Consumption, Markets and Culture

Education facts

Code: FOA347

This course explores consumption as a cultural and social phenomenon, emphasizing how marketplace practices are embedded within systems of meaning and identity construction. Drawing on key frameworks in consumer culture theory, students critically examine how global market structures and corporate strategies co-create consumer lifestyles, symbolic value, and brand narratives. The course emphasizes the interplay between consumers’ identity projects and firms’ marketing practices, highlighting how cultural logics shape and are shaped by consumption. Ethical and societal implications of marketing are addressed through a critical lens, particularly in relation to identity-driven consumption and the reproduction of cultural norms.

Entry requirements

A completed Bachelor’s degree from an institution of higher education of three years or more, equivalent to at least 180 credits and with a major in the field of Business Administration. In addition Swedish course 3 or Swedish level 3 and English course 6 or English level 2 are required. For courses given entirely in English exemption is made from the requirement in Swedish course 3 or Swedish level 3.

Education offerings

Each offering has its own dates and conditions. Closed offerings are retained as history and do not mean that a new application is open.

• Consumption, Markets and Culture

  Mälardalen University

  Start date: 9 November 2026

  End date: 17 January 2027

  Pace of study: 50 %