 90% percentile of the amount that indicates the official poverty level in the U.S. Note that such indicators should be adjusted for regional or local income/cost-of-living and poverty levels (e.g., Nebraska vs. California).

We do not suggest that such programs can and should be simply copied without major adjustments to the open society and market-based systems in many Western countries; yet, they might inspire fresh thinking for marketers.

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Anne L. Roggeveen

University of Bath, Bath, UK

Tecnológico de Monterrey, Monterrey, Mexico

BI Norwegian Business School, Oslo, Norway

Maura L. Scott

College of Business Administration, Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA, USA

Mariella Zavala

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Mende, M., Bradford, T.W., Roggeveen, A.L. et al. Consumer vulnerability dynamics and marketing: Conceptual foundations and future research opportunities. J. of the Acad. Mark. Sci. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-024-01039-4

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What Kamala Harris has said so far on key issues in her campaign

As she ramps up her nascent presidential campaign, Vice President Kamala Harris is revealing how she will address the key issues facing the nation.

In speeches and rallies, she has voiced support for continuing many of President Joe Biden’s measures, such as lowering drug costs , forgiving student loan debt and eliminating so-called junk fees. But Harris has made it clear that she has her own views on some key matters, particularly Israel’s treatment of Gazans in its war with Hamas.

In a departure from her presidential run in 2020, the Harris campaign has confirmed that she’s moved away from many of her more progressive stances, such as her interest in a single-payer health insurance system and a ban on fracking.

Harris is also expected to put her own stamp and style on matters ranging from abortion to the economy to immigration, as she aims to walk a fine line of taking credit for the administration’s accomplishments while not being jointly blamed by voters for its shortcomings.

Her early presidential campaign speeches have offered insights into her priorities, though she’s mainly voiced general talking points and has yet to release more nuanced plans. Like Biden, she intends to contrast her vision for America with that of former President Donald Trump. ( See Trump’s campaign promises here .)

“In this moment, I believe we face a choice between two different visions for our nation: one focused on the future, the other focused on the past,” she told members of the historically Black sorority Zeta Phi Beta at an event in Indianapolis in late July. “And with your support, I am fighting for our nation’s future.”

Here’s what we know about Harris’ views:

Harris took on the lead role of championing abortion rights for the administration after Roe v. Wade was overturned in June 2022. This past January, she started a “ reproductive freedoms tour ” to multiple states, including a stop in Minnesota thought to be the first by a sitting US president or vice president at an abortion clinic .

On abortion access, Harris embraced more progressive policies than Biden in the 2020 campaign, as a candidate criticizing his previous support for the Hyde Amendment , a measure that blocks federal funds from being used for most abortions.

Policy experts suggested that although Harris’ current policies on abortion and reproductive rights may not differ significantly from Biden’s, as a result of her national tour and her own focus on maternal health , she may be a stronger messenger.

High prices are a top concern for many Americans who are struggling to afford the cost of living after a spell of steep inflation. Many voters give Biden poor marks for his handling of the economy, and Harris may also face their wrath.

In her early campaign speeches, Harris has echoed many of the same themes as Biden, saying she wants to give Americans more opportunities to get ahead. She’s particularly concerned about making care – health care, child care, elder care and family leave – more affordable and available.

Harris promised at a late July rally to continue the Biden administration’s drive to eliminate so-called “junk fees” and to fully disclose all charges, such as for events, lodging and car rentals. In early August, the administration proposed a rule that would ban airlines from charging parents extra fees to have their kids sit next to them.

On day one, I will take on price gouging and bring down costs. We will ban more of those hidden fees and surprise late charges that banks and other companies use to pad their profits.”

Since becoming vice president, Harris has taken more moderate positions, but a look at her 2020 campaign promises reveals a more progressive bent than Biden.

As a senator and 2020 presidential candidate, Harris proposed providing middle-class and working families with a refundable tax credit of up to $6,000 a year (per couple) to help keep up with living expenses. Titled the LIFT the Middle Class Act, or Livable Incomes for Families Today, the measure would have cost at the time an estimated $3 trillion over 10 years.

