Consumer Culture Theory (CCT): Twenty Years of Research

2005/03/01 by Eric J. Arnould, Craig J. Thompson · 3,527 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Arts and Humanities · Business, Management and Accounting · #Advertising #Anthropology #Argument (complex analysis) #Business #Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification #Consumer Culture #Consumer behaviour #Consumer research #Consumption (sociology) #Culinary Culture and Tourism #Discipline #Epistemology #Experiential learning #Fashion and Cultural Textiles #Ideology #Marketing #Pedagogy #Political science #Redress #Social science #Sociocultural evolution #Sociology

paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/426626

published in Journal of Consumer Research 31(4), 868-882 (Oxford University Press)

openalex publication_date 2005/03/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

Abstract This article provides a synthesizing overview of the past 20 yr. of consumer research addressing the sociocultural, experiential, symbolic, and ideological aspects of consumption. Our aim is to provide a viable disciplinary brand for this research tradition that we call consumer culture theory (CCT). We propose that CCT has fulfilled recurrent calls for developing a distinctive body of theoretical knowledge about consumption and marketplace behaviors. In developing this argument, we redress three enduring misconceptions about the nature and analytic orientation of CCT. We then assess how CCT has contributed to consumer research by illuminating the cultural dimensions of the consumption cycle and by developing novel theorizations concerning four thematic domains of research interest.

Citations

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Related

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