Not of Whole Cloth Made

The Consumer Environment of Children

Abstract

The environment in which children today grow and develop is in many ways a consumer environment. Children, as consumers, have captured the attention of marketers and consumer researchers. Social scientists, however, have yet to address children's consumption in a more than piecemeal fashion. This paper provides one perspective on children's consumption through an examination of their consumer environment. Rather than taking a position that is either for or against consumption, this paper views consumption as an integral process of daily life; as such, it is a powerful medium of social reproduction. Empirical discussion is based on US research, but global implications of consumer culture are also assessed. Examining three major sites of consumption (neighborhood, stores and schools), particular emphasis is placed on attention to the ways "inner city" settings shape the consumer environment of children. Recent developments and changes in the relationships between media and child-oriented industries are also discussed, in particular, the dramatic increase in the licensing industry.