 Consumer markets: the affluent economy and the social stratification of consumptionSophie Dubuisson-Quellier Chapter 4 in Research Handbook on the Sociology of Consumption, 2026, pp 60-73 from Edward Elgar Publishing Abstract: Markets have traditionally been the focus of enquiry by economists, who have developed modelling techniques which have come at the cost of a simplistic view of consumers as preference functions. Sociology of consumption has explained consumer behaviour, but has shown little interest in markets themselves. Economic sociology has paid a great deal of attention to markets – demonstrating the role of cultural resources, knowledge, and social relations – but has done little to study consumption. The chapter starts from studies in economic sociology, inspired by the sociology of science and technology, which have given centre stage to the roles of material devices and market activities. These devices and activities shape consumers and socialise them into behaviours that are most profitable for market players. Market activities contribute very strongly to maintaining the stratifications in society that are essential to the functioning of an economy of abundance. Keywords: Consumer; Market; Consumption; Devices; Sociology; Abundance (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:elg:eechap:22245_4 Ordering information: This item can be ordered from Access Statistics for this chapter More chapters in Chapters from Edward Elgar Publishing |
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