Beyond a neoclassical consumer analysis in food choices

Gervasio Antonelli (), Gian Italo Bischi, Fabio Tramontana and Elena Vigan? ()
Additional contact information
Gervasio Antonelli: Department of Economics, Society & Politics, Università di Urbino "Carlo Bo"
Elena Vigan?: Department of Economics, Society & Politics, Università di Urbino "Carlo Bo"

No 1410, Working Papers from University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Department of Economics, Society & Politics - Scientific Committee - L. Stefanini & G. Travaglini

Abstract: The concept of postmodern consumer plays a central role within the debate started in the early 80s concerning the economic, social and cultural transformation in developed countries in the years following the end of the Second World War; a change that was interpreted as evolving from a modern towards a postmodern society. According to this literature, postmodern conditions have a significant impact on the consumer, especially at the level of his/her psychological characteristics. Within this new framework the consumer is viewed as a subject who is more interested in the symbolic or cultural value of products and services rather than the value of their function and utility. At the same time, consumers are represented as active players within the market, where they exercise their freedom to move in search of signs symbols and experiences through which they can communicate their identity. The figure of the postmodern consumer is difficult to interpret within the framework of standard neoclassical theories on consumers. At the same time, it highlights the shortcomings of this theoretical approach in studying the behaviour of postmodern consumers. These shortcomings are likely to be more relevant when considering the consumers of food products, given the strong nexus between consumption and the well being of consumers, along with the symbolic and cultural value that food products encompass. The main goal of this paper consists in providing an interdisciplinary overview of postmodern consumers of food products, through the analysis of scientific contributions, mainly in the areas of behavioural economics, sociology and psychology.

Pages: 14 pages
Date: 2014, Revised 2014
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr, nep-mkt and nep-upt
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.econ.uniurb.it/RePEc/urb/wpaper/WP_14_10.pdf First version, 2014 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:urb:wpaper:14_10

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Working Papers from University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Department of Economics, Society & Politics - Scientific Committee - L. Stefanini & G. Travaglini Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Carmela Nicoletti ().