The Impact of Technology on Consumerism
Technology is growing at a very fast rate resulting to new cultures as well trends on goods and services. We are in a new era, the information age with an estimated number of internet users being over 4 billion worldwide. This has enhanced the growth in technological advancements. Technological advancements have changed how people purchase goods on services especially with the growth of E-commerce affecting the relationship between the technology and the society (David). Traditional retailers and other product suppliers have been forced to develop new strategies to better compete in the evolved marketplace. Some of these strategies include creation of virtual stores and the use of social networks to collect data about their consumers. In this article I will discuss how the advancements in technology have impacted on the consumerism and the resulting nomadic and mobile global community.
In history, we have had a relationship between human beings and tools and commerce over centuries. For instance, railroads is a good example of impacts of technology on the economy. Throughout the history, railroads greatly shaped the American cities. According to MacKenzie and Wajcman, technology changes are associated with a changing society (David). For instance, railroads enabled Americans to travel from coast to coast paving a way to the emergence of metropolitan areas.
The proliferation of trade links between the New World and the European continent which began in the 16th century contributed to a rise of the consumer consciousness (David). Later, the beginning of industrialisation contributed to a further consumer growth leading to an increase in the purchasing power among the working class. This trend serves as a clear evidence that the buyer-seller relationship is not the only thing that has shaped the consumer society but technology has larger contribution. Therefore, technology is a key player that promotes cultural transformations.
For the past decades, globalization and the e-commerce have created a free and open space for both commercial goods and services (David). E-commerce has the potential of connecting everything related to commercial and business activities through the use of internet.
In conclusion, the development of e-commerce has primarily been dependent on the advancement in technology as well as other social factors. Technology is the tool that allows people both in private and public sectors to create an online business model. Technologies such as data science and machine learning have allowed for a more personalised online experience where retailers are able to study and analyse purchase trends by their consumers.
Works cited
Naranjo, David. “The Impact of Technology on Consumerism.” (2015).