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Consumerism is a phenomenon which lies in the tendency of production and buying ever-greater amounts of different goods and services. It not only has an impact on the lifestyle of individuals, but also determines technological and financial progress of the whole states.

Firstly, consumerism enables people to improve the quality of their lives. As Llewellyn Harrison Rockwell states in his article "In Defense of Consumerism", in 1900 the average life length of women was about 48 years, and of men - 46, but today these indexes are 80 and 77 respectively. This has happened due to the influence of many factors, among which are possibilities to get twenty-four-hour hospital-and home-based medical care, buy high-quality goods, medicines, and to use more safe devises in the working processes. Without the consumerism all this would be impossible as economically unprofitable.

Secondly, consumerism is an effective way of motivation. The temptation to buy a new device, better clothes and tastier food encourages people to earn more money. But for this they should work harder, develop their professional skills and widen their outlook. Moreover, a new purchase itself can become a reason for a person to get some new experience.

Thirdly, the economies of almost all developed countries are based on production of new goods and services. You may not realize it, but the more people buy, the more income the state gets, and the more money can be donated to the social spheres, such as health care, education and culture. So the countries possessing more financial resources provide their citizens with better life conditions.

On the other hand, there is an opinion that consumerism is a kind of a harmful circle, which will not make people's lives better, but will only contribute to an endless competition between all of them. Juliet Bschor, for example, thinks that the rising number of different goods and services available nowadays makes people neither happier nor wealthier. It only makes them work harder in order to earn money for just another nice thing, spending less time with their families and friends, and trying to compensate it with buying new goods. The satisfaction usually does not last long, only till the moment one sees someone else possessing a better or more fashionable thing. But in fact, the issue of social happiness does not depend on services of products that can be bought. It is just a matter of a person's character.

So consumerism can influence society both positively and negatively depending on many factors. But, in general, it has more advantages, because it serves as a basis for development on individual, social and state levels.