The Needed Addiction

Hardly any addictive behavior is growing as rapidly in modern Western society as consumer addiction.
No surprise—because it is economically intended, even required. And that is exactly what makes it so dangerous. The consequences of consumer addiction (and its variation, luxury addiction) can be devastating—both economically and socially.
This book examines consumer addiction from both an economic and psychological perspective. It highlights causes, symptoms, and individual risk factors. Building on this, it develops detailed characteristics to promote personal solutions and strong consumer competence. The latter is essential for living healthily and freely within a consumerist societal system.
Dependence on consumption is embedded in the economic system—yet the personal consequences are for us to determine. This is a book about a hidden but omnipresent problem: consumer addiction is the “necessary addiction.”

Target Groups

Psychologists, therapists, and coaches
Sociologists, economists, cultural scientists, and marketing professionals
Individuals with excessive buying behavior or dependencies on status symbols, as well as their relatives


Prof. Dr. Dr. Oliver Hoffmann is an expert in economic psychology, innovation psychology, and the economics of luxury goods. He is a Professor of Innovation Management; alongside his academic career, he advises companies and private clients and has served as a strategic consultant for businesses in the consumer industry. As Managing Director of Theta Venture LLC, he develops innovative psychological therapy approaches for top‑level executives. Prof. Hoffmann lives in London.

The translation was done with the help of artificial intelligence. A subsequent human revision was done primarily in terms of content.

This book is a translation of an original German edition. The translation was done with the help of artificial intelligence (machine translation by the service DeepL.com). A subsequent human revision was done primarily in terms of content, so that the book will read stylistically differently from a conventional translation.