Globalization of culture
The concept of globalization has preoccupied many academic facets since the onset of the 1990s. For over two decades now, the concept of globalization has been used to explain many new events especially the ones that deal with the rapid speed used in the exchange of information. The fall of globalization, therefore, has characterized the continued sharing of ideas which has reduced the world into a small village that is only separated by geographical distance and bound together by a synchronous way of communicating. To understand the concept of globalization of culture, it is imperative that both terms are clearly defined so that the concept of globalization of culture will be easily understood by the reader.
Globalization has been given various approaches as far as its definitions is concerned by a number of scholars who sought to demystify globalization to shed light on what is entailed in this concept. Among them, Vaish (8) defines globalization from the economic point of view. According to Vaish (8), globalization refers to the increasing levels of unification of the economic order across the planet. The resultant unification in the economic world has been aided by significant reduction of barriers to trade between the relevant trading partners with the main aim of; increasing wealth, exchange of goods and services, and to promote specialization in the production of goods and services in terms of world geographies. Globalization has been seen as the explanation of the current world’s order that is characterized by integration of regional economies for instance the European Union that has come up with a common currency; the Euro that has eased the mode of exchange in the member countries, instantaneous communication across the globe that has been aided by modern technology, effective modes of transportation, increased movement of people among other aspects that characterize modern life. Globalization, therefore, entails living a life that can be described as borderless (Hopkins 56).
On the other hand, culture has been defined as that complex whole that encompasses all activities of a people (Waldrep 16). According to this definition, culture is seen as the force that motivates the various actions that are done by the various categories of actors. Culture dictates what people do. This is because it defines their social life. Another definition of culture has been advanced by Williams (48), who defines culture as the patterns of behavior of an organized community, which is passed on from one generation to the other through interaction of the members of the community in a process referred to as enculturation. Culture has been cited as the main determinant of what is to be considered acceptable and what is to be concidered unacceptable in the society. By virtue of it being shared by members of the society, cultural do’s and don’ts are expected to be adhered to by all members of the society with which the contrary is punishable based on the verdicts that have been stipulated in the community’s cultural stands on such acts. Culture encompasses all facets of life in a community including what is shared, learned as well as what is held as tacit knowledge. It can be expressed by a society’s norms, values, behavioral approaches, art, dressing mannerism, structures and even the type of food those people eat.
To further our understanding of the selected topic, it is crucial to cover the most important characteristics of culture that are to be used in expounding this topic. Among the dominant characteristic that has aided the globalization of culture is that culture is a shared attribute. According to Williams (49), culture is shared by members of an organized group such that the do’s and don’ts of one person in the group are similar to those of the other group members. It is this sharing of culture that has led to the universality of cultures. Culture is also a learned attribute. The process of learning culture is called the enculturation process and it can be done through assimilation, imitation or direct modeling of another culture. For cultural learning to take place, it is important to note that there must be some sort of contact that exists among the parties that are to exchange cultural ideas. It is through this contact that the rise of globalization has brought about the concept of globalization of cultures.
Another important characteristic that will be used in understanding the concept of the globalization of culture is that culture is a unifying attribute. Culture has been said to be the only aspect that unifies the human race while at the same time, differentiating it from the other higher order animals like the primates. Although cultures are diverse, it has been argued that there are some aspects of universality that are exhibited in the dominant cultures of the world. Universality in culture is exhibited especially if the concept of cultural traits is examined. For instance, it has been ascertained that all cultures tend to allocate certain duties to specific group of people, that is, there are duties that have been delegated only to the women or men in the society (Williams 49). All cultures also have a defined code of ethical conduct that is characterized by the do’s and the don’ts of each culture and finally, all cultures tend to dictate to the actors and influence the cognitive perception of issues of the actors. The concept of culture as a shared attribute will be of invaluable help in the greater understanding of the concept of globalization of culture.
