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Political consumption, conventional politics, and high cultural capital
Author(s) -
Baumann Shyon,
Engman Athena,
Johnston Josée
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
international journal of consumer studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.775
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1470-6431
pISSN - 1470-6423
DOI - 10.1111/ijcs.12223
Subject(s) - politics , consumption (sociology) , pessimism , political capital , political culture , economics , social psychology , political science , sociology , political economy , demographic economics , social science , psychology , law , philosophy , epistemology
This article advances our knowledge of how political consumption is related to conventional forms of politics. Using survey data collected in Toronto in 2011, we examine how different kinds of political consumption are related to a range of conventional political behaviours. We find that, contrary to pessimistic views, political consumption is strongly correlated with conventional political behaviours. We do not find evidence for a crowding out or substitution effect of political consumption on conventional political behaviours. However, our findings suggest that political consumption is an individualized and relatively exclusive form of consumption, with demographic correlates that resemble other forms of high status cultural consumption and potentially limit its breadth.