Consumption is defined as the action and acquisition of a good or service. This concept of consumption implies all that set of products and services that are made available to society to satisfy a need or a desire, a need that can be primary or secondary.
Over time, this action has given rise to what today we know as a consumer society, which refers to the massive production of goods and services that has been caused, among other factors, as a result of capitalism and globalization, occurring particularly in developed or well industrialized countries.
The types of consumption
Maybe it's therational purchase and the compulsive buying the two that we know the most, but the truth is that we find a somewhat more specific classification of types of consumption and then we check it:
- Rational consumption: these are the purchase actions that finally end with the acquisition of the product through reflection and study of it.
- Compulsive consumption: it is part of those purchases that are carried out by a desire and not by a need. The behavior in these cases on the part of the consumer does not imply a direct reflection to acquire a product.
- Suggested consumption: it has to do with the previous one, because in these cases the buying action is developed through the impact and marketing tasks by the companies, through advertisements with the intention of influencing the consumer's buying behavior.
- Sustainable consumption: is the one that takes place in a context in which basic needs are met while respecting the environment and human rights.
- Indifferent consumption: behind this behavior we find the total number of products that are purchased for what the product offers.
- Experimental consumption: occurs when new products are bought, even if they have never even tried. In this sense, the technological component plays a very important role to put aside the product that was used and that will now be replaced by another.
Consumption and macroeconomics
When we speak of consumption and macroeconomics we are faced with the circulation of capital and the relationship that exists between the purchase of the product and its consumer. In this sense, macroeconomía implies the existence of private consumption and public consumption:
Public consumption is that which has to do with State purchases, while private consumption refers to acquisitions carried out by private entities themselves and families.
Consumption and responsibility
Today the constant acquisition of products and the ease that we have been given to obtain them in record time has generated a lot of controversy in relation to sustainability. For this reason, special emphasis is placed on how important responsible consumption is to take care of the impact that production has on our planet.
By responsible consumption we understand the capacity that people have to value much more what the production process implies and the path that a product follows from when it is only a raw material until it reaches our hands. In addition, responsible consumption implies the quality of the product, ensuring its origin, how it was manufactured and the role that companies have taken to develop their products and services. Therefore, a large part of achieving sustainability depends a lot on our behavior and our attitude.