Sets of Electronic Equipment as Social Status Symbol in the Perspective of Psychoanalysis and Capitalism (1)

A product which is using a sophisticated technology has a linked correlation with the level of its user. The more sophisticated the product, the higher the social status of the user. The user of that product usually claimed as a high class people or people with high social status. In the term of marketing motif, the sophisticated product itself can not be separated from its relation to the product design’s purpose, which has two main functions; the first is following the taste of consumer and the second is building the taste of consumer. The manufacturer often exploits this kind of product design to stimulate the consumer become more consumptive that leads to the exploding demand. The manufacturer inserts through the product such kind of “individualism treats” such as the prestige or exclusiveness of the product to raise the sense of pride.

This phenomenon is a form of fascism. Ironically, what happen in Indonesia are the style and the taste of the consumer build by the local producer whom they are dictate by product planner or trend analyst from western. This dictation even goes through the social and culture aspects which produce the globalization of western pop culture. The impact is the teenager often acts or imitates the western culture because it gives them a sense of confident and pride.

The sense of pride and confident actually comes from the desire itself. The desire builds by two forms of major stimulation that made people need something through their desire. The forms of major stimulation are carnal and libidinal. Carnal is the desire of body to something which concerned with material form, such as food, partner, etc. The establishment of carnal depends on the base form of the carnal object itself which relate to the need of the body. For instance, someone who is accustomed to simple or plain food, the carnal to the food may not raise to the extravagant level. But the times they try the higher tasty food than before, the carnal automatically will upgrade to adjust. Libidinal is the desire of body to something which concerned with immaterial, such as image, skill, etc. The establishment of libidinal depends on the self interest through the ego. Imagination has a significant role to build libidinal because it relates to immaterial factor and the establishment of libidinal influenced by imagination’s present as the appreciator.