Sociology of Consumption

There is no doubt that in today's advanced societies consumption is much more than a social activity like any other. Actually, it represents the most transversal phenomenon in these societies. And not only that. It constitutes the essence of them. It is not by chance, therefore, that these societies are named. They are thus constituted as consumer societies. But today with the term consumption we should not refer only to products and material objects. First of all, nowadays, ideas and meanings infinitely created by advertising are consumed. In this way, consumption and advertising are today the same thing. We therefore speak of the consumption-advertising system. This system thus constitutes the authentic sustaining axis of the compulsory subject entitled Sociology of Consumption of the third year of the Marketing Degree of the UA.

For all that has been said, the current consumer society, perhaps the most complex of all, apart from its material and productive dimension, has, like current capitalism, a fundamentally semantic nature. Hence, its enormous capacity to continually redefine itself based on the different socio-historical contexts of the contemporary age. With the sole condition of maintaining the principle of extracting value, collectively generated, in the form of surplus value in favor of a minority, capitalism and the consumer society adapt, within an order, to any spatio-temporal circumstance.

As a consequence, concepts such as social classes, politics, groups or social organizations, so useful in sociology's understanding of industrial society, must be integrated with the sociological analysis of the consumption-advertising system, which is much more explanatory. of today's postmodern society. The sociology of the object and the satisfaction of needs, typical of industrial societies, evolves towards a sociology of the symbolic and the semantic in today's consumer society. The object converted into a sign endorses the transition from a society, such as the industrial one, based on merchandise and the satisfaction of needs, to one based on significance, such as that of consumption. The object converted into a sign has raised the latter from the real to the mythological. The consumer society itself is a myth. Everything is possible just by defining it. Happiness, defined by advertising, is the backbone of this society. The mere idea of consumption, constituted in foundational myth, configures the very social essence. It is not real enjoyment, but the anticipation of future pleasure and happiness that generates the social integration of individuals. It is not necessary to generate a social change in reality, it is enough to define it in advertising. If the consumption of objects, mass-produced from industrial society, is necessary for the satisfaction of material needs in any society, what defines the consumer society is the idea of consumption.

Therefore, the sociological analysis of the consumption-advertising system, apart from the development of a more accessible, immediate and economical perspective in terms of effort and time in order to understand the consumer society, constitutes a perfect means of social contextualization for the Marketing Degree. Yes, because as a tool for promoting product sales framed in marketing, advertising, a co-substantial element of consumption, has not only been emancipated from marketing, but has become the communicative essence of our societies.

Course will consist of 60hrs of in class work and 90 hrs of independent work outside the classroom.