ABSTRACT
Consumption is an important part of our daily lives, and is one of the key ways in which we create meaning and significance, particularly with regards to our relationships with other people. The idea that 'consumption is meaningful' is a (deliberately) over-simplistic representation of this field. This chapter considers a range of inputs from empirical and theoretical work, which at least accounts for the meaningfulness of consumption. It also addresses what we should do with these insights, to help understand how the idea that 'consumption is meaningful' impacts on what we know about sustainable consumption, and what we can do about it. There is plenty of evidence to show that people are aware of ethical considerations as we tend to define them (concern for the environment and for distant others) in their shopping practices, but the more useful insight is to do with the relationship of such ethical considerations to people's broader concerns.
