Consumerism in Venezuela

Venezuela is the country with soaring figures of consumerism in South America and the world in general. According to figures, Venezuela consumes more Blackberry phones than any other country in the world and more the Brazil and Mexico combined.

Pretty much everyone has a Blackberry or another expensive phone. Blackberry phones signal fortune and wealth. If you have one you are definitely going to be taken care more seriously.

Kids from as young as the tender age of 10 own Blackberry phones. But also the poor of the country are not behind. In fact there are stories of people who will say they don’t have money but buy Blackberry phones because of the pervasive pressure to go with times.

But this consumerism doesn’t stop here. It goes along way up to the clothes, shoes and cars. Moda is very important for the Venezuelan people and the malls are always loaded with consumers who go out with bags and bags of newly purchased merchandise.

But not just in the expensive malls will you find shopaholics. In the downtown famed for its affordability is where consumers swam the shops like bees, ladies purchasing shoes and men new shirts.

As I pass the narrow closed street of 20^th Avenue where shops are lined up on each side, I am not shocked anymore to be bumping with thousands of shoppers tagging along their kids for a Saturday of new shoes and the like.

The clothes shops filled with shoppers display goods on sale with 50% discount of some selected merchandise. These shops have employed people special to speak on loud speakers attracting customers with the sweetest words.

And so as the day dies off, I have managed to buy boxers of about US$15, three pairs of socks of US$2, a bag of about US$15 and a cheap cologne from a seller who couldn’t stop talking of about US$10.

This is part of the lives of many of the Venezuelans.

But why such consumerism?

With the world riding on waves of consumerism and acquisition of material goods to exhibit a better than average living standard, Venezuela is also riding on the same waves.

But we need to understand the culture of Venezuelans and Latinos in general. Latinos take a more than normal pride in the clothes they wear, the neighborhood they live, cars they drive and the schools where their children attend.

There is an internal competition among family members to acquire the best of the best. Women are pushing to get the latest trends of clothes, better than their friends’.

Men are not behind, in fact for many one can judge their very strong sense of metrosexuality. They live to look sharp which might mean spending a little time in the gym getting those biceps right and hitting the saloon for a good haircut even manicure and pedicure.

This is not the country where dressing shabby is encouraged. There is almost a sense of pressure to look good.

But that’s not the end of the story. The merchandise entering the Venezuelan land is of very cheap quality. A friend of mine demonstrated this using the shoes she bought.

After buying the shoes which cost her US$15 she was able to wear them for three weeks before the soles broke under the weather. She had to go back and buy another pair which managed to last a month before she went back again.

This is the story for most of the Venezuelans. Due to the low quality, they are forced to make new purchases quickly and within short spans. But the sad story is that they go back to the same shops and buy the same type of shoes.

In expensive malls where merchandises are original and prices tend to be high with uncurbed inflation, a few will like to make their purchases there thus ending up in downtown where goods are cheaper but of unspeakable quality.

Someone told me another reason why the country is very consumeristic. Following inflation prices which soar every month, when there is an offer or one encounters a shop selling at a cheaper price one is forced to make the purchases because tomorrow the prices might hike up.

Venezuelans are riding on the waves of anticipation of increase in cost of living which makes them live for today and tomorrow for tomorrow. The cycle never stops.