Tuesday, June 07, 2011

We are the consumers

There is a new book out that is discussed here called We First. The writer of this review links together, social media, social change, consumers and brands.Nowadays brand producers are able to interact with consumers to better sell their products. From a business point of view this is a good model insofaras one can be directly in touch with potential customers. Likewise for consumers, wanting certain features from your products is not a bad thing.

However, it seems to me to be a breakdown in that fine line between the social sphere and the economic sphere. Putting 'We first' means reducing us to consumers! The social sphere is commodified and equated with social change?! I'm not at all convinced this represents a good thing for society as a whole to be further reduced from homo sapiens to homo economicus or homo consumerous! It's fine if you are (relatively) mature in thinking and not easily swayed, but the hoards of young people advertisers are keen to get their hooks into early to sell their branded lifestyle I am concerned for!

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