Historical Emergence of Consumer Culture

While a market-driven view of consumer culture is useful for characterizing the contemporary period, it can lead to a perception that the seeds of consumer culture were planted in the late-nineteenth century and matured in the latter half of the twentieth century. However, dating the origins of consumer culture is also a difficult task. Historians continue to differ about its origins, some suggesting it took hold in the nineteenth century, citing the rise of the department store and its marketing functions (aided by innovations in print technology). Neil McKendrick (1982) locates its origins in the widespread consumption of china, tea, cotton, and other goods in the eighteenth century, pointing to the marketing strategies pioneered by Josiah Wedgewood (founder of the Wedgwood pottery company in England) as early examples of the emergence of advertising. Other scholars have dated features of consumer culture to the Renaissance period and even to the Middle Ages.

Whatever its precise origins, the emergence of consumer culture is clearly locked into the broader social changes associated with the Enlightenment and Modernization periods. Among the most significant developments are the processes of capitalist industrialization and urbanization.

The emergence of capitalist industrialization had profound implications for the ways in which people related to the goods from which the material world is comprised. For Karl Marx (1867/1976), industrial society transformed the meaning of goods. In contrast to methods of production in earlier societies, capitalist industrialization had the effect of distancing the labor involved in producing goods from the consumption of those goods. For Marx, the result was that the true value of goods, which is the human labor involved in their production, becomes invisible. The value of goods, as a consequence, is not simply tied to their use value but becomes increasingly defined according to their exchange value (i.e., what an object can be exchanged for). Once goods are understood in this way, they become free to take on a broader range of meanings and become subject to representation, mythologization, mystification, and promotion, which can increase their exchange value. [Page xxxi]Consider the premium paid (or exchanged in monetary terms) for designer-label clothing or antique furniture, where the use value remains the same as cheaper alternatives but the symbolic meanings and representations of these goods command a greater exchange value. Marx described this process as commodity fetishism, a process whereby goods take on particular types of symbolic meaning.

In his classic essay “The Metropolis and Mental Life,” Georg Simmel (1903/1970) examined how people responded to living in cities during the nineteenth century. Simmel interpreted life in modern cities as characterized by frequent interactions within crowds of strangers. As Jukka Gronow (1997) explains, within this large anonymous urban environment consumption was a way to stand out from the crowd and reassert a sense of individuality. This goal required a delicate balance of imitating others (in order not to stand out too much) but without simply copying what those others in the crowd were doing (which would provide for no sense of individuality at all). The way to achieve this balance was through the pursuit of fashion, which provided some guidance on what to wear but offered enough variety for a sense of individuality. The process of urbanization played a key role in the emerging significance of consumption for expressing to oneself and to others a sense of individuality.

It was, however, the rapid spread of mass consumption after the 1950s that the notion of consumer culture really came to the fore. As the consumption of high-status goods became available to more members of advanced capitalist societies, the symbolic value of goods became an increasingly important way to distinguish between goods and social groups. Advertising and marketing developed to convince consumers that the various goods being offered by producers differed from each other (for example, that there is a significant difference between two brands of toothpaste), and consumers sought to create their personal styles of consumption that differed from that of the masses. Indeed, by the 1960s, youth cultures began to take mass-produced goods and give them new symbolic meanings to create their own collective styles of consumption (a subculture or lifestyle). By the end of the twentieth century, consumption became a defining feature of everyday lives, especially in affluent societies. It has become pivotal to identity formation, social group differentiation, economic growth and development, political and social movements, and, perhaps most profoundly, the core medium through which people relate to the world around them.

Key Features of Consumer Culture

Given the diverse scope of consumer culture and its historical location in broad processes of social, economic, and cultural change, it is perhaps more useful to outline its key features than to provide a single definition. This is precisely what Celia Lury does in her book Consumer Culture (1996). She identifies the key features of consumer culture as the following:

