Notes CHL Lectures
Lecture 1 Introduction
Lifestyle:
- The distinctive pattern of personal and social behaviour characteristic of an individual or
a group (Veal, 1993)
- Someone’s way of living, for example the things they usually do, where they live, what
they spend their money on
- The particular way that a person or group lives and the values and ideas supported by
that person or group
Consumption:
- Broad: taking and using goods or services
- Narrower: Formal or informal contract accompanying processes of payment
- Act of consumption: processes related to an exchange of money or reciprocal
expectations
- E.g., Buying, eating, drinking, travelling, wearing clothes
- Studied in different fields (economy, sociology, psychology, business administration)
o Very fragmented field with different topics, method
- Consumption beyond acts of choosing, buying, repairing, but is socially embedded
- Taking place in changing societies, different times, markets and cultures
Consumption relates to time we live in
The way we view smoking has changed with time
- In 19th century it was very luxurious to smoke, now it is unhealthy (rookvrije generatie)
Consumption relates to society we live in
Abortion; consumption practice that is associated with boundaries that are considered
illegal or legal
Consumption relates to position in system of social class
Musical performances; classical music attracts different classes (highbrow culture = more
superior (big forehead show a higher intelligence so that shows interest in higher culture))
than a performance of Frans Bauer
Consumption
- Goods and services more than variation in price and
function
o Different use and meanings
o Different degrees of social acceptance
o Different forms or markets: formal and informal
- Vary in time and society, but also on preferences
depending on lifestyles and related tastes
- Trends: Sustainability & digitalization (EXAM)
Sustainability and circular economy
Footprint, impact on social parameters, fair-trade
how consumers consumption is influencing the economy
Linear economy: consumption is the end state of the economy
Circular economy: consumption is no more the end state reuse, repair, recycle,
exchanging, gifting, renting/leasing, second hand (refurbished) purchasing etc.
1
,Consumer and consumption in circular economy
Collaborative consumption: consumers as providers and obtainers
- An economic model based on sharing, swapping, trading, or renting products and
services, enabling access over ownership (Belk, 2013) market mediated, community
based
- Peer-to-peer-based activity of obtaining, giving or sharing the access to goods and
services, coordinatedthrough community-based online services (Hamari et al., 2015).
- Exchanging, sharing, gifting, lending and leasing or renting Marktplaats, Vinted,
Swapfiets
Collaborative consumption versus sharing
Digitalisation of markets, goods and services
Digital trends
- Geographical limitations diminish global markets
- Shifting role of consumers into hybrid functions
o Prosumption: interrelatedness of production and
consumption
o Prosumers: actors who are consumers but also
entrepreneurial producers or labourers
Energy market: solar energy; you’re producing and
using the energy when you have retrieved more
energy than you use, the energy is adding energy to
the community
McDonaldization of Society; through the organization
of using digital means (consumption), the users are
the producers of this consumption. The customers of
McDonalds have become the laborer, you must get
your food at the counter, you have to clean up your
seat etc.
Youtube: People provide the content
Google Maps: depends on the input of consumers
Consumption = embedded in a system
Socio-ecological theory & system science
Consumption and lifestyles are not just isolated individual behaviours, but patterns arise
from the social groups one belongs to, the physical settings in which one operates, and
society at large
Causal loop diagram in assignment: critical tool of the system thinker
Tool to help this kind of thinking
Example of social ecological theory in the erea of food consumption:
2
, Learning objectives:
- Explain socio-ecological theories on consumption and consumer society
- Distinguish relevant social, political, and material contexts of consumption
- Analyze lifestyles and consumption patterns from a socio-ecological perspective
Lecture 2 Consumption: Different Perspectives and Academic
Responsibilities
- Chapter 2 of Consumption and Life-Styles: Consumption: Different Perspectives and
Academic Responsibilities.
- Martens, L., Southerton, D., & Scott, S. (2004). Bringing Children (and Parents) into the
Sociology of Consumption. Towards a Theoretical and Empirical Agenda. Journal of
Consumer Culture, 4, 155-
182. https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.wur.nl/10.1177%2F1469540504043680
Learning objectives:
- Understand the life course perspective in relation to consumption
- Understand Gidden’s theory on lifestyles and consumption.
Page 10 of the book “How consistent are preference structures due to changing empirical
backgrounds of time, space and related culture?” Consumption preferences for a long
time regarded as historically and internationally constant.
Yet, consumption preferences are not fixed...
Part 1: life course perspective
Book: life cycle perspective
Lecture: life course perspective
“People have changing rationalities to spend (or save) money
depending on their position in their life cycles. In other words,
younger people make different plans and have different
consumption plans than older people.” (pp.10) -Modigliani’s
life cycle theory of consumption
Rather than thinking about life cycles, thinking about life
course perspective.
Life cycle perspective: universal biological process of aging, according to a fixed set of
phases (fetus, baby, child, adolescent, adult, elderly) – predominantly based on biological
age.
