1st September 1994 - 18th January 1999
ESRC Award H52427002294
Many social sciences are currently engaging with the idea that processes of consumption are crucial to the shaping of contemporary society.
The four-year project considers people's own understanding of their everyday consumption practices together with the conceptualisations market researchers employ to categorise people's lifestyles in relation to consumption habits.
The potential differences between these forms of understanding may be partly assessed in relation to differences in the geographical contexts of these sets of actors.
The theoretical component of this research aims to develop an account of consumption drawing on political-economic and poststructuralist theory, as a framework for the empirical work. The latter involves the interviewing of, mainly, London-based market research institutions and selected 'key groups' of individuals living in a Northern English urban context. The interviews with the key groups incorporate dimensions influencing consumption, and will generate longitudinal qualitative data on consumption practices.
It is anticipated that the research will provide a detailed picture of the social, economic and cultural processes affecting consumption, in a manner sensitive to the influence of geographical space and changes over time.
The significance of space to consumption will also be established at a theoretical level.