consumismo

Consumismo is a social and economic phenomenon characterized by the promotion and practice of acquiring goods and services in increasingly large quantities. It encompasses cultural values, market mechanisms, and policy environments that encourage consumption as a path to satisfaction, identity, or status. While often used interchangeably with consumerism, consumismo can denote both a broad social habit and a critical view of materialism.

Historically, consumismo arose with the Industrial Revolution and the rise of mass production, advertising, and consumer credit. It expanded through globalization, the spread of mass media, retail formats, and later the growth of e-commerce, which made a wide array of goods accessible across borders.

Key mechanisms include advertising and branding that shape desires, social comparison, planned obsolescence, promotions, and financial products that enable purchases. Retail environments, online platforms, and social media reinforce consumption through novelty and signaling of social status.

Impacts are mixed. Economically, consumption underpins growth, employment, and innovation. Socially, it can improve living standards but also widen inequality and cultivate pressure to keep up. Environmentally, it drives resource use, waste, and climate effects, with research linking high material intensity to ecological strain and sometimes lower overall well-being beyond basic needs.

Critiques argue that unchecked consumismo fosters debt, overproduction, and environmental degradation, while defenders emphasize gains in choice, access to goods, and technological progress. Debates include how to balance growth with sustainability and well-being.

Responses focus on sustainable or ethical consumption, circular economy principles, product design for durability, labeling and consumer protection, and corporate responsibility. Some movements advocate degrowth or minimalism as alternatives to excessive material accumulation. Regional cultures and policies also shape consumption patterns and priorities.