Business History Links
BUSINESS HISTORY - Economics - Consumption
business biographies  

1900 - Good Housekeeping Institute was established as consumer product evaluation laboratory of Good Housekeeping Magazine; dedicated to making lives better for consumers and their families; 1909 - Good Housekeeping Seal (of approval) created as highly recognized statement of magazine's renowned Consumers' Policy (states that if a product bearing the Seal proves to be defective within two years of purchase, Good Housekeeping will replace the product or refund the purchase price).

May 3, 1921 - West Virginia imposed the first state sales tax.

April 2008 - Relationship between borrowing and spending: personal consumption as share of the economy from 1953 through end of 2007; borrowing against home equity; 1999-2008 - consumption fueled by borrowing against house. 

(http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/04/18/opinion/21chart-533.gif)

October 2008 - Consumer Spending 1970-2008

(http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/10/06/business/1006-biz-ECON-web.gif)

November 12, 2008 -

(http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/11/12/business/1112-nat-webLEONHARDT.jpg)

November 29, 2008 -  - Americans claim to be less interested in spending than at any time in last 4 decades (credit crisis, recession); will low prices still draw consumers? (Black Friday - from red ink of losses for year into black ink of profitability for retailers); 3Q 2008 - Commerce Department reported personal consumption spending, adjusted for inflation, fell at 2.7% annual rate, (biggest decline since 2Q 1980 which was helped by tax rebates from stimulus package); economy contracted 0.5%; Conference Board reported 1.9% of respondents (to its 40-year monthly survey of major-items purchase plans for next 6-months) planned to buy a house (lowest since 1982, double-digit interest rates - see below), 3.7% planned to buy a car (lowest in 40 years vs. previous low of 4.5%), 1.3% planned to buy a new car (lowest in 40 years), 8.8% think jobs are easy to find (lowest in 15 years).

  (http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/11/29/business/1129-biz-CHARTSweb.gif)

(Kimberly-Clark), Thomas Heinrich and Bob Batchelor (2004). Kotex, Kleenex, Huggies: Kimberly-Clark and the Consumer Revolution in American Business. (Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press, 272 p.). Robert F. Friedman Professor of American History (Baruch College); Business Writer and Historian. Kimberly-Clark Corporation--History; Sanitary supply industry--United States--History; Consumer behavior--United States--Case studies.  

Eds. Nathan Abrams and Julie Hughes (2000). Containing America: Cultural Production and Consumption in Fifties America. (Birmingham, UK: University of Birmingham Press, 200 p.). Popular culture--United States--History--20th century; Consumers--United States--Social life and customs--20th century; Cold War--Social aspects--United States; Nineteen fifties; United States--Civilization--1945-.

Dan S. Acuff with Robert H. Reiher (1997). What Kids Buy and Why: The Psychology of Marketing to Kids. (New York, NY: Free Press, 206 p.). Child consumers; New products; Child development; Cognition in children.

ed. Maggie Andrews and Mary M. Talbot (2000). All the World and Her Husband: Women in Twentieth-Century Consumer Culture. (London, UK: Cassell, 278 p.). Women consumers; Culture -- Economic aspects; Consumption (Economics).

Shelley Baranowski (2004). Strength Through Joy: Consumerism and Mass Tourism in the Third Reich. (New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 254 p.). Nationalsozialistische Gemeinschaft "Kraft durch Freude"--History; Consumption (Economics)--Germany--History--20th century; Tourism--Government policy--Germany--History--20th century; Germany--Politics and government--1933-1945.

Benjamin R. Barber (2007). Con$umed: How Markets Corrupt Children, Infantilize Adults, and Swallow Citizens Whole. (New York, NY: Norton, 320 p.). Gershon and Carol Kekst Professor of Civil Society and Distinguished University Professor (University of Maryland). Consumption (Economics)--United States; Consumer behavior--United States; Child consumers--United States; Capitalism--United States; Materialism--United States--Social aspects; Mass society; United States--Social conditions--1980-. Consumerism fosters, requires "enduring childishness"; deprives society of responsible citizens, displaces public goods with private commodities; consumer capitalism specializes in manufacture of needs (not goods).

Isadore Barmash (1974). The World Is Full of It; How We Are Oversold, Overinfluenced, and Overwhelmed by the Communications Manipulators. (New York, NY: Delacorte Press, 269 p.). Mass media--Social aspects--United States; Advertising--United States; United States--Social conditions--1960-1980.

Zygmunt Bauman (2008). Does Ethics Have a Chance in a World of Consumers? (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 288 p.). Emeritus Professor of Sociology (University of Leeds). Consumption (Economics) --Moral and ethical aspects; Globalization --Moral and ethical aspects. Reframe way we think about insoluble problems of modern world; inherited beliefs that aid thinking about world have become an obstacle; give up belief in hierarchical arrangement of states, powers.

Gary S. Becker (1996). Accounting for Tastes. (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 268 p.). Nobel Prize Winning Economist. Consumers' preferences; Consumer behavior; Consumption (Economics)--Social aspects; Human capital.

Carolyn Shaw Bell (1967). Consumer Choice in the American Economy. (New York, NY: Random House, 429 p.). Professor of Economics (Wellesley College). Consumers--United States; Consumption (Economics).

Daniel Bell; with a new afterword by the author (1996). The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism. (New York, NY: Basic Books, 363 p. [20th anniversary ed.]). Technology and civilization; Capitalism; United States--Civilization--1945-; United States--Social conditions--1945-.

John Benson (1994). The Rise of Consumer Society in Britain, 1880-1980. (New York, NY: Longman, 245 p.). Great Britain--Social conditions--19th century; Great Britain--Social conditions--20th century; Great Britain--Economic conditions--19th century; Great Britain--Economic conditions--20th century.

Arthur Asa Berger (2004). Ads, Fads, and Consumer Culture: Advertising's Impact on American Character and Society. (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Pub., 197 p. [2nd ed.]). Advertising--United States; Popular culture--United States; Consumer education--United States. 

Arthur Asa Berger (2005). Shop 'til You Drop: Consumer Behavior and American Culture. (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 136 p.). Consumer behavior--United States; Consumer behavior--Social aspects--United States; Consumers' preferences--Psychological aspects--United States. 

David Blanke (2000). Sowing the American Dream: How Consumer Culture Took Root in the Rural Midwest. (Athens, OH: Ohio University Press, 282 p.). Assistant Professor of History (Briar Cliff College, Sioux City, Iowa). Consumption (Economics)--Middle West--History; Consumer behavior--Middle West--History. 

Regina Lee Blaszczyk (2009). American Consumer Society, 1865-2005: From Hearth to HDTV. (Wheeling, IL: Harlan Davidson, Inc, 382 p.). Visiting Scholar in the Department of the History and Sociology of Science (University of Pennsylvania). Consumption (Economics) --United States --History.; Consumers --United States --History. Re-interpretation of American culture through lens of consumerism; emergence of consumerism in Victorian era, evolution over next 140 years; emergence of mass market followed by its fragmentation; niche marketing focused on successive waves of new consumers; how consumerism reflected American identity changed over time - initially driven to imitate those who had achieved success, began to use their purchases to express themselves; American reverence for things replaced by passion for experiences.

Sara Bongiorni (2007). A Year Without 'Made in China': One Family’s True Life Adventure in the Global Economy. (Wiley: Hoboken, NJ, 235 p.). Business Journalist in Baton Rouge, LA. Boycotts--United States--Case studies; Consumers--United States--Attitudes; Exports--China; Globalization--Economic aspects--United States. January 1, 2005 - author's family began yearlong boycott of Chinese products; formerly simple acts (finding new shoes, buying birthday toy, fixing drawer)  became ordeals without Asian giant (about 15 percent of $1.7 trillion in goods imported by United States in 2006 came from China).

David Bosshart (2006). Cheap: The Real Cost of the Global Trend for Bargains, Discounts & Customer Choice. (London, UK: Kogan Page, 197 p.). CEO of the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute for Economic and Social Studies. Consumers’ preferences; Discount; Cost; Marketing; Globalization. Bleak picture of  obsession with cheap goods; comes at a cost to society.

Rachel Botsman & Roo Rogers (2010). What's Mine Is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption. (New York, NY: HarperBusiness, 304 p.). Former Director at the William J. Clinton Foundation. Consumption (Economics); Resource allocation; Cooperation. Three growing models of Collaborative Consumption: 1) Product Service Systems - what product/service does-without owning it (Zipcar, Ziploc - disrupting traditional industries based on models of individual ownership); 2) Communal Economies - crowd of consumers (online networks - Etsy, online market for handcrafts, Zopa - social lending marketplace); 3) Redistribution Markets - consumer-to-consumer marketplaces (worldwide networks - Freecycle, Ebay; emerging forms of modern day bartering and “swap trading” - Zwaggle, Swaptree, Zunafish); encourages reuse/resale of old items rather than throwing them out, reduces waste, carbon emissions that go along with new production; new economy of more sustainable consumerism.

Jacqueline Botterill (2010). Consumer Culture and Personal Finance: Money Goes to Market. (New York, NY, Palgrave Macmillan, 253 p.). Assistant Professor of Communication, Popular Culture and Film (Brock University, Canada). Consumption (Economics); Consumer behavior; Finance, Personal.

