The study of consumption has been heavily concerned with a controversial variety of this process often referred to as mass consumption. Here the tendency has been to say little about leisure other than relate it generally to such consumption, thereby creating the impression that the leisure experienced through mass consumption is the only leisure there is. This book explores and clarifies where consumption and taking leisure are separate processes, where they are similar if not the same, and in such overlap, what that looks like. Nowhere has the relationship between leisure and consumption been so thoroughly examined. This is accomplished in several ways, among them, surveying the intellectual context of consumption, applying the serious leisure perspective to the consumptive process, and developing a conceptual framework for studying consumption for leisure. To highlight leisure's prominent role in the consumptive process, consumption is analyzed in two phases: shopping and consuming the purchase.

Preface
Acknowledgements
The Nature of Leisure and Consumption
Conspicuous Consumption
Consumption and Leisure in Context
Phase One: Shopping
Phase Two: Consuming the Purchase
Organizing for Consumptive Leisure
Notes
Bibliography
Index

ROBERT A. STEBBINS is Faculty Professor in the Department of Sociology, University of Calgary, Canada. He has authored 30 books and written numerous articles. His publications include New Directions in the Theory and Research of Serious Leisure, Serious Leisure: A Perspective For Our Time, Between Work and Leisure, The Organizational Basis of Leisure Participation: A Motivational Exploration and Personal Decisions in the Public Square: Beyond Problem Solving into a Positive Sociology.