Interpretations of Prices by Russian Consumers: From Trust in State to Economic Autonomy

Abstract

On the data of 63 in-depth interviews conducted in crisis 2014–2017 and post-crisis 2018–2019 and analyzed in the framework of sociological cognitivism and the new economic sociology, the article reconstructs semantic logics being used by Russian consumers when they interpret money prices. It is assumed that in a market society, reactions to prices are associated with an individual’s identity, while doubts about price legitimacy may give a key to threats and dynamics of social order. The text starts with conceptualization of the socio-cultural, political and identical embeddedness of consumers’ price perception and description of the field study performed in the methodology of grounded theory. After that, four empirically rooted logics of price interpretation — moral, demonstrative, market justice and prudence — get presented. Special attention is paid to the competition between these logics and the difficulties faced by Russians, when they attempt to master a more mature in terms of market price grammar consumer identity, corresponding to the post-crisis economy of prudence, individual responsibility and sustainability.