ABSTRACT
In Consumption the contributions are grouped under three headings, reflecting three interrelated aspects of consumption processes, bearing close affinity to the specific definition: acquisition, appropriation and appreciation. This chapter focuses on issues related to consumption, and especially to fascinate the more uninitiated reader, a graduate student perhaps with the burgeoning and intriguing field of consumption studies. It aims to de-ossify studies on consumption and be open to the surprising interstitial spaces of innovation and imagination. Income and prices are principal factors in the consumption process in economist theories, such as Milton Friedman's permanent income hypothesis or Engel's law on the relation between income and food expenditure. The chapter embraces the vibrant field of cultural consumption studies in the broad sense, covering themes like lifestyle, leisure, luxury and fashion as well as more particular cultural preferences as manifestations of various socio-cultural contexts and consumption patterns.
