The Research, Consumer, Self and Society

The story of Edward Bernays links the unconscious with consumerism and politics in an unfamiliar conjunction. It suggests that part of our self - the unconscious part that we often deny - has been used to help create the consumer society in which our selves are now embedded. This is not necessarily negative - consumerism, capitalism and democracy are closely linked. But this culture provides the background framework for the phenomena we study, and I believe it should also be subjected to critical analysis.

For example, a side effect of establishing this individualistic relationship with brands is that, in the UK particularly, consumers feel disempowered in relation to social issues. In a recent article in Research Magazine ¹¹ , Sarah Castell points out that because brands encourage us to relate differently in different moments of identity, the self becomes fragmented, and personal limits of responsibility and influence are unclear.

Without a culture that emphasises the social contract, British consumers are aware of the ills of consumer society, but feel powerless, ‘because they can no longer participate in any group that can create social constructs.’ She goes on to suggest that brands should extend their corporate social responsibility to enable the consumer to have social responsibility. I would question the willingness and ability of brands to do this, and indeed whether it should be their role.

Personally, I feel increasing discomfort at the idea of working with products that seem to rely on making people more self-centred, impulsive, and overweight into the bargain. The discomfort is enhanced by my own awareness of how I use brands as props for my identity and social currency. From looking closely at the idea of the unconscious we have arrived at some significant questions about our role as qualitative market researchers - are we just helping the economy grow by finding out what people want, or are we implicated in a consumerist mass market ‘engineering of consent’? I used to feel proud of the fact that I was helping consumers to find their voice in society; now I am listening more to those anti-consumerist voices.

What’s the answer? Despite the implications of books like Douglas Rushkoff’s Coercion ¹², I do not believe in the conspiracy theory of consumerism. I don’t feel a need to blame anyone, but I believe we should think about these issues.
 

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