Does materialism cause advertising? Or does advertising cause materialism?

Advertising is the cause of most consumerism. Materialism may not be the same thing, as people always want more than they already have.

See above. . Materialism is a philosophy about the nature of Man that is the basis for Marxism. Consumerism is another thing all together.

Materialism is an outgrowth of increasing income and wealth and non-nomadic lifestyles. Advertising is an outgrowth of increasing ability to produce multiples easily and in-expensively. The two got married co-habitated and have had a love-hate relationship ever since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution.

My answer is probably too simplistic, but I’m striving for the first thoughts that pop into my head, since these seem the fairest representation of the state of my knowledge to-date.

I think that the answer is that it is a positive-feedback cycle. Advertising causes more consumerism, while consumerism gives companies even more reason to advertise.

@saint I think that @cma123 is asking about materialism in the economic sense, not the metaphysical sense with which Marx was concerned. The word has meant many things throughout history, and @cma123‘s usage is not at all out of the ordinary.

Advertising is at the base of the materialistic tendencies of our society. Advertising makes people think they ‘need’ the things that are advertised, it creates the ‘I want’. Advertising creates division between the people who can afford the advertised products & those who cannot….. those who cannot afford the advertised products then feel anger & bitterness at their perceived different levels.

Both.
I really don’t see why anyone except me needed more than one word to answer this.

@Zyx Because “it’s a self-reinforcing cycle” explains it better, but isn’t a single word.

Advertising taps into needs and desires which exist already and reinforces them. It plays on people’s insecurities making them think, even though they mostly know better, that if they buy something they will be more attractive, more powerful, and more happy in general. Of course there is an element of truth to this. Money may not buy happiness but it can offer entertainment that eases boredom, beauty products, clothes and services that enhance our attractiveness, etc, etc. Not to mention less tangible consumables like cruises and luxury vacations. Why wouldn’t we want these things?

Advertising seeks to convince us where we should spend our money but the desires are there already. Part of the problem is that our consumerism is fed by the superficiality of some of our current cultural values Too much emphasis is being placed on how people look and what they own and not on the kind of person they are. It’s all style with no substance sometimes. It’s easy for the advertisers to sell us on the fantasy du jour.

We are ultimately responsible for being able to decipher the underlying message and not get suckered into buying things we don’t need for all the wrong reasons. If we cannot improve our track record at making ethical buying decisions concerning fair trade and sustainability our planet is going to be in serious trouble.

Freud called it the pleasure principle. It’s human nature to want what gives us pleasure.

It’s a vicious circle.