The Modern Materialistic Commodity Market - Report Example

Essay Name Institution Tutor Date Introduction The modern materialistic commodity market is one in which new products are ever being introduced to markets especially when involving technology items (Moran & Keane 2013). As from the 1980s, the production and consumption of technology products for instance sharply increased as it marked the era of mobile phones and personal computers and with popularity of credit cards, it also later became easier to purchase newly introduced items hence increasing their rate of their consumption further (Korhonen 2014). With the onset of the Global Financial Crisis, many governments came up with Financial Stimulus Packages (FSPs) intended to promote consumer spending and therefore avoid possible recessions and these boosted consumerism, increasing corporate profits and leading to greater competition and production (Savona et al., 2011 ). This paper seeks to analyze the implication of the materialism and change in the meaning of mobile devices evident in modern society with reference to the iPhone, arguing that its popularity is the outcome of consumerist social meaning and manufacturer’s effort. Before the 1950’s, purchases tended to be due to necessity. Afterwards however, luxury goods purchases kept increasing to reach unprecedented levels in the present day (Steams 2006). Sass (2013) argues that however, such material objects that have value exist because of human beings, and human beings could be depending surviving because of them too. According to Miller (2005), the aspects of materiality and immateriality exist together. Immateriality is always expressed in a material way, whether in religious, financial or any other terms. There is an ever present pluralism in how materiality and immateriality relate to each other. It is not always necessary that objects are representative of people. For instance, we need not to assume that there is always a person behind every object made, in the form of its creator, user or manufacturer. The object and the person come together to create an integral phenomenon, with the subject being the outcome of the same kind of objectification that gives rise to the originator. Objects are needed just the same way as they need human beings. It is not possible to become human in the absence of the material objects. It was only in the 1980’s that phones started being mobile and computers started being part of households (Korhonen 2014). According to Roberts (2014), mobile communications has however been taken up by more people and more quickly than any other technology in the past. It has ended up being an essential component of modern life, what many view as a need, necessity and even way of life. Luce (2010) notes that mobile phones managed to change life, with positive aspects such as greater economic development through enabling access into places that were previously not accessible. Agricultural development, mobile banking, and health advice have been enhanced by the communication it offers in other countries. Phones later grew into a major part of consumer culture, so that they are, in addition to a consumer tool, also a status symbol. And its related impulsiveness and materialism causes addiction of people to their phones (Baylor University 2012). Through a quick product cycle, Apple has managed to keep buyers rushing to get upgraded versions and therefore maintained the product’s mystic feature. According to Florin (2014), the iPhone entered the market first in 2007 with revolutionary features such as touch screen and a visual voicemail. This was quickly followed in 2008 by the iPhone 3G, the first to use apps and an in-built GPS. In 2009, there was the iPhone 3GS, with double its predecessor’s internet speed apart from video recording, autofocus camera and voice control. According to Newcomb (2014), in 2010 there was the iPhone 4 enabling video calls in addition to a five megapixel camera with retina display.In 2011, there was the iPhone 4S, with an intelligent virtual assistant and HD video recording and in 2012, the iPhone 5 with extreme aesthetics, being lighter and thinner with even increased speed. This was improved on in 2013 by the iPhone 5C, a highly colorful and relatively affordable product with greater battery life, improved camera and better operating system. In 2014, there was the iPhone 5S, with a 64 bit quality display, an A7 chip and the Touch ID in which a user can approve app purchases or even unlock using his finger print. Origins of the iPhone type of consumerism have a Marxist theoretical explanation. According to Marx (1867), industrialization hence modernization led to greater belief in money and capitalist production. Human beings would become just like cogs in a greater system and there was the rise of a commodity culture where things were enlivened in a commodification process that led to pricing that is not really explainable. The design process is what accomplishes this idea of magic that gives it value. The aspects of such a commodity culture are evident all over, as advertising tries to draw buyers to trendy products whose value is just in their perceived importance. According to Sandip (2014) explains that the iPhone is a status symbol, one that is functioning and not just like a monument. Apple has always ensured that aesthetics alone is a status symbol and the product, with many young people especially craving for the latest models. This raises the question of whether they really know what they want, or are just unaware of what needs to be real human values and goals. The iPhone has managed to give rise to a kind of subculture around it. According to Ma (2014), many people actually wait for its latest models and queuing for hours to get it as soon as it is released. Mostly, the