I Am What I Consume: The Role Consumption Plays in my Life

Abstract

Thinking critically about consumption in our capitalist society can be a daunting task. The structure of market economy is designed to manipulate consumers by tapping into their desires, creating a materialistic mindset driven by commodity fetishism. Via marketing and peer pressure, consumers are indoctrinated to purchase products and consume information under the illusion of agency in their decisions. This capitalist societal structure produces conforming consumers. To redefine oneself as a critical consumer, one must reflect not only on ethical considerations surrounding the products and information consumed, but also on the power relations tied up in said products and information. Part of this reflection process includes identifying the symbolic meanings attached to products consumed, as well as how these products contribute to one’s self-identity and construction of self. The narrative to move from conforming consumer to critical consumer reads “What I consume shapes me” to “I consume to shape myself”.

Keywords: Critical consumer, conforming consumer, Marxism, capitalism, alienated labour, commodity-sign, reification, hegemony