A short review of consumption in Greece: 1960-2010

Abstract

Mass media deregulation was a stark reality for a good number of countries, towards the last part (if not earlier) of the 80’s. At the same time, the fact that people were gradually persuaded ( with the help of continuously growing advertising ) to increase their consumption of commodities was an essential part of a general frame of the economy, heralding the rise of consumerism as a necessary sequel of the life blood of modern societies. Advertising expenditure was booming; new media outlets -particularly electronic –were founded. Almost everybody was happy. It was a “rags to riches” situation. Towards the end of the 2000 decade, the situation is almost different. The financial and the overall media situation in most countries is entirely different from the 80’s. One could say that it was a “from riches to rags” situation for quite a number of countries, including Italy, Ireland, Spain and Portugal. Greece was the first country where its financial difficulties were more than evident; potentially, other countries will follow suit. The pivotal changes that have taken place, already lead to the necessity of totally rethinking and redesigning practices and concepts that were thought as being stable for over a number of decades. In this paper we present a historical 1960-2010 media relations and consumption in Greece, with the primary objective to discuss: the meanings of consumption in Greece; rise and fall of advertising investments in the country, seeking to provide an overview that leads to reflection on the current context lived in Greek reality.