The world is becoming increasingly consumer oriented and people are attaching more importance to materialistic objects such as articles of fashion, items of luxury and the like. It is no surprise then that we hear saddening stories of people running into huge amounts of debt purchasing unnecessary things sometimes even knowing that they cannot possibly pay for them. I feel that this negative trend is mainly caused by “clever” advertising together with the accessibility of bank loans to the general public and requires certain steps to discourage them from doing so. Most commercial organizations - in search of profit – usually resort to different ways of convincing potential customers into buying their products or services. The techniques that they employ are varied and mostly aimed at tricking buyers into making unintended purchases. Mobile phone producers, for example, mainly target low- and mid-incomeindividuals by portraying glamorous lives of people that use their produce and thus

The world is becoming increasingly consumer oriented and people are attaching more importance to materialistic objects such as articles of fashion, items of luxury and the like. It is no surprise then that we hear saddening stories of people running into huge amounts of debt purchasing unnecessary things sometimes even knowing that they cannot possibly pay for them. I feel that this negative trend is mainly caused by “clever” advertising together with the accessibility of bank loans to the general public and requires certain steps to discourage them from doing so. Most commercial organizations - in search of profit – usually resort to different ways of convincing potential customers into buying their products or services. The techniques that they employ are varied and mostly aimed at tricking buyers into making unintended purchases. Mobile phone producers, for example, mainly target low- and mid-incomeindividuals by portraying glamorous lives of people that use their produce and thus implying that “the lucky possessor” would also have the same feelings upon purchasing the product. Product promotion campaigns, celebrity endorsements, special offers such as two items for the price of one are all intended at persuading customers to reach for their wallets even if they do not need these items in the first place. No wonder businesses pour millions of dollars into research of shoppers buying habits to generate increased sales. This problem is further exacerbated by an easy access to credit cards and bank loans. Some banks issue higher-limit credit cards and offer consumer loans with low-interest rates without even checking person’s credit record or sufficient liquidity. It is common to see mini branches of certain banks within shopping premises where customers can easily open a bank account in minutes as long as they show their IDs to do so. This availability coupled with wise marketing usually result in uncontrolled shopping and therefore creating problems unforeseen for the card holder. There are, however, a number of measures that could help to discourage this unhealthy shopping habit. Firstly, making people aware of the possible outcomes of their negative shopping behavior would be one solution to tackle the issue. If people are informed about the way companies use marketing gimmicks, to some extent they would be immune to these types of influences while doing their shopping. Teaching children financial management would also be beneficial in the long-run as good habits as well as bad ones tend to develop at an early age. A further preventative measure could be to introduce stricter laws stipulating the necessity for banks to tighten the process of granting loans on everyday spending purposes. If otherwise, banks will definitely continue their dishonest practices causing many more people to incur heavy debts. Consumer driven market whether it provides financial services or consumer products will always seek the ways of accumulating profits often prioritizing their own interest over the customers’. Raising awareness among the public and holding banks accountable for their actions, I believe, could hopefully help people make sensible decisions on money matters.