The Symbolic Economy of the Symbolic Economy and the Myth of Consumption

It refers to the consumption process, in addition to the consumer products themselves, consumers also consume the meaning, mood, beauty, grade, mood and atmosphere symbolized and represented by these products, that is, the consumption of the "meaning" or "connotation" represented by these symbols.

Parsing of symbol consumption.

If the symbol of consumption refers to the expression of a certain meaning or information through consumption, then symbolic consumption refers to the connotation of consumer goods as a symbol and the meaning itself as the object of consumption. It consists of the following levels:

First of all, as the appearance of consumer goods on the symbol (the first level of the symbol), such as shape, color, pattern, packaging, etc., conveys the style, grade and beauty of the product itself, has become the object of consumption, become an integral part of the consumption process.

Secondly, the status symbols of consumer goods (the second-level symbols of things), such as the social status, identity and taste (i.e., social meaning) represented by consumer goods, as well as the psychological experiences such as smugness associated with them, are also the objects and contents of consumption.

Third, the consumption environment of consumer goods, as a spatial symbol of consumption, is also a content of consumption. For example, when dining in a luxury hotel, not only the food is the object of consumption, but also the atmosphere and style of the hotel.

Fourth, the ritual of consumption, such as a service program, as a symbol, can also be a part of consumption. For example, the service of a restaurant waitress not only constitutes a part of the consumer goods, but also constitutes an additional consumption ritual (i.e., a symbol representing grade and status) of food and drink, and becomes the object of consumption. In other words, we "not only consume things, but also the 'meanings' that they represent as symbols, including mood, taste, beauty, identity, status, atmosphere, style, and mood".

According to Peter Drucker's description of symbolic economy, we can define symbolic economy as an economic system formed by the creation and movement of economic symbols and capable of completing certain economic functions. The difference between the symbolic economy and the virtual economy is that the virtual economy is an economic system formed by the circular movement of virtual capital, which is defined from the comparison with physical capital and its different functions. The symbolic economy is a generalization of the basic characteristics of another economic activity opposite to the real economy, that is, this kind of economic activity has a common feature regardless of its specific form, that is, the good hand oak can be regarded as the movement of economic symbols.

However, in terms of its specific manifestation, there is not much difference between the symbol economy and the virtual economy, both of which are manifested in the activities of money (paper money, electronic money), **, bonds, financial derivatives, etc.

The book diagram of the related symbol economy is as follows: There are also many differences between the symbol economy and the real friend side economy, and the books related to the symbol economy and the real economy can be purchased on the Internet. For more information, please stay tuned to the Encyclopedia.

The concept of symbolic economy was first proposed by the American economist Peter Drucker in 1986, who divided the economic system into two types, namely the physical economy and the symbolic economy. The so-called symbolic economy refers to money and credit, that is, the movement of capital, foreign exchange rates and credit circulation, and the real economy is the circulation of goods and services, and further analyzes the new changes in the world economy, that is, "the symbolic economy has replaced the physical economy and become the wheel of the world economy, and is largely independent of the physical economy, which is the most striking and difficult to understand change".