Having defined what globalization is and what culture is, it is easy for one to effectively cover the topic of globalization of culture. Cultural globalization, from an anthropological point of view, refers to that phenomenon where daily experiences that have greatly been influenced by the diffusion of ideas, knowledge, and commodities reflect relatively standardized cultural expressions (Waldrep, 16). From a sociological point of view, cultural globalization refers to the growth of shared cultural traits where the societal do’s and don’ts across the globe become similar due to shared information, cultural tolerance, and assimilation of cultures (Vaish, 112). In an economic sense, cultural globalization refers to the rise inhomogeneity of products consumed across the globe, the rise of similar consumption behaviors, and the increased applicability of universally accepted economic concepts across the globe. In general, it is agreeable that globalization of cultures, whether examined from an anthropological, sociological, or economic point of view revolves around the concept of drifting towards sameness in various aspects of life.
Cultural globalization can also be discerned if world political trends are examined. According to Mazrui, (46) the world has been revolutionized by changing the nature of culture such that it has been used to become an important concept in political realms. Mazrui (46) asserts that as the world progresses towards a changing and globalizing social arena, the political actors tend to embrace sameness whereby the nature of governance in most of the institutions has been revolutionized to adopt democratic approaches that are deemed fit by most of the developed nations. He cites the example of African countries that by the time of his writing, were struggling to entrench the concept of democracy which was then seen as a foreign ideology.
Besides this argument, Mazrui, (76) is of the idea that globalization has led to a new concept in the world’s politics in the sense that the importance of culture in governance is grossly underestimated. Today, the main issues that are given preeminence include the rise of exaggerated importance on arms as a source of trade. This has resulted in several nations basing their major national decisions on alignments that are associated with such trades and also on strategic calculations where the relationships made are all based on the benefits that can be derived from such relationship, which is how the country will mostly benefit financially from the trade transactions that it brokers with its trading partners as opposed to cultural aspects that are important elements of regional cohesion and international stability.
Globalization and the rise of consumerism
As far as the economic realms are concerned, the age of globalization cannot be perfectly understood without a clear understanding of how the world has globalized towards consumerism. According to Klein, (61), consumerism refers to the rise of a new form of an economic order that finds its basis on the hyped desire to buy services as well as goods in relatively greater amounts. Consumerism theory postulates that hefty consumption of goods and services is beneficial to the economy as it guarantees an effective supply of cash which guarantees a high cash circulation velocity in the economy (Micheletti 225). This has created uncountable business opportunities in the economy. Consumerism may also refer to the movement that is raised with the sole aim of protecting the members of the society from unscrupulous businessmen who may want to make abnormal profits through dubious means such as incorrect advertising, poor quality of goods and services, and finally, ensuring that the populace is not supplied with products that can harm their health.
Consumerism may be said to be the urge to spend more on the purchase of goods and services in an ever-increasing amount. Consumerism must be differentiated from unplanned or what we call sporadic shopping although both are associated with spending more cash on goods and services that are not basic or immediate. Consumerism takes a notch higher than sporadic shopping in that it shapes the market toward the choice of the consumer. Consumerism means that people consume products in the market because of what the product is perceived to have or holds status value or status symbol. Consumerism, therefore, means that consumers buy goods and services based on the status value that the product or service holds and transfers to the owner for instance a product that is advertised as being luxurious such as a vehicle of a particular model or brand like a Sport Utility Vehicle may be overpriced although it offers almost similar, if not the same, qualities like other brands of Sport Utility Vehicle. What keeps and sustains consumerism to the point that it has today revolutionized the consumption behavior of the globe is the role played by massive advertising. The marketers have sustained consumerism by providing products that have a short life-cycle making the products not fulfill the consumer wishes in a long run making them come for more products after a short while.
Aspects of consumerism
The first effect of consumerism that is evident in the entire globe is the rise in the level of advertising that is associated with consumerist cultures. According to Waldrep, (56), global consumerism has led to stiff competition between the purpose of an economic system and that of an advertising system. According to Waldrep, (59), an economic system exists to ensure that members of the society are satisfied with the consumption of goods and services that are availed in the countries economic market. Therefore, an economic system that produces goods and services continues to ensure that all the wants of a human being are satisfied. This is based on the belief that human needs should be met in totality and that people will stop further consumption if all needs are satisfied. Therefore, the production of these goods and services should continue to a period whereby the wants of all the consumers are satisfied at any particular time.
