Living the Extended Present: an Interpretation of ‘Time Linked Consumption Practices’ in Professional Dual Career Families

This paper examines the time linked consumption practices of professional dual career families, employing the concept of “the extended present” to examine the kind of consumption practices these families use to manage their lives. The study found that rather than being slaves to time scarcity, professional dual career parents actively ‘speed up’ and ‘slow down’ time through particular consumption practices to take more control of their family lives and times. This paper presents the extended present and the concept of fast and slow time as a way to theorise the lives of professional dual career families and gives an account of how consumption practices are utilised in family time management processes within the extended present that can enrich consumer research on families and familial consumption.

Citation:

Shona Bettany and Caroline Gatrell (2007) ,"Living the Extended Present: an Interpretation of ‘Time Linked Consumption Practices’ in Professional Dual Career Families", in E - European Advances in Consumer Research Volume 8, eds. Stefania Borghini, Mary Ann McGrath, and Cele Otnes, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 49-50.