Author : Priya Premi
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (137 download)
Book Synopsis Evolution of Human Nature As Consumer by : Priya Premi
Download or read book Evolution of Human Nature As Consumer written by Priya Premi and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore how and when the concept of “consumer” has evolved by focusing on how a human being has developed consumption as their nature. This paper tries to find out answers of few questions such as why did people start acquisition and consumption of goods, how has it been spread over the time and how does this phenomenon has become an inseparable part of human's social life and beliefs.Methodology/ApproachThis paper reviews the history and evolution of consumption as main characteristic of human nature by reviewing different theories such as Adam Smith's 'The theory of Moral Sentiments', Thorstein Veblen's 'The Theory of The Leisure Class', Pierre Bourdieu and Jean Baudrillard's 'The continental social theory', Necati Aydin's 'A Grand Theory of Human Nature' and Alfred Marshall view on consumption. The paper also presents a brief history of human nature by reviewing views of philosophers and sociologist Davis Hume, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Rene Descartes, Thomas Hobbes on human nature. It also covers how the meaning of human nature and life goal of a human being has changed in postmodernism, modernism and pre-modernism era. It presents a more conclusive understanding of the concept of consumption as human nature, how human beings got mired in the trap of consumerism and how they have developed their identity as a consumer over the time by integrating and synthesizing the available literature on the topic.Research GapAvailable Literature defines human nature considering a single perspective and theories from only one discipline either from economics or psychology or philosophy or sociology but none of them have presented a holistic view of human nature. They have not discussed human nature in terms of consumption, it can be said they have ignored consumption while defining and conceptualizing human nature. Available literature has not covered how, when the concept of consumer has evolved and how human beings have been identified as consumer. Past researches have studied human nature and consumption as separate topics no viable research has been done which integrates both the concepts.FindingsThe paper indicates that human nature has been evolved as a consumer as a result of three primary consideration, first is acquisition as the pursuit of happiness and second possession-defined success and third is objects define self-identity. Psychologist's argued that Consumption provides people the opportunity to define themselves through interaction with objects in the world, Economists argued that humans are rational, they encode outcomes of consumption as pleasure and happiness, Sociologist viewed consumption as a means to show status, power and social position and argued that humans had started consuming and accumulating more and more to define and show their social identity and class. In the pre-modern era, the goal of human life was to achieve spiritual growth and enlightenment. In the modern era, humans have started seeing happiness as the goal of life and consumption as a means to achieve that happiness. In the post-modern era, consumption becomes the main source to flourish and function in a social setting, to gain social status and identity. Mass consumption and conspicuous consumption as part of human nature have started getting identified in the social and cultural process in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. In today's world, a person seeks happiness from consumption and he defines himself in relation to object he/she consumes and interacts with, for example, the person defines himself as vegetarian or nonvegetarian based on the type of food he/she consumed. Society and person himself judge the success of a person in terms of number and quality of products one possess, for example how big one's house is, number and brand of cars one owns define his success and achievement.The concept of a consumer as the distinctive identity of the individual emerged fully in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century and human being has recognized as a consumer by businesses, economists and other social units during the early twenties. Mass consumption and conspicuous consumption by human leads to consumerism. Contemporary view of consumption as a source of happiness has its roots in a fifteenth and sixteenth century in the west and it has spread in England and France in the eighteenth century and continued spreading very fast in America and other parts of the world in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.Practical implicationsThe paper will help managers to better understand human nature and the rationale behind their consumption by providing an integrative and holistic view on the issue. By having a better and clear understanding of human nature and their consumption, businesses can choose, develop a product that helps consumers achieve their consumption goals. It will also help marketing managers to design promotional & communication strategies that would make target audience perceive that by consuming this product, he/she can achieve his/her consumption goal (happiness, social identity, and achievement). Apart from business and managers, this paper is useful to other disciplines like economics, philosophy, psychology, and sociology also who are interested human nature as it discusses one of the main aspects of human nature that is consumption.Research limitations/Future ResearchThe paper reviews and discusses limited views, theories on human nature and consumption selected from various discipline. There is a vast literature, theories are available on human nature in every discipline. The paper proposes future research to present a more integrative and synthesis view on the concept evolution of consumer as human nature and develop a holistic model of consumption by reviewing traditional and new theories, current researches and findings on human nature in various discipline and views of modern thinkers on consumption.Originality/valueThe research tries to present a holistic perspective on human nature and consumption by reviewing, synthesizing different views on the issue from various discipline. It also provides a historical perspective and journey of how consumption has evolved as part of human nature and their social life from the early 1500s to 21st century.
