Liana's - episode 5 - Shopping Spree WINNER!

THANKS FOR NOT ASKING ABOUT MY THESIS - EPISODE 5

Last week, I won a $5000 shopping spree! I simply filled out an entry form in the newspaper and put it in a barrel at Karrinyup Shopping Centre...and was fortunate enough to win! I don't normally enter competitions, but I thought a shopping spree would be a cool prize! Unfortunately I could not film the day because it was such a rush, and all photos etc. are the property of the The West Australian, but I have tried to capture as much about the day as possible.

It was definitely a great way to have a break from my thesis! While it was not an individual activity (as stated in my proposal), I was the individual winner, and it was an inexpensive way (because I won the money!) to have a break from my thesis!

Consumer Culture: The Swoosh, the Mall, and ‘logo-decorated teenagers.’

As suggested by Peter, my vlog relates to the idea of consumer culture. Consumerism is a term used to describe the effects of equating personal happiness with purchasing material possessions and consumption. 'Consumerism can also describe the tendency of people to identify strongly with products or services they consume, especially those with commercial brand names and obvious status-enhancing appeal,' e.g. an automobile, a designer bag, expensive shoes. Consumer culture is not a new phenomenon, in fact it gathered importance from the eighteenth century onwards, with periods of huge transformation in the twentieth century.

Opponents of consumerism argue that many unnecessary consumer products and luxuries are social signals that allow people to identify like-minded individuals through consumption and display of similar products. Consumer culture is often encouraged by the ways in which the meanings of goods are produced, mediated, circulated, interpreted within production, marketed and consumed.

I originally entered the shopping-spree competition because I knew I would have to buy a lot of work clothes for my new full-time job. However, I know I won’t spend $5000 purely on office clothes, so the idea that I can buy expensive sunglasses, bags and other luxury items is a bonus. However, I do think fashion is one way of expressing yourself. I would say that I am definitely influenced by our consumer culture, through the media (television, magazines etc), but I don’t feel the need to have the most expensive sunglasses, or to always wear a label brand, or to own the latest gadgets. (Although I do own an iPod, despite the fact there are probably better MP3 Players on the market!)

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_culture
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_materialism
http://homepages.gold.ac.uk/slater/consumer/about.html
Klein, N. (2001) No Logo, Flamingo Publishers, Great Britain.