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Consumer Websites and Exercises
Arguably the most important factor in the
emergence of global capitalism is the development of the consumer. Without the
consumer to spur economic growth and capital accumulation, the culture of capitalism could
not survive. The following websites address consumption from various
perspectives; many (but not all) are critical of the development. As you browse
through them, you can make your own judgements.
 1998-99
Consumer’s Resource Handbook (CRH) [.pdf, 144p.] http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/crh/respref.htm
Published by the US Government Consumer Information Center (CIC),
the Consumer’s Resource Handbook is "144 pages of valuable information that no
consumer should be without." The CRH offers tips and advice on a wide swath of
topics, including car repair, purchase, and leasing; spotting and avoiding fraud; home
financing; consumer privacy; protecting your credit report; and more. The handbook also
includes a Consumer Assistance Directory, with a large collection of contact information
for consumer organizations, better business bureaus, corporations, trade associations,
state and local consumer protection offices, state agencies, and Federal agencies. The
Handbook is available in HTML, text, and .pdf formats. [MD] (Scout Report, 5/21/99)
Ad*Access
http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/adaccess/
A collaboration of the John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing
History and the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library at Duke University,
this database contains images of more than 7,000 advertisements printed mainly in US
newspapers and magazines between 1911 and 1955. The images are divided into five major
categories: Beauty and Hygiene; Radio; Television; Transportation; and World War II.
....While the site has obvious potential for cultural and business historians, general
users may also enjoy browsing the images, which offer an interesting glimpse into how
Americans conceived of themselves and consumer culture in the first half of this century.
(Scout Report, Oct. 29, 1999)
Adbusters
http://www.adbusters.org/
Adbusters is a site devoted to exploding the myth of consumption,
and exposing its costs. Go to the "cult you’re in" page, and click on Hunt
the Autosaurus. What are some of the costs of our fascination with the automobile? What
"exercise would the authors of the site suggest you perform to make automobile owners
aware of the price we pay for our love affair with cars? What are some of the other ways
that Adbusters has tried to expose the price we pay for overconsumption?
Affluenza
http://www.pbs.org/kcts/affluenza/
Affluenza is the PBS web site that accompanies the program of the
same name. What exactly is Affluenza? How do you score on the Affluenza quiz? Are you
badly infected? How realistic are the tips provided for beating the Affluenza bug?
Body Icon: Fear
and Lothing the Mirror
http://nm-server.jrn.columbia.edu/projects/masters/bodyimage/toc.html
The concepts of style and beauty play a major role in the culture of
capitalism in promoting consumption. To acquire the "look," whatever it
is, requires spending. The body is, in effect, commodified. This site examines
the cost to women of the body image they are encouraged to accept. Check out,
speecifically, the section on the body as commodity.
Book Reviews on Consumer Culture
http://www.indiana.edu/~wanthro/reviews.htm
A site maintained by Richard
Wilk at the University of Indiana that provides reviews of books addressing the issues of
consumption and consumerism. Check out the review of The McDonaldization Thesis by George
Ritzer. What does Ritzer mean by "McDonaldization"? What does the author mean by
"new means of consumption" and how do they affect how people act and think? What
criticisms does the reviewer have of Ritzer’s book?
Center for a New American Dream
http://www.newdream.org/
The Center for a New American Dream is a private,
not-for-profit organization dedicated to reducing and shifting North American consumption
while fostering opportunities for people to lead more secure and fulfilling lives.
On the site you can get all kinds of information on how and why we consume what we do, and
what can be done about it. You can also join in discussions on various topics, often
led by authors of works on consumption. Check out the main menu; what do they have
to say about the relationship between population and consumption? What do they have
to say about the decline of community?
Commercial Altert
http://www.essential.org/alert/
Commercial Alert is "devoted to helping families, parents,
children, and communities defend themselves against harmful, immoral or intrusive
advertising and marketing, and the excesses of commercialism. Commercial Alert will
counteract commercialism in homes, schools, and communities across the country."
For example, tobacco companies were criticized for their ads appealing to children;
what are some of the ads that beer companies use to appeal to the young?
Consumer Center
http://www.ucsusa.org/less/index.html
The Union of Concerned Scientists provides this Website to
illustrate the relationship between consumption and environmental pollution. One of
the highlights of the site is the Great Green Web Game that allows you to test your knowledge of the
affects of your consumption patterns.
Consumerism and the New Capitalism: An Essay by R.Cronk
http://www.westland.net/venice/art/cronk/consumer.htm
This is an interesting essay on the growth and consequences of
consumption in America. How does Cronk define consumerism? How has consumerism redefined
how we evaluate our own self-worth? What is the role of the media in promoting
consumerism? What is the role of the corporation in promoting the values associated with
consumption?
Consumer E-News Alert
http://www.sheller.com/enews.htm
Consumer E-News Alert is a free biweekly newsletter that focuses on a range of consumer issues,
such as scams, consumer rights, and business misconduct.
