ANALYSIS OF PERSONAL CONSUMPTION:
Deliverable: Excel Document (not numbers), Tem
ANALYSIS OF PERSONAL CONSUMPTION:
Deliverable: Excel Document (not numbers), Template provided: USE THE TEMPLATE IN CANVAS. The Chart is 1 page and Essay can go to in page 2 in Excel or you can upload a separate Essay in Word/PDF (approx 150 words). If you use another program please export as Excel with the correct file extension, or at least a PDF (other formats such as .pages, etc. not accepted).
The 4 walls are spending areas that group important personal consumption. They are grouped as shelter, food, clothing and transportation. Each group is divided by utilitarian and hedonic purchases. Please review what these words mean. I would like you to look at your January 2024 (one month) bank statements, Paypal, Google Pay, and credit card statements, Venmo, etc. and add up your spending subtotals and totals (just turn into me, confidentiality will be observed). Even if someone else pays for your food or rent you need to figure out the applicable cost of your consumption. Fuel can be both hedonic and utilitarian depending on what you use it for.
Finally, as an essay, you need to tell me what you learned about your OWN consumer behavior. Be assured your financial info will be kept confidential unless you want to share.
You may divide single purchases between hedonic vs utilitarian, but you generally would choose one or the other.
PLEASE DONT ESTIMATE OR FAKE ENTRIES, I can tell.
HEDONIC VS UTILITARIAN
WHAT ARE UTILITARIAN AND WHAT ARE HEDONIC PURCHASES? Utilitarian purchases are effective, form & functional, practical, complete tasks, whereas hedonic products are gratification: fun, exciting, delightful, thrilling, enjoyable, and appeal to senses. Many products have BOTH (such as Fabuloso, although it is primarily a utilitarian cleaning solution, it has a hedonic feature of a lavender nice smell)
Utilitarian is (Form and functional, completes a task…NOT not another word for NEEDS
Hedonic is (appealing to senses, pleasure, fun, emotional…NOT another word for WANTS)
THE 4 WALLS:
Shelter: Can include your rent, utilities (power, etc.), water, household items. If someone else (such as a parent) pays for these items, ASK THEM how much the monthly expense is for your percentage or to estimate your consumption of rent benefits. If your house mortgage is $2000 a month and you live in 1/2 of the house, Your expense is $1,000 to understand the consumerism cost, even if you don’t pay out of pocket. Same comment regarding utilities. Other utilities are your Cell phone bill, Apps, etc. . How much of that cell phone is utilitarian (Clock, necessary phone calling, safety, etc.) and how much is hedonic (entertainment, apps, social media etc.).Some items may be split into both hedonic and utilitarian
Transportation: Can include car payment, car maintenance, gas, bus (your gas bill might be split between spending gas on utilitarian items and hedonic items).
Food: Utilitarian means functional food (not the quality of the food). If you are traveling for work, eating at a restaurant is probably utilitarian, if you are on an outing or vacation and you stop at a bar, its probably hedonic, for example.
Clothing: Can be either, remember its not about cost. A professional runner might need expensive running shoes for his profession (utilitarian), but not the expensive Yeezys he wears around for fashion (Hedonic). Its about the MOTIVATION to buy: Is it to accomplish a task or fufill a function (Utilitarian), or is it an emotional, sensory, social gratification/psychological (hedonic)?
If it’s not within the 4 walls, put your items in the “other” sections below that: There are 2 sections at the bottom of the 4 walls which allow additions for “other utilitarian” and “other hedonic”. An example of other utilitarian is Medical/emergency—those are motivated by function as you need your wound stitched up for example. You can add more rows as needed throughout the spreadsheet.
Remember this is NOT about NEEDS VS WANTS; This exercise is an analysis of your own Consumerism in the categories of Utilitarian and Hedonic. Review what those words mean and remember that utilitarian is not necessarily crucial to survival and hedonic is not necessarily luxury spending. Both Hedonic and Utilitarian are different kinds of needs, right?
WARNING: Please dont “guess”. Look at your statements. You can chunk some things together like a grocery bill, but your grocery bill may have both kinds of categories, so explain the main item categories in that bill. I can tell if they are guesses. Use actuals.
Remember to do the essay in addition (easiest to add to the excel document in a cell, but you can also submit as a separate document)
DUE Feb 12 AFTER class. Please see Template in this module to work from.
VALUE: 10 Points (this is a big assignment)
FORMAT: I can only accept PDFs, Word, and Excel. I cannot accept Pages, Sheets, or Google only/Mac only docs. You may submit 2 docs (spreadsheet and essay)
I cannot open “Numbers” types of documents.