Consumerism is a characteristic of society that frames values, relationships, identities and behaviour. It drives individuals to consume and to seek satisfaction and fulfilment on provisions made available via mass production and continuous growth in sales. It depicts the epoch of economic and social changes evident via patterns that highlight trends and patterns of transition from industrial to consumer society. A contemporary view that society is characterised via its consumption rather than production. The development of self-service retailing and supermarket in Britain was introduced during the 2nd world war. The demise of the Food rationing system in the 1950s reflects rapid growth in personal consumption in Britain. Government promotes self-service stores in the 60s, which were more efficient for both customer and retailer as it requires less labour. Tesco and Sainsbury’s were two of the first multiple stores to introduce self-service in Britain. Traditional Supermarkets expands sales from traditional basic food lines to include, a wider variety of products and services, such as over …show more content…
Consumption habits define the expression of self, how one affiliate with others, and overall, the extent to fit in and be valued by society at large. Social and economic changes is determined via consumption thus consumerism becomes the lens to examine, observe and understand the world, of what is possible and how to achieve what is desired. According to Bauman, consumerism “manipulates the probabilities of individual choices and conduct.” What Bauman means is that consumerism exists when our wants, desires, and longings for consumer goods drive what happens in society, and when they are primarily responsible for shaping the entire social system. Its channelled through consumption, are inspired by and reproduce the dominant worldview, values, and culture of