people who queue to buy the latest iPhones tend to already own older models of phones that are perfectly functioning. It can be argued that although trendy, upgrading the phone is not really worth it. The features are also seemingly unnecessary because for instance HD video for someone who is not a professional photographer could be too much. The camera’s increasing resolution and speed is similarly of no meaning. Considering that the facilities are usually unusable or unnecessary, the motivation behind buying decisions could just be the materialism that defines the description of the phone as a thing. Buyers could mostly be part of its community just due to the desire to be defined by what they have, rather than principles and actions as human beings. As envisioned by Marx, industries only seek to sell and influence distorted materialist meanings of the products for the purpose. For instance, the iPhone had four upgrades within only three and a half years. One wonders what was so wrong with the first version that necessitated its quick modification for example unless the manufacturer just wants to sell. Savona et al. (2011) explain that competition in markets has generally tended to push commodity prices down and this implies that the number of buyers continues growing. No one appears to care that reducing production would reduce environmental degradation. Human beings naturally seek to acquire items that enrich their existence on earth. According to Duncan (2012) however, the materialism that is being pursued, in this case with regard to the iPhone is however not natural as it is not sustainable as a lifestyle. This is because as Marx indicates, people would end up just being living machines which will only be caring about the latest fashions or newest gadgets. The relation between iPhones and human beings may be analyzed basing on the Thing Theory. Brown (2001) explains that in this understanding, there is the differentiation between things and objects so that an object can only be considered a thing if it reaches a point where it does not function the way it was expected to or serve the purpose that it was intended to. In the course of getting used for the wrong or different purpose, there is the loss of value that is allocated to it by a social system so that its presence becomes different. After evolution of the telephone to mobile phone, the iPhone was to be a phone with additional functionality such as internet access and greater music capacity. However, this changed due to materialistic perceptions so that it is more of a status symbol, and one would hardly associate it with the original function. Due to the competitive capitalistic markets, marketers have tended to focus more on the status aspect of it. People exist within the society as a combination of several elements. According to Lemke (2014), these include the entanglements that exist between people and things, whether artificial or natural, in addition to the moral and physical aspects of society. Moran & Keane (2013) explain that the iPhone’s features have enabled emancipation from limitations of space and even physical barriers enabling greater connection to wider social groupings. It creates a modern culture in which it can be identified with specific individual groups and social practices with a given kind of preferences and personality. To Katz (2006), the iPhone has offered users connectivity that could not have been imagined before, as a result of which social reach and power have been magnified significantly. It has therefore been made to fit into individuals’ environments or needs. Effective marketing has increased the perceived meaning of the iPhone. According to Roberts (2014), one of these is the perception that it is more powerful and faster and is therefore more useful when compared to the typical mobile phones. The full-size screen that it has is generally considered easier to view, more useful and its touch screen is a greater innovation when compared to the normal keypad and even other kinds of touch screens. For the buyer, it could mean purchasing more than just a phone, especially due to the seemingly infinite number of applications available. Although one may use only a few, just the knowledge that there are over a million gives greater meaning and loyalty to the product. Cheng (2008) explains that reliability and speed in internet connection are important features of the iPhone. Being sure that the best ever phone one can have for internet functionality is the iPhone gives it greater appeal. There are symbolic advantages that come with the gadget. According to Moran & Keane (2013), the iPhone is always viewed as being modern, sleek, trendy, cool and just pretty. O’Grady (2009) adds that even from a distance, one can tell that it is an iPhone, and this makes it more desirable. The element of friends is also significant as young people especially who have friends that own and keep talking about it are likely to be influenced into purchasing too. Moran & Keane (2013) believe that The iPhone is generally viewed as being compatible with typical user habits, as it can for instance replace whatever one has and in the process merging functions into one gadget. For instance leaving behind an iPod would be a welcome change when one gets an iPhone. Replacing an old phone will also not be disruptive as the iPhone is completely compatible with computers. Although its following is great however, the iPhone is not altering or disrupting lifestyles or social norms. Rather, the users find a way of fitting it into their normal daily lives. This paper has addressed materialistic meaning of the iPhone along the Marxist Perspective and Thing Theory. These have well considered how socially significant consumption has been in creating symbolic boundaries between group