Symbolic Objects Of Consumption And Its Relationship With The Identity Construction Of The Consumers Generations In Cali Colombia, Objetos Simbolicos De Consumo Y Su Relacion Con La Construccion De Identidad De Las Generaciones De Consumidores En La Ciudad De Cali Colombia

Consumption has a meaning that goes beyond the utilitarian nature and commercial value of the product. This meaning is based on the ability of consumption to contain and communicate personal and cultural meanings. The aim of this research is to understand, through a hermeneutic historical analysis, how symbolic objects of consumption identify the generations of consumers, Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y and Generation Z. We examine how these contribute to the construction of personal and generational identity. The approach was qualitative, the method used was historical, hermeneutical, and the techniques applied were in-depth interviews, life stories, content analysis and observation. The sampling was non-probabilistic, with 17 participants, men and women born between the year 1946 and 2005. Participants had socioeconomic level 4 and 5 and were residents of the city of Cali. We established that the generations of consumers Cali closely correspond in behavior and consumption with the generations originally defined by William Strauss and Neil Howe in 1991. On the other hand, the symbolic objects of consumption serve different roles for each generation. Furthermore, symbolic objects moved from family use to individual consumption stopped being part of household equipment to become personal equipment. In younger generations, these are concentrated in the category electronic products, gadgets.