ABSTRACT
In the era of globalization, digitalization has accelerated technological development which created one of the most life-changing innovations: social media. As a modern form of mass media influence that enables the instantaneous transfer of meaning between individuals worldwide, social media has been both a negative and positive impact towards the modern human life in significant ways, especially in the lives of young people. The worldwide fashion phenomenon known as Hypebeast is a new trend for these young people. As the primary target consumer and the usage of digital marketing to promote the rise of conspicuous consumption in which the youth are hyped up to consume high-end brands and luxury goods in order to feel included and increase their social status. This phenomenon is directly related with the school of thought called hedonism which argue that the right thing to do is to produce the greatest amount of happiness and as little of pain; in this case, this philosophy argues that youth should purchase things that bring pleasure or sparks to the consumer but actually has little to no needs in his or her life. Using the qualitative approach as our method of research, in particular phenomenology, this thesis gives insight to the characteristics of consumerism and hedonism in the Hypebeast phenomenon of the mainstream youth culture today.
KEYWORDS
Hypebeast, Social Media, Hedonism.