Social Architectonics of Market Prices: Basic Principles of Russian Consumer Price Perception (A Moscow Case Study)

Problems of Economic Transition. 2017. Vol. 59. No. 4. P. 239–264 .

Berdysheva E., Решетеева Р. И.

The article discusses the price perception of Russian consumers. The data gathered from in-depth interviews with economically active residents of Moscow demonstrate that the interpretation of price can be thematized according to four main categories: “not to be deceived,” “prices are watched by the clever not the poor,” “people like me buy at such prices,” and “some products are worth the price.” The study shows that Russian consumers are more and more artfully mastering the grammar of market prices. Prudence in relation to prices and expenses is forming its own place among cultural values in Russia, where prodigal waste was once an indicator of social success.

Ключевые слова: prices, sociology of consumption, economic crisis in Russia

ПУБЛИКАЦИЯ ПОДГОТОВЛЕНА ПО РЕЗУЛЬТАТАМ ПРОЕКТА: Экономико-социологические исследования социальной устойчивости в кризисное время (2017)