The
Consumer Gateway
http://www.consumer.gov.uk/ Text Version (BETSIE
Enhanced)
http://www.consumer.gov.uk/consumer_web/betsie.htm
Launched by the UK Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), this metasite offers
annotated links to Websites containing "consumer information and advice run by
Government departments, consumer organisations and others." The resources are
organized in eight principal sections: cars, food, holidays & travel, home
improvement, money & finance, safety at home, shopping, and utilities. In addition to
Websites, some sections also include links to government papers, bills, and other
publications. An internal search engine and a list of information sources are also
provided. (Scout Report, 7/30/99)
CNCurrency.com
http://www.cncurrency.com/
An interesting site devoted to exploring the relationship between
people and money and helping them manage it, and even devote some of it to worthy,
charitable causes. It also contains a good bit of advertising for investment devices as
well as retail stores. How does the site suggest that your past experience with money may
influence you later? How does the site suggest people teach children about the value of
money? As anthropologists, how do some of their suggestions serve to acculturate children
into the culture of capitalism?
CNET Shopper.com
http://shopper.com/
It should hardly be a surprise that one of the main functions of the
internet is to sell things. This site is devoted to selling computer products and should
serve as a good example of the genre, as well as providing you with a convenient place to
check out computer product prices. It also represents a good example of the
Internet’s capability of empowering consumers by providing the best price
information. But what then happens to local computer stores? And, by extension, what
happens to local communities if everyone starts shopping on the Web?
Consumers’ Association of Penang
http://www.twnside.org.sg/souths/cap/cap.htm
Of course the Internet can empower consumers in another way by
making them aware of such things as product safety. The Consumers’ Association of
Penang is a good example. But the associations goal is much broader, and is "to
ensure the right of every consumer to the basic needs of food, housing, health care,
sanitation facilities, public-transport, education and a clean environment." The site
is largely addressed to Malaysian residents, and for that reasons provides some good
examples of the consequences of the spread of the culture of capitalism to other
societies. For example, what are some of the items that CAP researchers claim they found
in store-bought food that are harmful?
Consumers International
http://www.consumersinternational.org/
It took hundreds of years for labor to organize and successfully
negotiate with employers for better pay and working conditions. It may also take that long
for consumers to organize and use their power to alleviate the problems created in the
culture of capitalism. Consumers International is one organization that be be the
forerunner of such organizational efforts. What is the history and goals of Consumers
International? What are some of the initiatives that the organization has taken to
influence public policy regarding issues of concern to consumers? What are some of the
organizations that Consumers International works through?
Consumers Union
www.igc.org/consunion/
Consumers Union is the publisher of the magazine, Consumer
Reports. This site contains information regarding such things as the health,
environmental, and social consequences of various products. For example, the site contains
information on the affects of corporate advertising on children and its infiltration into
schools. What kinds of materials are corporations, such as McDonalds and others, supplying
to teachers? Why is there pressure on teachers as well as school administrators, to use
materials distributed by corporations? What sorts of issues and problems does the use of
such materials present to educators?
Consumer World
http://www.consumerworld.org/
Funded by Master Card, Consumer World is a megasite for access to
all kinds of products and services, including places to complain or find out about product
safety and reliance. Here you can find the lowest rates for credit cards, home mortgages,
or just "shop till you drop." A good site for developing a scavenger hunt. Where
can you go to get information on buying a car? What is the best price you can get for a
plane ticket for Paris?
Consumption,
Everyday Life, and Sustainability
http://www.lancs.ac.uk/users/scistud/esf/title.htm
A research programme consisting of papers presented at a series of
workshops held at Lancaster University (UK) on the subject of consumption and
sustainability. The papers are excellent, and provide some excellent starting points
for discussing the environmental damage inherent in consumption patterns in the culture of
capitalism.
Disney's Celebration
http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/wooda/celebration.html
Not explicitly about consumerism, but Andy Wood's site contains some
of his original essays on Disney's Celebration, the attempt to 'imagineer' a better
society, and the commodification of nostalgia. The site also contains links to
online and offline resources. A good resource to complement the discussion of Disney
and "kinderculture" in Chapter One of Global Problems and the Culture of
Capitalism. How does Disney represent the past in the design and construction
of Celebration? How realistic is the representation?
FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) Consumer News
http://www.fdic.gov/consumer/consnews/
FDIC is a government agency to protect consumers and their
investments. The site provides information on how consumers can protect themselves from
fraud and financial loss. For example, what can you do if you think you have been the
victim of fraud? What are some of the tips offered to help children learn the value of
money (remember that one)?
The Global Consumer Culture Project
http://www.indiana.edu/~wanthro/consum.htm
A site developed by Richard Wilk to provide resources for the study
of the consequences of the expansion of the culture of capitalism. Start with the brief
paper by Wilk, Emulation and Global Consumerism. What are some of the questions that need
to be answered about the extent to which people around the world will emulate Western
models of consumption?
