‘Fitting In and Sticking Out’: Consumption, Consumer Meanings and the Construction of Young People's Identities

Abstract

The impact of consumption on the construction of identities is emerging as a key concern of social theory. Despite this, little progress has been made towards developing an understanding of the actual everyday contexts in which young people consume and what implications these contexts have for the construction of their identities. The data considered were generated from a Consumer Meanings Questionnaire as part of a triangulated research project which sought to address the construction of consumer meanings amongst young people in Britain. In light of this data it is suggested that consumption allows young people to feel as though they ‘fit in’ whilst simultaneously giving them some semblance of individuality. This combination provides young people with a sense of stability not otherwise available to them as part of their experience of a ‘risk society’. The need for innovative methodologies which tap experiential aspects of youth experience and identities is therefore stressed.