Homo consumericus

Homo consumericus (mock Latin for consumerist person) is a neologism used in the social sciences, notably by Gad Saad in his book: The Evolutionary Bases of Consumption and by Gilles Lipovetsky in Le Bonheur Paradoxal.[2][3] According to these and other scholars the phenomenon of mass consumption could be compared to certain traits of human psychology described by evolutionary scientists pointing out similarities between Darwinian principles and consumer behaviour.[4][5] Lipovetsky has noted that modern times have brought about the rise of a third type of Homo consumericus, who is unpredictable and insatiable.[6]

Modern malls have been described as the new "cathedrals of consumption."[1]

A similar expression "Homo Consumens" was used by Erich Fromm in Socialist Humanism, written in 1965.[7] There Fromm wrote on Homo consumens: "Homo consumens is the man whose main goal is not primarily to own things, but to consume more and more, and thus to compensate for his inner vacuity, passivity, loneliness, and anxiety."

The expression "Homo Consumens" was used by several other authors, including Mihailo Marković.[8]

See also

References
  1. Clay, Grady (February 17, 1985). "Cathedrals of Consumption: The Malling of America". The New York Times.
  2. Gad Saad, The Evolutionary Bases of Consumption (Routledge, 2007) ISBN 0-8058-5149-6
  3. Gilles Lipovetsky, Le bonheur paradoxal, Essai sur la société d'hyperconsommation, (éditions Gallimard, 2006)
  4. Jill M. Sundie 'Where is Homo Consumericus', Contemporary Psychology: APA Review of Books (2007) Archived July 6, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  5. George Siomkos, 'Homo Consumericus: The Coming of the Post-Modern Consumer', Marketing Week , Special Issue No. 1.000, April 5, 2004
  6. Detrás del Telón – Homo Consumericus Archived September 5, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  7. Erich Fromm, "The Application of Humanist Psychoanalysis to Marx's Theory" in Erich Fromm (ed.), Socialist Humanism: An International Symposium, Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1965, p. 214.
  8. Mihailo Marković, “Economism or the Humanization of Economics”, Praxis, international edition, 1969, no. 3-4, p. 452.
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