The Costs and Benefits of Consuming

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The Costs and Benefits of ConsumingMIHALY CSIKSZENTMIHALYI*Consuming is defined as behavior whereby entropy is increased in exchange forexistential or experiential rewards. Existential rewards are well known-for example,the satisfaction of Maslowian needs. But experiential rewards are perhapsjust as important: these refer to the temporary improvement in positive mood peopleexperience when they are acting in goal-directed, purposeful ways. Consuming isone way for obtaining such experiences. It is suggested that in order to evaluatethe impact of consuming it is necessary to measure the entropy costs of thebehavior balanced against the psychic benefits it provides.A lmost half a century ago, the social philosopherHannah Arendt warned that advances in technologyand the increase in free time were providing humankindwith the opportunity to consume the whole world. "That. . . consumption is no longer restricted to the necessitiesbut, on the contrary, mainly concentrates on the superfluitiesof life . .. harbors the grave danger that eventually no objectof the world will be safe from consumption and annihilationthrough consumption" (Arendt 1958). At the time these linesmay have sounded like hyperbole. But recent calculationssuggest that if the rest of the world's population was todevelop a lifestyle approaching that of the United States orof Western Europe, at least two additional planets such asours would have to be harnessed to provide the requiredenergy and materials. Humans now consume 40 percent ofall the net photosynthesized biomass produced on the planet,with the developed countries consuming at rates that areoften tenfold those of countries with less developedeconomies (Henderson 1999). Since at this time we haveno access to two spare planets to exploit, we should look*Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is currently the C. S. and D. J. DavidsonProfessor at the Peter Drucker School of Management of the ClaremontGraduate University in Claremont, CA, where he also directs the Qualityof Life Research Center. Previously he was professor of psychology at theUniversity of Chicago for 30 years. He is best known for his books Flow(1990), Creativity (1996), and Finding Flow (1997). Professor Csikszentmihalyiis a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, theAmerican Academy of Education, and the Hungarian Academy of Science.Address correspondence to the author at 1021 N. Dartmouth Avenue, Claremont,CA 91711; e-mail: miska@cgu.edu.267more closely at what leads us to consume, in order to betterunderstand what motivates this behavior. It is noexaggeration to say that the future of the world may dependon it.There are many ways to define "consuming," dependingon what aspect of the phenomenon one wishes to highlight.In the present case, I wish to bring attention to the mostinclusive context in which consuming could be viewed: thatof the physical consequences of the process in terms ofenergy exchange. From this point of view, a definition mightrun as follows: Consuming consists of energy expended toimprove the quality of life by means of increasing entropy.In other words, consuming entails an exchange of psychicenergy (usually in its symbolic form, i.e., money) for objectsor services that satisfy some human need. These objects arerelatively high in potential energy to begin with, but throughthe process of consuming they are broken down into uselessthings with low potential energy.This definition seems paradoxical in that entropy or thedecay of ordered systems and objects to more random stateswith less potential energy is a natural process for whichno energy input is usually needed. The Second Law ofThermodynamics specifies that with time entropy mustincrease in all closed systems. So why are we willing topay for something that would happen anyway? Why do wego to great lengths hastening the onset of disorder in theuniverse? The answer is, of course, that we expect to benefitin certain ways from increasing entropy.For example, the steer that produced the rare steak onebuys at the supermarketook a great deal of effort and energy? 2000 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc. 0 Vol. 27 0 September 2000All rights reserved. 0093-5301/2001/2702-0008$03.00
268 JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCHto raise, feed, butcher, and transport. It contains a relativelyhigh number of calories, proteins, and other substances thatcan be transformed into work. Because of this, it has acertain value. After the steak is consumed, however, itsmaterials are broken down into waste with low potentialenergy and no value.But as the food is transformed into waste, energy isliberated and transferred to the consumer. So the process ofeating is not wasteful because the energy that went into theproduction of the steak goes to increase the diner's energy(however, one might point out that compared to eating otherfoods, eating steaks is relatively more wasteful). By contrast,most consumption provides little or no return of this kindto the consumer. Let us imagine, for instance, a father whofeels the need to demonstrate his love for his small son bybuying an expensive