Philosophy of futility

Last updated October 18, 2023

Philosophy of futility is a phrase coined in 1928 by Columbia University marketing professor Paul Nystrom to describe an increasingly prevalent outlook which, he believed, induced a greater demand for fashionable products. The growth of industrialization had brought about a narrowing of interests, contacts, and achievements for many people in the Western world. Such conditions of life, Nystrom observed, encourage a tendency to become quickly bored and, consequently, a continual appetite for newness and change and a greater interest in goods in which fashion dominates, such as apparel, automobiles, and home furnishings.

The following is a quotation from Nystrom's Economics of Fashion (1928), often cited by historians and analysts of marketing, consumerism, and commercialism:^[1]

One's outlook on life and its purposes may greatly modify one's attitude toward goods in which fashion is prominent. At the present time, not a few people in western nations have departed from old-time standards of religion and philosophy, and having failed to develop forceful views to take their places, hold to something that may be called, for want of a better name, a philosophy of futility. This view of life (or lack of a view of life) involves a question as to the value of motives and purposes of the main human activities. There is ever a tendency to challenge the purpose of life itself. This lack of purpose in life has an effect on consumption similar to that of having a narrow life interest, that is, in concentrating human attention on the more superficial things in which fashion reigns.^[2]

Philosophy of Futility and Retail Therapy:

Shopping in order to make oneself feel happier is a symptom that is referred to as “retail therapy” in the popular press. The term was first used in the Chicago Tribune of December 24, 1986: "We've become a nation measuring out our lives in shopping bags and nursing our psychic ills through retail therapy". Retail therapy, sometimes observed in people in times of depression or transition, indicates lack of personal purpose, and involves shopping as a therapeutic act that improves the buyer's mood or disposition; therefore, goods purchased during retail therapy are often referred to as "comfort buys."^[3]

The “vicious cycle” in Nystrom's theory can be seen in many economic and philosophical arenas. Robert and Edward Skidelsky, in a father-and-son/economist-and-philosopher writing partnership, discuss that needs are finite and can be satisfied, but wants are infinite in quantity.^[4] Adam Smith, a pioneer in political economy, states his Theory of Moral Sentiments that “Riches leave a man always as much and sometimes more exposed than before to anxiety, to fear and to sorrow.”

Advertising can manipulate those wants, and make them appear as needs by making consumers feel they are not whole or happy without their product.^[5] In his criticism of Christianity, Friedrich Nietzsche said "To act as a physician," he writes, "the priest must make one sick!" For Christianity to appear as the savior, people must first have a problem. Advertising can make their product be the savior of a consumer's problem.

Advertising can be particularly influential on children. Between the ages of 2 and 5, children are unable to distinguish between advertising and scheduled television broadcasts. Many countries have banned advertising targeting children to help avoid marketing saturation, and to allow them time to develop an identity beyond that of a consumer. Child advocates have condemned ads from children's cereals for their lack of nutritional value leading to child obesity to advertising campaigns for action figures based on adult movies or themes. With the average US youth seeing anywhere from 2000 to 3000 ads a day, the content and intent of those ads has increasingly come under scrutiny.^[6]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Advertising</span> Form of communication for marketing, typically paid for

Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a specific good or service, but there are wide range of uses, the most common being the commercial advertisement.

Marketing is the process of identifying customers and "creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging" goods and services for the satisfaction and retention of those customers. It is one of the primary components of business management and commerce.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Junk food</span> Unhealthy food high in sugar or fat

"Junk food" is a term used to describe food that is high in calories from sugar and/or fat, and possibly sodium, making it hyperpalatable, but with little dietary fiber, protein, vitamins, minerals, or other important forms of nutritional value. It is also known as HFSS food. The term junk food is a pejorative dating back to the 1950s. Many different kinds of junk food can be easily found in most supermarkets and fast food restaurants. Because of such easy access to it, people are most likely to consume it.

Consumerism is a social and economic order in which the goals of many individuals include the acquisition of goods and services beyond those that are necessary for survival or for traditional displays of status. Consumerism has historically existed in many societies, with modern consumerism originating in Western Europe before the Industrial Revolution and becoming widespread around 1900. In 1899, a book on consumerism published by Thorstein Veblen, called The Theory of the Leisure Class, examined the widespread values and economic institutions emerging along with the widespread "leisure time" at the beginning of the 20th century. In it, Veblen "views the activities and spending habits of this leisure class in terms of conspicuous and vicarious consumption and waste. Both relate to the display of status and not to functionality or usefulness."

Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and then sells in smaller quantities to consumers for a profit. Retailers are the final link in the supply chain from producers to consumers.

A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic appearance in the middle of the 19th century, and permanently reshaped shopping habits, and the definition of service and luxury. Similar developments were under way in London, in Paris and in New York (Stewart's).

Direct marketing is a form of communicating an offer, where organizations communicate directly to a pre-selected customer and supply a method for a direct response. Among practitioners, it is also known as direct response marketing. By contrast, advertising is of a mass-message nature.

Merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of products to a retail consumer. At a retail in-store level, merchandising refers to displaying products that are for sale in a creative way that entices customers to purchase more items or products.