3
Lecture 1 Introduction
Lifestyle:
- The distinctive pattern of personal and social behaviour characteristic of an individual or
a group (Veal, 1993)
- Someone’s way of living, for example the things they usually do, where they live, what
they spend their money on
- The particular way that a person or group lives and the values and ideas supported by
that person or group
Consumption:
- Broad: taking and using goods or services
- Narrower: Formal or informal contract accompanying processes of payment
- Act of consumption: processes related to an exchange of money or reciprocal
expectations
- E.g., Buying, eating, drinking, travelling, wearing clothes
- Studied in different fields (economy, sociology, psychology, business administration)
o Very fragmented field with different topics, method
- Consumption beyond acts of choosing, buying, repairing, but is socially embedded
- Taking place in changing societies, different times, markets and cultures
Consumption relates to time we live in
The way we view smoking has changed with time
- In 19th century it was very luxurious to smoke, now it is unhealthy (rookvrije generatie)
Consumption relates to society we live in
Abortion; consumption practice that is associated with boundaries that are considered
illegal or legal
Consumption relates to position in system of social class
Musical performances; classical music attracts different classes (highbrow culture = more
superior (big forehead show a higher intelligence so that shows interest in higher culture))
than a performance of Frans Bauer
Consumption
- Goods and services more than variation in price and
function
o Different use and meanings
o Different degrees of social acceptance
o Different forms or markets: formal and informal
- Vary in time and society, but also on preferences
depending on lifestyles and related tastes
- Trends: Sustainability & digitalization (EXAM)
Sustainability and circular economy
Footprint, impact on social parameters, fair-trade
how consumers consumption is influencing the economy
Linear economy: consumption is the end state of the economy
Circular economy: consumption is no more the end state reuse, repair, recycle,
exchanging, gifting, renting/leasing, second hand (refurbished) purchasing etc.
1
,Consumer and consumption in circular economy
Collaborative consumption: consumers as providers and obtainers
- An economic model based on sharing, swapping, trading, or renting products and
services, enabling access over ownership (Belk, 2013) market mediated, community
based
- Peer-to-peer-based activity of obtaining, giving or sharing the access to goods and
services, coordinatedthrough community-based online services (Hamari et al., 2015).
- Exchanging, sharing, gifting, lending and leasing or renting Marktplaats, Vinted,
Swapfiets
Collaborative consumption versus sharing
Digitalisation of markets, goods and services
Digital trends
- Geographical limitations diminish global markets
- Shifting role of consumers into hybrid functions
o Prosumption: interrelatedness of production and
consumption
o Prosumers: actors who are consumers but also
entrepreneurial producers or labourers
Energy market: solar energy; you’re producing and
using the energy when you have retrieved more
energy than you use, the energy is adding energy to
the community
McDonaldization of Society; through the organization
of using digital means (consumption), the users are
the producers of this consumption. The customers of
McDonalds have become the laborer, you must get
your food at the counter, you have to clean up your
seat etc.
Youtube: People provide the content
Google Maps: depends on the input of consumers
Consumption = embedded in a system
Socio-ecological theory & system science
Consumption and lifestyles are not just isolated individual behaviours, but patterns arise
from the social groups one belongs to, the physical settings in which one operates, and
society at large
Causal loop diagram in assignment: critical tool of the system thinker
Tool to help this kind of thinking
Example of social ecological theory in the erea of food consumption:
2
, Learning objectives:
- Explain socio-ecological theories on consumption and consumer society
- Distinguish relevant social, political, and material contexts of consumption
- Analyze lifestyles and consumption patterns from a socio-ecological perspective
Lecture 2 Consumption: Different Perspectives and Academic
Responsibilities
- Chapter 2 of Consumption and Life-Styles: Consumption: Different Perspectives and
Academic Responsibilities.
- Martens, L., Southerton, D., & Scott, S. (2004). Bringing Children (and Parents) into the
Sociology of Consumption. Towards a Theoretical and Empirical Agenda. Journal of
Consumer Culture, 4, 155-
182. https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.wur.nl/10.1177%2F1469540504043680
Learning objectives:
- Understand the life course perspective in relation to consumption
- Understand Gidden’s theory on lifestyles and consumption.
Page 10 of the book “How consistent are preference structures due to changing empirical
backgrounds of time, space and related culture?” Consumption preferences for a long
time regarded as historically and internationally constant.
Yet, consumption preferences are not fixed...
Part 1: life course perspective
Book: life cycle perspective
Lecture: life course perspective
“People have changing rationalities to spend (or save) money
depending on their position in their life cycles. In other words,
younger people make different plans and have different
consumption plans than older people.” (pp.10) -Modigliani’s
life cycle theory of consumption
Rather than thinking about life cycles, thinking about life
course perspective.
Life cycle perspective: universal biological process of aging, according to a fixed set of
phases (fetus, baby, child, adolescent, adult, elderly) – predominantly based on biological
age.
3
