Market practices and over‐consumption

Abstract

Three things are drawn together to form the basis for this article: the contemporary debates about excessive consumption, a theoretical interest in markets and consumption, and a set of sensivities concerning the study of social practices derived from the sociology of science and techniques. The purpose of the article is to elaborate on how current theorising about markets and consumption within interpretative consumer research and market studies may be furthered by insights from a practice approach. The challenges for marketing provided by the contemporary debates on rampant materialism and excessive consumption were chosen as a suitable site for this discussion. Specifically, the article addresses three issues that emerge at the intersection of market exchange and consumption in the face of uneconomic growth: 1) calculation – how do calculative practices, broadly defined, partake in generating over‐consumption? 2) performativity – what is the role of marketing in fuelling overconsumption? 3) agency – how are “over‐consumers” constituted in practice?