and class boundaries. They however do not indicate how routine interactions between the human beings and material world determine membership of the modern society. The modern individual’s environment is more than ever before made up of material things appropriated via bodily actions and senses. Sass (2013) explains that while in earlier civilizations the material world was mostly natural, with the social world being organized so as to exploit and dominate it, in modern society materiality is what determines social aspects, mediating interpersonal relationships and even relations between them and the society as the example of the smart phone indicates. According to Dant (2004), phones offered interfaces between individuals and could still become a substitute for them and the phone has entangled itself in people’s lives in ways never thought of by inventors. The changes in material culture have resulted in a society that people confront mostly through interaction with the material world rather than through interacting directly with its leaders and members. Technology is a good thing because the iPhone for instance has helped improve communication for those interested in it. According to Ma (2014), the brand is the one that now defines the market segments, and buyers are very likely to go for it more because of the perception of it as a status symbol that their actual need for it. There are many iPhone buyers who are also likely to remain with the brand because of already knowing how it operates, so that learning will only involve getting to know the new features. Marketers are aware that once a person buys, there is the possibility of them staying and because of this, they dwell a lot on the status aspect of the product. As long as the buyer feels good about having the gadget, they will always feel that what they are buying is trendy and therefore go back to it. However, according to Baylor University (2012), the love for such gadgets at times leads to impulsiveness that may be easily compared to other consumption pathologies such as misuse of credit cards or compulsive shopping. Overall, proliferation of the iPhone could be a good idea, as it has the ability of improving the society. Although consumerism helps to grow economies, too much spending could imply failure to benefit from economic growth if it is not sustainable. It would be a good idea if people stop having the products that they own or buy define them and instead derive meaning from what they are and what they do. Technology is ideally supposed to serve human beings. However, it has become a status symbol, and in the process changed meaning into a form of extension to the human ego, therefore being reduced to a thing. In conclusion, materialistic consumerism has been on the rise in the recent past. Strategies to increase consumer spending power worsened this and businesses have been quick to exploit the situation. The object and subject of the materialism are however arguably dependent on each other. Mobile phones started out as a necessity that over time grew into more modern versions, exemplified by the iPhone. This has grown into a major consumer culture. Marketers ensured that it gains more non-functional value, giving it a magical dimension and kept producing newer versions, leading to a loss of its original meaning. This is in line with Marxist explanation, and has gone further to ensure creation of a seeming culture around it. Its meaning as a cultural object has ended up changing, and as suggested by the Thing Theory, ended up being a thing rather than object. BIBLIOGRAPHY Baylor University, (2012), Cell phone Addiction Similar to Compulsive Buying and Credit Card Misuse, Experts Say, Science Daily, 28 November Brown, B, (2001) ‘Thing Theory’, Critical Inquiry, Vol. 28 (1): pp. 1-22 Cheng, D, 2008, Making the Call, Hwm Magazine, September 2008 Dant, T, (2004), Materiality and Society, New York: McGraw-Hill Duncan, A, (2012), Did the World Really Need Another iPhone? Retrieved on 17 March 2015 from Florin, T, (2014), The Evolution of Apple's iPhone Slogans from 2007 to 2014, Retrieved on 16 March 2015 from Katz, J, (2006), Magic in the Air: Mobile Communication and the Transformation of Social Life, New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers Korhonen, J, (2014), Introduction to 4G Mobile Communications, London: Artech House Lemke, T. (2014), New Materialisms: Foucault and the Government of Things, Theory, Culture and Society, Vol. 2. pp. 0-23 Luce, J, (2010), The Impact of Cell Phones on Psychology, Community, Culture, Arts and Economics, Retrieved on 16 March 2015 from Ma, T, (2014), Professional Marketing and Advertising Essays and Assignments, Westport: Greenwood Publishing Marx, K, (1867) The Fetishism of the Commodity and its Secret in Highmore, B (ed), (2008), The Design Culture Reader, London: Routledge Miller, D, (2005), Materiality, Durham: Duke University Press Moran, A and Keane, M, (2013), Cultural Adaptation, London: Routledge Newcomb, A, (2014), How Apple's iPhone Has Evolved Over the Years, Retrieved on 17 March 2015 from O’Grady, J, (2009), Apple Inc, Corporations that Changed the World, Santa Barbara: ABC CLIO Roberts, J, (2014), Mobile Tech Report 2014: Technology News from 2013 and Predictions and Insights about 2014, Beaverton: Mindwarm Incorporated Sandip, R, 2014, Status Insanity: Why the iPhone is the Perfect Status Symbol, Retrieved on 17 March 2015 from Sass, S, (2013), The Substance of Civilization: Materials and Human History from the Stone Age to the Age of Silicon, New York: Skyhorse Publishing Savona, P, Kirton, J and Oldani, C, (2011), Global Financial Crisis: Global Impact and Solutions, Farnham: Ashgate Steams, P, (2006), Consumerism in World History: The Global Transformation of Desire, London: Routledge Read More

