The Consumed Consumer

Corporations infuse their brands with meaning. Personality, personal success, wealth and social advancement, are a few of the artificially added value characteristics that come with a brand. Through the brand, these values attempt to become attached to the personality of the consumer. The changes that have occurred within lifestyle magazines in the last 30 years are inherently linked to major events in politics, economics, technology and marketing. For a brief history of the main media and technological events that shaped the last three decades see appendix (1). Lifestyle magazines promote consumption on many levels. Primarily they introduce us to seemingly new ways of consuming. But most importantly, they provide the emotional and mental background to consumption, repackaging the advertised products for specifically targeted groups.