Introduction
This paper is about overconsumption and Black Friday influence in the market. The term overconsumption refers to the situation where utilization of natural resources is more than the current ability to generate more (Ardley & May, 2020). When overconsumption is experienced for a long time, it is difficult to have wealth distributed evenly. This issue is driven by numerous factors like the fluctuating global economy and such forces as consumerism, unstable business metrics, obsolescence, among other factors. Overconsumption usually parallels the discussion of population size and growth. The number of people demanding for higher quality of life may require a uniform generating model for natural resources.
Linking Overconsumption with Black Friday and Influencers
Some measures can be put to help understand the quantification of overconsumption. For example, buying three packets of French fries by one person in a day is considered overconsuming (Stevens, 2022). This may be true if people have become obsessed with items that they will consume tremendously. In such cases, the quality of life is at risk due to commoditization since people use a substitute for elements in market (Stevens, 2022). Overconsuming these three packets means there might be issues with societal stratification (Ardley & May, 2020). Consumers will be concerned about reaching the admirable social class that makes them to be respected in the society (Ardley & May, 2020). Thus, people need to regulate consumerism in terms of quality of goods demanded in the society.
Black Friday involves retailers offering steep discounts on items to mark the start of a given event, such as the Christmas holiday. The day is the busiest shopping day in a year and mostly benefits the jewelers and retailers operating in the telecommunication field (Saura et al., 2020). There is a link between Black Friday and overconsumption: Black Friday is a promoting factor to overconsumption (Nawaz & Khan, 2020). In this case, the market may be characterized by unnecessary and unwanted cheap goods from an unsustainable economy (Saura et al., 2020). There has been a concern to stop the notion about Black Friday as it makes the economy weaken (Nawaz & Khan, 2020). Although many companies usually adore profit margins due to the increased volume of sales, the day stimulates horses of buyers due to the price reduction (Stevens, 2022). Therefore, Black Friday increases consumerism, which leads to overconsumption for given resources in the market.
Black Friday comes first as it is a notion in people’s minds, which has been taken as fashion across globally. Companies are aware of the day and tend to overproduce, expecting purchases to be high (Nawaz & Khan, 2020). There is a lack of conscious consumerism on Black Friday, which means there is no adherence to ethical consumption (Ardley & May, 2020). Thus, Black Friday may lead to supply chain issues, which costs an economy a notable margin.
Influencers, reputable people known to many, seem to impact society in terms of the market and other factors. These people have been key to determining people’s behaviors and traits in all fields. As of 2019, 57% of the average consumer’s total consumption is based on a recommendation from influencers (Chopra et al., 2021, p.78). The figure increases to 69% for millennials as it might be that people like associating themselves with celebrities (Saura et al., 2020, p. 194). Influencers can be linked with overconsumption since they bring the notion that some goods are worth being purchased more than others. For example, YouTube children vloggers have led to overconsumption of toy products caused by the adverts played before their videos (De Veirman et al., 2019). Such items are on demand due to the class that they are related with them. Therefore, influencers in these companies recommend goods, making consumers rush to get the same from the market. This factor leads to overconsumption because people demand goods that serve the same purpose as others of a similar class.
Influencers seem to come first before overconsumption, and the reason is that influencers have to grow their popularity before influencing the buying behavior in the market (De Veirman et al., 2019). Overconsumption follows as people are keen to observe what is recommended by these influencers to get them in the market (Chopra et al., 2021). The minds of people depend on what influencers say. There is a need to standardize the ideologies about a specific flow of goods and services regarding consumerism.
The interaction between overconsumption can be elaborated by using two factors. First, the commercialization of products in media has enabled overconsumption issues as personalities are seen in ads popularizing a given product (Saura et al., 2020). Second is the personal preferences as some influencers usually recommend some goods to the people depending on the efficacy of use and impact after purchasing. Therefore, the interaction is felt when influencers recommend immensely on use goods based on business moves or personal experience with such items. Influencers usually promote overconsumption as they can easily manipulate many people in the public domain (Saura et al., 2020). For example, social media fuels consumerism for fashion as brands sell more products by utilizing this platform. This has been widely seen in some brands, such as Gucci, which is highly preferred over other brands due to the effect of influencers (De Veirman et al., 2019). Thus, overconsumption is affected by the influencers, and it takes buyers’ decisions to follow suit with what celebrities do concerning consumerism.
On overall basis, influencers lead to overconsumption, and during Black Friday as well. Many companies are aware that influencers play a key role in sales volumes. Therefore, a firm takes one public figure and uses them to advertise their discounted goods on Black Friday. As a result, people will tend to rush to retail stores to pick items unnecessarily due to their influence in media and other platforms concerning the goods (Mair & Rathert, 2021). Influencers use enticing language to present their point from their area of specialization. For example, a popular musician can influence the type of clothing for millennials even if it does not promote decency in society. In this case, it is common to find many young people affined to such dressing codes. Particularly, some companies may produce fashionable clothes, and overconsumption will be evident if influencers take part in the marketing paraphernalia (Stevens, 2022). Therefore, influencers usually determine the aspect of overconsumption due to the patterns observed in the consumerism of some products over others.
Conclusion
Overconsumption means acquiring goods and services more than the generative ability. In the market, overconsumption can occur due to the presence of influencers who can take part in merchandizing portfolios on Black Friday. Overconsumption leads to unethical consumerism as people do not critically evaluate the decisions before buying some goods or services. Influencers generally lead to overconsumption because they can reach a significant number of consumers in the market. Therefore, overconsumption is linked with Black Friday and influencers.
References
Ardley, B., & May, C. (2020). Ethical marketer and sustainability: Facing the challenges of overconsumption and the market. Strategic Change, 29(6), 617-624. Web.
Chopra, A., Avhad, V., & Jaju, A. S. (2021). Influencer marketing: An exploratory study to identify antecedents of consumer behavior of millennials. Business Perspectives and Research, 9(1), 77-91. Web.
De Veirman, M., Hudders, L., & Nelson, M. (2019). What is influencer marketing and how does it target children? A review and direction for future research. Frontiers in Psychology, 10(6), 4. Web.
Mair, J., & Rathert, N. (2021). Alternative organizing with a social purpose: Revisiting institutional analysis of market-based activity. Socio-Economic Review, 19(2), 817-836. Web.
Nawaz, N., & Khan, O. (2020). Black friday and consumer misbehavior: A qualitative analysis of Pakistan’s Black Friday sale. Journal of Management Information, 7(3), 179-191. Web.
Saura, J. R., Reyes-Menendez, A., de Matos, N., Correia, M. B., & Palos-Sanchez, P. (2020). Consumer behavior in the digital age. Journal of Spatial and Organizational Dynamics, 8(3), 190-196. Web.
Stevens, C. (2022). A conspiracy theory of unsustainable over-consumption. Secrets and Conspiracies, 2(5), 206-237. Web.