Consumption and Mass Media Worksheet Essay

1. Respond to all questions with academic paragraphs of at least 50 words. State your point of view and explain it thoroughly. †¢ What is conspicuous consumption? How does conspicuous consumption influence purchasing decisions? Think about a high-priced item that you have bought or would like to buy. To what extent does conspicuous consumption affect your decision? Conspicuous consumption is the feeling of buying unnecessary expensive products and services to show off and impress the wealth of the individual. Conspicuous consumption is a tool used to get people to by name brand items and lavish items to flaunt. Conspicuous consumption influences the purchasing decisions of individuals by creating the idea that high expense items are harder to afford and the majority of people want to buy the high expense items but they cannot afford the item. Once the high expense items are purchased the individual has the power to flaunt the item to others or show off the item to people who do not have the same item or cannot afford the same item. When I purchase an item I do not let conspicuous consumption affect my d ecision to an extent. I like to purchase items that are not as popular by other individuals, particular women. When I buy clothes I like to have unique clothes that other women would not purchase because of the uniqueness. †¢ What is conspicuous leisure? Examples of conspicuous leisure are abundant on television. In what ways are leisure activities informed by social and economic class? Provide an example of a popular leisure activity. What assumptions can you make about the participants of the activity? †¢ Conspicuous leisure is the visible leisure with the intent of displaying social status and wealth of the individual. A prime example of conspicuous leisure is the television show â€Å"The Housewives of Orange County†. These women showcase the expensive items and lavish lives they live. The majority of the women do not work and they are stay at home wives and a few have their own business and make their own money. One example of a leisure activity is when the women and their families go to the Hamptons for the summer time. These individuals own a home or rent a home to spend the summer in the Hamptons. Many of these families fly to the Hamptons in their own private jet. The leisure activity explained above showcases the social and economic class of these individuals. The individuals that partake in the television show are high class citizens. The participants participating in the activity can afford to have own more than one home and these individuals can afford to spend the entire summer time in the Hamptons. These individuals use a private jet to fly to the Hampton destination. People in the high class society individuals can only afford to fly on a private jet. †¢ Define the term globalization. What effect does globalization have on popular culture? Provide an example of how American popular culture has influenced other countries, or how the United States has imported popular culture from other countries. Globalization is defined as extending, sharing, and developing of culture, communications, technology, material items, and food to other or all parts of the world. Popular culture has the power to globalize throughout the entire world. Popular culture is shared among many individuals from different parts of the world. Popular culture allows the sharing of objects and ideas. People can share information or images and people can develop their own ideas based on the shared information or images, such as fashion and clothes. Fashion is a major trend that is not only popular here in the U.S. but overseas too. Many fashion companies like Forever 21 are taking popular fashion pieces and trends from overseas, such as Paris and France and designing these trends for the American people. Forever 21 is taking European style and transcending the style to the American people at a affordable price. More and more designer stores, such as Chanel and Dior are becoming increasingly popular here in the United States. These designers are branching their company here to the U.S. because these designers are seeing how popular fashion has become and the brand name is what the American people want and will pay to have. 2. Choose an advertisement. Analyze the ad for its media message. Answer the following questions based on that ad. †¢ Who created the media message? Why? Kohl’s Department Store created the ad. The company is advertising to their customers to spend money on their products and receive a coupon for spending a certain amount of money. For every $50 dollars spent, customers get a $10 coupon. †¢ Who is the intended audience? What do you know about the intended audience—age, race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic background, hobbies, profession? The intended audience is geared to people who buy items in bulk and spends lots of money. This ad is intended to get people to spend as much money as they can because for every $50 dollars spend they will receive a $10 dollar coupon. If a customer spends $153 the customer will get a $30 dollar coupon that can be spent on anything in the store. The advertisement is not intended at any age or race but the ad is intended for women. Kohl’s products and the shopping experience the company focuses on is â€Å"SHE†. â€Å"She† is the working women, housewife that is on the go. â€Å"She† wants to find affordable clothing at a great price and can get in and out of the store without any inconsistencies. The ad does focus on those who can afford the products sold at Kohl’s and who is able to spend the amount advertised to receive a coupon. †¢ What type of lifestyle is presented? Is it realistic? Why or why not? The