However, as opposed to the goals of an economic system, the advertising system that characterizes consumerism seeks to create new wants to encourage actors to consume more and more goods. This encourages the growth of the spirit of capitalism where producers seek to produce more products and force them down the consumers through rigorous advertising. In an ideal consumerism culture, advertising plays a crucial role in creating more human wants as opposed to the role of an economic system of satisfying human wants.
The advertisement craze can also be experienced across the globe where most multinational corporations use one advert to advertise their products across the globe. This has led to a rise in the number of western-based commercials in developing world televisions especially in some Asian countries and predominantly in Africa. This has a further effect on globalization in that today, we have the universality of demanded products whereby what makes life ideal is not determined by the forces of human want, but by the need of one dominant culture which in most cases are the western countries led by the US. It is evident that in most cases western-based cultures have had major effects on the cultures of other parts of the world, especially due to the rise of cultural uniformity and, therefore, making it prudent to conclude that it has led to the globalization of culture in the world.
Another important aspect to note concerning the concept of globalization and consumerism is the nature of advertisement that has been adopted by various actors. One of the most important aspects of globalization is the decoupling of space and time as far as communication is concerned (Micheletti 228). This decoupling has been brought about by the nature of modern communication devices especially over the internet platform where the cost of communicating has reduced greatly against a rising speed of transferring the information. Advertisers have adopted this form of advertising whereby advertisements are tailored to induce the specific need of a specific consumer. Today, internet resources would most likely advertise what the customer is perceived to need thus inducing the need for such a product even where a customer does not need the identified product as advertised on the internet or other medium of communication.
Another important aspect in the age of consumerism has been identified by Klein, (64), who asserts that consumerism in the age of globalization is rooted in the concept of planned disability and obsolescence all to increase the demand for products as opposed to creating the ways that certain wants can be satisfied. This disability of the created goods and services ensures that the rising middle-class people continue in insatiable need to own more, while they dispose of what they had earned earlier. This insatiable need for ownership can be experienced across the globe whereby people of different geographical regions focus more on what they can own as opposed to what they have created in the society.
Perhaps, disposability has had a major effect on the developing nations where they act as recipients of the disposed of goods. As people dispose of their wares to create room for more goods, the problem of how to dispose of these materials arises. However, some of these materials have found their way to the poor nations where they are sent as secondhand materials to be distributed to the poor people. Materials that have continued to be dumped into third-world nations include electronic gadgets such as old computers, clothing, and other fabric goods, machinery, and vehicles. Whereas these materials have helped bring down the cost of obtaining some of the daily necessities for the population in developing countries, it has had a major effect on local industries which have been unable to compete with the cheaper imported secondhand materials leading to the collapse of most of these local industries (Micheletti 116). To curb this nature of development, most developing nations have adopted policy measures to regulate the quality of products that are received as secondhand materials from the developed world into their countries and as a consequence, their market.
Another major aspect of consumerism is the rise of materialism. As noted by Klein, (66) consumerism ideology makes people take a self-evaluation exercise based on what they own. The purchase behavior of people in such an economy is, therefore, exaggerated such that the actors keep on buying due to the need to acquire more and more material wealth. A person’s worth is made by the level of materials that are owned by such people as opposed to their personality. This ideology has been exacerbated by the capitalistic ideologies that emphasize the importance of material gain as the main motivator of human action in purchasing goods.
In the age of globalization, universality in the rise of materialism is evident. Across the globe, there is a huge rise in the number of people who would like to be recognized due to the amount of material that they own. Among the leading physical material that people across the globe are working hard to gain is private means of transport such as a car. Whereas owning a car in developed nations appear to be a necessity, many people in developing nations have had to indulge in hefty debts to ensure that they at least own a car. This is because, to them, a car is a symbol of status and a confirmation of belonging to a certain social class. This craze for auto-mobile has also led to these regions being used as technological dump sites where vehicles that have exhausted their economic usefulness in developed countries are exported to be re-sold to the already over-willing buyers so that they can attain that social status that they crave for, no matter what the means for acquisition are. This has aided the residents of developing nations to own vehicles and thus, satisfy, at least for a short time, the rising urge to accumulate more material wealth.
