TMA02 - Assignment Plan

Assignment question: Outline who are the winners and losers in a consumer society.

‘Outline’ – my understanding of this is to summarise/define the winners and losers in a consumer society, focussing on identifying who they are and not why they are.

Intro;

Describe what I am going to do – keep it short and refer to the question that is being asked, I could start by pointing out who are the winners and losers in general and then building on them in the following paragraphs in the body of the assignment.

Body:-

Use the mind maps and the references below with notes taken manually to form the body of the assignment. Try to keep each example of a winner and loser to a separate paragraph and keep to the
The following paragraphs will define some of these in more detail and give a clearer picture of who are the winners and losers within a consumer society.

In a consumer society the main winners are those of the large supermarket chains, including Tesco, ASDA, Morrisons and Sainsburys. All of which have market power that enables them to influence market conditions and dominate the food and grocery market. These supermarket giants hold such a monopoly over the market share, up to 60% by Tesco in some areas (The Guardian, 2007), that small businesses in the competing areas simply cannot sustain themselves and there is a direct link between the large supermarkets and the many other losers within the consumer society. Supermarkets can be linked to the closure of small businesses as Helena Rimmer describes in her answer to John Allen when he asks what impact she thinks that supermarkets have on the high street. Helena explains that there are approximately 50 closures of small businesses and stores every week due to the impact of supermarkets driving consumers out of the high street. (Making social lives audio CD1). The four leading supermarket giants operate 3900 stores in the UK combined, which is a staggering figure – it’s not hard to see how 50 small businesses might close each week in competition. (Competition Commission 2008).

Supermarkets also have direct links with