Rachel Bowlby (2001). Carried Away: The Invention of Modern Shopping. (New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 281 p.). Women consumers--History; Consumption (Economics)--History; Shopping--History; Supermarkets--History; Department stores--History.

David Brancaccio ( 1999). Squandering Aimlessly: My Adventures in the American Marketplace. (New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 283 p.). Host of Public Radio's "Marketplace". Consumption (Economics)--United States; Consumer behavior--United States; Finance, Personal--United States. 

T. H. Breen (2004). The Marketplace of Revolution: How Consumer Politics Shaped American Independence. (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 400 p.). Professor of American History (Northwestern University). Consumption (Economics)--United States--History--18th century; United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783--Causes; United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783--Economic aspects. Personal freedoms (self-will) and capitalism (consumerist imperative).

Timothy Brook (1998). The Confusions of Pleasure: Commerce and Culture in Ming China. (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 320 p.). Professor of History (University of Toronto). China -- History -- Ming dynasty, 1368-1644; China -- Commerce -- History. Changing landscape of life over three centuries of Ming (1368-1644); China transformed from closely administered agrarian realm into place of commercial profits, intense competition for status.

Eds. Elspeth H. Brown, Catherine Gudis, and Marina Moskowitz (2006). Cultures of Commerce: Representation and American Business Culture, 1877-1960. (New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 368 p.). Assistant Professor of History and American Studies (Miami University); Department of History and is Director of the Andrew Hook Centre for American Studies (University of Glasgow); Assistant Professor (University of Oklahoma). Corporate culture--United States--History; Consumption (Economics)--Social aspects; Advertising--United States--History; Public relations--United States--History. Business history and study of cultural forms (material to visual culture to literature.

W. Keith Bryant, Cathleen D. Zick (2005). The Economic Organization of the Household. (New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 352 p [2nd ed.]). Professor Emeritus, Department of Policy Analysis and Management (Cornell University); Professor and Chair of the Department of Family and Consumer Studies (University of Utah). Consumption (Economics)--United States; Income--United States; Households--United States; Family--Economic aspects--United States; Consumption (Economics); Income; Households; Family--Economic aspects. Authors review, apply, extend the theory of the consumer.

Ed. Richard Butsch (1990). For Fun and Profit: The Transformation of Leisure into Consumption. (Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 239 p.). Professor of Sociology (Rider College). Leisure industry--United States--History; Leisure--Economic aspects--United States; Popular culture--Economic aspects--United States. 

Eds. Emma Casey and Lydia Martens (2007). Gender and Consumption: Domestic Cultures and the Commercialisation of Everyday Life. (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 224). Senior Lecturer in Sociology (Kingston University, London); Senior Lecturer in Sociology (Keele University). Women--Social life and customs--20th century; Women--Social conditions--20th century; Women consumers; Consumption (Economics)--Social aspects; Home economics. Insight into women's domestic consumption. Broad range of experiences that domestic consumption offers women, complex meanings, motivations underpinning women's consumption practices. 

Stéphane Castelluccio (2009). Le Commerce du Luxe à Paris aux XVIIe et XVIIIe Siècles: Echanges Nationaux et Internationaux. (Bern : Peter Lang, 421 p.). Luxuries -- France -- Paris -- 17th century; Luxuries -- France -- Paris -- 18th century. Paris (France) -- Commerce -- History -- 17th century; Paris (France) -- Commerce -- History -- 18th century.

Radha Chadha & Paul Husband (2006). The Cult of the Luxury Brand: Inside Asia’s Love Affair with Luxury. (Boston, MA: Nicholas Brealey International, 314 p.). Founder, Chadha Strategy Consulting (Hong Kong); Founder, Husband Retail Consulting (Hong Kong). Brand name products--Social aspects--Asia; Luxuries--Social aspects; Brand name products--Asia--Marketing; Social status--Asia; Social classes--Asia. How, why of Asia's "luxeplosion": 1) Hong Kong - more Gucci, Hermès stores than New York, Paris; 2) China - biggest luxury market by 2014; 3) India - three-month waiting lists for hot items; 4) Asian consumers account for as much as half of the $80 billion global luxe industry.

Eds. Alain Chatriot, Marie-Emmanuelle Chessel, Matthew Hilton (2006). The Expert Consumer: Associations and Professionals in Consumer Society. (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 209 p.). Consumers--Europe--History; Consumers--United States--History; Consumer protection--Europe--History; Consumer protection--United States--History; Consumption (Economics)--Europe--History; Consumption (Economics)--United States--History.

Elizabeth Chin (2001). Purchasing Power: Black Kids and American Consumer Culture. (Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 258 p.). Consumption (Economics)--Connecticut--New Haven; Purchasing power--Connecticut--New Haven; African American children--Connecticut--New Haven; African American consumers--Connecticut--New Haven.

Sherman Cochran (2006). Chinese Medicine Men: Consumer Culture in China and Southeast Asia. (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 288 p.). Hu Shih Professor of Chinese History (Cornell University). Consumer behavior--China--History; Consumer behavior--Southeast Asia--History; Popular culture--China--History; Popular culture--Southeast Asia--History; Drugs--Marketing. Marketing of medicine, how Chinese constructed consumer culture in China and Southeast Asia, extended it to local, national, transnational levels. 

Deborah Cohen (2006). Household Gods: The British and Their Possessions. (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 296 p.). Associate Professor of History (Brown University). Decorative arts--Great Britain--History--19th century; Decorative arts--Great Britain--History--20th century; Social values--Great Britain; Materialism--Great Britain; Retail trade--Great Britain; Great Britain--Social life and customs--19th century; Great Britain--Social life and customs--1918-1945; Great Britain--Commerce--Social aspects. Roots of today’s consumer society, forces that shape consumer desires; focus on class, choice, shopping,  possessions.

Leah Hager Cohen (1997). Glass, Paper, Beans: Revelations on the Nature and Value of Ordinary Things. (New York, NY: Doubleday/Currency, 299 p.). Material culture; Commercial products--Social aspects; Commercial products--History; Fetishism. 

Lizabeth Cohen (2003). A Consumers' Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America. (New York, NY: Knopf, 567 p.). Howard Mumford Jones Professor of American Studies (Harvard University). Consumption (Economics)--United States; Consumer behavior--United States; United States--Social conditions--1980-. 

Eds. Sande Cohen and R.L. Rutsky (2005). Consumption in an Age of Information. (New York, NY: Berg, 224 p.). Consumption (Economics)--Social aspects; Information society--Economic aspects; Information technology--Economic aspects; Consumer behavior. Analysis of new relationship between information and consumption.

Philip J. Cook and Robert H. Frank (1995). The Winner-Take-All Society: How More and More Americans Compete for Ever Fewer and Bigger Prizes, Encouraging Economic Waste, Income Inequality, and an Impoverished Cultural Life. (New York, NY: Free Press, 272 p.). Professor (Duke University). Competition; Fame--Economic aspects; Success; Success in business; Consumer behavior; Income distribution.

Gary Cross (1993). Time and Money: The Making of Consumer Culture. (New York, NY: Routledge, 294 p.). Consumption (Economics)--History--Cross-cultural studies; Leisure--History--Cross-cultural studies; Hours of labor--History--Cross-cultural studies.

--- (2000). An All-Consuming Century: Why Commercialism Won in Modern America. (New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 320 p.). Consumers--United States.

Stephen Dale (2005). Candy from Strangers: Kids and Consumer Culture. (Vancouver, BC: New Star Books, 266 p.). Child consumers; Advertising--Social aspects; Advertising and children; Consumption (Economics)--Social aspects. Are children victims of marketing world? Or could they be sophisticated participants in consumer culture?

Peter Dauvergne (2008). The Shadows of Consumption: Consequences for the Global Environment. (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 328 p.). Professor of Political Science and Canada Research Chair in Global Environmental Politics (University of British Columbia). Consumption (Economics) --Environmental aspects; Environmentalism. Many of earth's ecosystems, billions of its people are at risk from consequences of rising consumption; environmental consequences of five commodities: automobiles, gasoline, refrigerators, beef, harp seals; why efforts to manage global environment are failing even as environmentalism is strengthening; guiding principle of "balanced consumption" for both consumers, corporations; reforms in global political economy to reduce inequalities of consumption, correct imbalance between growing economies, environmental sustainability.

John de Graaf, David Wann, Thomas H. Naylor in association with Redefining Progress (2001). Affluenza: The All Consuming Epidemic. (San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 268 p.). Producer of the PBS Documentaries [Affluenza (1996) and Escape from Affluenza (1998)]; Former EPA Staffer and Expert on Sustainable Lifestyles; Professor Emeritus in Economics (Duke). Quality of life--United States; Wealth--United States; Consumption (Economics)--United States; United States--Social conditions--1980-; United States--Economic conditions--1981-; United States--Civilization--1970. 

Edited by Victoria de Grazia, with Ellen Furlough; introductions by Victoria de Grazia (1996). The Sex of Things: Gender and Consumption in Historical Perspective. (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 433 p.). Professor of History and Director of the Institute for Research on Women and Gender (Columbia University); Associate Professor of History (Kenyon College). Consumer behavior--Sex differences--History; Consumption (Economics)--Social aspects--History.

Victoria de Grazia (2005). Irresistible Empire: America's Advance Through Twentieth-Century Europe. (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 608 p.). Professor of History (Columbia University). Consumer behavior--Europe--History--20th century; Consumers--Europe--Attitudes--History--20th century; Consumption (Economics)--Europe--History--20th century; Social values--Europe--History--20th century; Social values--United States--History--20th century; United States--Civilization--20th century. 

