Practices of looking.

Marita Curten and Lisa Cartwright.
The writers of this piece starts by emphasising the importance of visual images.  They explain that images are central to the success of the commodity culture and of consumer societies dependent upon the constant production and consumption of goods in order to function. They explain how images in advertising often give the audience of longing of a lifetyle that should be envied. They explain that visual images transports their audience to a world of "abstraction", a state of presence of imagination, where the audience imagine being in the world of this luxury that adverts portray.
The writers also explain the need for companies to outsource the expertise of ad agencies who are responsible for continously rejuvinating campaigns in order to keep the audience attentive and preventing them from changing the channel for example when an advert comes on.
Consumer Society.
As the writer explains, advertising is one of the primary ways by which goods are promoted, whether on product packaging, print, television or radio. The writer explains the emergence of the consumer society which is associated with the late 19th century and 20th century, where the goods and services were mass produced. The writers describe the consumer society as one in which " an individual is confronted with an assortment of goods, and in which the characteristics of the goods change constantly"
The writer argues that for consumer societies to survive, there has to be a constant demand for goods and services, and these goods are then repackaged and branded different. A marxist theory claiming that overproduction is essential in the consumer society as it forces the consumers to constantly spend money.
Contemporary consumer culture has seen a shift in industrial capitalism to post industrial capitalism.