The American Culture
The American culture incorporates United States’ traditions and customs. Culture is defined as the beliefs and values held by a particular society.
Nonetheless, the cultural outlook of the country is associated with various inputs from different groups that have different social backgrounds and experiences. The US is one of the most diverse countries in the world, which means that many sub-cultures have merged to create the American culture. One of the significant aspects of the culture is consumerism promulgated by advertising and marketing strategies targeting American society. However, there are some divisive lines, such as income levels, social status, and ethnicity. Regardless of the divisions in the culture, it is apparent that the American culture is one of the most dynamic and is influenced by various aspects of the community.
One of the values held by the American culture is that of consumerism. Tersely, consumerism is driven by the fact most of the individuals who live in the US are influenced by various economic and social factors to indulge in multiple consumption habits that have been one of the hallmarks of the culture. In this regard, there are several factors that have led to high levels of consumerism in the market. For instance, advertising is one of the factors that has convinced a lot of people about the need to spend their money. While various government agencies highly regulate advertising, it has continued to sway people’s purchasing decisions (Berger, 2015). Moreover, the advertisers have devised strategies that convince individuals that they need a particular product or service. In the event that the target population does not need the commodities being marketed, the adverts also convince them that they are missing out on something crucial to society. On this note, firms have used advertising and marketing strategies to drive consumerism among Americans. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
On this note, Americans have been found to identify themselves with particularhttps://studygroom.com/why-vote/ products that they use and inclined to purchase them. For instance, the iPhone has been found to be one of the most popular smartphones in the market. Precisely, the marketing strategies applied by Apple emphasizes to the Americans the importance of using American brands. On this note, American society has been influenced by the need to ascertain that domestic products seem to be superior. Looking into the influence of America internationally, American companies have capitalized on American consumerism to spread the popularity of their products across all regions of the world. Nonetheless, American consumerism has been influential in ascertaining that the economy of the country has been flourishing. Some of the largest and most valued companies are American. For example, McDonald’s has thrived on consumerism and is considered one of the largest fast-food chains in the world. On this note, consumerism has had positive effects on the economy of the United States because of the increased economic activities in the country.
Closely related to consumerism is the divisions evident in different areas of the United States. In this regard, various divisions are evident in the American Society. For instance, affluent people have identified their particular residents, which do not encourage other people to visit them. In the residents where rich people abound, there is access to high-quality services. In this regard, the American consumerism has spread the event to the social and economic status and has been deeply differentiated. Consequently, some of the producers and retailers have identified the locations where they can thrive. Although most of the firms look for residential areas where people have a higher propensity to spend, the high competition in such areas has had a negative effect on some of the organizations (Brooks, 2000). For instance, while merchandisers such as Nike would thrive in areas such as Manhattan, New York, other brands like TOMS would find relative success in Queens in the same city. Therefore, American consumerism is evident in different spheres of society, which means that businesses have led to a situation where people who are affluent in society are clustered in one place. Furthermore, the location of the popular business in a city also determines the people who want to reside in the neighborhood. Concisely, the location of high-end stores means that rich people are attracted to live in such areas. On the other hand, low-income households are located in areas that are not attractive to large and popular companies. In this regard, consumerism in the United States has led to a situation where individuals are clustered in different areas according to their income levels and social status.
The divisions in America are strongly associated with racial lines. In this regard, race and ethnicity have been identified as a formidable cultural aspect of the community. Racial and ethnicity have also been closely associated with the income levels of many people in the country. For instance, it is apparent that most of the poor people in the country are from minority racial groups, most notably the African American and Native Americans. In contrast, the majority group, the whites, are known to have higher income levels and are regarded as the most successful social group in the country. In this regard, the income division is perpetuated by the fact that most of the minority groups in the country have low-income levels, which have resulted in members of the same race and ethnicity living in the same neighborhoods (Rodriguez, 2000). Therefore, racial sentiments are very prevalent in American culture, and the society is very sensitive to issues associated with race and ethnicity.
On this note, consumerism as a major value of the American cultures has been very influential in shaping society. Concisely, most of the products and services offered in the country are marketed through state of the art advertisements, which has led to a situation where some companies have thrived in different locations around the country. The thriving companies, which have driven consumerism through effective marketing strategies, have identified the locations where they are likely to thrive. Consequently, this has created divisions in the country associated with economic and social status because affluent people look for areas where they can easily access various services. Therefore, many people who have higher income levels usually live in the same suburbs, while people with lower-income residents in the same neighborhoods. In addition, because of the racial issues abundant in the country, income levels are, to a significant extent, determined by the race of an individual. For instance, since most blacks and Native Americans are poor, they tend to live in the same neighborhoods, which does not afford them the ability to access necessary services, unlike the whites who have access to high-quality services such as education and healthcare.