Consumer behaviour is the study of individuals, groups, or organisations and all the activities associated with the purchase, use and disposal of goods and services. Consumer behaviour consists of how the consumer's emotions, attitudes, and preferences affect buying behaviour. Consumer behaviour emerged in the 1940–1950s as a distinct sub-discipline of marketing, but has become an interdisciplinary social science that blends elements from psychology, sociology, social anthropology, anthropology, ethnography, ethnology, marketing, and economics.

The throw-away society is a generalised description of human social concept strongly influenced by consumerism, whereby the society tends to use items once only, from disposable packaging, and consumer products are not designed for reuse or lifetime use. The term describes a critical view of overconsumption and excessive production of short-lived or disposable items over durable goods that can be repaired, but at its origins, it was viewed as a positive attribute.

Retail media is marketing to consumers at or near their point of purchase, or point of choice between competing brands or products. Common techniques include in-store advertising, online advertising, sampling, loyalty cards and coupons or vouchers.

Marketing ethics is an area of applied ethics which deals with the moral principles behind the operation and regulation of marketing. Some areas of marketing ethics overlap with media and public relations ethics.

Visual merchandising is the practice in the retail industry of optimizing the presentation of products and services to better highlight their features and benefits. The purpose of such visual merchandising is to attract, engage, and motivate the customer towards making a purchase.

Food marketing brings together the food producer and the consumer through a chain of marketing activities.

"Youth Marketing" is a term used in the marketing and advertising industry to describe activities to communicate with young people, typically in the age range of 11 to 35. More specifically, there is teen marketing, targeting people age 11 to 17, college marketing, targeting college-age consumers, typically ages 18 to 24, and young adult marketing, targeting ages 25 to 34.

Toy advertising is the promotion of toys through a variety of media. Advertising campaigns for toys have been criticised for trading on children's naivete and for turning children into premature consumers. Advertising to children is usually regulated to ensure that it meets defined standards of honesty and decency. These rules vary from country to country, with some going as far as banning all advertisements that would be directed at children.

Advertising to children refers to the act of advertising products or services to children as defined by national laws and advertising standards.

Fashion merchandising can be defined as the planning and promotion of sales by presenting a product to the right market at the proper time, by carrying out organized, skillful advertising, using attractive displays, etc. Merchandising, within fashion retail, refers specifically to the stock planning, management, and control process. Fashion Merchandising is a job that is done world- wide. This position requires well-developed quantitative skills, and natural ability to discover trends, meaning relationships and interrelationships among standard sales and stock figures. In the fashion industry, there are two different merchandising teams: the visual merchandising team, and the fashion merchandising team.

Paul Henry Nystrom was an American economist, and professor of marketing at Columbia University. He is most known as pioneer in marketing, and for his The Economics of Retailing (1915) and his Economics of Fashion (1928).

"Pester power", or "the nag factor", as the phenomenon is known in U.S. literature, is the "tendency of children, who are bombarded with marketers' messages, to unrelentingly request advertised items". The phrase is used to describe the negative connotations of children's influence in their parents' buying habits.

References

↑ p. 85, Captains of Consciousness: Advertising and the Social Roots of the Consumer Culture, Stuart Ewen, New York: Basic Books, 1976/2001; p. 18, Our Media, Not Theirs, Robert W. McChesney and John Nichols, New York: Seven Stories Press, 2002.
↑ p. 68, Paul H. Nystrom, 1928, Economics of Fashion, New York: The Ronald Press Company. Emphasis in original.
↑ Story, Louise (2007-01-15). "Anywhere the Eye Can See, It's Likely to See an Ad". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-02-17.
↑ Skidelsky, R., & Skidelsky, How Much Is Enough? Money and the good life. New York: Other Press, 2012.
↑ Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood. “Transformers Marketing: Still not Transformed.” http://commercialfreechildhood.org/transformers-marketing-still-not-transformed-after-16-months-mpaa-still-ignores-ftc-staff%E2%80%99s-request. Retrieved February 2014.
↑ Commonsense Media, “Junk Food Ads and Childhood Obesity,” http://www.parentdish.com/2011/02/14/childhood-obesity/. Retrieved February 2014.

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[Foot01-1] . 85, Captains of Consciousness: Advertising and the Social Roots of the Consumer Culture, Stuart Ewen, New York: Basic Books, 1976/2001; p. 18, Our Media, Not Theirs, Robert W. McChesney and John Nichols, New York: Seven Stories Press, 2002.

[2] . 68, Paul H. Nystrom, 1928, Economics of Fashion, New York: The Ronald Press Company. Emphasis in original.

[Foot02-3] Story, Louise (2007-01-15). "Anywhere the Eye Can See, It's Likely to See an Ad". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-02-17.

[Foot03-4] Skidelsky, R., & Skidelsky, How Much Is Enough? Money and the good life. New York: Other Press, 2012.

[Foot04-5] Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood. “Transformers Marketing: Still not Transformed.” http://commercialfreechildhood.org/transformers-marketing-still-not-transformed-after-16-months-mpaa-still-ignores-ftc-staff%E2%80%99s-request. Retrieved February 2014.

[Foot05-6] Commonsense Media, “Junk Food Ads and Childhood Obesity,” http://www.parentdish.com/2011/02/14/childhood-obesity/. Retrieved February 2014.

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Philosophy of futility

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