Lesson 20 — Activity 1: Consumer Behaviour and Quality of Life
Completion requirements
Lesson 20 — Activity 1:
Consumer
Behaviour and Quality of Life
Warm Up
Consumer
behaviour has many impacts, including impacts on producers, jobs, and the environment. In this activity, you will learn about these impacts on our quality of life.
@istock
Quality of life
means your personal satisfaction of how you live depending on the
products and services that surround you. There are different factors
that affect our quality of life based on our consumer behaviour.
Let's
look at each of these factors below to see what guides your behaviour as
a consumer.
Quality of life
means your personal satisfaction of how you live depending on the
products and services that surround you. There are different factors
that affect our quality of life based on our consumer behaviour.
Let's look at each of these factors below to see what guides your behaviour as a consumer.
Let's look at each of these factors below to see what guides your behaviour as a consumer.
Identity
The choices we make as consumers can reflect our identity. The things we buy often reflect our likes, beliefs, and personality. Think about the clothes you are wearing today. What do your clothes say about your beliefs and values and what you consider important to your quality of life?
@unsplash
Many people think that buying brand names is good, and even though some people can't afford them, they still want them. Many people think that buying more "stuff" means having a good quality of life. But is this true? Just because you have all of the most expensive things, does not guarantee that you will have a happy life.
@creativecommons
Health and Safety
How much do you consider your health, safety, and security when buying items? Federal law requires that warnings are placed on some products such as cigarettes to discourage consumers. Some governments have gone further and banned some products.
@creativecommons
In Canada every food product must have a list of ingredients on it.
Because of
this list, people can recognize that there are many unhealthy foods,
such as chips, soft drinks, and fast food. In 2007, the Edmonton Public
School Board
decided to ban the sale of foods such as chips and chocolate bars
to make them unavailable to consumers (students) in the schools.
@creativecommons
In Canada every food product must have a list of ingredients on it.
Because of this list, people can recognize that there are many unhealthy foods, such as chips, soft drinks, and fast food. In 2007, the Edmonton Public School Board decided to ban the sale of foods such as chips and chocolate bars to make them unavailable to consumers (students) in the schools.
Jobs
How does choosing a product affect the jobs that people have? When you buy a product, you connect to a chain of people and their jobs. Your choice is part of what keeps them employed. People have unlimited wants, so they will keep buying.
Even a small product like a sheet of paper goes through many processes, and it links to many jobs (e.g., suppliers, workers in the factory that produce the paper, drivers that deliver the paper to shops, workers in the shops who sell the paper).
@pexels
If a product is being purchased and people buy a lot of it, then the businesses will get more money from consumers and they can hire more workers. But it can also cause many people to lose their jobs. If one product does not get enough customers to purchase it, the company may become bankrupt and the people who worked for that company will lose their jobs.
@pexels
Environment
Your choices as a consumer also affect the air, water, and land that you share with everyone. The more that consumers buy, the more that will be produced, which can affect our natural resources. As well, because of consumerism, the number of factories can increase, thereby creating more pollution to the environment.
Legislation in both Canada and the United States has been passed to help consumers make environmentally friendly choices, and many companies have shifted toward environmentally friendly products due to consumer demand (e.g., organic food).
Marketing
How does marketing affect what you buy? Do you really need to buy anything at all? Marketing campaigns are designed to convince you to buy products. Both Canada and the United States have legislation that dictates what advertising can and cannot say. You will learn more about the effects of mass marketing on consumerism in an upcoming lesson.
@unsplash
Self-check!
Try This!
Try the question below on your own first, and then click on the tab to check your answer! You can look back in the lesson to find the answer.
What are the different factors that affect quality of life based on consumer behaviour?