Consumerism Indicators Construction: A Portrait of Household Food Consumption in Surabaya
The measurement of levels of consumerism is important to understand the characteristics of the global and domestic economy, which play a role in shaping the characteristics of the national economy. This is in agreement with the post-Fordist economic thought, which underlines consumption as an important aspect of the framework of capitalism. Consumption can influence the daily social life of community, including but not limited to lifestyle. Lifestyle in a society appears not without the role of post- Fordist capitalism, as its mode of existence depends on the activity of consuming its products (Amin, 1994). In order to understand the role of consumerism in colouring the characteristics and foundations of the national economy, it is necessary to understand the characteristics of the domestic economy at the household level. In the context of the heterogeneous Indonesian society, based on geography, social economic status and cultural backgrounds, there is a need of a comprehensive perspective to study the dynamics of the domestic economy, which indicates the economic characteristics of the society. The Indonesian society, comprising of urban and rural communities, show the importance of the dimensions of consumerism to observe specific economic characteristics that differentiate the two communities. This study focuses on the economic characteristics of the urban society, which illustrates the urban consumerist society characteristics as the realisation of the interaction of local and global economy.
