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The World of Goods
Mary Douglas,Baron Isherwood +1 more
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TLDR
The World of Goods as mentioned in this paper is a classic of economic anthropology whose insights remain compelling and urgent, arguing that poverty is caused as much by the erosion of local communities and networks as it is by lack of possessions and contrast small-scale with large-scale consumption in the household.Abstract:
It is well-understood that the consumption of goods plays an important, symbolic role in the way human beings communicate, create identity, and establish relationships. What is less well-known is that the pattern of their flow shapes society in fundamental ways. In this book the renowned anthropologist Mary Douglas and economist Baron Isherwood overturn arguments about consumption that rely on received economic and psychological explanations. They ask new questions about why people save, why they spend, what they buy, and why they sometimes-but not always-make fine distinctions about quality.
Instead of regarding consumption as a private means of satisfying one’s preferences, they show how goods are a vital information system, used by human beings to fulfill their intentions towards one another. They also consider the implications of the social role of goods for a new vision for social policy, arguing that poverty is caused as much by the erosion of local communities and networks as it is by lack of possessions, and contrast small-scale with large-scale consumption in the household.
A radical rethinking of consumerism, inequality and social capital, The World of Goods is a classic of economic anthropology whose insights remain compelling and urgent.
This Routledge Classics edition includes a new foreword by Richard Wilk.
"Forget that commodities are good for eating, clothing, and shelter; forget their usefulness and try instead the idea that commodities are good for thinking." – Mary Douglas and Baron Isherwoodread more
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Journal ArticleDOI
Mundane Consumption and the Self: A Social-Identity Perspective
TL;DR: In this article, the authors suggest that people use products to enact one of their social identities and that products relate only indirectly to the overall or global self, and that the frequency with which activities are performed depends on the salience of the identity they represent and that such salience, in turn, depends on several enabling factors.
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Why Not Share Rather Than Own
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors address impediments to sharing as well as incentives that may encourage more sharing of both tangible and intangible goods in both traditional and virtual worlds. But, they do not address the potential benefits of sharing in the virtual world.
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On the conceptual link between mass customisation and experiential consumption: an explosion of subjectivity
Michela Addis,Morris B. Holbrook +1 more
TL;DR: In this article, the authors highlight the importance of personal involvement and trust in relationship marketing and consumer behavior, and propose an approach to apply the experiential view of consumer behavior.
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Gift Giving as Agapic Love: An Alternative to the Exchange Paradigm Based on Dating Experiences
Russell W. Belk,Gregory S. Coon +1 more
TL;DR: This article found support for two variants of this paradigm, but also revealed an alternative paradigm of gift giving as an expression of agapic love, suggesting that agapeic expressiveness is a needed addition to exchange instrumentalism for understanding gift giving and perhaps for understanding consumer behavior in general.