Subject File OUR CONSUMER SOCIETY

 Ex. 1: Reflect on your personal shopping behaviour. Complete the sentence starters.

Ex. 2: Complete the gap fill exercise below with concepts from the box.

1. Shopping is also called ________________ (1) because it can cure a bad mood and reduce sadness. Making ___________________ (2) can people make feel instantly happier. Scientists say it is about the whole experience: entering a store, browsing the collections, and buying what you like.
2. ___________________ (3) is a chemical, also known as a feel-good chemical. Every time we go shopping, it is released. Even scrolling through shopping sites online releases this chemical.
3. An issue however is how much we spend on shopping. Many people are of the opinion why earn money if it can’t be spent. This, however, may lead to regrets and retail therapy then becomes ___________________ (4): You may feel instant contentment with your purchases; this happiness does not last, though, if you have spent more money than you can afford.
4. Many people __________________ (5) on their shopping behaviour because they lose control and shopping becomes ___________________(6). ________________ (7) is a behaviour which helps to focus on the experience without making purchases.
5. If control over one’s shopping behaviour is lost, retail therapy becomes ____________________ (8) when it is used to deal with stress or __________________ (9).
6. Retail therapy is about control over your spending, retail addiction makes you shop even if you can’t afford to. As a result, a feeling of ____________________________ (10) may set in. Shopping addiction has yet not been acknowledged as a mental disorder. Nonetheless, it is also called ___________________ (11) (BSD) or_____________________ (12) (CBD). 

Ex. 3: Watch the video and compare your answers. 

Gravitas plus: Is shopping really therapeutic?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KO4CMGW3KAQ

Ex. 4: Analyse the reasons for online shopping.

https://illuminationconsulting.com/top-reasons-websites-loose-sales/reasons-for-shopping-online-chart/

Ex. 5: Learn more about payment methods and find the translations for each concept in your own language.

	English	Definition
1	debit card	a plastic card that can be used to take money directly from your bank account when you pay for something
2	cash	tangible items which are used a means of payment
3	credit card	a small plastic card that you can use to buy goods and services and pay from them later
4	international money transfer	transferring money to a bank account overseas via a service provider
5	bank transfer	a payment from one’s bank account to someone else’s without using cash
6	direct debit order	an instruction to your bank to allow somebody else to take an amount of money from your account on a particular date, especially to pay bills
7	online/mobile banking	customers do their banking via the secured website of their banking facility, using a customer number and a password
8	prepaid cards	debit or credit cards which can be charged with an amount in advance
9	mobile wallets	contact-free payment on the Internet or at the checkout with the smartphone, watches or stickers
10	ATMs/cash machines	a machine in or outside a bank, shop, etc., from which you can get money from your bank account using a special plastic card
11	stored online payments/wallets	online service for storage of money or payments, used for smaller and medium amounts, frequently for online shopping

KEY

Ex. 2: 

(1) retail therapy; (2) purchases; (3) dopamine; (4) transitory; (5) go broke; (6) compulsive; (7) window shopping; (8) retail addiction; (9) anxiety; (10) buyer’s remorse/guilt; (11) Buying-Shopping disorder; (12) compulsive buying disorder

Ex. 5: 

1 Bankomatkarte; 2 Bargeld; 3 Kreditkarte; 4 Auslandsüberweisung; 5 Banküberweisung; 6 Lastschrifteinzug/SEPA-Mandat; 7 Bankgeschäfte über das Internet; 8 aufladbare Kredit-/Bankomatkarten; 9 mobile Brieftasche; 10 Bankomat; 11 Online Bezahldienst