Unlike a typical tax credit, the bill would allow taxpayers to receive the benefit – up to $500 – on a monthly basis so families don’t have to turn to payday loans with very high interest rates.

As a presidential candidate, Harris also advocated for raising the corporate income tax rate to 35%, where it was before the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that Trump and congressional Republicans pushed through Congress reduced the rate to 21%. That’s higher than the 28% Biden has proposed.

Affordable housing was also on Harris’ radar. As a senator, she introduced the Rent Relief Act, which would establish a refundable tax credit for renters who annually spend more than 30% of their gross income on rent and utilities. The amount of the credit would range from 25% to 100% of the excess rent, depending on the renter’s income.

Harris called housing a human right and said in a 2019 news release on the bill that every American deserves to have basic security and dignity in their own home.

Consumer debt

Hefty debt loads, which weigh on people’s finances and hurt their ability to buy homes, get car loans or start small businesses, are also an area of interest to Harris.

As vice president, she has promoted the Biden administration’s initiatives on student debt, which have so far forgiven more than $168 billion for nearly 4.8 million borrowers . In mid-July, Harris said in a post on X that “nearly 950,000 public servants have benefitted” from student debt forgiveness, compared with only 7,000 when Biden was inaugurated.

A potential Harris administration could keep that momentum going – though some of Biden’s efforts have gotten tangled up in litigation, such as a program aimed at cutting monthly student loan payments for roughly 3 million borrowers enrolled in a repayment plan the administration implemented last year.

The vice president has also been a leader in the White House efforts to ban medical debt from credit reports, noting that those with medical debt are no less likely to repay a loan than those who don’t have unpaid medical bills.

In a late July statement praising North Carolina’s move to relieve the medical debt of about 2 million residents, Harris said that she is “committed to continuing to relieve the burden of medical debt and creating a future where every person has the opportunity to build wealth and thrive.”

Health care

Harris, who has had shifting stances on health care in the past, confirmed in late July through her campaign that she no longer supports a single-payer health care system .

During her 2020 campaign, Harris advocated for shifting the US to a government-backed health insurance system but stopped short of wanting to completely eliminate private insurance.

The measure called for transitioning to a Medicare-for-All-type system over 10 years but continuing to allow private insurance companies to offer Medicare plans.

The proposal would not have raised taxes on the middle class to pay for the coverage expansion. Instead, it would raise the needed funds by taxing Wall Street trades and transactions and changing the taxation of offshore corporate income.

When it comes to reducing drug costs, Harris previously proposed allowing the federal government to set “a fair price” for any drug sold at a cheaper price in any economically comparable country, including Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Japan or Australia. If manufacturers were found to be price gouging, the government could import their drugs from abroad or, in egregious cases, use its existing but never-used “march-in” authority to license a drug company’s patent to a rival that would produce the medication at a lower cost.

Harris has been a champion on climate and environmental justice for decades. As California’s attorney general, Harris sued big oil companies like BP and ConocoPhillips, and investigated Exxon Mobil for its role in climate change disinformation. While in the Senate, she sponsored the Green New Deal resolution.

During her 2020 campaign, she enthusiastically supported a ban on fracking — but a Harris campaign official said in late July that she no longer supports such a ban.

Fracking is the process of using liquid to free natural gas from rock formations – and the primary mode for extracting gas for energy in battleground Pennsylvania. During a September 2019 climate crisis town hall hosted by CNN, she said she would start “with what we can do on Day 1 around public lands.” She walked that back later when she became Biden’s running mate.

Biden has been the most pro-climate president in history, and climate advocates find Harris to be an exciting candidate in her own right. Democrats and climate activists are planning to campaign on the stark contrasts between Harris and Trump , who vowed to push America decisively back to fossil fuels, promising to unwind Biden’s climate and clean energy legacy and pull America out of its global climate commitments.

If elected, one of the biggest climate goals Harris would have to craft early in her administration is how much the US would reduce its climate pollution by 2035 – a requirement of the Paris climate agreement .

Immigration

Harris has quickly started trying to counter Trump’s attacks on her immigration record.

