Toward a Theory of Status Consumption in Less Industrialized Countries

Abstract

How does status consumption operate among the middle classes in less industrialized countries (LICs)-those classes that have the spending power to participate effectively in consumer culture? Globalization research suggests that Bourdieu's status consumption model, based upon Western research, does not provide an adequate explanation. And what we call the global trickle-down model, often invoked to explain LIC status consumption, is even more imprecise. We study the status consumption strategies of upper-middle-class Turkish women in order to revise three of Bourdieu's most important concepts-cultural capital, habitus, and consumption field-to propose a theory specific to the LIC context. We demonstrate that cultural capital is organized around orthodox practice of the Western Lifestyle myth, that cultural capital is deterritorialized and so accrues through distant textbook-like learning rather than via the habitus, and that the class faction with lower cultural capital indigenizes the consumption field to sustain a national social hierarchy.

Competently Ordinary: New Middle Class Consumers in the Emerging Markets

“…Second, we identify an overlooked consumption pattern among the NMCs: the alignment with the "middle." Existing studies on EMs focus on status consumption and emulation patterns (e.g., D'Andrea, Marcotte, and Morrison 2010; Ustuner and Holt 2010). We advance this research by describing how consumers assimilate one another into "people like us" and imagine the middle as a site of normality and comfort.…”

The Taste Transformation Ritual in the Specialty Coffee Market

“…Taste has been theorized by many scholars as a system of classification and distinction structured through material culture (Barcelos, 2015;Bourdieu, 1984), such as differences in cultural capital resources structuring patterns of taste and consumption (Holt, 1998), and the status consumption in less economically developed countries being based on the consumer goods and services prevalent in more economically developed countries, including homes, interior decor, clothing, vacations, and shopping (Ponte & Mattoso, 2014;Üstüner & Holt, 2010). Bourdieu's (1984) concept of cultural capital and its class-bound resources such as occupation, profession, and education has been used by many scholars to understand the role played by taste in consumption (Coskuner-Balli & Thompson, 2013;Holt, 1998;McQuarrie, Miller, & Phillips, 2013;Roling & Vieira, 2014;Üstüner & Holt, 2010).…”

Pratiques collaboratives et habitus consumériste : une analyse des mécanismes transformatifs de la consommation collaborative

“…Dans les recherches sur la consommation, certains écrits font directement référence à la théorie de la pratique (Brownlie et Hewer 2011 ;Naidoo et al, 2011). Les travaux de Bourdieu sont néanmoins souvent mobilisés sous l'angle du capital symbolique, de la consommation statutaire et des mécanismes de distinction (Arsel et Bean, 2013 ;Arsel et Thompson, 2011 ;Costa et al, 2014 ;Holt, 1998 ;Schor et al, 2016, Üstüner et Holt, 2010Üstüner et Thompson, 2012). La plupart du temps, l'habitus se réfère donc à l'habitus de classe et repose sur l'équation [(Habitus) (Capital)] + Champ = Pratique proposée dans La distinction : critique sociale du jugement (Bourdieu, 1979 : 112).…”

“…En effet, cela permet de considérer que d'autres éléments que la famille ou l'école peuvent intervenir dans la construction de l'habitus et sa dynamique. Cette démarche a déjà été entreprise par d'autres chercheurs (Arsel et Bean, 2013 ;Moisio et al, 2013, Saatcioglu et Ozanne, 2013Üstüner et Holt, 2010).…”