Another notable aspect of consumerism is that the concept itself fails to recognize the finite nature of the earth’s resources. The earth is finite in the sense that there is a maximum level of goods that can be produced sustainably. However, consumerism in itself is based on the idea that human wants are infinitely expandable and these wants can easily be converted into needs. This can be said to be the base where consumerism is characterized by immense advertising to ensure that these human wants to become human needs. If the trend of the ignorance that the earth is finite continues, the effect on the environment can be disastrous as people may be forced to produce beyond what the world resources can handle sustainably and continuously.
The ignorance of this major natural fact has been explicated across the globe, a fact that shows that the effects of globalization are being felt far and wide. In the developing countries just like in the developed countries, there is an accelerated form of production which makes it hard for economies to effectively sustain themselves. Although most of the developing economies have a lot of untapped resources, the consumerism haste has forced such nations to wholly depend on products that have been produced in the developed world to match the globalized and universal needs that have been enhanced by the global competition forces that have left no room for the emergence of other key players in the goods and services production.
As far as consumerism among the dwellers of poor regions is concerned, it has been established that consumerism has both pros and cons regarding the economy and the ways of life of subjects. For instance, the gross domestic product (GDP) is determined by how much a person spends. The higher the per capita income, the higher the GDP. This is reflected as being an indication of a better living standard and a growing economy. Consumerism in this effect goes higher because people have more disposable income. Therefore, goods and services are meant to be used for short-term consumption, and no need for repairs or upgrading of the existing goods and services as more new goods are introduced into the market and having more disposable income people tend to keep on buying (Stearns 216). This affects the market positively in that if people continue to spend, the market continues to remain stable. However, the reverse causes depression or a global meltdown.
The effect of consumerism on those living in poor regions is tremendous. The problem comes in the sense that those who live in poor regions don’t have that large disposable income which jeopardizes their life standards as consumerism means that those in the middle aspire to live like the rich in society, and the rich aspire to the life of celebrities and icons. This insatiable desire translates to the markers assuming that all consumers fall within that bracket of well-to-do or at least the middle-class person. This means that product prices will always be on an upward trend.
Another demerit that comes out in the case of consumerism is the fact that most people without a high disposable income find themselves living in a rat race, where they have to work extremely hard to be able to afford the desired lifestyle. Consumerism causes these people to always be catching up because by the time they have worked hard to buy whatever fancy product the marketers had introduced, something new has come up in the market. Take for instance people who are in designer clothing, when a product is launched by major clothing lines, they are at very exorbitant prices. To make the situation even worse these new products are advertised by celebrities who are mostly idolized. The result is that due to consumerism, the rich and the middle class will be the first to own such clothes. Those who live in poor regions will crave to have such clothes and will be forced to work extremely hard to afford them. By the time they are buying the craved products, something new has already come out and the same vicious circle starts again. The question that persists is whether the product fulfills their desires. To the consumers, this is a form of exploitation, but in economic sense, this is quite a good market because it is predetermined by the consumer, and the marketer is assured that the consumer will always come back as long as they keep producing their goods and services that have both sentimental and status symbol. It would also be unfair if it is not mentioned that consumerism adds significantly to any economy as more industries will spring up to meet the demand. This in itself translates to more job opportunities.
Consumerism ideology creates a society that is materialistic in nature because a person’s standard of living especially in such a world is valued by one’s possession (Stearns 214). This causes the society to abandon other important values that shape humanity. A society that is materialistic in nature tends to focus more on consumable products than those products that have high lifespan. The worst of it is that it’s individualistic and this is actually facilitated by the American capitalistic system, where all facets of production are not state owned rather private ownership is the norm. The result of this is that the marketers are always competing to get more clients and to make more profit. Some professionals argue that people who have strong materialistic values mostly focus their life around achieving extrinsic goals like material acquisition.
The search for extrinsic goals is no longer constrained to the American economy or in the developed nations only. Today, all aspects of social life have been characterized extrinsic motivators with the need for material acquisition taking a center stage in the global arena. The globalised culture in our modern economy has led to a worldwide adoption of capitalistic ideologies even in societies that had previously adopted a band system of existence. This indicates that the world culture is undergoing massive unification on the rise of globalization.
