Family Questions for the Final Exam

I never heard from the YELLOW FAMILY as a family, only a couple members. I accepted just one question from Sarah and Adam who submitted a few separately. They will receive 4 (out of 5) points for this exercise, and Melanie and Chris receive no points. I accepted four questions from the BLUE FAMILY, for which those members will receive 5 points for the exercise, plus one bonus point.


SARAH A. & ADAM D. (4pts)

1. In reading The Overspent American and watching the documentary, we learned about the concept of "stretching reference groups." What does this mean? And give an example of it. (2)

ANSWER: Stretching reference groups means comparing your spending and consumption patterns with much higher income groups than your own and aspiring to spend and consume like these higher income groups. Example: average Americans who watch TV shows like "Friends," which clearly distorts how most people in their 20s live and consume and aspiring to be like them.


BLUE FAMILY (Kristen, Jessica, Mary-Elizabeth) (5pts, plus one bonus point)

1. In The Overspent American, Juliet Schor explains that expensive, brandname clothing sells better with a visible logo. What does she say is the reason for this? (2)

ANSWER: The visible branding of clothing broadcasts the purchasing power/success of the person sporting the logo. It is all about status.

2. In Chapter 7 of Consuming Kids, media violence is described as having a lasting, detrimental effect on children. How is media violence affecting children long-term? (2)

ANSWER: Violence on TV and video games is desensitizing them to violence, encouraging such behaviors as bullying and humiliation, and it takes incresingly explicit and provocative images to produce the same rush that less explicit violence once did.

3. What is the "nag factor," and how do advertisers use it? (2)

ANSWER: The nag factor is when children beg and bother their parents until they give in and buy the item the child is nagging them about. Advertisers want to harness the buying power of children by inducing the feeling that they need a product and that they should pressure their parents to buy it for them.

4. Why do many people who cheat believe that they are still good, upstanding citizens and not criminals? (2)

ANSWER: because they believe that since "everybody does it" this justifies their cheating to get what they deserve or get even in a corrupt system. Or they may believe they are just playing by the unwritten "rules."

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That's it. Make sure to copy these questions and answers and study them, because they will be on the test. See you Thursday morning, 9-12.