Consumerism Indicator Construction: A portrait of household food consumption patterns in Jakarta, Indonesia

Abstract

This study departs as a critical attempt to study the relations between national economic resilience and the fundamental character of Indonesia’s economy. In general, it studies factors influencing Indonesian national economic resilience, i.e. configuration of capitalism at the global level – in this case, post-Fordist capitalist paradigm, and on the other hand, at the national level, the phenomenon of consumerism practiced by the society. This study gives attention to economic dynamics at the micro level that are missed by government statistical mapping. It tries to understand the characteristics and nature of Indonesian domestic economics by relating it to the phenomenon of consumption, especially consumerism. The argument is that the dynamics of consumerism is the key to Indonesian national economic resilience in facing the global economic crisis. This study also tries to understand the consumerism phenomenon within the global context of contemporary global capitalism. In this study, consumerism is understood as a societal pattern of consumption – particularly food consumption – consisting of households in which food consumption patterns are influenced by three dimensions, namely: first, the cultural dimension or cultural elements influencing the activity of consuming food by individuals or the household, second, the economic dimensions or elements affecting the activity of consuming food by individuals or the household, and third, the social dimension or social elements that are also able to affect the activity of consuming food by individuals or the household. This study describes part of the results of a survey conducted in two regions of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, namely the Sub-Districts of Kelapa Gading (North Jakarta) and Lebak Bulus (South Jakarta). The survey aims to apply the developed instrument of consumerism indicators that include the dimensions of culture, economics, and social, and their derivative indicators. The survey is conducted at the household level, covering 240 households representing the social strata of low, middle, and high in each research area. This study aims to describe the relationship between social strata and food consumption patterns of households in the two study areas. The consumption patterns in this study include three types of consumption, namely staples, additional food and recreational food.

Keywords: commodity, consumerism, food consumption patterns