Technology and Consumption [electronic resource] : Understanding Consumer Choices and Behaviors /
Dholakia, Ruby Roy.author.
Computers, smart phones, hi-def TVs, iPods...we buy them, upgrade them, abandon or complain about them, but are lost without them. We know how these ubiquitous items have changed our lives. But to what extent have they changed us? Technology and Consumption explores this provocative question in astute detail, bringing together extensive study findings and original insights to create an instructive profile of contemporary consumer life. Focusing on the areas of life most transformed by technological innovation-shopping, entertainment, communication, and payments for these activities -the author analyzes the complex psychological, societal, and market forces that drive evolving trends in consumer behavior, comparing U.S. and international phenomena and the current era with earlier periods of technological growth. Our intimate relationship with technology is presented in its evolution from a means of accomplishing goals and saving time to a multifaceted way of being influenced by as well as altering our conceptions of time, space, mobility, and community. In this manner, the author raises significant conclusions about communal versus individual space, family and social structures, and the self. Included in the coverage:  Historical and macro level influences on the development of consumer choices. Consumer orientations and technological contradictions. Individual-level variables that influence consumers to buy and use technology. Old and new shopping behaviors. All play and no work? entertainment. Reach out and touch anyone, anytime communication. Buy now, pay later: payment technologies. Holding a state-of-the-art mirror to 21st-century life, Technology and Consumption will be read and discussed by professors and students in consumer behavior, family relations, marketing as well as researchers in social policy and the economics of the family.
Description based upon print version of record.
Technology and Consumption; Preface; Acknowledgments; Contents; 1 Technology in the Household: Looking Back, Looking Forward; Ownership of Household Technologies; Classifying Household Durables; Priority Patterns in Acquiring Household Durables; Changing Positions in the Observed Hierarchies; Entry Paths into Households; References; Data Sources Consulted; 2 Technological Availability: Structural and Macro Factors; Technology Environment: Supply Side Characteristics; Regulatory Environment; International Differences in Regulatory Environment; Industry Structure and Competitiveness
Technologies Old and NewDemand-Side, Macro Level Orientations to Technology; National and Cultural Values; Macro Ideological Orientations; Conclusion; Websites Consulted; 3 Technology in the Household: Individual-Level Explanations; A Framework to Understand Consumer Acquisition and Utilization of Technology; Demographic Factors; Age; Sex and Gender Roles; Education; Family Size, Family Composition, and Family Life Cycle; Home Ownership and Tenancy Status; Geographic Location; Psychographic Factors; Innovativeness; Resources; Money as Resource; Time as Resource; Skill as Resource
Space as ResourceControl as Resource; Orientations; Hedonic Orientation; Materialism Orientation; Goods-Service Bias Orientation; Technology Orientation; Consumer Ubiquity; Technology Evaluation, Acquisition and Utilization; Technology Acceptance Model (TAM); Use Diffusion; Domestication Approach; Summary; References; Websites Consulted; Data Sources Consulted; 4 Shop Till We Drop?; The Retail Sector; Retail Evolution; Shopping Behaviors; Household Technologies and Transformations of Shopping Behaviors; Refrigeration; Automobile; Telephone; Television; Digital Technologies
Wireless TechnologySummary of Shopping Technologies; Household Acceptance of Shopping Technologies; Demographic Explanations; Sex and Gender Role; Psychographic Explanations; Innovativeness; Resources; Money Resource; Time and Skill Resources; Orientations; Utilitarian-Hedonic Orientation; Haptic Orientation; Technology Orientation; Conclusion; References; Websites Consulted; Data Sources Consulted; 5 Entertaining Ourselves to Death; Entertainment Activities within the Home; Evolution of Entertainment Technologies; Reading Technologies; Audio Technologies; Radio
Records, Tapes, CDs, and Audio Digital FilesVideo Technologies; Television; TV-Related Devices; VCR, DVD & DVR; Cable TV and DBS Services; Video Game Technologies; Internet and Broadband; Summary of Entertainment Technologies; Household Acceptance of Entertainment Technologies; Demographic Explanations; Age; Gender; Education; Household Composition; Psychographic Explanations; Lifestyle; Resources; Money; Time; Space; Orientations; Hedonism; Materialism; Goods-Service Bias Orientation; Technology Orientation; Conclusion; References; Websites Consulted; Data Sources Consulted
6 Reach Out and Touch Anyone, Everyone
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Computers, smart phones, hi-def TVs, iPods...we buy them, upgrade them, abandon or complain about them, but are lost without them. We know how these ubiquitous items have changed our lives. But to what extent have they changed us? Technology and Consumption explores this provocative question in astute detail, bringing together extensive study findings and original insights to create an instructive profile of contemporary consumer life. Focusing on the areas of life most transformed by technological innovation-shopping, entertainment, communication, and payments for these activities -the author analyzes the complex psychological, societal, and market forces that drive evolving trends in consumer behavior, comparing U.S. and international phenomena and the current era with earlier periods of technological growth. Our intimate relationship with technology is presented in its evolution from a means of accomplishing goals and saving time to a multifaceted way of being influenced by as well as altering our conceptions of time, space, mobility, and community. In this manner, the author raises significant conclusions about communal versus individual space, family and social structures, and the self. Included in the coverage:  Historical and macro level influences on the development of consumer choices. Consumer orientations and technological contradictions. Individual-level variables that influence consumers to buy and use technology. Old and new shopping behaviors. All play and no work? entertainment. Reach out and touch anyone, anytime communication. Buy now, pay later: payment technologies. Holding a state-of-the-art mirror to 21st-century life, Technology and Consumption will be read and discussed by professors and students in consumer behavior, family relations, marketing as well as researchers in social policy and the economics of the family.
Families.
Families-Social aspects.
Psychotherapy.
Counseling.
Economics.
Management science.
Family.
Psychotherapy and Counseling.
Economics, general.
International Series on Consumer Science