International Encyclopedia of Communication Online

Extract

Consumer culture, the creation and cultivation of self- and social meaning from the marketing, purchase, and display of commodified goods, is a central characteristic of modern and postmodern society. Although related to other forms of culture, such as commercial culture, material culture, and popular culture, it is a theoretically distinct realm that includes the symbolic qualities attributed to mass-produced goods, brand logos, product packaging, advertising campaigns, retail spaces, shopping activities, and consumption-centered media content. How these symbolic goods and activities relate to modern life, the self and social groups – and their destructive and/or emancipatory implications – have comprised much scholarship and debate in the humanities and social sciences. There is no exact starting date for the creation of modern consumer culture. Although tied to the beginnings of industrialization, it could also be said to have existed in some forms as long as rudimentary capitalism existed. More specifically, British royalty emphasized and displayed the need to be fashionable in the 1500s. Colonialism exoticized spices and other goods from colonized lands. In the nineteenth century, popular events such as the Great Exhibition in London in 1851 and other World Fairs displayed and promoted industrialized goods. Also at this time, in industrialized countries, mass manufacturing ... log in or subscribe to read full text