Ed. Dennis Denisoff (2008). The Nineteenth-Century Child and Consumer Culture. (Burlington, VT . Ashgate Pub., 239 p.). Research Chair in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture (Ryerson University). Consumption (Economics) --Social aspects --Great Britain; Consumer behavior --Great Britain --History --19th century; Child consumers --Great Britain --History --19th century; Child welfare --Great Britain --History --19th century; Great Britain --Social conditions --  19th century. Rising investment made by children, adults in commodities as sources of identity, human worth; roles assigned to children in context of 19th-century consumer culture (consumers, labor and raw material for industry, agents in formation of adult-articulated cultural contexts).

Jan De Vries (2008). The Industrious Revolution: Consumer Behavior and the Household Economy, 1650 to the present. (New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 327 p.). Professor of History and Economics (University of California at Berkeley). Consumption (Economics) --History; Consumers --History. Context in which economic acceleration associated with Industrial Revolution took shape; how activation, evolution of consumer demand shaped course of economic development, situated consumer behavior in context of household economy; changing consumption goals of households from 17th century to present; how household decisions have mediated between macro-level economic growth, actual human betterment.

Kathleen G. Donohue (2003). Freedom from Want: American Liberalism and the Idea of the Consumer. (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 326 p.). Assistant Professor of History (University of North Carolina, Charlotte). Liberalism--United States--History; Consumption (Economics)--United States--History; United States--Intellectual life. 

Dinesh D'Souza (2000). The Virtue of Prosperity: Finding Values in an Age of Techno-Affluence. (New York, NY: Free Press, 284 p.). Wealth--Moral and ethical aspects--United States; Success--Moral and ethical aspects--United States; Values--United States. 

Robert G. Dunn (2008). Identifying Consumption: Subjects and Objects in Consumer Society. (Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 235 p.). Professor Emeritus, Department of Sociology (California State University, East Bay). Consumption (Economics) --Social aspects; Identity (Psychology). How an individual’s buying habits are shaped by dynamics of consumer marketplace; how consumption, identity inform each other; how we spend, its relationship with status and lifestyle.

Ronald Edsforth (1987). Class Conflict and Cultural Consensus: The Making of a Mass Consumer Society in Flint, Michigan. (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 294 p.). Automobile industry and trade--Michigan--Flint; Automobile industry workers--Michigan--Flint; Social conflict--Michigan--Flint; Consumption (Economics); Mass society; Flint (Mich.)--Economic conditions; Flint (Mich.)--Social conditions.

John Ehrenfeld (2008). Sustainability by Design: A Subversive Strategy for Transforming Our Consumer Culture. (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 246 p.). Executive Director of the International Society for Industrial Ecology, Senior Research Scholar at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Sustainable development; Consumption (Economics). Sustainability is possibility that humans and other life will flourish on Earth forever; problematic cultural attributes, practical steps toward developing sustainability as a mindset; focus on "being" mode of human existence rather than on unsustainable "having" mode.

Lee Eisenberg (2009). Shoptimism: Why the American Consumer Will Keep on Buying No Matter What. (New York, NY, Free Press, 334 p.). Former Editor in Chief of Esquire. Consumer behavior -- United States; Consumers -- United States. Retail consumption - from advertising to behavioral marketing, from malls to Internet communities; dynamics of selling and buying; "The Sell Side" - machinery aimed at inducing us to purchase; universe of marketing, retailing, advertising, consumer and scientific research; "The Buy Side" - What are we really looking for when we buy? Why are we alternately excited, guilt-ridden, satisfied, disappointed, and recklessly impulsive? What are  biases, need for status, impulses to self-express, that lead us individually to buy what we buy? classic buyer or romantic buyer? How do men, women differ in their attitudes towards shopping; does old cliche -- "Women shop, men buy" -- apply any longer?; What Makes a Good Buy.

Ed. Pasi Falk and Colin Campbell (1997). The Shopping Experience. (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 212 p.). Consumption (Economics)--Social aspects; Shopping--Social aspects. 

James J. Farrell (2003). One Nation Under Goods: Malls and the Seductions of American Shopping. (Washington, DC: Smithsonian, 329 p.). Shopping malls--United States--History; Shopping centers--United States--History; Popular culture--United States--History.

Margot C. Finn (2003). The Character of Credit: Personal Debt in English Culture, 1740-1914. (New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 362 p.). Warwick Research Fellow and Reader in History (University of Warwick). English prose literature--History and criticism; Economics and literature--Great Britain--History; Consumption (Economics)--Great Britain--History; Finance, Personal--Great Britain--History; Consumption (Economics) in literature; Credit--Great Britain--History; Debt--Great Britain--History; Economics in literature; Debt in literature; Great Britain--Economic conditions. History of English consumer culture from three interlocking perspectives: 1) representations of debt in novels, diaries, autobiographical memoirs; 2) transformation of imprisonment for debt; 3) use of small claims courts to mediate disputes between debtors, creditors. 

Richard Wightman Fox and T.J. Jackson Lears (1983). The Culture of Consumption: Critical Essays in American History, 1880-1980. (New York, NY: Pantheon Books, 236 p.). Consumption (Economics)--United States--History; Elite (Social sciences)--United States--History; Social values--History.

Dana Frank (1999). Buy American: The Untold Story of Economic Nationalism. (Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 316 p.). Associate Professor of American Studies (Univ. of California, Santa Cruz). Consumers--United States; Consumers' preferences--United States; Buy national policy--United States. 

Robert H. Frank (1985). Choosing the Right Pond: Human Behavior and the Quest for Status. (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 306 p.). Economics; Welfare economics; Wages; Social status.

--- (1999). Luxury Fever: Why Money Fails to Satisfy in an Era of Excess. (New York, NY: Free Press, 326 p.). Professor of Economics (Cornell). Wealth--United States; Luxury; Consumption (Economics)--United States; Competition--United States.

--- (2010). Luxury Fever: Money and Happiness in an Era of Excess. (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 336 p.). Henrietta Johnson Louis Professor of Management, Professor of Economics (Cornell University).Wealth --United States; Luxury; Consumption (Economics) --United States. How gross consumption spending patterns at beginning of 21st century have not produced happiness or health; ways to curb culture of excess, restore true value to life.

Thomas C. Frank (1997). The Conquest of Cool: Business Culture, Counterculture, and the Rise of Hip Consumerism. (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 287 p.). Marketing--United States--History--20th century; Advertising--United States--History--20th century; Advertising and youth--United States--History--20th century; Nineteen sixties; Consumer behavior--United States--History--20th century; Subculture--United States; United States--Social conditions--1960-1980; United States--Social conditions--1980-.

W. Hamish Fraser (1981). The Coming of the Mass Market, 1850-1914. (Hamden, CT: Archon Books, 268 p.). Consumption (Economics)--Great Britain--History; Retail trade--Great Britain--History; Industries--Great Britain--History--19th century; Industries--Great Britain--History--20th century.

David Friedman (1996). Hidden Order: The Economics of Everyday Life. (New York, NY: HarperBusiness, 340 p.). Economics; Consumer behavior.

Regina Gagnier (2000). The Insatiability of Human Wants: Economics and Aesthetics in Market Society. (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 255 p.). Culture -- Economic aspects; Aesthetics -- Economic aspects; Economic history -- 19th century; English literature -- 19th century -- Economic aspects.

John Kenneth Galbraith; Updated and with a New Introduction by the Author (1998). The Affluent Society. (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 276 p. [40th anniversary ed.]). Economics--United States; United States--Economic conditions--1945-; United States--Economic policy.

Ellen Gruber Garvey (1996). The Adman in the Parlor: Magazines and the Gendering of Consumer Culture, 1880s to 1910s. (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 230 p.). Assistant Professor of English (Jersey City State College). American fiction --19th century --History and criticism; Short stories --Publishing --United States --History --19th century; Periodicals --Publishing --Economic aspects --United States; Popular literature --United States --History and criticism; American fiction --20th century --History and criticism; Short stories, American --History and criticism; Literature and society --United States --History; Advertising, Magazine --United States --History; Books and reading --United States --History; Women consumers --United States --Attitudes. New prevalence of advertising for mass-produced, nationally distributed products. Readers' interactions with advertising during period when consumption, advertising became established as pleasure; readers' participation in advertising (vs. top-down dictation by advertisers) made advertising central part of American culture.

Karl Gerth (2003). China Made: Consumer Culture and the Creation of the Nation. (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center, 445 p.). Assistant Professor of History (University of South Carolina). Consumption (Economics)--China--History--20th century; Nationalism--China--20th century; Manufacturing industries--China--20th century; Boycotts--China--History--20th century.  

Natasha Glaisyer (2006). The Culture of Commerce in England, 1660-1720. (Woodbridge, UK: The Royal Historical Society and the Boydell Press, 220 p.). Department of History (University of York). England--Commerce--History--17th century; England--Commerce--History--18th century; England--Civilization--17th century; England-- Civilization--18th century. Culture of early modern market (late 17th, early 18th-century England, between Restoration and South Sea Bubble. How commerce was legitimated, promoted, fashioned, defined, understood; packaging, portrayal of commerce, commercial knowledge.

