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Consumer culture theory (CCT) is the study of consumption from a social and cultural point of view, as opposed to an economic or psychological one.
CCT does not offer a grand unifying theory but "refers to a family of theoretical perspectives that address the dynamic relationships between consumer actions, the marketplace, and cultural meanings".[1] Reflective of a post-modernist society, CCT views cultural meanings as being numerous and fragmented[2] and hence views culture as an amalgamation of different groups and shared meanings, rather than a homogeneous construct (such as the American culture).
Consumer culture is viewed as "social arrangement in which the relations between lived culture and social resources, between meaningful ways of life and the symbolic and material resources on which they depend, are mediated through markets"[3] and consumers as part of an interconnected system of commercially produced products and images which they use to construct their identity and orient their relationships with others.[4]
There is a widely held misperception by people outside CCT researchers that this field is oriented toward the study of consumption contexts.[1] Memorable study contexts, such as the Harley-Davidson subculture[5] or the Burning Man festival[6] probably fueled this perspective, which is far from the theory development aim of this school of thought.
CCT is often associated with qualitative methodologies, such as interviews, case studies, ethnography, and netnography,[7] because they are suitable to study the experiential, sociological and cultural aspects of consumption. However, CCT researchers use a variety of methods[1]
Arnould & Thompson[1] identifies four research programs in CCT: