Status Through Consumption: Dynamics of Consuming in Structured Environments

Consumption takes place in settings or environments which have both direct and indirect effects on its dynamic path. Direct effects of environments on activities in consuming can occur through constraints that environments impose. Environment can also have indirect effects on consumption through enduring modification of internalized constructs which enter heuristics for decisions on activities. The importance of environments to consumption is increased by the definitional dependence of status on the judgements of others. This study examines microprocessing in consumer activities for status as it interacts with structure in the environments of these activities. The importance of environments in status activities provides the basis for a seperate, but related inquiry into observed differences in the form they take across societies. Conjecture on the consequences of differences in the structure of environments for consumption that typify a society is studied in the narrative statements by members of comparison societies and in the content of print advertising in these societies. Evolutionary processes which could establish observed differences in structure across societies are also considered in both their systematic and random components. I review models of random drift and stochastic resonance as candidate forms for generating observed structure in environments. Directions for the subsequent study of status through consumption are discussed.P Introduction: Status Through Consumption; Knowledge Use in Nonwork Activities for Status; Interactions of Consumer Microprocessing and Structured Environments: Activity Feedback and the Stability of Structure; Awards and Honors Systems in Structured Environments: Cross Societal Comparisons of Narrative Statements on Consuming for Status; Comparative Analyses of Consumption Appeals in the Print Advertising of the USA and France, 1955-1991 Random Process in the Generation of Structured Environments; Overview and directions for Study of Status Through Consumption.

Table of Contents:
1: Introduction.- Studying Environments in Status through Consumption.- Overview of the Exposition.- Historical Background: Framing the Study.- Recent Analytical Studies.- Consumption through Nonwork Activities.- Externalities of Knowledge Use in Nonwork Activities.- Constructs of Skill in Knowledge Use and the Valuing of Knowledge in Nonwork Activities.- Partitioned Interaction in Environment: Subpopulations and Groups.- Summary and Conclusions.- Notes.- References.- 2: Studying Consumption Through Nonwork Activities.- Studying Nonwork Activities.- Defining and Contextualizing Knowledge Use in Nonwork Activities.- Knowledge Use in the Workplace.- Knowledge Use in Nonwork Activities.- Dynamics of an Interactive System in Nonwork Activities.- Application to Activities for Status.- Structured Environment of Nonwork Activities for Status.- Dual Fields in Structured Environments of Status Activities.- Representing the Effects of Fields in Consumer Heuristics for Status-Yielding Activities.- Summary and Conclusion.- Notes.- References.- 3: Interactions of Microprocessing and Structured Environment: Activity Structure.- Studying Efficiency and Inequality in Activities for Status.- The consumer Allocation Heuristic in Nonwork Activities for Status.- Summary and Conclusion.- Notes.- References.- 4: Structured Environments of Status Activities: Awards and Honors Systems.- Awards and Honors in the Restricted Field.- Defining Awards and Honors Conferred by the State.- Comparative Study of Awards and Honors.- Historical Background of European Honors and Awards Systems.- Contextualizing Status Competition in Comparison Societies: France and the United States.- Discussion of Narrative Statements.- Summary and Conclusions.- Appendix: Eliciting Statement for Narratives on Status Attainment.- Notes.- References.- 5. Comparative Analyses of Consumption Appeals in the Print Advertising of the U.S. and France, 1955–1991.- Studying Status through Consumption.- Studying Appeals to the Ownership and Use of Consumer Goods in Print Advertising.- Analysis of Appeals to Automobile Ownership and Use in Print Advertising.- Results.- Time Series Analyses of Appeals to Automobile Ownership in American and French Automobile ADS, 1955–1991.- Cross-Societal Differences in Levels of Stationary Series for Study Variables.- Testing of Differences in Other Coded Variables.- Correspondences and Differences in the Coded Variables Across Societies.- Summary and Conclusions.- Appendix: Unit Root Tests for Differences in Study Variables between French and American ADS.- Notes.- References.- 6: Random Processes in the Generation of Structured environments.- Random Processes in the Evolution of Normative Forms of Activities.- Random Genetic Drift as a Generating Process.- Empirical Evidence on Selectionist and Neutral Theories of Molecular Evolution.- Applications of Neutralist Theory to the Evolution of Normative Activities.- Stochastic Resonance as a Random Generating Process.- Stochastic Resonance in the Evolution of Normative Activities.- Summary and Conclusions.- Notes.- References.- 7: Overview and Directions for the Study of Status through Consumption.- Overview of the Exposition.- Directions for the Study of Status through Consumption.- Conclusions.- Notes.- References.