CONSUMER CULTURE AND THE PROBLEM OF CHOICE - WHY CAN LESS BE MORE?

Consumer culture represents a specific type of material culture involving the progressive transformation of the utility and functional value of goods and products into a non-material representation and symbolic significance representing sources of formative social activities, the regulation of interpersonal relations, identity, social roles and self-reflection. The nature of consumer culture is increasing more substantially determined by the explosive offer of the range of consumer products. The hypertrophic amounts of consumer choice are perceived as an important aspect of the freedom of decision-making, an attribute of the society of material plenty and the democratisation of consumer matters. At the same time, however, this gives rise to contradictory effects in the lives of the consumers who are exposed to the chaotic and varied terrain of the plurality of consumer choices. The expansion of the options for consumer decision-making has subjected consumers to the unpleasant pressure of taking responsibility for the realisation and consequences of their decisions.