Gender of Consumption: Consumption Trends of Youth in Consumer Society

The construction of femininity and masculinity in every society occurs within a range of social and cultural values. Gender regime which has significant impacts on many aspects of social life such as family, education and working life is influential in shaping women and men’s consumption behaviors, as well. Within this context, this study aims to investigate the consumption trends of the young people studying at Akdeniz University from a gender perspective. In a qualitative research study, 26 female and 26 male students from Literature and Engineering faculties that is 52 students in total were interviewed in depth, as. As a result of the research, it is observed that both men and women are interested in shopping, but women spend more time shopping than men do. It is understood mainly in the frame of gender-based femininity and masculinity values that female students are more interested in clothing, cosmetics, and household goods while male students mostly buy technological products, sporting goods, and automobile products, and male students are also interested in care and cosmetics products