Lawrence B. Glickman (1997). A Living Wage: American Workers and the Making of Consumer Society. (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 220 p.). Wages--United States--History; Cost and standard of living--United States--History; Working class--United States--History; Consumption (Economics)--Social aspects--United States--History.

Edited with an introduction and bibliographic essay by Lawrence B. Glickman (1999). Consumer Society in American History: A Reader / edited with an introduction and bibliographic essay. (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 420 p.). Consumption (Economics)--United States--History; Consumers--United States; Consumers--United States--History; Consumption (Economics)--United States.

Richard A. Goldthwaite (1993). Wealth and the Demand for Art in Italy, 1300-1600. (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 266 p.). Wealth--Italy--History; Art patronage--Italy--History; Art, Renaissance--Italy; Consumption (Economics)--Italy--History. 

Daniel Goleman (2009). Ecological Intelligence: How Knowing the Hidden Impacts of What We Buy Can Change Everything. (New York, NY: Penguin Books, 288 p.). Environmentalism --Economic aspects; Consumer behavior --Environmental aspects; Environmental responsibility --Economic aspects; Industries --Environmental aspects. Ecological facts about products at point of purchase; hidden environmental consequences of what we make and buy; how that knowledge can drive essential changes to save planet ourselves; why shoppers are in dark over hidden impacts of goods and services made, consumed.

Elemer Hankiss (2006). The Toothpaste of Immortality: Self-Construction in the Consumer Age. (Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 448 p.). Professor of Sociology at the College of Europe (Bruges, Belgium). Self; Civilization, Modern. Profound ways in which everyday acts and artifacts of consumer civilization shape our sense of self.

Joseph Heath, Andrew Potter (2005). The Rebel Sell: How the Counter Culture Became Consumer Culture. (New York, NY: HarperBusiness, 368 p.). Associate Professor of Philosophy (University of Toronto); Research Fellow at the Centre de Recherche en Éthique (l'Université de Montréal). Consumption (Economics)--Social aspects; Marketing--Social aspects; Advertising--Social aspects; Counterculture. 

Yuwa Hedrick-Wong (2006). Holding Up Half of the Sky: The New Women Consumers of Asia. (Singapore: Wiley, 165 p.). Economic Advisor to MasterCard International, Visiting Professor at the School of Management (Fudan University Shanghai, China). Women consumers -- Asia; Culture -- Economic aspects -- Asia; Consumption (Economics) -- Asia. Dynamics of rising power of women consumers in 11 Asian countries; estimated $516 billion of discretionary spending power by 2014. 

Kevin Hetherington (2007). Capitalism’s Eye: Cultural Spaces of the Commodity. (New York, NY: Routledge, 232 p.). Consumption (Economics)--United States--History; Consumption (Economics)--Europe--History; Consumer behavior--United States; Consumer behavior--Europe; Senses and sensation. How people experienced commodities in era of industrial expansion; emergence of culture of mass consumption dominated by visual experience was much slower process, not truly ascendant until after the First World War.

Matthew Hilton (2003). Consumerism in Twentieth-Century Britain: The Search for a Historical Movement. (New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 382 p.). Consumption (Economics) Great Britain History 20th century; Consumption (Economics) Social aspects Great Britain History 20th century; Consumption (Economics) Political aspects Great Britain History 20th century; Consumers Great Britain History 20th century; Consumer protection Great Britain History 20th century; Great Britain Economic conditions 20th century. 

Thomas Hine (2002). I Want That!: How We All Became Shoppers. (New York, NY: HarperCollins, p.). Consumers--History; Consumption (Economics)--History; Shopping--History; Retail trade--History.

Daniel Horowitz (1985). The Morality of Spending: Attitudes Toward the Consumer Society in America, 1875-1940. (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 254 p.). Consumption (Economics) -- United States -- History; Consumers -- United States -- History; Consumption (Economics) -- United States -- Moral and ethical aspects -- History; Intellectuals -- United States -- Attitudes -- History; Social reformers -- United States -- Attitudes -- History. History of consumer attitudes.

--- (2004). The Anxieties of Affluence: Critiques of American Consumer Culture, 1939-1979. (Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press, 339 p.). Consumption (Economics) United States Psychological aspects; Consumption (Economics) Moral and ethical aspects United States; Intellectuals United States Attitudes; Acquisitiveness Moral and ethical aspects; Affluent consumers United States Psychology; Consumption (Economics) United States Public opinion; Wealth United States Public opinion; Public opinion United States.

Eds. Roger Horowitz and Arwen Mohun (1998). His and Hers: Gender, Consumption, and Technology. (Charlottesville, VA: University Press of Virginia, 240 p.). Consumption (Economics)--Social aspects--United States--History; Consumer behavior--United States--History; Women consumers--United States--History; Technology--Social aspects--United States--History.

Eds. Richard A. Horsley and James Tracy (2001). Christmas Unwrapped: Consumerism, Celluloid, Christ, and Culture. (Valley Forge, PA: Trinity Press Intl., 234 p.). Christmas--United States; Christmas--Economic aspects--United States; Consumption (Economics)--United States; Christmas in motion pictures; United States--Social life and customs.

Andrew Hurley (2001). Diners, Bowling Alleys, and Trailer Parks: Chasing the American Dream in the Postwar Consumer Culture. (New York, NY: Basic Books, 409 p.). Associate Professor of History (University of Missouri, St. Louis). Consumption (Economics)--United States--History--20th century; Diners--United States--History--20th century; Bowling alleys--United States--History--20th century; Trailers--United States--History--20th century; Middle class--United States--History--20th century; United States--Economic conditions--1945-. 

Ruth E. Iskin (2007). Modern Women and Parisian Consumer Culture in Impressionist Painting. (New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 283 p.). Teaches Art History and Visual Culture (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel). Women in art; Consumption (Economics) in art; Fashion in art; Advertising in art; Impressionism (Art) --France --Paris; Painting, French --France --Paris --19th century. Impressionist painting in context of 19th-century consumer culture; representation of feminine fashions, consumers, sales-women in Parisian boutiques; representation of women in Impressionist painting; how paintings represent women as objects of display, how they address women as spectators in active roles - consumers, producers, sellers.

Lisa Jacobson (2004). Raising Consumers: Children and the American Mass Market in the Early Twentieth Century. (New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 299 p.). Assistant professor in the History Department (University of California, Santa Barbara). Child consumers--United States--History--20th century; Market segmentation--United States--History--20th century; Target marketing--United States--History--20th century; Advertising and children--United States--History--20th century. 

Mark Jayne (2005). Cities and Consumption. (New York, NY: Routledge, 248 p.). University of Leeds. Urbanization; Cities and towns; Consumption (Economics). Contents: Introducing cities and consumption -- Consumption and the modern city -- Consumption and the postmodern city -- Consumption and everyday life -- Cities, consumption, and identity -- Consuming the city -- Consumption and urban regeneration -- Conclusion. Relationship between urban development and consumption.

Eds. Ian Rees Jones, Paul Higgs, and David J. Ekerdt (2008). Consumption and Generational Change the Rise of Consumer Lifestyles. (New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction, 204 p.). Professor of Sociology (Bangor University); Reader in Medical Sociology (University College London); Professor of Sociology and Director of the Gerontology Center (University of Kansas). Consumption (Economics) -- Social aspects; Older consumers; Consumer behavior; Population aging. How people consume, to what ends as part of processes of production, distribution, exchange; distance is no obstacle to distribution, ownership; rise of consumer culture, individualism, mass consumption, leisure,  lifestyles accompanied by democratization of social forms, corrosion of community and social cohesion for many; social change with reference to generation effects, conflict.

Peter d'A. Jones (1965). The Consumer Society: A History of American Capitalism. (Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 407 p.). United States--Economic conditions.

Jenna Weissman Joselit (2001). A Perfect Fit: Clothes, Character, and the Promise of America. (New York, NY: Metropolitan Books, 257 p.). Fashion--Social aspects--United States--19th century; Fashion--Social aspects--United States--20th century; Clothing and dress--United States. 

Tim Kasser (2002). The High Price of Materialism. (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 149 p.). Acquisitiveness; Avarice; Materialism--Psychological aspects; Happiness; Conduct of life. 

Eds. Tim Kasser and Allen D. Kanner (2004). Psychology and Consumer Culture: The Struggle for a Good Life in a Materialistic World. (Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 297 p.). Consumption (Economics)--United States--Psychological aspects; Materialism--Psychological aspects; Acquisitiveness; Identity (Psychology); Consumers--Psychology.

Naomi Klein (2000). No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies. (New York, N: Picador, 490 p.). Columnist (Toronto Star). International business enterprises--Political aspects; International business enterprises--Public opinion; Brand name products--Political aspects; Brand name products--Public opinion. 

Elizabeth Kowaleski-Wallace (1997). Consuming Subjects: Women, Shopping, and Business in the Eighteenth Century. (New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 185 p.). Assistant Professor of English (Boston College). Women consumers--Great Britain--History--18th century; Women consumers--Great Britain--History--19th century; Consumer behavior--Great Britain--History--18th century; Consumer behavior--Great Britain--History--19th century. 

William Severini Kowinski (1985). The Malling of America: An Inside Look at the Great Consumer Paradise. (New York, NY: Morrow, 415 p.). Shopping malls--United States.

