How did increased consumerism affect the 1950s? Why did consumerism grow during this era?

Increased
consumerism happened because the US was on top of the world, economically, after WWII.  The
Europeans were too beat up from the war to compete with the US and Japan had not emerged as a
power yet.

American adults had grown up with the Depression and the War and
now they were going to make up for lost time by making some money.

To me,
this impacted the United States by making Americans more interested in focusing on material
goods.  It made people think of success in terms of "keeping up with the Joneses."  As
people got so into this, many of their children got spoiled and disenchanted and became part of
the 1960s counterculture.