Editing Consumerism (section)

== Evolution of the term ==
The term "consumerism" has several definitions.<ref name="Modern Consumerism">{{cite book |last1=Swagler |first1=Roger |editor1-first=Stephen |editor1-last=Brobeck |editor1-link=Stephen Brobeck |title=Encyclopedia of the Consumer Movement |year=1997 |publisher=ABC-Clio |location=Santa Barbara, Calif. |isbn=0874369878 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofco00brob/page/172 172–173] |chapter=Modern Consumerism |title-link=Encyclopedia of the Consumer Movement }}, which is based on {{Cite journal | last1 = Swagler | first1 = R. | title = Evolution and Applications of the Term Consumerism: Theme and Variations | doi = 10.1111/j.1745-6606.1994.tb00856.x | journal = Journal of Consumer Affairs | volume = 28 | issue = 2 | pages = 347–360 | year = 1994 }}</ref> These definitions may not be related to each other and they conflict with each other.

In a 1955 speech, [[John Bugas]], a vice president of the [[Ford Motor Company]], <ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FmuYDwAAQBAJ&dq=john+bugas+vice+president+ford&pg=PA133 | title=The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit – Updated Edition | isbn=9780691162553 | last1=Sugrue | first1=Thomas J. | date=27 April 2014 | publisher=Princeton University Press }}</ref> coined the term "consumerism" as a substitute for "capitalism" and better describe the American economy:<ref name="Eriksson">{{cite journal |url = http://est.sagepub.com/content/16/2/153 |title= On self-service democracy: Configurations of individualizing governance and self-directed citizenship |first= Kai |last= Eriksson |journal= European Journal of Social Theory|date= 20 November 2012 |volume= 16 |issue= 2 |pages= 153–173 |doi= 10.1177/1368431012459693 |s2cid= 144688904 |access-date= 1 November 2014}}</ref>
{{quote|The term ''consumerism'' would pin the tag where it actually belongs – on Mr. Consumer, the real boss and beneficiary of the American system. It would pull the rug right out from under our unfriendly critics who have blasted away so long and loud at capitalism.}}

Bugas's definition aligned with [[Austrian economics]] founder [[Carl Menger]]'s conception of ''consumer sovereignty'', as laid out in his 1871 book [[Principles of Economics (Menger)|''Principles of Economics'']], whereby consumer preferences, valuations, and choices control the economy entirely. This view stood in direct opposition to [[Karl Marx]]'s critique of the capitalist economy as a [[Exploitation of labour|system of exploitation]].<ref>{{cite book|last= Caldwell|first= Bruce J.|title= Carl Menger and His Legacy in Economics|year= 1990|publisher= Duke University Press}}</ref>

For [[Social criticism|social critic]] [[Vance Packard]], however, "consumerism" was not a positive term about consumer practices but rather a negative term, meaning excessive [[Economic materialism|materialism]] and wastefulness. In the advertisements for his 1960 book ''[[The Waste Makers]]'', the word "consumerism" was prominently featured in a negative way.<ref name="Glickman">
{{cite book
|last= Glickman|first= Lawrence B.
|title= Buying power : a history of consumer activism in America
|year= 2012|publisher= University of Chicago Press
|location= Chicago|isbn= 978-0226298672|pages= 265
|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=zb-1U7aWakUC&pg=PA265
|edition= Paperback
}}
</ref>

One sense of the term relates to efforts to support consumers' interests.<ref name="Modern Consumerism"/> By the early 1970s it had become the accepted term for the field and began to be used in these ways:<ref name="Modern Consumerism"/>

# Consumerism is the concept that consumers should be informed decision makers in the marketplace.<ref name="Modern Consumerism"/> In this sense consumerism is the study and practice of matching consumers with trustworthy information, such as [[product testing]] reports.
# Consumerism is the concept that the marketplace itself is responsible for ensuring [[social justice]] through fair economic practices.<ref name="Modern Consumerism"/> [[Consumer protection]] policies and laws compel manufacturers to make products safe.
# Consumerism refers to the field of studying, regulating, or interacting with the marketplace.<ref name="Modern Consumerism"/> The [[consumer movement]] is the social movement which refers to all actions and all entities within the marketplace which give consideration to the consumer.

While the above definitions were becoming established, other people began using the term ''consumerism'' to mean "high levels of consumption".<ref name="Modern Consumerism"/> This definition has gained popularity since the 1970s and began to be used in these ways:
# Consumerism is the selfish and frivolous collecting of products, or [[economic materialism]]. In this sense consumerism is negative and in opposition to positive lifestyles of [[anti-consumerism]] and [[simple living]].<ref name="Modern Consumerism"/>
# Consumerism is a force from the marketplace which destroys individuality and harms society.<ref name="Modern Consumerism"/> It is related to [[globalization]] and in protest against this some people promote the "[[anti-globalization movement]]".<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/article/shrunken-sovereign-consumerism-globalization-and-american-emptiness |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121120020741/http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/article/shrunken-sovereign-consumerism-globalization-and-american-emptiness |url-status = usurped |archive-date = 20 November 2012 |title= Shrunken Sovereign: Consumerism, Globalization, and American Emptiness |first= Benjamin R. |last= Barber |work= [[World Affairs]]|date=Spring 2008 |access-date= 23 April 2013}}</ref>