It is important to mention that, for those people in poor regions and who are unemployed; the middle class mentality that encourages people to spend more on luxury goods and their aspirations to live like the rich and emulate the celebrities has led to high rates of crime, especially in regions that are considered poor. The desire for ownership and materialism has brought a mentality, especially in the young generation that they must have these necessities that are considered luxurious or considered to have a status value. This is enhanced father by the music celebrities who mostly advertise these commodities or own them to show material wealth. This concept also can be found in nearly all regions of the world which indicates that our cultures have tremendously globalised (Micheletti 84).
Consumerism does not only affect the economy of a country or the way of life in society, but also impacts negatively on natural resources. The population is always on an increase and so is consumerism (Stearns 216). There is a need to have a balance between production and how these products are consumed. Although technology has been on an increase it has been geared towards consumption rather than long-term production measures to create a sustainable balance. Human species cannot sustain themselves independent from nature. Thus, for human to sustain themselves they also need to sustain nature in each respective country.
It is estimated that in America cases of depression are on all time high and the biggest percentage of depression are in areas considered not to be well placed economically. It is prudent that I also mention that consumerism has led others in direct causes of social ills like drug and substance abuse and this mostly caused by despair and other social problems like dissatisfaction, although one may be well economically endowed. The nature of these pressures that are associated with the need to consume are not only experienced in developed world, but also in developing nations whether the consumerism ideology has taken root in the day to day cultural traits.
From the above discussion it is clear that the effects of consumerism to the people living in poor regions are dire. They have to struggle to survive because the marketers assume that they have the same economic strength like the rest of the middle class. However, it will be unfair to the discussion if I don’t give merits of consumerism. The impact of consumerism in the economy is very profound in the essence that due to the high demand that is occasioned by consumerism, most industries are able to keep a steady market for their goods and services, which translates in creation of employment. In addition to this, consumerism creates an atmosphere of quality and quantity whereby goods and services have to meet certain criteria although these goods have a short lifespan.
Another benefit that comes out of consumerism is the fact that consumerism leads to a better living standard, this is made possible through the availability of a variety of goods and services (Stearns 224). Marketers and companies come up with products that are made to ensure comfort and increasing the standards of living in a nutshell making work easy. For instance mobile phone marketers have come up with ingenious idea in form of application that has enhanced the way people communicate and do business. This type of invention has come in handy in enhancing better living standards.
Another impact that consumerism has had on the people of developing nations is that it has greatly contributed to the degradation and eventual disappearance of indigenous cultures. As the worlds drifts towards consumerism, third world dwellers are greatly getting assimilated to the global change which has called for new tools of cultural identity. These new tools in most of the cases are the global brands that are important unifying elements that are used to bring people of different calibers together. Therefore, the local cultures in developing worlds are abandoned for people to appear to fall in the category of the globalised generation. A good example would be the rich indigenous culture of the Massai community of eastern Africa. This community that has been famed for its rich African culture has been undergoing massive cultural change whereby the effects of consumerism are slowly making the traditional values of the people to shift their focus from their past generations to the current globalised economic order.
However, it is prudent to note that consumerism has enhanced the way advertisement has been carried out. Advertisement has been redefined into a prosperous industry that brings in billion of dollars. This has increased the number of those being employed into the industry. It has also increased the level of competence and creativity (Micheletti 212).
Although I castigate the culture of consumerism as being exploitative and making life unbearable for those people living in poor regions. As much as the blame lies squarely on the government policies and the marketer’s greed to make abnormal profit we should understand that consumerism has made all of us to aspire to live a comfortable lifestyle. The problem of consumerism can only be eradicated first from an individual point of view, through being sensitized about the cons of consumerism before the fight can be taken to the world’s pedestal.
Importance of global brands and mass culture in the age of modern electronic communication technology
Global brands
As the world drifts towards consumerism, there is one major change as far as brand royalty is concerned. As noted by Klein, (66), consumerism in the globalization error has seen the entry of global brands as opposed to brands that are associated with countries that are seen to be of a higher caliber. For instance, in the past, it was a cliché for clothing designers to include the tag “made in the USA” which was a real selling point. Vehicles were also known from their place of origin as opposed to their brand superiority. However, this has changed as a result of globalization. This is because the effects of globalization have led to the recognition of brand names as opposed to the country of origin of the brand in question. For instance, Coca-Cola, one of the world’s leading global brands makes sales in terms of billions of liters due to its brand as opposed to its country of origin. Toyota, whose origin is in Japan, has also gained a lot of global recognition regardless of where it originated from. To some people, Nike and Puma are global brands not because of their country of origin, but because of their brand superiority.