Mark Landsman (2005). Dictatorship and Demand: The Politics of Consumerism in East Germany. (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 296 p.). Consumption (Economics)--Germany (East); Socialism--Germany (East); Germany (East)--Economic conditions; Germany (East)--Politics and government.

Rob Latham (2002). Consuming Youth: Vampires, Cyborgs, and the Culture of Consumption. (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 321 p.). Consumer behavior--United States; Young adult consumers--United States--Attitudes.

Ed. Maud Lavin; with contributions by Melanie Archer, Alyson Priestap-Beaton, Amy Tavormina Fidler, Benjamin Finch, and Jason Warriner (2004). The Business of Holidays. (New York, NY: Monacelli Press, 286 p.). Associate Professor, Visual and Critical Studies; Art History, Theory, and Criticism (Art In stitute of Chicago). Holidays--Economic aspects--United States; Consumption (Economics)--United States; Popular culture--United States; United States--Social life and customs.

William Leach (1993). Land of Desire: Merchants, Power, and the Rise of a New American Culture. (New York, NY: Pantheon, 510 p.). Department stores--United States--History; Sales promotion--United States--History; Department stores--Social aspects--United States--History; Consumer behavior--United States--History; United States--Commercial policy--History.  

Stanley Lebergott (1993). Pursuing Happiness: American Consumers in the Twentieth Century. (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 188 p.). Consumption (Economics)--United States--History--20th century; United States--Economic conditions--1918-1945; United States--Economic conditions--1945-.

Judith Levine (2006). Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping. (New York, NY: Free Press, 288 p.). Consumer education; Shopping. Need and desire, scarcity and security, consumerism and citizenship; defining necessity - line between need and want.

Robert Levine (2003). The Power of Persuasion: How We're Bought and Sold. (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 278 p.). Professor, Former Chairperson of the Psychology Department (California State University, Fresno). Persuasion (Psychology). 

Eugene Linden (1979). Affluence and Discontent: The Anatomy of Consumer Societies. (New York, NY: Viking Press, 178 p.). Consumers; Civilization, Modern--20th century.

Celia Lury (1996). Consumer Culture. (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 273 p.). Consumption (Economics) -- Social aspects; Consumer behavior; Culture -- Economic aspects.

Ann Smart Martin (2008). Buying into the World of Goods: Early Consumers in Backcountry Virginia. (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 288 p.). Chipstone Professor of Art History (University of Wisconsin--Madison). Hook, John, 1745-1808; Consumption (Economics)--Virginia--History--18th century; Consumer behavior--United States--History--18th century; Merchants--Virginia--Biography; Material culture--Virginia--History--18th century; Country life--Virginia--History--18th century; Virginia--Social life and customs--History--18th century. Trade on edge of upper Shenandoah Valley between 1760 and 1810; how acquisition of consumer goods created, validated set of ideas about taste, fashion, lifestyle in particular place at particular time; social, economic systems distilled into intimate triangulations among merchants, customers, objects.

Susan J. Matt (2003). Keeping Up with the Joneses: Envy in American Consumer Society, 1890-1930. (Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 223 p.). Social values--United States--History; Envy--Social aspects; Social status--United States--History; Consumption (Economics)--Social aspects--United States; Social change--United States--History--20th century. 

Grant McCracken (1988). Culture and Consumption: New Approaches to the Symbolic Character of Consumer Goods and Activities. (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 174 p.). Consumption (Economics)--History; Civilization--History; Social values--History.

--- (2005). Culture and Consumption II: Markets, Meaning, and Brand Management. (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 226 p.). Visiting Scholar at McGill University. Consumption (Economics)--History; Civilization--History; Social values--History. 

John L. McCreery (2000). Japanese Consumer Behavior: From Worker Bees to Wary Shoppers: An Anthropologist Reads Research by the Hakuhodo Institute of Life and Living. (Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press, 278 p.). Consumer behavior--Japan.

Forrest McDonald (1974). The Phaeton Ride; The Crisis of American Success. (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 255 p.). United States -- Economic conditions; United States -- Economic policy. Economic history of a consumer society.

Charles F. McGovern (2006). Sold American: Consumption and Citizenship, 1890-1945. (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 528 p.). Associate Professor of American Studies and History (College of William and Mary), Former Curator at the National Museum of American History. Consumption (Economics)--Political aspects--United States--History; Consumer behavior--Political aspects--United States--History. Key players active in shaping cultural evolution of constant spending to meet material needs and develop social identity and self-cultivation.

Neil McKendrick, John Brewer, and J.H. Plumb (1982). The Birth of a Consumer Society: The Commercialization of Eighteenth-Century England. (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 345 p.). Consumers--England--History--18th century; Consumption (Economics)--England--History--18th century; Leisure--England--History--18th century; England--Economic conditions--18th century.

James U. McNeal (2007). On Becoming a Consumer: Development of Consumer Behavior Patterns in Childhood. (Boston, MA: Academic Press (Butterworth-Heinemann), 432 p.). Professor of Marketing (Texas A&M University). Consumer behavior--United States; Child consumers--United States. How consumer development is intertwined with cognitive and motor development; 'process' of how young children become consumers; consumer behavior in stages of development.

Laura J. Miller (2006). Reluctant Capitalists: Bookselling and the Culture of Consumption. (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 328 p.). Assistant Professor of Sociology (Brandeis University). Booksellers and bookselling--United States; Bookstores--United States; Books--Purchasing--United States; Books and reading--United States; Consumption (Economics)--Social aspects--United States; Consumer behavior--United States. Consumer behavior is inevitably political, with consequences for communities, commercial institutions. 

Toby Miller (2006). Cultural Citizenship: Cosmopolitanism, Consumerism, and Television in a Neoliberal Age. (Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 248 p.). Professor of English, Sociology, and Women's Studies, Director of the Program in Media & Cultural Studies (University of California, Riverside). Culture--Study and teaching--United States; Consumption (Economics)--United States; Mass media--United States; United States--Politics and government. How obsession with consumption has displaced concern for politics and citizenship.

Louis E. V. Nevaer (2004). The Rise of the Hispanic Market in the United States: Challenges, Dilemmas, and Opportunities for Corporate Management. (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 255 p.). Hispanic American consumers; Market segmentation--United States; Target marketing--United States; North America--Economic integration. 

Monica Neve (2010). Sold : Advertising and the Bourgeois Female Consumer in Munich, 1900-1914. (Stuttgart, Germany: Steiner, 257 p.). Lecturer in Business English (Zurich University of Applied Sciences)5. Advertising and women -- Germany -- Munich -- History -- 20th century; Women consumers -- Germany -- Munich -- History -- 20th century. 'Feminization of consumption'; how development of specific ideas about relationship between women and shopping at turn of 20th century contributed to shopping's becoming widely accepted as gender-specific activity; how shopping became established as female responsibility for maintenance of cultural, aesthetic norms.

Daniel Nissanoff (2006). FutureShop: How the New Auction Culture Will Revolutionize the Way We Buy, Sell, and Get the Things We Really Want. (New York, NY: Penguin Press, 256 p.). Web Entrepreneur, Co-Founded Portero (online facilitation company specializing in the resale of luxury goods), founded Partminer, one of the first successful online b2b exchanges. Internet auctions; Secondhand trade. Online auction "facilitators" will make buying and selling so hassle-free, so reliable, so lucrative - masses of consumers won't stay away. 

Richard L. Oliver (1997). Satisfaction: A Behavioral Perspective on the Consumer. (New York, NY: McGraw Hill, 432 p.). Consumer satisfaction; Consumer satisfaction--Evaluation.

John O'Shaughnessy (1987). Why People Buy. (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 195 p.). Consumer behavior; Motivation research (Marketing); Purchasing.

Lisa Sun-Hee Park (2005). Consuming Citizenship: Children of Asian Immigrant Entrepreneurs. (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 169 p.). Assistant Professor in the Ethnic Studies Department and the Urban Studies and Planning Program (University of California, San Diego). Korean Americans--Cultural assimilation; Chinese Americans--Cultural assimilation; Children of immigrants--United States--Social conditions; Immigrants--United States--Social conditions; Children of immigrants--United States--Interviews; Asian Americans--Interviews; Family-owned business enterprises--Social aspects--United States; Consumption (Economics)--Social aspects--United States; Korean Americans--Economic conditions; Chinese Americans--Economic conditions. How Korean American and Chinese American children of entrepreneurial immigrants demonstrate their social citizenship as Americans through conspicuous consumption.

Jennifer Patico (2008). Consumption and Social Change in a Post-Soviet Middle Class. (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 244 p.). Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology (Georgia State University). Middle class --Russia (Federation) --Saint Petersburg --Economic conditions; Professional employees --Russia (Federation) --Saint Petersburg --Economic conditions; Consumption (Economics) --Social aspects --Russia (Federation) --Saint Petersburg; Social change --Russia (Federation) --Saint Petersburg; Cost and standard of living --Russia (Federation) --Saint Petersburg; Saint Petersburg (Russia) --Economic conditions; Saint Petersburg (Russia) --Social conditions. How teachers in Saint Petersburg, Russia have adjusted their activities, interactions as consumers as marketization, privatization pressures left them unable to attain respectable material standards of living; how this has led to dramatic shifts in assessments of their own lives, of society.

