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A Social and Economic Theory of ConsumptionCommodities and Consumption: General and Specific Features

A Social and Economic Theory of Consumption: Commodities and Consumption: General and Specific... [As we have seen, markets are artificially maintained structures. They support the movement of various kinds of things and agents, most notably money (capital) and commodities, as well as people who are selling their labour power and earning wages and consumers who are living on income transfers. In this chapter my focus is on the core cell of the markets, i.e. the commodity. By commodity, I mean both tangible products and more or less intangible services. The reason for subsuming both services and goods under the heading of commodity is simple enough. Increasingly, services today are sold in standardized packages; this applies equally to adventure holidays and hotel services. For instance, when I check in at a hotel I receive the same anonymous and efficient reception as all other guests — although when I get to my room I discover that I’m not quite that anonymous after all as I receive a second personalized welcome via the television screen. The next morning I can look forward to my standardized breakfast package.] http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png

A Social and Economic Theory of ConsumptionCommodities and Consumption: General and Specific Features

Editors: Sulkunen, Pekka; Gronow, Jukka; Noro, Arto; Rahkonen, Keijo; Warde, Alan
Ilmonen, Kaj
A Social and Economic Theory of Consumption — Aug 31, 2015
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Publisher
Palgrave Macmillan UK
Copyright
© Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011
ISBN
978-1-349-31873-5
Pages
35 –44
DOI
10.1057/9780230295339_3
Publisher site
See Chapter on Publisher Site

Abstract

[As we have seen, markets are artificially maintained structures. They support the movement of various kinds of things and agents, most notably money (capital) and commodities, as well as people who are selling their labour power and earning wages and consumers who are living on income transfers. In this chapter my focus is on the core cell of the markets, i.e. the commodity. By commodity, I mean both tangible products and more or less intangible services. The reason for subsuming both services and goods under the heading of commodity is simple enough. Increasingly, services today are sold in standardized packages; this applies equally to adventure holidays and hotel services. For instance, when I check in at a hotel I receive the same anonymous and efficient reception as all other guests — although when I get to my room I discover that I’m not quite that anonymous after all as I receive a second personalized welcome via the television screen. The next morning I can look forward to my standardized breakfast package.]

Published: Aug 31, 2015

Keywords: Economic Aspect; Earning Wage; Labour Power; Symbolic Dimension; Tangible Product

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