Senior Michelle Leybovich-Glikin browses the shelves at Sephora. Today's trend of overconsumption can be partially attributed to social media and advertising, and it continues to have detrimental consequences. "According to this ecological footprint measure, if everybody in the world lived like the average American, we would need something like five planets to provide all the resources and store all the waste," Tufts University professor Brian Roach said. Photo by Ellie Levy
By Ellie Levy
After witnessing the consequences of America’s overconsumption, Tufts University professor Brian Roach focused his body of work on the resulting environmental and economic crisis.
“I saw so many, particularly Americans, focused on accumulating more and more stuff,” Roach said. “People spend all their lives just working all the time trying to get more. Is that really what we should be doing with our lives?”
According to Roach, people used to buy things to try and “keep up” with those around them. In the latter half of the 20th century, people mostly compared themselves to their neighbors. Now, in the 21st century and the age of social media, more and more people are trying to live like their favorite online celebrities.
“I think for teens, it's the fear of missing out,” AP psychology teacher Jennifer McCaffity said. “They feel like they have to get [items] to be part of the “in crowd,” because if they don't, then they're going to miss out on experiencing something valuable.”
Buying product after product off of social media is often a futile attempt of the average person to live an unattainable lifestyle that influencers promote. McCaffity attributes this desire to human nature.
“You can look at it from the perspective of Maslow's hierarchy of needs,” McCaffity said. “Because esteem is a human need. It's not the top one, but it's the one that's right below [the top]. And it's really about getting not only esteem for yourself, but gaining the respect of others.”
“People spend all their lives just working all the time trying to get more. Is that really what we should be doing with our lives?”
Through personalized advertising on social media, brands are able to target certain groups of people and convince them to buy products they might not otherwise need. Sophomore Sasha Jordanoff estimates that she has spent at least a couple thousand dollars on products she doesn’t particularly need.
“I definitely buy a lot of stuff off of social media,” Jordanoff said. “This one time there was an Aerie post, and it was like ‘50% off Aerie.’ So I bought $80 worth of stuff, just because it had been advertised to me.”
Jordanoff is not the only victim of targeted advertising on social media. In fact, according to Forbes magazine, 76% of social media users have bought a product that was advertised to them on various platforms, with 11% of these consumers buying the product immediately.
“The most pervasive idea of advertising is that if you have a problem, it can be solved through consumption,” Roach said. “So when you're feeling sad, advertising tells you that popping a pill, buying a new dress or getting a new car will make you happier.”
According to research done by the University of Southern California, the average consumer is exposed to roughly 5,000 ads per day. Young children may be exposed to over 50 ads per day, amounting to some 20,000 ads per year, each intent on selling its product.
“Extrinsic motivation puts so much pressure on young people,” McCaffity said. “This amount of advertising ends up motivating them to behave in ways they probably wouldn't if they were on their own.”
“In a way you can think of excessive consumerism as a type of violence. It is against the natural world that you're consuming way above a sustainable level.”
In addition, the excessiveness of this consumption has a significant impact on the environment. As an educator, Roach sees a lot of young people who are angry and hopeless about their environmental future. According to Environment America, a nonprofit coalition, the average American throws out five pounds of trash per day. This trash, including products bought as a result of targeted advertising, piles up in landfills and contributes to the American citizens’ carbon footprint.
“According to this ecological footprint measure, if everybody in the world lived like the average American, we would need something like five planets to provide all the resources and store all the waste,” Roach said.
In this, consumerism demands a certain level of inequality. Roach often emphasizes to his students that they make up the “global elite,” meaning they were born into families that make $70,000 a year or more. He believes that being a part of this elite entails a certain amount of responsibility to try and live one’s life sustainably.
“In a way you can think of excessive consumerism as a type of violence,” Roach said. “It is against the natural world that you're consuming way above a sustainable level.”