electric car for his birthday. Buildingthe car took some raw materials, manufacturing effort, agreat deal of marketing, salesmanship, and transportationcosts. The price tag took a not indifferent bite out of thefather's pocketbook. For a few hours the boy plays with thecar, and father and son have some mildly pleasant time outof it. But soon the novelty wears off. The car does not runwell on the carpet or the sidewalk, so the boy takes it outmore and more rarely. Now it sits in the basement, a uselesshulk slowly turning to rust, taking up space. Is the result ofsuch consumer behavior a net increase in entropy or not?Of course if one took into account the entire cycle ofproduction and consumption we might see a differentpicture. Production entails a negentropic activity one thattakes raw materials and turns them into useful goods. Yetproduction also creates disorder in the planetary system:agrobusiness leaves dangerous chemical residues andwashes away fertile topsoil; manufacture creates pollutantsand exhausts limited natural resources. So to calculate thenet effect of consumption one first needs to add up thepositive outcomes: the increase in order due to productiveprocesses, and the improvement in the quality of life. Thenone should subtract from this the negative outcomes: theentropy caused by the processes of production, and theentropy caused by using up the goods produced. If the resultis negative, it means that consumption is accelerating therate of decay; if positive, it suggests that it helps theevolution of order in the universe. In the present essay, Iam going to focus only on one term of this equation: howdoes consumption improve the quality of life?HOW CONSUMER BEHAVIOR MEETSEXISTENTIAL NEEDSBecause consumer behavior is largely driven by the desireto satisfy needs that have been programmed in our mindseither by the genes we inherit or the memes' we learn from'A "meme" is a concept introduced by the British biologist RichardDawkins (1976) to refer to programmed behavioral units that are learned,rather than inherited genetically. It derives from the Greek word for imitation,mimesis. Several writers have found the concept useful for describingthe production, selection, and transmission of cultural information (e.g.,Blackmore 1999: Csikszentmihalyi 1993; Wright 2000).the culture in which we live, it is useful to start the analysiswith a consideration of human needs. Of the many taxonomiesdeveloped by psychologists, the one by AbrahamMaslow (1968, 1971) is one of the most succinct, and onethat is familiar to students of consumer behavior (Kilbourne1987). The model involves only five factors or levels, andit is reasonably comprehensive. We might, therefore, use itto help with a preliminary classification of what motivatesconsumer behavior.The "Lower" Needs: Survival and SafetyAccording to Maslow's theory, the most basic needs thatmotivate a person are physiological survival needs: to eat,drink, have sex, breathe, sleep, be warm, and eliminate.When these needs are not met, the person will turn all ofhis or her psychic energy to the task of satisfying them. Butas soon as these needs are met, a "higher" set of needs willusually attract a person' s attention. A great deal of consumerbehavior is directed to satisfy survival needs: food, clothing,and shelter being paramount. However, as we shall see later,rarely does a product or service satisfy only basic needs; itis more usual for a whole range of lower and higher needsto be involved in every consumer exchange.Next on Maslow's hierarchy are safety needs: to live ina stable, predictable environment and to be free of anxiety.Many consumer decisions are prompted by safety needs,from buying a house in a "good" neighborhood to buyinga handgun or antidepressant drugs. Other exchanges, includingpaying to get an advanced academic degree, or investingin retirement annuities, are also prompted at leastin part by the desire to achieve security.Love and BelongingMidpoint in Maslow's scheme, the need for love andbelonging is rooted in our fear of isolation and loneliness.Social animals like humans are genetically programmed toseek out the company of other members of the species. Whenalone (and especially when no pressing task demands attention),the quality of experience for most people declines;depression and bad mood take over (Csikszentmihalyi1991). In addition to this generic need for human company,human beings have also evolved a more specific desire tobe close and to share the experiences of one or a few otherpersons, usually of the opposite sex. Thus, a need for affection,to love and be loved, is also fundamental to humanmotivation.The implications of this set of needs for consumer behaviorare many and diverse. For example, bars, restaurants,sport arenas, museums, and concert halls provide opportunitiesto mix with others, to see and be seen. The entireentertainment industry is predicated on experiencing goodtimes vicariously in the company of virtual fellow revelers.The psychic energy of consumers is targeted with ads thatshow masses of young people partying on beaches or inbars. If you buy this product, the subtext says, you will nothave to be alone ever again.
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