Mechanisms of Consumption Choice and Their General Cultural Framework

Abstract

As we have seen, disposable money is divided, firstly, into earmarked funds, which are deposited in a bank account and which are only used when the time comes; and secondly, into money that is spent on daily, weekly or monthly consumption. At this juncture I shall leave the former type of money in that bank account to accrue any interest that is paid. Instead, my focus here is exclusively on the money whose purchasing power is constantly used in the market. The use of that money is guided by specific principles that I call the mechanisms of consumption choice. But before we move on to consider those mechanisms it is necessary to look at the broader framework of those mechanisms. This I call the cultural frame of reference for consumer choices. I start out from this framework and then proceed to examine the concrete mechanisms of choice. However, there would be little point in conducting this analysis at a general level. Instead I heed to my own methodological advice in Chapter 3 and concentrate largely on one everyday system, namely food.