This text addresses the issue of consumerism and some of its impacts on consumer culture and behavior, the structure of local markets, and the relationship between corporations and customers, in the case of Brazil. It draws on some questions arisen from a comparative study on consumerism in Brazil, the USA and some Western European countries, carried out by the author previously (Taschner, 1995...

In her article "Contemporary US-American Satire and Consumerism (Crews, Coupland, Palahniuk)" J.C. Lee focuses on contemporary satire's potential (or lack thereof) for change, reform, or rebellion through an investigation of works by Harry Crews, Douglas Coupland, and Chuck Palahniuk, all of which target consumerism. The said writers employ satire not to initiate rebellion or cultural change, b...

With the expansion of consciousness driven by further discovery and creation of the digital realm, scholars have witnessed the birth of societal structures and cultures, originally found in the physical realm, within the digital realm. This has been documented mainly in the creation of communities within MMORPGs and synthetic worlds 1 [1]. Although these communities are defined as being based a...

We investigate the empirical evidence that firms abate their pollution in response to green consumerism facilitated by dissemination of information through toxic release inventories. Lacking direct observational data on the extent of green consumerism, we construct an indirect method to elicit its effect on pollution abatement. Assuming that environmentally-motivated consumers cannot attribute ...

The spread ofAmerican-style "consumerism" is a burning global issue today. The most visible symbols of American consumerism, large enterprises like Wal-Mart and McDonald's, attract vitriolic attacks in many parts of the world. Political conflict in Europe (and elsewhere) turns largely on the question of whether legal systems everywhere must inevitably follow the American model. Despite the glob...

The ultimate aim of health care policy is good care at good prices. Managed care failed to achieve this goal through influencing providers, so health policy has turned to the only market-based option left: treating patients like consumers. Health insurance and tax policy now pressure patients to spend their own money when they select health plans, providers, and treatments. Expecting patients t...

The issues raised by Ian Kennedy in the course of his 1980 Reith Lectures on medical ethics are also of concern to Great Britain's Patients Association. Ackroyd, as Chairman of the Association, does not however share Kennedy's view that the consumerism model for regulating abuses is appropriate to medical care. She would prefer to have the Health Service Commissioner authorized to investigate...