A nation’s economy is a significant determinant of societal values and expectations. Products and services are made based on demand, the necessity of an item expressed by the public, and supply, the ability to provide the good. Beyond bare necessities, other commodities are introduced as lifestyle improvements that make the ordinary better. “What is being sold? Who is doing the selling…who is doing the buying?” are major economic questions. Businesses undertake large scale marketing campaigns and advertisements to address these questions and advocate their products value proposition for the potential consumer. Marketing is thereby the driving factor of commerce because firms function on a profit motive. Combined with the pervasive nature of media content, the role of …show more content…
Marketed media content is easily accessible and omnipresent in modern technological times and thus easily permeates the values and acceptable norms of society.
However, the single minded financially motivated goal breeds a lower standard of moral responsibility in the corporate world; more companies are using shock factor content to distinguish themselves from competition. This raises the question: to what extent does business and commerce distort societal paradigm? George Saunders’ satirical short story “In Persuasion Nation” depicts the detrimental effects that occur when commercial beliefs dominate and dictate societal values and expectations. Saunders’ society exemplifies the degradation of meaningful relationships, morality and individual identity when business objectives are