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Abstract
Purpose - This paper focuses on the evolution of the consumption society and its reflection into the Romanian society by analyzing three stages of socio-economic development after the fall of the communist regime in 1989.
Design/methodology/approach - An interdisciplinary literature review was used, touching economical, sociological and psychological aspects of consumption. The Romanian case study was designed taking into account indicators as inflation rate, import/export ratio, Gini index and the evolution of consumption credits.
Findings - Our research cleary indicates that even a developing country as Romania is confronted with hyper consumerist attitudes, grephed on the postcommunist heritage.
Originality/value - The paper enhances the understanding of the consumerist phenomena by exposing the theoretical issues along with practical realities. The emphasis lays on the personal, social and also country risks that can be generated by maintaining this paradigm.
Research implications - The results of the paper set the grounds for further comparative research on this extreme manifestation of consumer behavior. Using the perspective developed by the field of behavioral economics, we highlight some irational patterns of human behavior with regard to consumption, pointing out specific aspects intricately linked with our national mentalities.
Keywords: consumerist society, hyperconsumption, Romania.
Paper type: Research Paper/Case study
Introduction
A long period of time consumption has been ignored and excluded as a subject of study or interest: "the history of consumption has no history, no community of scholars, no tradition of scholarship" (McCracken, 1987, p. 139), but nowadays no serious theory of contemporary society can ignore the importance of consumption (Ritzer, Goodman & Wiedenhoft, 2003). This recognition is based on the fact that postmodern consumption processes, cultures, and consumers are qualitatively different from those of the past: "the simpler, rational" consumer of the past was replaced by a more complex consumer" (Firat, Dholakia & Venkatesh 1995, p. 44). As Ariely's research on irrationality shows it (Ariely, 2008), our expectations, emotions, social norms, and other invisible, seemingly illogical forces skew our reasoning abilities in most areas, with eloquent reflections in our consumption practices.
The foundation of our exploratory study firstly retrieve its origins in the work of classical economists (Veblen, 1899, Duessenberry, 1949, Galbraith, 1958, Scitovsky, 1976) and sociologists (Baudrillard, 1970, Bourdieu, 1984) who have established an initial framework for consumerism...