Isabel Cristina Torres Estrada’s research while affiliated with Facultad de Ciencias Sociales and other places

El libro registra las transformaciones en las prácticas de consumo de las clases medias emergentes de la ciudad de Medellín, teniendo en cuenta su incremento en los últimos años, no solo en Colombia, sino en general en América Latina y todo lo que esto conlleva, en términos de endeudamiento de la población y en el hecho de que sectores del mercado dirijan sus estrategias a estos grupos sociales, con el objetivo de incrementar el consumo en diversos sectores de la economía, lo que implica cambios en las prácticas de consumo vinculadas con el aumento en el acceso, uso y compra de bienes pertenecientes a distintas categorías de producto/servicio. El texto, financiado por el Centro de Investigación para el Desarrollo y la Innovación de la Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana Sede Medellín, es el resultado de un proyecto de investigación que ratifica la trayectoria en el estudio del consumo, así como las fortalezas teóricas y metodológicas.

This article is intended to express the importance of ethnographic reflexivity as a research tool which can be positioned itself as one of the best strategies to address consumers, since individuals are influenced by the course of their social reality. Ethnography provides a holistic point of view of those persons who consume with respect to themselves, the environment, and the objects and/or goods available for meeting their needs, since it allows making an analysis of the business processes available for the members of a society who in turn become configurators of social representations and imaginaries in relation to acquisitions, uses, and adhesions, among other things, of what has been called merchandise in this article. These research possibilities allow the advertising exercise to find, among the number of daily data, the common elements underlying social configurations so that rhetoric in this kind of communication can be consistent with them in an attempt to reach the goal: persuasion.

This article is intended to express the importance of ethnographic reflexivity as a research tool which can be positioned itself as one of the best strategies to address consumers, since individuals are influenced by the course of their social reality. Ethnography provides a holistic point of view of those persons who consume with respect to themselves, the environment, and the objects and/or goods available for meeting their needs, since it allows making an analysis of the business processes available for the members of a society who in turn become configurators of social representations and imaginaries in relation to acquisitions, uses, and adhesions, among other things, of what has been called merchandise in this article. These research possibilities allow the advertising exercise to find, among the number of daily data, the common elements underlying social configurations so that rhetoric in this kind of communication can be consistent with them in an attempt to reach the goal: persuasion.

This article intends to analyze the theoretical contribution that economy, anthropology, psychology, sociology, and aesthetics make to the study of consumer behavior concept. Consumer behavior study should look for an integral view which allows, from different areas and disciplines, to understand the subject, his/her environment, and his/her consumption practices. Consumer study should not be exclusively subject to consumption moments; its understanding implies an interdisciplinary analysis, because consumers are immersed in social, economic, and cultural environments, which undoubtedly influence his/her decisions.

Este artículo busca analizar el aporte teórico que la economía, la antropología,la psicología, la sociología y la estética hacen al estudio del concepto decomportamiento del consumidor.El estudio del comportamiento del consumidor debe buscar una miradaintegral, que permita, desde diferentes saberes y disciplinas, comprender alsujeto, su entorno y sus prácticas de consumo.El estudio del consumidor no debe supeditarse exclusivamente a los momentosdel consumo; su comprensión implica un análisis interdisciplinar, en tanto losconsumidores están inmersos en entornos sociales, económicos y culturales,que sin duda influyen en sus decisiones.