Some products can be made quickly by a machine. Other items take a long time to be made by hand. As a buyer, which do you prefer and why? Give specific details and examples in your answer.

Ever since the Industrial Revolution, mass-produced

goods

have flooded the consumer market.

Although

such

items have proved to be highly popular, it is now becoming increasingly clear that handmade

goods

are more desirable for modern, informed consumers. In

this

essay, I shall look at some of the ethical and quality-based reasons for re-evaluation.

To begin

with, handmade items can be made with far more care and attention to detail than their mass-produced counterparts. Attributable to the fact that machines lack the sensitivity that experienced craftsmen evidently possess.

For example

, a study by the International Consumerist Society found that handmade furniture, musical instruments and jewellery were consistently rated as being more attractive (by customers) than their mass-made counterparts.

Therefore

it is clear that

buyers prefer handmade

goods

for reasons that relate to quality of workmanship.

Secondly

, handmade manufacturing companies have far more ethical attitudes towards the environment.

This

is because factories and chemical processes heavily underpin mass industrial manufacture.

On the other hand

, handmade produce is highly sustainable and planet-friendly.

For instance

, the British Green Party found that the levels of toxicity and environmental damage outside handmade production centres were paltry compared to the levels found outside factories used for mass production.

Consequently

, since modern users are more environmentally conscious than ever before, these findings have clearly contributed to their preference for handmade

goods

. In conclusion, there are compelling reasons why modern consumers favour handmade

goods

. In the future, as environmental issues worsen,

this

preference will no doubt grow more pronounced.