Instructions: For each question, click on the radio button beside your answer. When you have completed the entire quiz, click the “Submit my answers” button at the bottom of the page to receive your results.

Question 1:

According to George Ritzer, why is the sociology of consumption underdeveloped in North America?
a) No one in the general public is interested in knowing about consumption.
b) Consumption is considered a trivial issue among sociologists.
c) Because sociology is critical of consumption, no one will fund research on it.
d) We are a production-based society so there is very little to say about consumption.

Question 2:

According to Thorstein Veblen, which of the following terms is specifically meant to describe poor people who attempt to use possessions and services to demonstrate wealth and status?
a) Status symbols
b) Conspicuous consumption
c) Pecuniary emulation
d) Identity formation

Question 3:

Which of the following theorists discussed consumption as the presentation of our tastes meant to display our status and cultural capital?
a) Pierre Bourdieu
b) George Ritzer
c) Jean Baudrillard
d) Karl Marx

Question 4:

According to Jean Baudrillard, which of the following is the term used for the value of an object based on the taste and social status of its owner?
a) Use value
b) Symbolic value
c) Exchange value
d) Sign value

Question 5:

Which of the following was identified by Jean Baudrillard as the "quintessential simulacrum"?
a) West Edmonton Mall
b) Disney theme parks
c) The Las Vegas strip
d) Reality TV shows

Question 6:

According to Ronald Inglehart, what is the focus of the post-materialist generation?
a) Survival through meeting basic needs for food, clothing and shelter
b) Survival through better, more positive communication between people
c) Quality of life issues like human rights and the environment
d) Hyperreality

Question 7:

In 2012, according to Statistics Canada, what was the average Canadian household's debt-to-income ratio?
a) 56.79
b) 99.68
c) 110.54
d) 165.8

Question 8:

What was significant regarding charge or credit cards in 1966?
a) It was the first time extending credit was part of the Canadian economy.
b) It was the first time that charge cards were introduced.
c) It was the first time people could keep a running balance on their charge cards.
d) It was the first time that "points for purchases made" was introduced by charge card companies.

Question 9:

To what do the text authors refer when they parrot Freud in saying "sometimes a cigar is just a cigar"?
a) That all acts of consumption have hidden meanings related to status
b) That conspicuous consumption is not a significant issue today
c) That some purchases are made based on convenience only
d) That social factors must be taken into account when we examine consumption

Question 10:

In investigations of spending patterns based on age, which of the following was shown to increase with age?
a) Spending on alcohol
b) Spending on shelter
c) Spending on recreation
d) Spending on food

Question 11:

Which of the following nations spends the most on healthcare?
a) The United States
b) Canada
c) Britain
d) Sweden

Question 12:

The statement in the text, "a penny earned is two pennies spent" reflects which of the following?
a) A shift from upper class cultural capital to working class cultural capital
b) A shift from work ethic to consumption ethic
c) A shift from materialist to post-materialist culture
d) A shift from consumption to excess consumption ("hoarders")

Question 13:

According to the text, why is much of our increasing workload today invisible?
a) Because only hours spent "at work" or "in the office" are documented
b) Because the time spent interacting with work on technological devices is unrecognized and unrecorded
c) Because management tends only to recognize overtime work as a regular work day today
d) Both A and B

Question 14:

According to Canadian activist Naomi Klein, who is particularly vulnerable to the "brand bullies"?
a) Youth
b) The elderly
c) Women
d) Men

Question 15:

According to the text, what is responsible for turning wants into needs in today's consumer culture?
a) False consciousness
b) Technological fetishism
c) Branding
d) Ethical consumption

Question 16:

According to Thorstein Veblen, conspicuous consumption encourages waste and superficiality.
a) TRUE
b) FALSE

Question 17:

People can cultivate cultural capital but not be born into it, according to Pierre Bourdieu.
a) TRUE
b) FALSE

Question 18:

Envying the life of a television star and wishing your life was more like his or hers makes you a victim of hyperreality, according to Jean Baudrillard.
a) TRUE
b) FALSE

Question 19:

According to the affluence hypothesis, people in the West today are less likely to make socially responsible purchasing decisions.
a) TRUE
b) FALSE

Question 20:

Today, the average adult Canadian has three credit cards.
a) TRUE
b) FALSE

Question 21:

American journalist Jack Hitt's term "fatassability" refers to increasingly larger Americans' desire to own bigger vehicles today so that they can be comfortable.
a) TRUE
b) FALSE

Question 22:

Embourgeoisement is said to be demonstrated when working class individuals who are particularly hard hit by conservative government policies and economic recession, vote for the conservative politicians whose policies are making their lives so difficult.
a) TRUE
b) FALSE

Question 23:

Consumption reductionism occurs when consumers voluntarily reduce the amounts they consume due to ethical issues.
a) TRUE
b) FALSE

Question 24:

It has been demonstrated that women engage in much more conspicuous consumption than men in Canada.
a) TRUE
b) FALSE

Question 25:

Power suits, worn by men, are equally ill-suited for manual labour as high heels for women.
a) TRUE
b) FALSE

Question 26:

Americans spend the most on food of the nine nations reported in the text.
a) TRUE
b) FALSE

Question 27:

Modern capitalist societies are the most time-rich in the world.
a) TRUE
b) FALSE

Question 28:

A sociological exploration of hip-hop music shows that hip-hop artists frequently refer to high-end, brand name, expensive products in their songs.
a) TRUE
b) FALSE

Question 29:

"Planned obsolescence" refers to the creation of a product that is meant to have a brief lifespan.
a) TRUE
b) FALSE

Question 30:

Replacing your old household appliances with modern, energy efficient ones is an example of ethical consumption.
a) TRUE
b) FALSE

Higher Education

Foundations of Sociology: Chapter 7