Bringing the World Inside Home: Media, Advertisements and Changing Forms of Consumerism

Abstract

Various historical records have shown the massive impact of epidemics or pandemics such as the Spanish flu (1918) on the sociopolitical–economic scenario of the human world. Such events produce unprecedented shifts in everyday life experiences of laymen, politicians, intellectuals as well as that of the frontline professionals such as medical workers, police and civil servants. These shifts manifest themselves differently in different strata of citizens, re-igniting the debate between elites and masses. The COVID-19 pandemic has created a new hierarchy of needs, leading to transformation in choices of goods and lifestyle. In a neoliberal consumerist world, marketing strategies are apparently informed by these altered habits. During the early 1990s, media had transformed the way one viewed the world. Ever since then, there have been shifts in discourses linking media with politics, economy and culture of a society. India too witnessed a dramatic increase in purchase of products that were otherwise not very familiar names in middle-class Indian households. Subscription to online streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc., over-the-top media platforms is believed to have increased in the past few months due to binge watching of unlimited movies and TV series. (Streaming platforms like Amazon and Netflix witnessed more than 60% growth in subscription during lockdown. The very notion of leisure also changed. The chapter tries to understand the dynamism and fluidity in technology-backed media supported by advertisements, best revealed during times of crisis where they bring the world inside home. It points out the differential experiences of consumers based on their social location in the society, primarily focusing on the heterogenous category of Indian middle class and changing forms of consumerism in today’s digital age. The research is based on a mixed methodology approach, combining both primary as well as secondary data through qualitative hermeneutics and quantitative survey method.

https://www.financialexpress.com/brandwagon/amazon-and-netflix-witnessed-more-than-60-growth-in-subscriber-base-during-lockdown-velocity-mr-study/1965362/ [accessed on 20/06/2020].