Issue - Everything New is Old Again!
The Perversity of Codependent Consumption
Author: Dr Trajce Cvetkovski
Date: 28 February 2007
There appears to be no end to the train of new technological products entering and then
leaving the marketplace nowadays. Innovation and redundancy go hand in hand as we are
confronted with devices that can do more and more while weighing less and less. Trajce
Cvetkovski reflects on the perversity of buying yet another gadget when they all do much
the same thing anyway.
John Maynard Keynes, the influential British economist, became famous for observing just
how easy it is to solve the problem of unemployment. He noted that it is enough for
governments to spend money on economic activities, even if the expenditure is on frivolous
tasks such as employing people to dig holes in the ground and fill them up again. Economic
activity employs people, it begets other economic activity, and the virtuous circle of
investment simply needs to be monitored and adjusted so as to smooth out market cycles.
Keynesian economics has been attacked for several decades now but it is still widely
practised. It is certainly the de facto policy of governments, whether they are of a
conservative or progressive persuasion. Government outlays continue to rise across the world,
even when political parties are elected on promises to cut taxes and reduce expenditure. The
war in Iraq, to take one example, is less useful than investment in digging and filling holes.
But however destructive and futile that war is, it is nonetheless good for the American
economy since it stimulates so much activity.
Keynesian economics works in the short-term but its long-term consequences are more
ambiguous. Keynes is also famous for making the quip, 'in the long run, we are all dead'. We
may be dead sooner than he thought as a result of the prevalence of his outlook. Our
extravagant indulgence in production and consumption over the last one hundred years or so
is creating a variety of problems. If we are to believe many scientists, the human-made threat
of climate change is near and potentially apocalyptic. Only a radical change in the nature of
the economy, or an amazing technological innovation (such as making coal 'clean') will avoid
impending disaster.
There are the fireworks of climate change, but there are also the more prosaic aspects to the
profligate nature of our economy. Companies, too, are enthusiasts of Keynes even if they are
not quite conscious of it. If companies thought there was money to be made in digging holes
and filling them again, they would certainly invest in it. As it is, if they believe people will
consume something, then they do their best to produce it. If they produce something that is
not very popular, they will do their best to convince people they are missing out by not
having it. And in the case of the increasingly prevalent practice of 'codependent technological
consumption', they will lure people into buying a series of devices that all do much the same
thing.
Codependent consumption is the act of consciously purchasing an item for a primary purpose,
but settling on the item's additional features to complete the transaction. In some respects this
codependency is a form of reverse consumption whereby the consumer moves forward in the
transaction justification process but then reverses back in his or her mind to justify the
purchase of the gadget for its primary purpose.
Codependent consumption has become especially evident in the current telco-cum-
entertainment universe, where 'new technologies' and 'old technologies' are determined in
monthly rather than yearly timeframes. At a recent family get-together, for example, I was
bemused by a relative who explained the purchase of her latest mobile phone because it was
able to take photographs with the same picture quality as her digital camera. I then reflected
on my own stock of gadgets and how I have often explained that my MP3 player is better
than many others because it has more storage capability for the same price. And yet why I am
driven by the need to store several thousand songs is still something I have not quite worked
out, given that I generally listen only to a specific repertoire of artists and albums.
The perversity of these scenarios is that the consumer appears to be driven by a motive other
than the obvious desire to purchase an item for its primary purpose. In the case of the mobile
phone, apart from photographic potential, there are also questions of music and information
download capability, the facility of playing movies, as well as other selling points. The
primary purpose of the device is, on the face of it, telecommunication, but the potential for
entertainment has become an integral aspect of the act of consumption. The talking capability
of the phone has been inverted to become a second or third line feature whilst the 'add-ons'
have become first line features.
Telecommunications giants have launched multi-platform networks to support these
developments. It is hardly surprising, therefore, to find that some of the major mobile
manufacturers include Samsung, Fujitsu, Sharp, LG, Panasonic, Sony Ericsson, Siemens,
Nokia, Philips, Motorola and Toshiba. All of these conglomerations are horizontally
integrated, aligned or connected with the majority of cultural products available in the market
place (Fujitsu for cameras, Sony for music, Samsung for DVDs and so on). Co-dependent
consumption is, therefore, highly desirable for these entities because it ensures the propensity
for consumers to purchase a product for first, second or even third line reasons.
One effect of this codependency in consumption is an accumulation of unnecessary gadgets
which can all do the same thing and yet are described, packaged, marketed and delivered as
though they are all needed. A quick audit around any average household would probably
reveal, for example, that there may be at least three digital cameras in various guises: the
mobile phone, the video recorder, and the actual camera.
Another effect has been the linking of personal identity with the power and versatility of
one's gadgets. Consumers seem to gain some sense of esteem in the knowledge that their
phone has the capacity to do several things, notwithstanding the fact that it is highly likely
only a small portion of the features will be utilised. Teenagers, who are among the greatest
purveyors of entertainment products, probably have a limited understanding of the
ramifications of this type of dependency.
It is a worrying development when this type of perverse dependency becomes a key
ingredient of a vibrant economy. As Oliver James points out in his new book, Affluenza, the
consumer economy is driven by an endless desire for products but that desire, sustained and
nourished by both governments and corporations, tends to diminish our sense of happiness
and fulfilment. If we stood back and had a good look at what we are doing, then we would
probably withdraw the lifeblood of the present system, and we would need to construct a very
different form of society and economy.
So, I think the next time I'm tempted to buy a phone only if it has seven megapixels, I'll go
out into the backyard and dig and fill a hole instead.
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