Inside the Mouse: Deconstructing Disney
http://www.adm.duke.edu/alumni/dm1/inmouse.txt.html
A good article to complement the discussion of the role of Disney in
promoting comsumption contained in Chapter One of Global Problems and the Culture of
Capitalism. The site summarizes the book of the same title by Susan Willis and
her collegues at Duke University. What do they have to say about Disney and
consumption? How does it compare to what Stephen Fjellman and Mike Wallace have to
say?
Marketing in the Modern Era
http://www.library.hbs.edu/hc/trade/
An interesting look into the history of marketing and advertising.
"Marketing in the Modern Era: Trade Catalogs and the Rise of 19th-Century
American Advertising is a current exhibit at Harvard University’s Baker Library.
Selected bibliographies of primary and secondary sources are provided with contact
information, and a detailed introduction presents photos and features on
nineteenth-century industrial growth, leisure activities, and consumer and household
goods." (Scout Report for Business and Economics, 2/25/99)
National Consumer Law Center
http://www.consumerlaw.org/
One consequence of overconsumption is staggering debt that exceeds
what a person can realistically repay. One result is the growth of agencies and
lawyers to help people recover from debt. The National Consumer Law Center, a nonprofit
organization operating out of Boston College School of Law, provides information to people
on what they can do when faced with financial problems What are some of the services
provided by the Center? What are their 16 rules for choosing which debts to repay first?
What can be done to prevent older people from falling victim to telemarketing scams?
New
Cultures and Economies [.zip, Word97]
http://homepages.gold.ac.uk/slater/
Don Slater, Department of Sociology, University of London, shares
interdisciplinary research in economic sociology at the New Cultures and Economies site.
Readers may download extensive bibliographies on consumer culture and market society
topics in Word97 or .zip formats or browse course pages online, and the Sociology of the
Internet section, now in progress, aims to create dialogues among scholars of electronic
media. [MW] (Scout Report, 5/28/99)
Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era and the Consumer Economy,
1921-1929 [RealPlayer, .wav, .mpg]
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/coolhtml/coolhome.html
A good source for a perspective on the history and development of consumerism in
America. "Prosperity and Thrift consists of a vast collection of
resources about the Calvin Coolidge presidency and the economy of the 1920s, including
written materials, photographs, audio files of Calvin Coolidge’s speeches, and
several volumes of Coolidge’s personal papers. The site charts myriad aspects of this
time period, offering background, analysis, and historical resources on such topics as
Merchandising and Advertising, African Americans and Consumerism, and Poverty in the 20s.
Accompanying the collection is the Guide to People, Organizations and Topics in _Prosperity
and Thrift_, an alphabetized resource index." (Scout Report for Business and
Economics, 8/12/99)
The
Pulse: A Consumer’s Guide to Public Opinion Data on the Web—EPI http://www.epinet.org/pulse/pulse.html
"Recently debuted by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), The
Pulse is a comprehensive "consumer’s guide" to public opinion data on the
US economy and related topics. Produced by Ruy Teixeira, director of EPI’s Politics
and Public Opinion Program, the site aims to provide the public with accurate, unbiased
information about public opinion data. The Pulse summarizes and links to polling data,
public opinion data, and expert data analyses on issues such as the economy, Social
Security, education, health care, and globalization. In addition, the site provides a
bimonthly, in-depth analysis of a single public opinion issue; currently, The Pulse is
scrutinizing polling data related to Social Security. The Pulse is a special Web feature
of EPI, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank that encourages public debate about strategies
to achieve a prosperous and fair economy." (Scout Report for Social Sciences, 5/4/99)
Solemates:
The Century in Shoes [Quicktime, Flash]
http://www.centuryinshoes.com/
"Produced by The Marketing Store as an example of how the Internet can be used as
a "multidimensional information delivery tool," this very attractive site is a
joy for anyone with an ardor for footwear fashion. The heart of the site is a
decade-by-decade look at shoes from the 1900s to the 1990s. Each decade features an
illustrated introductory essay, six examples of representative footwear that can be
examined in detail, period advertisements, and Quicktime clips of "Scenes from the
Decade" Other offerings include a timeline of great moments in shoe history and three
special features: Dangerous Shoes, Ga-Ga for Gaza, and Ruby Slippers." (Scout Report,
7/23/99)
The Traces of Advertising Giants
http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~echo/tag.html
A wonderful site that traces the history of advertising from the
early nineteenth century to the present. If nothing else, the examples illustrate how
sophisticated the process of compelling people to consume has become over the past 200
years. For example, take a look at Francis Wayland Ayer, one of the early pioneers. What
were some of the products he designed ads for? How might they be received today? What were
some of the major innovations in advertising introduced by Helen Landsdown Resor? Who were
some of the more memorable characters produced by Leo Burnett and his agency?
US Consumer Gateway
http://www.consumer.gov/
A site maintained by the Federal Government to report on product
information and fraudulent practices, as well as penalties paid by corporations for
questionable practices. What are some of the items contained in the site’s "In
the Spotlight" page?
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