lifestyle presented is unrealistic. I work for Kohl’s and this type of advertisement is a great career move for the company but an addiction for customers. The Kohl’s cash is a mental defect that toys with customers. Customers go crazy for Kohl’s cash. The majority of customers are spending so much money to get a $10 coupon. People do not realize they have to spend money in order to get a coupon. This is unrealistic because people are spending their money on things they do not need or they are over spending. This is how people become addicted to shopping and addicted to shopping at Kohl’s. I see the same person either everyday or every other day in the store each week. The ad presents a materialistic lifestyle because people are willing to by materialistic items and spend money in order to gain from it. †¢ What is the text, written or in another form, of the message? What do you see and hear: written or spoken words, photos, drawings, logos, design, music, sounds, and so on? The coupon resembles a dollar bill. The coupon is the color green like money and had white writing on the coupon. The coupon has big bold letters stating â€Å"Kohl’s Cash† with the dates below the name of the coupon, which states when the coupon starts and when the coupon ends. †¢ What is the hidden text? What is unstated or implied in the message? The coupon states for every $50 dollars spent the customer will receive a $10 dollar coupon. The text that is hidden in the coupon does not accurately specify that if the customer goes over the $50 dollar limit the coupon will increase by $10 dollars. The unstated message for the coupon includes the tax. The customer must actually spend $53 dollars in order to receive the coupon because the coupon is only redeemable before taxes not after taxe s. †¢ What values are expressed? The coupon expresses high quality vales that Kohl’s gives to their customers. In today’s economy people cannot afford many things the way they used to including clothing. The prices of clothing, has increased and people want to save money. The coupon gives customers the expression of saving and receiving. Customers can receiving a free coupon for spending a certain amount in the store. The customer can apply the coupon to anything in the store. The customer is not limited to certain purchases when using the coupon but Kohl’s is putting their customers first and establishing a YES WE CAN environment for the customers. †¢ What groups of people are empowered in this message? What groups are disempowered? How so? Everyone willing to spend $50 dollars or more are empowered by this message. The message alone gives empowerment to customers because customers are benefiting from their spending. Those who are disempowered are the people who do not spend or do not want to spend the amount required to receive the coupon. Each individual spending the amount feels empowerment because they are able to buy anything in the store to receive the coupon and the individual can buy anything in the store when they can use the coupon. The coupon does not limit to certain items in the store. Those who do not spend the amount requested do not have an advantage where as those who do spend the requested amount will gain an advantage. †¢ What part of the story is not being told? How and where could you get more information about the untold stories? Kohl’s Cash ® will be applied prior to percent-off total purchase discounts. Kohl’s Cash ® Coupon may not be redeemed (1) on purchases of Kohl’s Cares ® cause merchandise or other charitable items; (2) to reduce customer’s Kohl’s Charge or any third party charge account balance; (3) as price adjustments on prior purchases; or (4) to purchase Gift Cards. If merchandise purchased earning a Kohl’s Cash ® Coupon is subsequently returned or price adjusted, the value of the Kohl’s Cash ® Coupon previously earned and/or the amount of the merchandise refund will be reduced to reflect any unearned value. Return value of merchandise purchased with a Kohl’s Cash ® Coupon may be subject to adjustment (Kohl’s.com) †¢ Can these messages affect how you think and feel? Why or why not? Provide examples. Yes these messages can affect how the customer feels. When the coupon is used and a percentage is used together the percentage will change due to the Kohl’s cash. I had a customer that did the math on her own prior to checking out. Once I rung the customer up she noticed that the percentage was less then what she calculated. I had to explain to her that when she used a percentage and the Kohl’s cash the percentage will decrease because of the Kohl’s cash. The customer was very upset and not satisfied. She said â€Å"Kohl’s cash is not useful to spend, because I am being cheated†. The customer was unaware of the information stated in the back. The coupon states what will happen if a percentage and the cash is used together. †¢ Can these messages affect your behavior? Why or why not? Provide examples. The message does affect my behavior because the coupon itself becomes a hassle when trying to explain to customers the rules of the coupons. Some customers accept the terms and they are okay with it once I explain and show them, but I have had customers fight me to the end and be very cruel to me because the customer failed to read the rules of how to spend the coupon. For the most part, the coupon is nice but overall customers do not realize they have to spend money to get a coupon. The coupon is not a reward for being a loyal customer or for having a Kohl’s credit card. The customer has to spend a certain amount in order to receive the coupon but they do not have to spend a certain amount to cash the coupon in. †¢ Can the messages affect the cultural values in society in general? Why or why not? Provide examples.