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Homo consumericus

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Neologism used in social sciences

Modern malls have been described as new "cathedrals of consumption".

Homo consumericus (mock Latin for consumerist person) is a neologism used in social sciences, notably by Gilles Lipovetsky in Le Bonheur Paradoxal (2006) and Gad Saad in his 2007 book, The Evolutionary Bases of ConsumptionAccording to these and other scholars, the phenomenon of mass consumption can be compared to certain traits of human psychology described by evolutionary scientists pointing out similarities between Darwinian principles and consumer behavior. Lipovetsky has noted that modern times have brought about the rise of a "third" type of Homo consumericus, who is unpredictable and insatiable. A similar expression, Homo Consumens, was used by Erich Fromm in Socialist Humanism, written in 1965. Fromm wrote: "Homo consumens is the man whose main goal is not primarily to own things, but to consume more and more, and thus to compensate for his inner vacuity, passivity, loneliness, and anxiety." The expression Homo Consumens has been used by several other authors, including Mihailo Marković.

See also

References

  1. Clay, Grady (February 17, 1985). "Cathedrals of Consumption: The Malling of America". The New York Times.
  2. Gilles Lipovetsky, Le bonheur paradoxal, Essai sur la société d'hyperconsommation, (éditions Gallimard, 2006)
  3. Gad Saad, The Evolutionary Bases of Consumption (Routledge, 2007) ISBN 0-8058-5149-6
  4. Jill M. Sundie 'Where is Homo Consumericus', Contemporary Psychology: APA Review of Books (2007) Archived July 6, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  5. George Siomkos, 'Homo Consumericus: The Coming of the Post-Modern Consumer', Marketing Week, Special Issue No. 1.000, April 5, 2004
  6. Detrás del Telón – Homo Consumericus Archived September 5, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  7. Erich Fromm, "The Application of Humanist Psychoanalysis to Marx's Theory" in Erich Fromm (ed.), Socialist Humanism: An International Symposium, Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1965, p. 214.
  8. Mihailo Marković, "Economism or the Humanization of Economics", Praxis, international edition, 1969, no. 3–4, p. 452.
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