Linda Levy Peck (2005). Consuming Splendor: Society and Culture in Seventeenth-Century England. (New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 431 p.). Columbian Professor of History (George Washington University). Consumption (Economics)--England--History--17th century; Luxuries--England--History--17th century; Shopping--England--History--17th century; England--Social life and customs--17th century; England--Economic conditions--17th century; Great Britain--History--Stuarts, 1603-1714. Consumption of luxury goods transformed social practices, gender roles, royal policies, economy in seventeenth-century England. 

Tom Pendergast (2000). Creating the Modern Man: American Magazines and Consumer Culture, 1900-1950. (Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 289 p.). Masculinity--United States--History--20th century; Body image in men--United States; Men in mass media--United States; Men in popular culture--United States; Consumption (Economics)--United States.

Eduardo Porter (2011). The Price of Everything: Solving the Mystery of Why We Pay What We Do. (New York, NY: Portfolio Penguin, 304 p.). Editorial Board Member (The New York Times). Value; Values. Constant, often unconscious, cost and value assessments made every day; how critical prices motivate, shape lives; story behind prices; what prices tell us.

Virginia Postrel (2003). The Substance of Style: How the Rise of Aesthetic Value Is Remaking Commerce, Culture, and Consciousness. (New York, NY: HarperCollins, 237 p.). Aesthetics. 

David M. Potter (1954). People of Plenty; Economic Abundance and the American Character. (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 219 p.). National characteristics, American; United States -- Economic conditions.

Jeremy Prestholdt (2008). Domesticating the World: African Consumerism and the Genealogies of Globalization. (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 273 p.). Assistant Professor History (University of California, San Diego). Consumer behavior--Africa, Eastern; Globalization--Africa, Eastern. New perspective on global interconnectivity in 19th century; East African consumers' changing desires for material complex webs of local consumer demands that affected patterns of exchange, production as far away as India, United States; Africa's global relationships not always dictated by outsiders; forgotten trajectories of global trade, consumption; histories of intersecting, reciprocal relationships across vast distances foreshadow contemporary globalization.

Daniel L. Purdy (1998). The Tyranny of Elegance: Consumer Cosmopolitanism in the Era of Goethe. (Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 301 p.). Assistant Professor in the Department of Germanic Languages (Columbia University). Consumption (Economics)--Germany--History--19th century; Consumer behavior--Germany--History--19th century; Fashion--Germany--History--19th century; Fashion in literature. 

Alissa Quart (2002). Branded: The Buying and Selling of Teenagers. (Cambridge, MA: Perseus Pub., 239 p.). Brand name products--Marketing; Teenage consumers; Consumer behavior; Consumers' preferences. 

Mary Lou Quinlan (2003). Just Ask a Woman: Cracking the Code of What Women Want and How They Buy. (New York, NY: Wiley, 260 p.). Women consumers--United States; Marketing--United States; Women--United States--Attitudes. 

Erika Diane Rappaport (2000). Shopping for Pleasure: Women in the Making of London's West End. (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 323 p.). Associate Professor, Department of History (University of California, Santa Barbara). Consumer behavior--England--London--Sex differences--History; Consumption (Economics)--England--London--Sex differences--History; Women consumers--England--London--History; Department stores--England--London--History; West End (London, England)--Economic conditions. Social and cultural history of London's Victorian and Edwardian West End as entertainment and retail center - essential interplay between rise of consumer society, birth of modern femininity, making of contemporary London.

Eds. S. Ratneshwar, David Glen Mick, and Cynthia Huffman. (2000). The Why of Consumption: Contemporary Perspectives on Consumer Motives, Goals and Desires. ( New York, NY: Routledge, 330 p.). Consumer behavior; Consumers--Research.

Eds. S. Ratneshwar and David Glen Mick (2005). Inside Consumption. (New York, NY: Routledge, 356 p.). Consumer behavior; Consumers--Research. Modern-day issues in consumer motivation.

Eds. Gideon Reuveni and Nils Roemer (2010). Longing, Belonging, and the Making of Jewish Consumer Culture. (Boston, MA: Brill, 233 p.). Lecturer for Modern Jewish and European history (University of Melbourne); Associate Professor of Jewish Studies (University of Texas at Dallas). Jewish consumers; Consumer behavior; Judaism and culture; Consumers -- Attitudes; Jews -- Identity; Jews -- Social life and customs; Consumption (Economics) -- Social aspects; Consumption (Economics) -- Religious aspects -- Judaism. Jewish belongings and longings; Jewish consumer culture as vehicle of integration, identity in modern times.

Ed. Rengenier C. Rittersma (2011). Luxury in the Low Countries: Miscellaneous Reflections on Netherlandish Material Culture, 1500 to the Present. (Brussels, Belgium: Pharo, 271 p.). Alexander von Humboldt Fellow (Institute of European History and Saarland University). Luxury -- Congresses; Luxuries -- Belgium -- Congresses; Luxuries -- Netherlands -- Congresses; Collectors and collecting -- Belgium -- Congresses; Collectors and collecting -- Netherlands -- Congresses; Art -- Collectors and collecting -- Belgium -- Congresses; Art -- Collectors and collecting -- Netherlands -- Congresses; Gastronomy -- Belgium -- Congresses; Gastronomy -- Netherlands -- Congresses. Economic forces that produced boom in luxury goods; wealth, social display that fueled search for rare commodities.

Daniel Roche; translated by Brian Pearce (2000). A History of Everyday Things: The Birth of Consumption in France, 1600-1800. (New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 309 p.). Consumption (Economics)--History; Consumer behavior--History; Social history. 

Ed. Roger Rosenblatt (1999). Consuming Desires: Consumption, Culture, and the Pursuit of Happiness. (Washington, DC: Island Press, 230 p.). Consumption (Economics)--United States; Consumer behavior--United States; Individualism--United States; Mass society; United States--Social conditions--1980-.

Eli Rubin (2008). Synthetic Socialism: Plastics and Dictatorship in the German Democratic Republic. (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 286 p.). Assistant professor of history (Western Michigan University). Consumption (Economics) -- Germany (East); Consumer behavior -- Germany (East); Plastics industry and trade -- Germany (East); Socialism and society. History of East Germany through production, use of plastic - high-technology material, symbol of socialism's scientific, economic superiority over capitalism, of particularly special quality, not to be thrown away like products of wasteful West; deep resonance of modern, socialist dimension of plastics-based everyday life.

Larry Samuel (2009). Rich: The Rise and Fall of American Wealth Culture. (New York, NY: Amacom, 320 p.). Psychotherapist. Rich people --United States; Wealth --United States. Understanding country's wealthiest, most enigmatic class; American obsession with money in perspective, context; origins of upper class; history of American rich from 1920 to today; rise of first mass affluent class in America, virtual demise of old money.

Roberta Sassatelli (2007). Consumer Culture: History, Theory and Politics. (Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications, 237 p.). Consumption (Economics); Consumers--Attitudes; Marketing--Social aspects.

Ann Satterthwaite (2001). Going Shopping: Consumer Choices and Community Consequences. (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 386 p.). City Planner (Washington, DC). Cities and towns--History; City and town life--History; Shopping--Social aspects--History; Consumers--History; Sociology, Urban. 

Herbert I. Schiller (1989). Culture, Inc.: The Corporate Takeover of Public Expression. (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 201 p.). Former Professor of Communication (University of California-San Diego). Communication--Political aspects-United States; Communication--Economic aspects--United States; Corporations--United States; Popular culture--United States--History--20th century. 

Leigh Eric Schmidt (1995). Consumer Rites: The Buying & Selling of American Holidays. (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 363 p.). Holidays--Economic aspects--United States; United States--Religious life and customs; United States--Economic conditions. 

Juliet B. Schor (1998). The Overspent American: Upscaling, Downshifting, and the New Consumer (Why Want What We Don't Need) . (New York, NY: Basic Books, 253 p.). Economist (Harvard). Consumer behavior--United States; Consumption (Economics)--United States; Credit--United States; Debt--United States; Finance, Personal--United States; Lifestyles--United States; Saving and thrift--United States; Values--United States. 

--- (2004). Born to Buy: The Commercialized Child and the New Consumer Culture. (New York, NY: Scribner, 275 p.). Child consumers United States; Young consumers United States; Advertising and children United States; Materialism Social aspects United States; Child development United States; Children United States Social conditions; Child welfare United States. 

Micheal Schudson (1984). Advertising, The Uneasy Persuasion: Its Dubious Impact on American Society. (New York, NY: Basic Books, 288 p.). Advertising--United States--History.

Katherine Sender (2005). Business, Not Politics: The Making of the Gay Market. (New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 320 p.). Assistant Professor (Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania). Gay consumers--United States; Lesbian consumers--United States; Marketing--United States.  

Barry Schwartz (2004). The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less. (New York, NY: Ecco Press, 288 p.). Dorwin P. Cartwright Professor of Social Theory and Social Action (Swarthmore). Choice (Psychology); Decision making. 

John Seabrook (2000). NoBrow: The Culture of Marketing the Marketing of Culture. (New York, NY: Knopf, 215 p.). Writer (New Yorker). Mass media and culture--United States; Popular culture--United States. 

Carole Shammas (1990). The Pre-Industrial Consumer in England and America. (New York, NY: Oxford University, 319 p.). Historian (University of California-Riverside). Consumption (Economics) -- Great Britain -- History -- 18th century; Consumption (Economics) -- United States -- History -- 18th century; Home-based businesses -- Great Britain -- History -- 18th century; Home-based businesses -- United States -- History -- 18th century; Cost and standard of living -- Great Britain -- History -- 18th century; Cost and standard of living -- United States -- History -- 18th century.

