This research field is based on the following premises:
- consumers are active producers of their well-being;
- individuals’ satisfaction needs stimulation, novelty and variety;
- consumption experience and skills matter.
In the traditional theory of consumption, consumers, once they reach satiety, simply stop. Yet there is a mental satiety that is more unsettling. Mental satiety implies boredom and boredom can cause unrest and a desire to change. Satiety and boredom are undermined by creative activities.
Thus, the pleasure of listening to music does not diminish with repeated consumption and the same can be said of spending time with friends or engaging in the arts. Nonetheless, not everything is so positive. There are numerous activities whose enjoyment, as in the case of listening to music, does not decrease with consumption, but that, unlike music, are harmful. Drug use and gambling are examples. This research field explores:
- the distinction between positive and negative addictions;
- how technological change, by making available different allocations of time and allowing for different skills, can effect the production of positive addictions;
- social interdependencies in consumption: fashions, social competition, and communities of consumers.