• The availability of a large (and constantly increasing) number and range of types of consumer goods
• The tendency for more aspects of human exchange and interaction to be mediated by commercial markets
• The expansion of shopping as a leisure pursuit
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• The increasing visibility of different forms of shopping (from secondhand bargains to designer goods)
• The political organization by and of consumers (e.g., green consumers)
• A growing visibility of the consumption of leisure practices and sports (including the reorganization of sports to suit the requirements of commercial sponsors)
• Liberalization of consumer credit legislation and the rise of consumer debt, with people borrowing money to fuel their consumption, which in turn drives economic output
• The increase of sites for purchase and consumption
• The growing importance of packaging, promotion, and display of consumer goods in the production process
• The pervasiveness of advertising, marketing, and branding
• An increased emphasis on the style, design, and appearance of goods
• The manipulation of time and space—simulations of past times and other spaces
• The emergence of consumer crimes (fraud, etc.)
• The impossibility of avoiding “making choices” in consumer markets
• The increasing visibility of consumer illnesses and maladies (e.g., compulsive shopping)
• Widespread interest in the collection of material goods

The above features of consumer culture are not restricted in application to advanced capitalist societies. Processes of globalization mean that some features of consumer culture are evident across the globe; products, lifestyle images and understandings of well-being, economic organization, and the political and cultural valuing of consumer choice all circulate across the globe in a diversity of ways. Consumer culture is also at the heart of many substantive challenges of the contemporary period, including climate change, political instability, inequality, economic growth and prosperity, and qualities of life. This encyclopedia covers the diverse range of topics associated with consumer culture over both time (historically) and space (geographically). It does so by drawing on a variety of disciplines that address the subject area, including anthropology, business studies, communications studies, cultural studies, economics, environmental sciences, history, geography, gender studies, innovation studies, leisure studies, marketing, media studies, philosophy, psychology, political science, social work, sociology, and science and technology studies.

Rationale, Content, and Organization of the Encyclopedia

As the above suggests, consumer culture is the focus of a broad and varied field of intellectual inquiry that has received considerable attention from an array of disciplines that has produced extensive theories, a plethora of empirical studies, and a multitude of concepts. As a consequence, students and researchers face an overwhelming task of sorting through the existing literature and decoding its overlapping theories and concepts to gain a clear and thorough understanding of consumer culture and all its components. It was in this context that the idea for the encyclopedia was first formed. The need for such an encyclopedia had been identified by librarians and others who field questions about resources in this subject area. While dictionaries can provide some definitions of the ideas that often circulate within the field of consumer culture, they also tend to provide only very short and basic descriptions that ignore the nuances and broader applications of the topics at hand. Alternatively, textbooks on consumer culture are usually discipline specific, and handbooks or “readers” on consumer culture reprint a number of detailed but subject-specific essays.

Located between the short and concise dictionary and the more comprehensive but discipline/subject specificity of textbooks and handbooks, this encyclopedia is designed to be an introduction to the wide range of topics within the broad parameters of consumer culture. Entries have been written in clear, nontechnical, and succinct fashion to ensure accessibility and that the key ideas, arguments, perspectives, ways of researching consumption, and the empirical studies that bring the subject area to life are comprehensively explained.

There are four “levels” of entry. Longer entries of between five thousand and six thousand words cover disciplinary perspectives and substantive subject matter. Entries of around three thousand words focus on core theories across disciplines, and shorter fifteen hundred–word entries focus upon particular topics. The final level incorporates posthumous biographies—providing a short overview of influential thinkers whose works have made major contributions to understandings of consumption and consumer culture. The purpose of this multilevel organization is to provide different entry points into the contents of the encyclopedia so that the reader can navigate through issues of interest according to his or her needs. Each entry also follows a familiar format: to define the scope of the subject matter; outline the historical and geographical applications of the topic; outline the key issues, interpretations, and scope of the topic; consider any methodological issues raised; and identify future directions in research, theory, and/or methodology related to the topic.

Entries are organized alphabetically, but the content of the encyclopedia can be navigated in numerous ways. To help the reader browse the encyclopedia, a Reader's Guide is provided that organizes the content into nine thematic categories:

• Everyday Life
• Geographies and Histories of Consumer Culture
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• Methods and Trends
• Persons
• Politics and Consumption
• Production, Exchange, and Distribution
• Social Divisions and Social Groups
• Technology and Media
• Theoretical Perspectives and Concepts

Each entry contains a list of further readings and a set of cross-references to other entries within the encyclopedia. Such cross-references will be particularly useful to the reader who wishes to find out more about specific aspects of consumer culture. In this respect, there are a number of paths through which the encyclopedia can be browsed and read. Longer, more substantial entries provide a generic overview from which the reader can seek out further detail by following the cross-references to more specific concepts, issues, and methodologies. Likewise, the reader coming to the encyclopedia with a specific interest (for example, McDonaldization) can use the cross-references to explore a range of issues around that subject matter (such as Globalization, Rationalization, or Food Consumption). Finally, a full index to the volumes is provided so that readers can identify particular issues and explore how they connect and contrast across the different entries.

