To consume is to be human

Some people say it's wrong to be involved in an industry like market research that supports 'mindless, rampant consumerism'. Those sorts of comments used to make me feel bad about myself. I struggled to defend myself but it was hard. After all I helped launch many successful supermarket products and improve many a service offering, all designed to make people buy more and spend more. It made me think, 'shouldn't I be using my skills to improve the world?'

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This notion led me to stop working in market research agencies with commercial clients and switch to working for a social research agency with government clients. I've since branched out on my own and now get to work across both sectors. Do you want to know what I've learned? What I say now to those people who think I'm at least partly responsible for the preoccupation our society has with buying goods and services. 

Human beings have consumption built into their DNA. To be human is to consume. As human beings we consume oxygen, love, affection. Goods and services are natural extensions. People love some brands and products as much as they love some people, and no wonder. The same mechanisms being triggered by goods and services are the same mechanisms that keep us alive, keep us connected, and keep us happy.

As a researcher my job isn't to judge, to say what is right or wrong. My job is to observe, ask questions, listen to answers and report findings and develop insights. However after 13 years of studying people I have to say there isn't anything wrong with consumerism, or consumers for that matter. It's just how we are. ​