What is a consumer?

Abstract

This chapter critically examines the evolving concept of the consumer, tracing its historical, semantic, and cultural development to reveal how the role of the consumer has become central to modern economic and social life. Drawing on Nietzsche’s genealogical method and word embedding analysis, it explores the ways in which the term ‘consumer’ has shifted from a descriptor of basic resource use to a normative identity underpinning contemporary market participation. The chapter interrogates how this identity influences behaviour, self-conception, and broader societal values, often aligning individual aspirations with market logics. It introduces the concept of the conscioumer: a reflective, ethically aware subject of consumption, as a means of rethinking consumer identity in light of ecological, social, and psychological concerns. The chapter ultimately argues for a more critical, conscious engagement with consumption, and for reimagining individuals not merely as economic agents but as moral and social actors within a complex and mediated marketplace.