Brent Alan Shannon (2006). The Cut of His Coat: Men, Dress, and Consumer Culture in Britain, 1860-1914. (Athens, OH: Ohio University Press, 252 p.). Visiting Professor of English (Transylvania University, Lexington, KY). Male consumers--Great Britain--History; Men’s clothing--England--History; Social classes--England--History; Masculinity--England--History; Consumption (Economics)--England--History. Role of middle class men as active participants in birth of modern consumer culture from 1860 to turn of 20th century.

Eds. Elizabeth Shove, Frank Trentmann, Richard Wilk (2009). Time, Consumption and Everyday Life: Practice, Materiality and Culture. (New York, NY: Berg, 256 p.). Professor of Sociology (Lancaster University); Professor of History (Birkbeck College, University of London); Professor of Anthropology and Gender Studies (Indiana University). Changing rhythms, temporal organization of everyday life; how routines, rhythms, their emotional and political dynamics are anchored in material culture, everyday practice; questions of coordination and disruption; cycles and seasons; interplay between power and freedom, between material and natural forces.

Rachel Shteir (2011). The Steal: A Cultural History of Shoplifting. (New York, Ny: Penguin, 272 p.). Associate Professor, Head of the BFA Program in Criticism and Dramaturgy (Theatre School at DePaul University). Shoplifting --History. Shoplifting as crime, disease, protest; why 27 million Americans shoplift everything from condoms and Bibles to much more conspicuous items like kayaks and rugs; evolution of shoplifting: 1) London - urbanization, consumerism made London into Europe's busiest mercantile capital; 2) 19th-century Paris - rise of department store, pathologizing of shoplifting as kleptomania; 1960s America - symbol of resistance (publication of Abbie Hoffman's Steal This Book popularized shoplifting as antiestablishment act); 2011 - response to culture of hyper-consumerism?; tied to economic downturns? few theories; responses of police and of stores; punished by death, discouraged by shame tactics, protected against by high-tech surveillance; treated by psychoanalysis, medicated with pharmaceuticals, enforced by law to attend rehabilitation groups - no signs of slowing; crime tax" (amount every American family loses to shoplifting-related price inflation = more than $400/year; 2009 - cost American retailers $11.7 billion (theft of one $5.00 item from Whole Foods can require sales of hundreds of dollars to break even).

Michael J. Silverstein and Neil Fiske, with John Butman. (2005). Trading Up: Why Consumers Want New Luxury Goods--and How Companies Create Them. (New York, NY: Portfolio, 316 p.). Senior Vice President of Boston Consulting Group, President (Bath & Body Works); Luxury; Cost and standard of living--United States; Quality of products--United States. Why people are willing to spend beyond their means for certain premium goods.

Michael J. Silverstein with John Butman (2006). Treasure Hunt: Inside the Mind of the New Consumer. (New York, NY: Portfolio, 272 p.). Senior Vice President of The Boston Consulting Group. Consumer behavior; Middle class. Offer the perception of good value for money and an emotionally satisfying experience.

Woodruff D. Smith (2002). Consumption and the Making of Respectability, 1600-1800. (New York, NY: Routledge, 339 p.). Consumption (Economics)--Europe--History; Culture--Economic aspects--Europe--History; Europe--Social life and customs. 

Eds. Kate Soper, Martin Ryle, and Lyn Thomas (2009). Politics and Pleasures of Consuming Differently: Better than Shopping. (New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 224 p.). Professor of Philosophy (London Metropolitan University, UK); Reader in the Centre for Continuing Education (University of Sussex, UK); Deputy Director of the Institute for the Study of European Transformations (London Metropolitan University, UK). Consumption (Economics) -- Social aspects; Consumption (Economics) -- Environmental aspects; Consumption (Economics) -- Moral and ethical aspects; Shopping. Quality of life. Representations, practices of consumption in Western world; themes of counter-consumerism, ecological crisis, sustainability that are rising on political, cultural agenda.

Herb Sorensen (2009). Inside the Mind of the Shopper: The Science of Retailing. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Wharton School Publ., 212 p.). Expert on In-Store Consumer Behavior; patented shopper-tracking technology PathTracker. Retail trade; Consumer behavior; Marketing; Stores, Retail --Design and construction. Present right products to right shoppers at right time; eliminate merchandise that costs sales; three different groups of shopping excursions; how customers "migrate" within store; how to use "active retailing"; get shopper to buy as quickly as possible.

Joel H. Spring (2002). Educating the Consumer: A History of the Marriage of Schools, Advertising, and Media. (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 254 p.). Consumer behavior--United States--History; Consumer education--United States--History; Advertising--United States--History; Mass media--United States--History.

Adam C. Stanley (2008). Modernizing Tradition: Gender and Consumerism in Interwar France and Germany. (Baton Rouge, LA, Louisiana State University Press, 261 p.). Assistant Professor of History (University of Wisconsin, Platteville). Consumption (Economics) --Sex differences --France --History --20th century; Consumption (Economics) --Sex differences --Germany --History --20th century; Women --France --History --20th century; Women --Germany --History --20th century. How interwar French, German popular culture used commercial images to redefine femininity in way that granted women some access to modern life without encouraging assertion of female independence; how media attempted to convince women that newly available consumer goods could empower, liberate their being a mother or housewife.

Peter H. Stearns (2001). Consumerism in World History: The Global Transformation of Desire. (New York, NY: Routledge, 147 p.). George Mason University. Consumption (Economics)--History.

Judd Stitziel (2005). Fashioning Socialism: Clothing, Politics, and Consumer Culture in East Germany. (New York, NY: Berg, 260 p.). Consumption (Economics)--Germany (East); Consumer behavior--Germany (East); Clothing trade--Germany (East); Fashion--Germany (East) Socialism--Germany (East).  

Jon Stobart, Andrew Hann, and Victoria Morgan (2007). Spaces of Consumption: Leisure and Shopping in the English Town, 1680-1830. (New York, NY: Routledge, 247 p.). Consumption (Economics) --England --History; Consumers --England --History; Cities and towns --England --History. Spatially - moments of consumption (selecting and purchasing goods, attending plays, promenading); ways in which these were related through spaces of town: the shop, the theatre the street.; sociability, politeness, respectability in 18th century.

Susan Strasser (1995). Satisfaction Guaranteed: The Making of the American Mass Market. (Washington, DC: Smithsonian Press, 339 p. [orig. pub. 1989]). Advertising--United States--Psychological aspects--History; Consumers--United States--History; Sales promotion--United States--History; Brand name products--United States--History.

Ed. Susan Strasser, Charles McGovern, Matthias Judt (1998). Getting and Spending: European and American Consumer Societies in the Twentieth Century. (New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 477 p.). Consumption (Economics)--United States--History--20th century; Consumption (Economics)--Europe--History--20th century; Consumption (Economics)--Germany--History--20th century; Material culture--United States--History--20th century; Material culture--Europe--History--20th century; Material culture--Germany--History--20th century.

Susan Mosher Stuard (2006). Gilding the Market: Luxury and Fashion in Fourteenth-Century Italy. (Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 344 p.). Professor of History Emeritus (Haverford College). Luxury goods industry--Italy--History--To 1500; Luxuries--Italy--History--To 1500; Clothing and dress--Italy--History--Medieval, 500-1500; Fashion--Italy--History--To 1500; Consumption (Economics)--Italy--History--To 1500; Italy--Economic conditions. Arrival of fashion in European history.

Eds. John Styles, Amanda Vickery (2007). Gender, Taste, and Material Culture in Britain and North America, 1700-1830. (New Haven, CT: Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art / The Yale Center for British Art / Yale University Press, 368 p.). Research Professor in History (University of Hertfordshire); Reader in the History of Women and Gender at Royal Holloway (University of London). Material culture. Compares developments in Britain and North America between 1700 and 1830 - profound significance of everyday objects in eighteenth-century Atlantic world.

Deyan Sudjic (2009). The Language of Things: Understanding the World of Desirable Objects. (New York, NY: Norton, 208 p.). Director of the Design Museum, London. Design --Philosophy; Design --Social aspects. Interaction between art, design, commerce; how we can be manipulated, seduced by possessions; where design ends, art begins.

Dana Thomas (2007). Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster. (New York, NY: Penguin Press, 384 p.). Cultural, Fashion Writer for Newsweek in Paris. Luxury goods industry; Consumer behavior; Consumption (Economics)--Social aspects. How 'massification' of luxury goods has ensured that luxury isn't luxurious any longer; industry run by massive corporations focused only on growth, visibility, brand awareness, advertising, profits.

Susan Gregory Thomas (2007). Buy, Buy Baby: The Mass Seduction of Our Youngest Consumers, and How It’s Changing the American Family. (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 288 p.). Former Senior Editor (U.S. News and World Report). Child consumers; Advertising and children. Kids are becoming consumers at alarmingly young ages; suffer all ills that rampant materialism visits on adults--anxiety, hyper-competitiveness, depression.

Ed. Frank Trentmann (2006). The Making of the Consumer: Knowledge, Power and Identity in the Modern World. (New York, NY: Berg, 256 p.). Senior Lecturer in the School of History, Classics, and Archaeology at Birkbeck College (University of London). Consumers; Consumption (Economics); Consumer behavior. Rise of the consumer; evolution of consumer in relation to citizenship and ethics, law and economics, media, work, retailing.