Her campaign released a video in late July citing Harris’ support for increasing the number of Border Patrol agents and Trump’s successful push to scuttle a bipartisan immigration deal that included some of the toughest border security measures in recent memory.

The vice president has changed her position on border control since her 2020 campaign, when she suggested that Democrats needed to “critically examine” the role of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, after being asked whether she sided with those in the party arguing to abolish the department.

In June of this year, the White House announced a crackdown on asylum claims meant to continue reducing crossings at the US-Mexico border – a policy that Harris’ campaign manager, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, indicated in late July to CBS News would continue under a Harris administration.

Trump’s attacks stem from Biden having tasked Harris with overseeing diplomatic efforts in Central America in March 2021. While Harris focused on long-term fixes, the Department of Homeland Security remained responsible for overseeing border security.

She has only occasionally talked about her efforts as the situation along the US-Mexico border became a political vulnerability for Biden. But she put her own stamp on the administration’s efforts, engaging the private sector.

Harris pulled together the Partnership for Central America, which has acted as a liaison between companies and the US government. Her team and the partnership are closely coordinating on initiatives that have led to job creation in the region. Harris has also engaged directly with foreign leaders in the region.

Experts credit Harris’ ability to secure private-sector investments as her most visible action in the region to date but have cautioned about the long-term durability of those investments.

Israel-Hamas

The Israel-Hamas war is the most fraught foreign policy issue facing the country and has spurred a multitude of protests around the US since it began in October.

After meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in late July, Harris gave a forceful and notable speech about the situation in Gaza.

We cannot look away in the face of these tragedies. We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering. And I will not be silent.”

Harris echoed Biden’s repeated comments about the “ironclad support” and “unwavering commitment” to Israel. The country has a right to defend itself, she said, while noting, “how it does so, matters.”

However, the empathy she expressed regarding the Palestinian plight and suffering was far more forceful than what Biden has said on the matter in recent months. Harris mentioned twice the “serious concern” she expressed to Netanyahu about the civilian deaths in Gaza, the humanitarian situation and destruction she called “catastrophic” and “devastating.”

She went on to describe “the images of dead children and desperate hungry people fleeing for safety, sometimes displaced for the second, third or fourth time.”

Harris emphasized the need to get the Israeli hostages back from Hamas captivity, naming the eight Israeli-American hostages – three of whom have been killed.

But when describing the ceasefire deal in the works, she didn’t highlight the hostage for prisoner exchange or aid to be let into Gaza. Instead, she singled out the fact that the deal stipulates the withdrawal by the Israeli military from populated areas in the first phase before withdrawing “entirely” from Gaza before “a permanent end to the hostilities.”

Harris didn’t preside over Netanyahu’s speech to Congress in late July, instead choosing to stick with a prescheduled trip to a sorority event in Indiana.

Harris is committed to supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression, having met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at least six times and announcing last month $1.5 billion for energy assistance, humanitarian needs and other aid for the war-torn country.

At the Munich Security Conference earlier this year, Harris said: “I will make clear President Joe Biden and I stand with Ukraine. In partnership with supportive, bipartisan majorities in both houses of the United States Congress, we will work to secure critical weapons and resources that Ukraine so badly needs. And let me be clear: The failure to do so would be a gift to Vladimir Putin.”

More broadly, NATO is central to our approach to global security. For President Biden and me, our sacred commitment to NATO remains ironclad. And I do believe, as I have said before, NATO is the greatest military alliance the world has ever known.”

Police funding

The Harris campaign has also walked back the “defund the police” sentiment that Harris voiced in 2020. What she meant is she supports being “tough and smart on crime,” Mitch Landrieu, national co-chair for the Harris campaign and former mayor of New Orleans, told CNN’s Pamela Brown in late July.

In the midst of nationwide 2020 protests sparked by George Floyd’s murder by a Minneapolis police officer, Harris voiced support for the “defund the police” movement, which argues for redirecting funds from law enforcement to social services. Throughout that summer, Harris supported the movement and called for demilitarizing police departments.

Democrats largely backed away from calls to defund the police after Republicans attempted to tie the movement to increases in crime during the 2022 midterm elections.

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