The Effects of MTV on Youth Consumer Culture

With a look at today's society one would notice many changes in the values of our emerging generation. ?The United States has more malls than high schools, and Americans spend more time shopping than reading.?(Quindlen). This growth of consumerism in our country must be attributed to something. Since our generation, arbitrarily titled generation Y, is moving into adulthood, we must look at what has influenced our adolescence, and what is still influencing today?s teens. Through surveys it has been determined that MTV is the preferred channel amongst American teenagers, averaging to almost 75 percent of the teen population claiming regular viewership. Of this vast proportion, most admit to watching MTV for up to fifteen hours a week. These numbers alone makes one believe that MTV is the primary force finessing the desires of our youth. But while MTV?s existence is seemingly innocent, its capitalistic self-interest has led way to a habit of fickle trendsetting and targeted marketing which is altering the way its young viewers see the world.
As we are seeing this evolution of values in our generation we can also see the evolution of MTV.…