Gunnar Trumbull (2006). Consumer Capitalism: Politics, Product Markets, and Firm Strategy in France and Germany. (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 186 p.). Assistant Professor at Harvard Business School. Consumer protection--France; Consumer protection--Germany; Consumption (Economics)--France; Consumption (Economics)--Germany; Capitalism--France; Capitalism--Germany; Product management--France; Product management--Germany. Origins of national systems of consumer protection in France and Germany; national competitiveness may hinge  on labor and capital, and on institutional forms of national consumption. 

James B. Twitchell (1992). Carnival Culture: The Trashing of Taste in America. (New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 306 p.). Professor of English and Advertising (University of Florida). Mass media--United States; Popular culture--United States.

--- (1999). Lead Us Into Temptation: The Triumph of American Materialism. (New York, NY: Coilumbia University Press, 310 p.). Professor of English and Advertising (University of Florida). Consumption, Materialism. Author claims that shopping and consuming define our culture.  See also: Luxury Fever: Why Money Fails to Satisfy in an Era of Excess by Robert H. Frank (New York, NY: Free Press, 1999).

--- (2002). Living It Up: Our Love Affair with Luxury. (New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 309 p.). Professor of English (University of Florida). Affluent consumers--Psychology; Luxuries--Marketing. Consumption habits of Americans - written like a field anthropologist.

Paco Underhill (1999). Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping. (New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 255 p.). Social Anthropologist. Marketing research; Consumer behavior; Shopping. Tends to tell more about how we buy than why we buy.

--- (2004). The Call of the Mall: A Walking Tour Through the Crossroads of Our Shopping Culture. (New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 227 p.). Social Anthropologist. Shopping malls--United States; Consumption (Economics)--United States; Consumers--United States--Attitudes. 

Thorstein Veblen (1979). The Theory of the Leisure Class. (New York, NY: Penguin, 400 p. [orig. pub. 1899]). Leisure class. 

Lorna Weatherill (1988). Consumer Behaviour and Material Culture in Britain, 1660-1760. (New York, NY: Routledge, 252 p.). Consumers--Great Britain--History--17th century; Consumers--Great Britain--History--18th century; Great Britain--Economic conditions--17th century; Great Britain--Economic conditions--18th century; Great Britain--Social conditions--17th century; Great Britain--Social conditions--18th century.

Robert E. Weems, Jr. (1998). Desegregating the Dollar: African American Consumerism in the Twentieth Century. (New York, NY: New York University Press, 195 p.). African American consumers -- History -- 20th century; Racism -- United States -- History -- 20th century. 

Michael J. Weiss (1994). Latitudes & Attitudes: An Atlas of American Tastes, Trends, Politics, and Passions: from Abilene, Texas to Zanesville, Ohio. (Boston, MA: Little, Brown, 224 p.). Premier Demographics Expert. Consumers--United States--Attitudes; Consumers--United States--Attitudes--Maps; National characteristics, American; National characteristics, American--Maps; United States--Social life and customs--1971-.

--- (1998). The Clustering of America. (New York, NY: Harper & Row, 416 p.). Premier Demographics Expert. Consumers' preferences--United States; Postal zones--Social aspects--United States; Social surveys--United States; United States--Social conditions--1980-; United States--Social life and customs--1971-.

--- (2000). The Clustered World: How We Live, What We Buy, and What It All Means About Who We Are. (Boston, MA: Little, Brown. Premier Demographics Expert. Consumers' preferences--United States; Postal zones--Social aspects--United States; Social surveys--United States; United States--Social conditions--1980-; United States--Social life and customs--1971-. 

Evelyn Welch (2005). Shopping in the Renaissance: Consumer Cultures in Italy 1400-1600. (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 256 p.). Professor of Renaissance Studies, Queen Mary, University of London. Consumers--Italy--History--To 1500; Consumers--Italy--History--16th century; Shopping--Italy--History--To 1500; Shopping--Italy--History--16th century. Renaissance material culture.

Tammy C. Whitlock (2005). Crime, Gender, and Consumer Culture in Nineteenth-Century England. (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 256 p.). Professor in the Department of History (University of Kentucky). Retail trade--England--History--19th century; Consumption (Economics)--England--History--19th century; Women consumers--England--History--19th century; Consumer behavior--England--Sex differences--History--19th century; Crime--England--History--19th century; England--Social life and customs--History--19th century. 

Peter C. Whybrow (2005). American Mania: When More is Not Enough. (New York, NY: Norton, 338 p.). Director of the Semel Institute of Neuroscience and Human Behavior UCLA); Judson Braun Professor and Executive Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences UCLA Medical School). Social values--United States; Wealth--Social aspects--United States; Consumption (Economics)--Health aspects--United States; Self-interest--United States; Social ethics--United States; Happiness; National characteristics, American--history.

S. Jonathan Wiesen (2010). Creating the Nazi Marketplace: Commerce and Consumption in the Third Reich. (New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 277 p.). Associate Professor of History (Southern Illinois University). Consumption (Economics) -- Germany -- History -- 20th century; Consumer behavior -- Germany -- History -- 20th century; Marketing -- Germany -- History -- 20th century; Germany -- Economic conditions -- 1918-1945; National socialism. Marketing, advertising, consumer research in Third Reich; how National Socialism created distinctive world of buying and selling; ways corporate leaders, everyday Germans navigated "the Nazi marketplace"; Nazi marketplace central to regime's promise of future consumer abundance, realization of individual achievement, creation of purified 'racial community.

Rosalind H. Williams (1982). Dream Worlds, Mass Consumption in Late Nineteenth-Century France. (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 451 p.). Dean for Undergraduate Education and Metcalf Professor of Writing (MIT). Consumers -- France -- History.

Michael J. Wolf (1999). The Entertainment Economy: How Mega-Media Forces Are Transforming Our Lives. (New York, NY: Times Books, 314 p.). Senior Partner, Booz Allen & Hamilton. Television broadcasting--Social aspects; Motion pictures--Social aspects; Leisure industry; Popular culture.

Sharon Zukin (2004). Point of Purchase: How Shopping Changed American Culture. (New York, NY: Routledge, 325 p.). Professor of Sociology (City University of New York). Consumption (Economics)--Social aspects--United States; Shopping--Social aspects--United States--History; Consumer behavior--United States--History. 

 

_________________________________________________________

Business History Links

American Consumer Culture (MIT Open Courseware)                             http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/History/21H-206American-Consumer-CultureFall2001/CourseHome/index.htm                              

Examines how and why twentieth-century Americans came to define the "good life" through consumption, leisure, and material abundance. Explores how such things as department stores, advertising, mass-produced cars, and suburbs transformed the American economy, society and politics.

100 Years of US Consumer Spending: Data for the Nation, New York City, and Boston                                                                                 http://www.bls.gov/opub/uscs/                                      

The authors use "consumer expenditure data longitudinally and draw on information from decennial census reports to present a 100-year history of significant changes in consumer spending, economic status, and family demographics in the country as a whole, as well as in New York City and Boston."

The Conference Board: Consumer Confidence                http://www.conference-board.org/economics/consumerConfidence.cfm        Provides current U.S. consumer attitudes about purchasing intentions. Updated monthly. The "Economic Press Archive" provides articles about survey results for the past year and material about surveys for other regions of the world. The full reports are available for a fee. From a membership organization that "disseminates knowledge about management and the marketplace to help businesses."

Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute                                                          http://www.gdi.ch/index.php?id=2&L=1                            

Gottlieb Duttweiler, founder of Migros AG (grocery retailing business), shaped Swiss economic history; 1962 - laid the foundation for GDI for the purpose of building up an independent research institute for economic and social studies. GDI is Switzerland’s oldest and most independent think tank; it focuses on the subjects of consumption, trade and society; it observes the trends and counter-trends which are relevant for the market and society.

The Material Culture Institute                                         http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/materialculture/index.cfm         

Based in the Department of Human Ecology, Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences, and the Faculty of Arts. The aim of the Material Culture Institute is to devise programming, conferences, symposia and visiting speakers, that will offer a multi-disciplinary perspective on past and present societies, advancing research into human interaction with built environments and materials goods of all sorts.

The Robert Opie Collection             http://www.robertopiecollection.com/                                    

Built up since 1963, The Collection now contains over 500,000 items which together tell the extraordinary story of Britain's consumer society, its lifestyle and culture - dramatic changes that have happened as a result of and since the Industrial Revolution.

Prosperity and Thrift: the Coolridge Era and the Consumer Economy 1921-1929                                                                                    http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/coolhtml/coolhome.html                

The Prosperity and Thrift web site from the Library of Congress provides access to full-text material that documents the prosperity enjoyed by the United States during the Coolidge years, the nation's transition to a mass consumer economy, and the role of government in this transition.

Trendwatching.com                                http://www.trendwatching.com/                          

trendwatching.com is an independent and opinionated trend firm, scanning the globe for the most promising consumer trends, insights and related hands-on business ideas. For the latest and greatest, we rely on our network of 8,000+ spotters in more than 70 countries worldwide. We report on our findings in free, opinionated Trend Briefings, covering trends like INFOLUST, TWINSUMERS, and CUSTOMER-MADE.

 

return to top

 

 
      © 2008. Business History