SOC 202 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Thorstein Veblen, Conspicuous Consumption, Consumerism
11 Apr 2013
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Consumption patterns: consumption has become a key aspect of social life, consumption is more than an exchange, a study of consumption has to consider what takes place before and after the exchange. Commodities and desires: commodities: objects or services produced for consumption or exchange by someone other than the producers, consumerism: the name for the dominant values and practices arising from, and providing fuel for, life in a consumer society. The creation of consumer society: advertising, credit, debt: this consumer society happened a little after the industrial revolution. Key developments in consumer society: 1) developments in retail sales. Department store turned shopping into an experience rather than a routine. ** turning an essentially economic transaction into a personal one. The way goods were displayed and promoted was at least as important as getting consumers to buy the substance. Branding: when companies vie to sell us not individual products but lifestyles that are defined by broad patterns of selective consumption.
