Are you a Sucker Consumer?

  Airbrushing is used in so many advertisements, and the majority of the audience is aware of it, but yet they still have high hopes for a product that wouldn't be that effective. Some people believe that airbrushing in adverts should be banned, but if it is, then shouldn't the use of false lashes in mascara adverts be banned too?

  Mark Paterson discussed the sucker consumer, and the savvy consumer. The sucker consumer believes what they are told about a product, and they go out and buy a product because of one simple advert. Once they have the product they use it only for the one purpose that it was advertised for, and if it doesn't work for them they throw it away. (Am I describing you?)

  The savvy consumer on the other hand, researches a product, sees if there is something just as good but better value, the same price but with more product, even just an outright cheaper product of the same quality. They buy the product with the best quality and value. Once the product is in their possession they find other ways to use it, or change it so something else. (With makeup this can include pressing a loose eyeshadow that was better value for money, or mixing two cheaper ones to create a colour that is the same as one that would be triple the price that they paid for the two, pressing a loose face powder that was a better value for money, or using a lipstick as a cheek product too). The savvy consumer gets the most out of a product they paid the smallest possible price for. If the original purpose they bought the product for doesn't work for them they find another way to get their moneys worth.

Here are some examples:

• Person A (sucker consumer): Sees an eyeshadow they already have a similar colour of advertised, buys the eyeshadow, doesn't like the eyeshadow, so keeps it until it expires and then throws it out, and realises they could have spent that £15 on something a little more wise and useful like saving up for a new laptop?
• Person B (savvy consumer): Sees an eyeshadow they already have a similar colour of advertised, so decides not to buy it. They wait for a new lipstick that is nothing like they already have. When they see it advertised they check blogs and testers in the shop to see if it's anything like they already have, they ask people they know who have the product if they think it's worth the money. They decide to opt for a cheaper version of the product from a different brand. When they have bought the product they use it to the full potential, by using it on the cheeks occasionally and mixing it with other colours to create something they don't have. When they realise they have stopped getting use out of the product they sanitise it a give it to a friend so that it all gets used before it expires.

  Leave a comment letting me know which one person you relate to more, and if you want to change the type of consumer you are.

  Being a savvy consumer or a sucker consumer involves the attitudes we hold towards objects and purchases, as does commodity fetishism, which was something that Karl Marx spoke about. Marx suggested that we are in a society overwhelmingly obsessed with objects, and suggested that we treat some objects as though they have special powers, even though we think that our purchases are modern and up to date our attitudes towards them is not even close.

  Bourdieu considered the view that our class is reinforced by our purchases, this includes the makeup that we buy. Working class makeup wearers are more likely to go for the cheaper makeup, which generally has less shade range. Whereas middle class people would more likely buy high end makeup which is more expensive but has a wider shade range. Although they could be similar products the limited shade range means that working class people are more likely to get a foundation that is too dark and look orange. An orange face is judged by other girls, affecting the individuals self esteem and therefore their identity too. This means that they are likely to conform to the label that they have been given and continue to keep buying the things that their class are more likely to buy. This 'class fraction' shows the line between middle class spending habits, and working class spending habits, Bourdieu did argue that the decisions we make that can in some way reinforce our position in the class structure, but are made fairly automatically so the class division is how we are bought up and we don't completely control the choices we make while shopping.