What was the 'consumer revolution'?

The consumer revolution is the thesis—advanced by McKendrick, Brewer, and Plumb—that eighteenth-century England saw a marked rise in the demand for, and consumption of, manufactured goods, fashion, and novelties. They argued this surge in demand was as important to the industrial revolution as changes in production.

What is the 'industrious revolution'?

Coined by Jan de Vries, the 'industrious revolution' describes how households, from around 1650, worked longer and harder in the market economy—reducing leisure and home production—in order to earn money to buy more consumer goods. It frames changing consumption as a driver of economic change before industrialization.

Consumption and Consumer Society

This topic studies the history of consumption—how people acquired and used goods, how demand for commodities grew, and how consumer societies emerged and spread.

Definition

The historical study of consumption—the acquisition and use of goods—and of the emergence and growth of consumer societies and their material and social meanings.

Scope

This topic covers the historical demand for goods and the rise of consumer society: changing patterns of acquisition, fashion, and material desire; the debate over an eighteenth-century 'consumer revolution'; the relationship between consumption and household labour; and the social meanings of goods, including status and emulation. It examines how consumption interacted with production and industrialization, and how a world of consumers developed over the long run. The treatment is descriptive and analytical.

Core questions

How and when did demand for consumer goods expand?
Was there an eighteenth-century 'consumer revolution'?
How did consumption relate to household work and the supply of labour?
What social meanings, such as status and emulation, did goods carry?

Key theories

The consumer revolution: McKendrick, Brewer, and Plumb's thesis that eighteenth-century England experienced a 'consumer revolution', with rising demand, fashion, and emulation that complemented the industrial revolution on the supply side.
The industrious revolution: de Vries's argument that households increased their market work and reduced leisure in order to buy more goods, so that changing consumer aspirations drove a reallocation of labour preceding industrialization.
Conspicuous consumption: Veblen's classic analysis of how the display of goods signals social status, providing an enduring framework for understanding the social functions of consumption.

History

The history of consumption became a major field after McKendrick, Brewer, and Plumb argued in 1982 for an eighteenth-century English consumer revolution, drawing on earlier ideas about emulation and display reaching back to Thorstein Veblen. Jan de Vries's 'industrious revolution' linked consumer aspirations to household labour decisions. More recent global syntheses, such as Frank Trentmann's, trace the long and worldwide history through which societies became defined by consumption.

Debates

When and why did consumer society emerge?: Historians dispute the timing and causes of the rise of consumer society, debating whether an eighteenth-century 'revolution' marks the decisive break, whether consumption grew earlier and more gradually, and how far it was driven by emulation, household strategy, or new goods.

Key figures

Neil McKendrick
Jan de Vries
Thorstein Veblen
Frank Trentmann

Seminal works

veblen1899
mckendrick1982
devries2008
trentmann2016

Frequently asked questions

What was the 'consumer revolution'?: The consumer revolution is the thesis—advanced by McKendrick, Brewer, and Plumb—that eighteenth-century England saw a marked rise in the demand for, and consumption of, manufactured goods, fashion, and novelties. They argued this surge in demand was as important to the industrial revolution as changes in production.
What is the 'industrious revolution'?: Coined by Jan de Vries, the 'industrious revolution' describes how households, from around 1650, worked longer and harder in the market economy—reducing leisure and home production—in order to earn money to buy more consumer goods. It frames changing consumption as a driver of economic change before industrialization.