Consumer Cosmopolitanism in the Age of Globalization

CHAPTER 3

Becoming and Being a Cosmopolitan Consumer

Mark Cleveland

University of Western Ontario

Michel Laroche

Concordia University

Introduction

There is much debate surrounding the nature and underlying causes of cosmopolitanism. Authors differentially allude to a predisposition at birth, or consider cosmopolitanism as a personality trait, or as an aspect of social class, among others. A growing number of scholars now regard cosmopolitanism as a learnable disposition. Previously, many theorists held that first hand contact with peoples of different cultures (i.e., physically experiencing different cultural spaces, as tourists, expatriates, migrants, and so forth) was necessary for acquiring cosmopolitan traits. Globalization and the advent ...