Consumption and social change in Spain: evolution in household equipment (1983-2005)

Abstract

There are some socio-economic indicators that make it possible for us to speak in terms of an incipient consumer society in Spain since the 1960s. Social, political and economic evolution in our country has been considerable since then. This study
supports the idea that there is a reciprocal influence between consumption and social evolution.We try to explain here the trends in consumption —in household equipment— from different sociodemographic variables, using several studies carried out by the Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas over the last 25 years. Generally speaking, it can be concluded that in a developed consumer society, where access to superior goods is democratized, the differences go further than the typical income variable, moving on to
focus on more subtle aspects that are related to
lifestyles.