In recent years children have become an increasingly important consumer market, and there is growing concern about the 'commercialisation' of childhood. This book sheds light on these debates, offering new empirical data and challenging critical perspectives on children's engagement with consumer culture from a wide range of international settings.

Daniel Thomas Cook, Rutgers University, USA
Paul Bottomley, Cardiff Business School, UK
Caitlyn Collins, University of Texas at Austin, USA
Gary Cross, Pennsylvania State University, USA
Nelly Elias, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel
Michelle Janning, Whitman College, USA
Ingunn Hagen, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway
Barbro Johansson, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
Tora Korsvold, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway
Dafna Lemish, Tel Aviv University, Israel
Lydia Martens, Keele University, UK
Claudia Mitchell, McGill University, Canada
Agnes Nairn, RSM Erasmus University, The Netherlands
Øivind Nakken, Arctic Branding Ltd, Norway
Johanne Ormrod, Psychologist, Denmark
Mari Rysst, The National Institute for Consumer Research, Norway
Håvard Skaar, Oslo University College, Norway
Jacob Smith, University of Nottingham, UK
Janet Wasko, University of Oregon, USA
Randi Wærdahl, University of Oslo, Norway

Introduction; D.Buckingham  & V.Tingstad PART I: HISTORY OF CHILDREN'S CONSUMPTION Valves of Adult Desire: The Regulation and Incitement of Children's Consumption; G.Cross Proper Toys for Proper Children: A Case Study of the Norwegian Company A/S Riktige leker (Proper Toys); T.Korsvold The Books That Sing: The Marketing of Children's Phonograph Records, 1890-1930; J.Smith PART II: THEORY AND METHOD IN RESEARCH ON CHILDREN'S CONSUMPTION Commercial Enculturation: Moving Beyond Consumer Socialization; D.T.Cook Subjectivities of the Child Consumer: Beings and Becomings; B.Johansson Researching Things, Objects and Gendered Consumption in Childhood Studies; C.Mitchell PART III: PRACTICES OF CONTEMPORARY MARKETERS Children's Virtual Worlds: The Latest Commercialization of Children's Culture; J.Wasko   Creating Long-lasting Brand Loyalty - or a Passing 'Craze'? Lessons from a 'Child Classic' in Norway; I.Hagen  & Ø.Nakken The Cute, the Spectacle and the Practical: Narratives of New Parents and Babies at The Baby Show; L.Martens PART IV: SOCIAL CONTEXTS OF CHILDREN'S CONSUMPTION The Stuff at Mom's House and the Stuff at Dad's House: The Material Consumption of Divorce for Adolescents; C.Collins  & M.Janning The Dao of Consumer Socialization: Raising Children in the Chinese Consumer Revolution; R.Wærdahl 'Those Who Have Less Want More. But Does it Make Them Feel Bad?' Deprivation, Materialism and Self-Esteem in Childhood; A.Nairn, P.Bottomley  & J.Ormrod PART V: CHILDHOOD IDENTITIES AND CONSUMPTION Branded Selves: How Children Relate to Marketing on a Social Network Site; H.Skaar 'Hello - We're only in the Fifth Grade!!': Children's Rights, Intergenerationality and Constructions of Gender in Public Discourses about Childhood; M.Rysst 'One Meets Through Clothing': The Role of Fashion in the Identity Formation of Former Soviet Union Immigrant Youth in Israel; D.Lemish  & N.Elias