The rise of global brands has been exacerbated by the rise of international contact through better means of communication such that there are more interactions between people around the globe. Using similar brands has played a crucial role in developing a mass culture whereby the cultures of the world have undergone major assimilation to adopt most cultural traits leading to the concept of mass culture. Therefore, global brands have contributed immensely to the development of global cultures as the brands have played an important role in advancing cultural identities.
Importance of global brand
One important aspect of the globalized culture is the sense of togetherness. Culture, being a shared attribute has the adhesive force to bring people who ascribe to it. In the wake of the globalization of culture, global brands have played an important role in ensuring that the masses are unified due to product commonality. This brings out a sense of belonging to the consumers of the global brands. The brands have also helped to eradicate the superiority of some nations, whether perceived or real, as people now focus on a product not because of its origin, but because it brings out the sense of worldwide recognition and its ability to satisfy the needs of the consumers all over the globe. For instance, it has been noted by Held, McGrew, Goldblatt, and Perraton, (326), that most people opt to use global brands because of their belief that these brands are better placed to offer better quality and thus, better satisfaction that is brought about by the belief that global brands are superior and hence their desire by the global masses.
Another important aspect of global brands in the globalized culture is that it further enhances the spirit of consumerism which in itself is seen as a beneficial aspect of the economy (Micheletti 112). Consumerism has been beneficial in that it encourages people to consume more. This desire to consume more has further encouraged producers to produce more products and as a consequence, led to the growth of the country’s economy in terms of gross domestic product. The rise of global brands has led to the emergence of useful landmarks that have encouraged the masses to embrace the culture of mass consumption of goods and services produced globally. This has led to an overall increase in the level of economic growth in almost all the countries in the globe since more people consume the products that are being produced.
The electronic means of communication have enhanced the spirit of consumerism especially in the mass marketing of global brands. Social networking sites for instance Facebook, Twitter among others have enhanced the continued development of global brands as members of online communities and social networks share on major developments of certain products (Frank 344). The instantaneous communication that has been enabled by the electronic forms of communication has further enhanced the efficiency of major communication channels such that the main developments in global brands are quickly shared by people in the greater world. Therefore, the contribution of electronic means of communication cannot be ignored as it has been an effective channel of passing information around the globe at terrific speeds that are unprecedented. This has further helped shape mass cultures and global brands. As people exchange ideas over the modern communication channels especially the internet, they tend to exchange on various aspects of the common products which further enhances the adoption of global brands.
The contribution of developing nations in the rise of consumerism in the global arena has mostly been contained on the consumption side as opposed to production (Micheletti 212). The developing nations have continued to provide mass markets for global brands especially in the rise of globalization. Globalization has aided the creation of these mass markets in the sense that it has led to a globalized culture where the consumption behavior of the global actors has more similarities as opposed to differences. As people adopt a similar culture, it has emerged that most of the products that were formerly consumed in one geographical area are now being consumed by many actors in many markets hence making them be recognized as global brands. As the developing world adopts the global culture, they have tended to consume more of the western-based brands as they have dominated the global markets.
The trend that has seen most developing nations consuming more of the global brands than locally manufactured products has been seen as a detrimental action to local businesses as they have been forced to lose immense business opportunities especially due to unfair competition from established products selling at the global platform with the local products. The competition of local products against the products of multinational corporations has further been jeopardized by the mass perception that global products are of superior quality when juxtaposed with local products. According to Hopkins (56), an interview conducted in over 49 nations to establish the perception of global brands established that most people in the developing world viewed the adoption of global brands as a source for better satisfaction. It was also established that global brands were viewed as sources of better quality based on the idea that masses cannot consume a specific brand if its quality is not proven worldwide.