Through a quick product cycle, Apple has managed to keep buyers rushing to get upgraded versions and therefore maintained the product’s mystic feature. According to Florin (2014), the iPhone entered the market first in 2007 with revolutionary features such as touch screen and a visual voicemail. This was quickly followed in 2008 by the iPhone 3G, the first to use apps and an in-built GPS. In 2009, there was the iPhone 3GS, with double its predecessor’s internet speed apart from video recording, autofocus camera and voice control.

According to Newcomb (2014), in 2010 there was the iPhone 4 enabling video calls in addition to a five megapixel camera with retina display.In 2011, there was the iPhone 4S, with an intelligent virtual assistant and HD video recording and in 2012, the iPhone 5 with extreme aesthetics, being lighter and thinner with even increased speed. This was improved on in 2013 by the iPhone 5C, a highly colorful and relatively affordable product with greater battery life, improved camera and better operating system.

In 2014, there was the iPhone 5S, with a 64 bit quality display, an A7 chip and the Touch ID in which a user can approve app purchases or even unlock using his finger print. Origins of the iPhone type of consumerism have a Marxist theoretical explanation. According to Marx (1867), industrialization hence modernization led to greater belief in money and capitalist production. Human beings would become just like cogs in a greater system and there was the rise of a commodity culture where things were enlivened in a commodification process that led to pricing that is not really explainable.

The design process is what accomplishes this idea of magic that gives it value. The aspects of such a commodity culture are evident all over, as advertising tries to draw buyers to trendy products whose value is just in their perceived importance. According to Sandip (2014) explains that the iPhone is a status symbol, one that is functioning and not just like a monument. Apple has always ensured that aesthetics alone is a status symbol and the product, with many young people especially craving for the latest models.

This raises the question of whether they really know what they want, or are just unaware of what needs to be real human values and goals. The iPhone has managed to give rise to a kind of subculture around it. According to Ma (2014), many people actually wait for its latest models and queuing for hours to get it as soon as it is released. Mostly, the people who queue to buy the latest iPhones tend to already own older models of phones that are perfectly functioning. It can be argued that although trendy, upgrading the phone is not really worth it.

The features are also seemingly unnecessary because for instance HD video for someone who is not a professional photographer could be too much. The camera’s increasing resolution and speed is similarly of no meaning. Considering that the facilities are usually unusable or unnecessary, the motivation behind buying decisions could just be the materialism that defines the description of the phone as a thing. Buyers could mostly be part of its community just due to the desire to be defined by what they have, rather than principles and actions as human beings.

As envisioned by Marx, industries only seek to sell and influence distorted materialist meanings of the products for the purpose. For instance, the iPhone had four upgrades within only three and a half years. One wonders what was so wrong with the first version that necessitated its quick modification for example unless the manufacturer just wants to sell. Savona et al. (2011) explain that competition in markets has generally tended to push commodity prices down and this implies that the number of buyers continues growing.

No one appears to care that reducing production would reduce environmental degradation. Human beings naturally seek to acquire items that enrich their existence on earth. According to Duncan (2012) however, the materialism that is being pursued, in this case with regard to the iPhone is however not natural as it is not sustainable as a lifestyle.

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