Question

Social and cultural aspect of consumption

Answer 1

Consumer culture theory is the study of consumption choices and behaviors from a social and cultural point of view, as opposed to an economic or psychological one. It does not offer a grand unifying theory but "refers to a family of theoretical perspectives that address the dynamic relationships between consumer actions, the marketplace, and cultural meanings".[1]Reflective of a post-modernist society, it views cultural meanings as being numerous and fragmented[2] and hence view culture as an amalgamation of different groups and shared meanings, rather than a homogeneous construct (such as the American culture). Consumer culture is viewed as "social arrangement in which the relations between lived culture and social resources, between meaningful ways of life and the symbolic and material resources on which they depend, are mediated through markets"[3] and consumers as part of an interconnected system of commercially produced products and images which they use to construct their identity and orient their relationships with others.[4]