Learning outcomes

The educational objectives of the course convegono to the capacity to understand the act of consumption as social action, particularly in its symbolic and relational aspects. It aims to give students an overview of the phenomenon in the symbolic aspects that can integrate the knowledge acquired from other courses of this degree program. Even through case studies is intended to provide the student with logical patterns and interpretive tools to analyze the consumer behaviour also in its "irrational" aspects of social relations.

Program

The course program consists of three volumes with the purpose of:

- Enable the student to absorb a vision micro - meso and macro consumer behavior by placing them in the broader concept of material culture, structuring logical schemes of interpretation of the phenomenon in a structuralistic key such as to enable him to master the phenomenon outside of the cases presented in the course.
- Familiarize the student with the size of the action of psychological and symbolic consumption and the meaning expressed by the goods in their purchase and use
- Familiarize with the lines of the emerging analysis of the phenomenon in order to obtain a knowledge the most updated as possible.

texts:

D. Secondulfo, Sociologia del consumo e della cultura materiale, Angeli, Milano
D. Secondulfo, Un mondo di seconda mano. Sociologia e psicologia dell'usato e del riuso, Angeli, Milano
V. Grasso, D. Viviani, Il cibo immaginato tra produzione e consumo, FrancoAngeli, Milano

suggested readings:

F. Setiffi, La mistica della merce, QuiEdit, Vero

Examination Methods

The methods of assessment of learning require a written test.
In the written test there will be various questions on different topics of the program, that could consist of open questions or in methodological applications related to the study of cases presented in the course.
The written test is intended to ensure that students:
- Have a sound knowledge of the distinctive features that characterize consumer behavior and the relationship with the object with respect to other social goods;
- Know how to develop the theme proposed by exposing it with a proper language and with consistency and critical sense;
- Be able to apply the logic diagrams presented in the course also to aspects of consumer behavior not explicitly covered in the course.
Each question has a score explicit in the text of the written test; the sum of the scores is 30.

Additional items that will be evaluated in the analysis of the answers given by the student will:
- Depth and breadth of knowledge learned;
- Properties of language in the exposition of the concepts and notions;
- Ability to connect to the systemic form of knowledge acquired.