Script

 The digital age, also known as the information age is typically used to refer to the time period when the introduction of technology such as the personal computers began, it started in the mid-twentieth century and has continued into present times. This has allowed for the ability to transfer information at a much easier and quicker rate. 

This has adapted several forms of our use of consumerism within the current age, the easy aspect of having all these forms of payment at your disposal has become a very appealing view for our society. Why send a cheque and have to wait several days for it to be delivered then for the money to be processed into your account when you can do a payment through your phone or use online banking which is much faster? It also becomes much more reliable as you don’t have to worry about the human error of postal services and such, which is a possibility you have to consider. Although this does have its pros, the cons are that due to the digital revolution, many jobs that once were ever so common have become very rare. However the postal services are able to rely on the digital age via shopping websites which need their products to be delivered however by doing that local business and market retailers who suffer. This signifies the point that no matter the benefits of the digital, someone or something also suffers from it. The statistics show that with the use of technology, cash is becoming a far less popular form of payment, getting challenged by things such as debit cards, who are becoming much more popular. However how long will it last before things such as Apple pay and E-Pay take over, this becomes significantly more relevant with the changes to support the environment, will the production of plastic cards be changed for more payment via phone? Especially with the consultation exercise in October 2018, the Government made regulations to ban the sale of plastic straws, cotton buds and stirrers, subject to certain exemptions, which came into force in England in October 2020. A ban on cotton buds is already in place in Scotland too. But how long will it take for further bans to be made? I bring this up in regards to the usage of paper money, cash as a currency, with such changes being made into taking care of the environment, is it too far fetched to presume that similar changes that have happened to cotton buds to be made into effect with currency and cash specifically. With the rise in popularity of usage over the recent ages, credit cards and debit cards have made quite a significant introduction as they are able to play a role as being used on both online and traditional forms of shopping as opposed to cash. Especially when keeping up with recent times, in the current COVID era, the reduction in interaction also signifies for safety but also the change in times with socializing becoming ever more a rarity outside of the digital realm. 

Gaming has been able to introduce an extension for consumerism within the production of micro-transactions within games, these engrose the users into the digital world providing exclusives within a fictional world in order to appeal to them more due to the cheapness in comparison to the real world.They are able to simulate forms of wealth they perhaps will never be able to experience in the real world.

 As of now the digital age has severely impacted even traditional forms of consumerism, both positive and negative, as advertisements for shops can be witnessed online, tempting potential customers to arrive at the shop to purchase things however with this we have also seen the rise in online shopping which has began dominating traditional forms of consumerism due to the ease of how it is to purchase items through the digital age, being able to do so quickly and from the comfort of your own home even. You can see why people may prefer this and why it has made strides,exceeding expectations and performing particularly well within the digital age of consumerism. Especially with the COVID era affecting us all, online shopping has become a significant medium for purchasing things as opposed to other sources of purchases. Feeling a lot more safer within their houses and being able to conform to the safety restrictions easier. The downside to this is that it has tremendously affected small brand shops, even large ones as due to the wide accessibility and availability to what they can purchase many are forced to close down or declare bankruptcy. 

Data Analysis of the survey I conducted currently shows that big brand shops and online shopping are mostly commonly used with small brand shops not being used as frequently. 

The two most popular choices were cash and debit, for most common forms of payment. With E-pay being the second most popular choice, however credit card and cheques weren't chosen. 

Most benefits mentioned regarding online shopping are about its quickness and relation to the current situation of COVID and how it makes it easier. 

The majority agree that online businesses are negatively effecting traditional businesses with a slight margin disagreeing. 

All the people who took the survey had said  they've purchased a micro-transaction, which shows a keen interest in them for people and how ingrained within the culture of gaming they have become.

The people were split on the significance E-pay, credit cards, and debit cards will have on the environment in terms of reducing usage of plastic and paper, which contributes to the idea that people are unsure of the necessity for such additions to forms of payment in a manner of speaking. 

As displayed within this image, I’d like to provide additional evidence to support the fact that cards amongst other forms of payment are significantly stacking the board against other methods of payment such as cash. These statistics were made by statista, this statistic illustrates the different payment methods in the UK of 2018, we can even see that within pre-Covid era, cash was already in decline, it has only become more obsolete due to these times.

Another statistic to support my claim provided by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco of 2015, which also displays that said decline of cash isn’t purely within the UK and expands to other areas of the world.  

Overall, it seems we are witnessing a change due to the digital age within consumerism as previously mentioned several types of traditional means are evolving with the times, whether these changes will be permanent is up for question, however one thing is for certain that the digital age is affecting our way of living, hopefully for the better.