THE OVER$PENT AMERICAN

We recently watched a movie titled "The Overspent American" in our Marketing class. The movie, in summary, described the economy as "money hungry" and how everyone strives to be the best in the community.


What are the latest items of conspicuous consumption today? Do we see a continuing trend in what the video identifies as the “overspent American”? How does marketing today play a role in these trends today?

Lately, the biggest thing that America has been spending their money on is Apple products. The iPad, iPhone and even MacBook have all been a growing interest for consumers. Americans across the United States are making these luxury purchases, regardless if they have the money or not. The film discussed how consumers used to not be as competitive and used to purchase luxury items only if they had the money. Nowadays, everyone is competing left and right for the biggest house, biggest car and best clothing. This is causing credit card debt to sky rocket. Marketing today plays a very crucial role in Americans wanting to look the best. In previous years, very little if any, clothing had labels on the outside. Now, everywhere you look teenagers and adults are wearing major designers. The movie described a time that they took 3 of the same t-shirt and put 3 different labels on the outside. They asked consumers to put the t-shirts in order by quality. Instead of realizing that they were all created the same, the consumers ranked them in order of popularity, with Polo being first and Lands End being last. This is a technique that marketers use to get their products into the hands of America. Many people will only buy a certain brand of clothing, car or electronic, regardless of the price. All of this has been causing massive amounts of debt and competition like no other. 


What are your views on consumers "over spending"?