🌟 Word of the Day — 5 Rabi’ Al-Awwal 1447 AH, August 29, 2025 ‘Consumerism’ 🌟

Coach Ward

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

4–5 minutes

👋 Introduction

Welcome back to the Business English Word of the Day series! Today’s word is one that touches every corner of modern life: consumerism. At first glance, it may seem like a harmless concept, the idea that people consume, buy, and upgrade. But when you look closer, consumerism is more than just shopping; it is a cultural and economic force that shapes values, identities, and even nations.

📖 What Does “Consumerism” Mean?

Consumerism is both:

1. An economic system that encourages the continual purchase of goods and services.

2. A cultural mindset where value and happiness are equated with ownership, consumption, and material accumulation.

In business, consumerism drives demand, profits, and growth. In society, unchecked consumerism often fuels waste, environmental harm, and spiritual emptiness.

🧬 Word Origin

The word consumer comes from the Latin consumere, meaning “to use up” or “to waste.” Over centuries, this evolved into consumerism, which began as a neutral term for “advocacy of consumer rights” but in the 20th century came to mean a system of excessive consumption and materialism.

🧠 Why Consumerism Matters in Business

For businesses, consumerism is a double-edged sword:

• 📈 It fuels markets — higher demand means greater production and innovation.

• ⚠️ It also creates volatility — when people buy for the sake of buying, bubbles form and crash.

Executives and entrepreneurs must understand consumerism not only to capture markets, but also to lead responsibly, avoiding exploitation of desire at the expense of sustainability.

🙋 Who Uses This Term?

• Economists & policymakers: studying trends of overconsumption.

• Businesses: leveraging consumer behavior to market and sell.

• Social critics & scholars: warning against the emptiness of defining life through possessions.

• Everyday people: whether we realize it or not, we all live inside a consumerist system.

❤️ Coach Ward Reflection

Running Coach Ward Business Solutions places me at a crossroads where I see consumerism daily. Students invest in knowledge, professionals in growth, that’s healthy. But I also see how global business pressures often push people into thinking more is always better, more gadgets, more clothes, more status.

As a Muslim and a believer in Islamic finance, I can’t ignore that unchecked consumerism is one of the great ills of our age. Islam offers two balancing principles:

• Wasatiyyah — balance and moderation.

• Zuhd — not abandonment of the world, but refusing to let the world own your heart. The Prophet ﷺ lived simply, yet fully; he taught us that real wealth is not about accumulation but about contentment.

And Allah reminds us clearly:

“Competition in [worldly] increase diverts you, until you visit the graveyards.” (Surah At-Takathur, 102:1–2)

The Prophet ﷺ reinforced this by saying:

“Wealth does not come from having many possessions. Rather, true wealth is the richness of the soul.” (Sahih Al Bukhari, Sahih Muslim)

Those words cut right to the heart of consumerism.

📌 Examples in Action

• “Consumerism drives holiday sales but also leads to waste.”

• “Social media influencers have accelerated modern consumerism.”

• “A shift away from consumerism toward sustainability is vital for future generations.”

🚀 Your Turn

Reflect today: Do I own my possessions, or do they own me?

Think of one area where you can practice moderation, and notice how freeing it feels to step outside the cycle of consumerism.

👉 Let’s keep growing, one word at a time!