The Society of Consumption as a Source of Social and Spiritual Risks

The society of consumption (another name – consumer society), as it is studied and understood in modern scientific literature, is a complex and ambiguous phenomenon. On the one hand, the society of consumption is associated with the domination of material values over spiritual ones, on the other hand, they say that the main objects of consumption are not material things themselves, but their symbolic and social significance, i.e. the intangible dimension of the material world. Consumer society is a complex, ambiguous and internally contradictory social system that cannot be reduced to satisfying a mindless passion for entertainment. It is based on the paradigm of “good life” as the highest value which defines the consumer strategies of a person, connected with the desire to acquire the “best” not only for themselves, but also for others, to expand their life opportunities. In everyday life the rationality of behaviour is increased due to the need to study the characteristics and choice of the desired product, to master its functions in the use. The influence of consumer society on human behaviour does not always have a direct effect, but is due to the consumption standards set for a person by the social (“reference”) group to which he or she aspires to belong.