Taste

One of the central questions in sociological studies concerning patterns of consumption is to what extent people share a common taste that guides their actions and preferences, possibly even unifying their choices in all or most fields of consumption and [Page 1431]everyday life, from housing to clothing, from food to travel, from art to music, resulting in more or less homogeneous lifestyles. Market research often aims at identifying some common standards of taste that unify different consumer segments and various social groups while at the same time excluding others. Tastes and lifestyles are therefore closely related.