Importance of Mass Culture
One of the most important aspects of globalization is the rise of mass culture. Due to continued cultural contact that has been enabled by the rise of electronic means of communication, it has led to the assimilation of new cultures and this has finally led to the rise of mass culture. Mass culture refers to the cultural concept that has seen many people of the globe adopting nearly similar cultures with very little noticeable change in different geographical regions. Mass culture can be expressed through various means such as the dress codes that are adopted by various people of the world, the type of music that is widely listened to among other cultural indicators. When such aspects are examined, one may realize that the world today is more culturally homogeneous as opposed to the scenario that existed four decades ago which means that the rise of globalization has led to the rise of global cultures.
One major effect of mass culture in the age of globalization is the rise of uniformity of cultures whereby the world has been revolutionized to be guided by nearly the same cultural morals, taboos, and regulations. This uniformity has greatly aided the development of global consumerism ideology as people have nearly the same needs that ought to be satisfied. As producers create needs for consumers in the pretense that human wants cannot be fully satisfied and that the more people accumulate material wealth, the more they become satisfied, global culture helps in spreading the need to own extra materials which help develop consumerism ideology.
Besides this push to consume more products, the global culture in this age of technological advancement has seen an increase in the consumption of online products, both in terms of goods and services (Barber 76). Among the dominant adoption of information technology is the uptake of internet services especially social networking services such as Twitter and Facebook. This has further impacted the developing nations to embrace global brands as the social networks have been used to advance the concept of global identity that is based on global brands. The developing nations have greatly contributed to the advertisement of information technology as they have greatly adopted its use hence helping in advancing the development of information technology infrastructure (Burbach, Nunez and Kagarlitsky 196).
As far as financial realms are concerned, the contributions of developing countries have been more beneficial to the developed countries as opposed to the developing countries’ economies. This fact has been captured by (Sklair 148) who points out that before the onset of globalization in the early 1990’s the share of the developing countries in foreign direct investment (FDI) was higher than it is in the globalized economy. For example, in 1982, the foreign direct investment for the developing countries was at 33 percent compared to a paltry 14 percent in 1997. The FDI from developed countries towards the developing countries has experienced phenomenal growth at the expense of development in third world countries.
Conclusion
In conclusion, cultures have undergone massive globalization whereby the world cultures have been drifting towards similarities. Today, the global cultures are relatively related, with western cultures being the biggest gainers as far as cultural dominance is concerned. The culture change has been aided by increased cultural contact especially the virtual contact of cultures that has been aided by the onset of online communication and online communities. The continued cultural assimilation due to continued contact may lead to total assimilation of some cultures whereby some cultures will be wholly absorbed into the more dominant cultures. Among the most threatened cultures are the cultures of developing nations as these nations have been affected more by the globalization of cultures where the western cultures have triumphed over the native cultures that were dominant in developing countries.
Another notable issue that has been raised in the paper is the concept of consumerism. As it has been examined in the paper, there has been a global ideological shift where people have adopted a consumerism culture that has continued to advocate for escalating accumulation of material wealth.
The adoption of this ideology on a global scale cannot be refuted as global actors have been noted to have adopted the notion that the value of a human being is established not through the personality of such an individual, but through the amount of material wealth that such an individual owns. This has impacted differently to the economies of different regions whereby people in developing nations have been forced to adapt to a serial borrowing culture especially due to the rise of the middle-class mentality. However, it is important to note here that this borrowing culture has not characterized people of the developing world only as it is phenomenal even in developed nations especially with the rise of plastic money that allows consumers to be done in a scheduled, lump-sum manner. A good example would be the monthly refilled credit cards which make people be technically in debt during the month with the debt being cleared only during the end of a specific period.
The rise of globalized cultures has counter-aided the development of global brands that are important signs of global identity. As culture is manifested through tangibles such as goods consumed and dressing mannerism as well as intangibles such as art, behavioral mannerism and general approaches to various issues, global brands have played as important elements in providing the popular globalised culture with items of identity as a culture must be reflected through the use of various means of communication such as lifestyles and consumption behavior. The rise of global brands has also led to the fall of social identities that have been associated with certain products such as clothes that were associated with their country of origin to new identities that are associated with the existence of specific brands all over the globe.
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