How the Encyclopedia Was Created

The encyclopedia was developed in five basic steps:, Step 1: Leading scholars in the field of consumer culture from across the world were approached to serve as members of the editorial board. Particular attention was given to ensure that the editorial board represented the wide and diverse range of disciplines that address consumer culture and provided expertise in both the geographical application and historical range of the subject areas. Fortunately, and as an indicator of the enthusiasm for this project, all the scholars approached accepted their invitation., Step 2: Following many long conversations and e-mail exchanges, a thematic categorization, a structure for different levels of entries, and the scope of each topic were agreed upon. At the same time, a very long list of potential entries was formulated. This list was then checked against publications in key academic journals to ensure a comprehensive coverage. The long list was then organized within the agreed-upon structure, and decisions were made about which variations of conceptual term or descriptive title would be used. From this process, the content and organization of the encyclopedia as described above was produced., Step 3: Each member of the editorial board identified leading scholars to receive invitations to contribute specific entries. We also consulted with our respective colleagues to ensure that each entry was outlined to the highest standard. It was particularly important that the contributors to the encyclopedia represent the disciplinary range of the subject matter as well as its geographical reach. The 343 contributors who provided the 549 entries are located in nineteen different countries from five continents., Step 4: Contributor guidelines were produced with particular emphasis placed on providing thorough descriptions of the subject matter using nontechnical and accessible language., Step 5: The editorial board reviewed all entries with attention focused on the content and coverage of each entry, returning entries to authors for revision and rejecting those that were felt not to cover the subject matter as required. This process was followed by a second round of editorial review by the developmental editor, concentrating on clarity and accessibility of language and style. Finally, all entries were copyedited and underwent final review by the editor before being proofread and finalized for publication.

Acknowledgments

There are many people responsible for the existence and high quality of this encyclopedia. Andrew Boney, Reed Cooley, and Marc Segers (from CQ Press) played an important role in the early stages, helping to develop the structure and organization of the volumes. Those early stages were also greatly aided by the U.K.'s Arts and Humanities Research Council and Economic and Social Research Council's Cultures of Consumption Research Programme, which provided the critical mass of scholars and research necessary to convince all involved that such a reference work would be valuable, timely, and possible. [Page xxxiv]I am also indebted to a huge number of supportive colleagues from across the world who have helped define and clarify the scope of individual entries, assisted with identifying authors, and provided the necessary enthusiasm and encouragement to push forward with this project. While it would be too long a list to thank everyone, I would like to single out Andrew McMeekin and Joshua Richards as well as my many colleagues at the University of Manchester who have all been incredibly supportive.

Of course, none of this would have been possible without the hard work of the 343 contributors to the encyclopedia, all of whom have done an outstanding job with the task at hand. A number of authors, all of whom took on and wrote five or more entries to an exemplary standard, deserve special praise. These are Matthias Benzer, Arthur Berger, Tim Dant, David Evans, Rosella Ghigi, Ben Halligan, Ian Miles, Cele Otnes, Marco Santoro, Roberta Sassatelli, Colin Williams, and Ian Woodward.

There have also been a number of people without whom this encyclopedia would not have materialized. The editorial board members—Diana Crane, Karin Ekström, Peter Jackson, Frank Trentmann, Alan Warde, and Rick Wilk—have worked tirelessly throughout this project, and it is their sound judgment and expertise that have shaped a truly excellent reference work. The SAGE team, including Rolf Janke, Kimie Renshaw, and the copyediting team of Jane Haenel, Colleen Brennan, Amy Frietag, Matthew Sullivan, and Patricia Sutton have made a major contribution to the production of this work. And, most important of all have been Carole Maurer and Laura Notton, whose expertise, efficiency, patience, wisdom, and humor have been essential throughout the process.

On a personal level, I must also thank my wife, Kerry Southerton, and our three children, Charlie, Max, and Bella, whose support, interest in the encyclopedia, and endless capacity to put up with discussions about consumer culture and late-night e-mail exchanges with contributors and authors have been truly fantastic.

Further Readings