Consumption is widely regarded as one of the most important phenomena in contemporary society, but, till now, there has been very little analysis of how consumption patterns evolve, transform and proliferate. This revealing book provides an incisive treatment of consumption on a global scale from a cultural, philosophical and business perspective.

Beginning with an analysis of how a dominant form of consumption pattern took hold in modern, capitalist, market economies, this book explores the contemporary changes and paradoxes in our consumption patterns during the transitional...

Consumption is widely regarded as one of the most important phenomena in contemporary society but there has been very little analysis of how consumption patterns evolve, transform and proliferate. This work provides a treatment of consumption on a global scale from a cultural, philosophical and business perspective. Beginning with an analysis of how a dominant form of consumption pattern took hold in modern, capitalist, market economies, it explores the contemporary changes and paradoxes in our consumption patterns during the transitional period from the modern to the postmodern. The text...