Journal of Economics and Sustainable Development www.iiste.org ISSN 2222-1700 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2855 (Online) Vol.4, No.19, 2013 160 Consumerism Indicator Construction: A portrait of household food consumption patterns in Jakarta, Indonesia Francisia SSE Seda 1* Lugina Setyawati 2 1. Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, University of Indonesia 2. Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, University of Indonesia * E-mail of the corresponding author: saveria09@gmail.com Abstract This study departs as a critical attempt to study the relations between national economic resilience and the fundamental character of Indonesia’s economy. In general, it studies factors influencing Indonesian national economic resilience, i.e. configuration of capitalism at the global level – in this case, post-Fordist capitalist paradigm, and on the other hand, at the national level, the phenomenon of consumerism practiced by the society. This study gives attention to economic dynamics at the micro level that are missed by government statistical mapping. It tries to understand the characteristics and nature of Indonesian domestic economics by relating it to the phenomenon of consumption, especially consumerism. The argument is that the dynamics of consumerism is the key to Indonesian national economic resilience in facing the global economic crisis. This study also tries to understand the consumerism phenomenon within the global context of contemporary global capitalism. In this study, consumerism is understood as a societal pattern of consumption – particularly food consumption – consisting of households in which food consumption patterns are influenced by three dimensions, namely: first, the cultural dimension or cultural elements influencing the activity of consuming food by individuals or the household, second, the economic dimensions or elements affecting the activity of consuming food by individuals or the household, and third, the social dimension or social elements that are also able to affect the activity of consuming food by individuals or the household. This study describes part of the results of a survey conducted in two regions of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, namely the Sub-Districts of Kelapa Gading (North Jakarta) and Lebak Bulus (South Jakarta). The survey aims to apply the developed instrument of consumerism indicators that include the dimensions of culture, economics, and social, and their derivative indicators. The survey is conducted at the household level, covering 240 households representing the social strata of low, middle, and high in each research area. This study aims to describe the relationship between social strata and food consumption patterns of households in the two study areas. The consumption patterns in this study include three types of consumption, namely staples, additional food and recreational food. Keywords: commodity, consumerism, food consumption patterns 1. Introduction The Indonesian government has claimed that “Indonesia’s solid economic foundation” has proven to be a basis for the national economic resilience, thus preventing Indonesia from succumbing to the global financial crisis. This condition has contributed to the stability of Indonesia’s economic development. Domestic consumption is considered as one of the pillars of national economic development in a period of crisis (www.investor.co.id;http://nasional.kontan.co.id). This study departs as a critical attempt to study the relations between national economic resilience and the fundamental character of Indonesia’s economy. In general, it studies factors influencing Indonesian national economic resilience, i.e. configuration of capitalism at the global level – in this case, post-Fordist capitalist paradigm, and on the other hand, at the national level, the phenomenon of consumerism practiced by the society. This study gives attention to economic dynamics at the micro level that are missed by government statistical mapping. It tries to understand the characteristics and nature of Indonesian domestic economics by relating it to the phenomenon of consumption, especially consumerism. The argument is that the dynamics of consumerism is the key to Indonesian national economic resilience in facing the global economic crisis. This study also tries to understand the consumerism phenomenon within the global context of contemporary global capitalism. The assumption of the study is that national economic resilience is highly dependent on its capability to understand and manage domestic economic dynamics, especially consumption. The dynamics of consumption is called consumerism. Based on the assumption, the hypotheses proposed by the study to explain the anomaly of Indonesian economic resilience are as follows: the anomaly of Indonesian national economic resilience in the past global economic crisis was caused by the concentration of the domestic economy to the real economy. A high domestic demand for consumption pushed investors to articulate their capital domestically, instead of taking chances in the global financial market. The high domestic consumption was only made possible by the phenomenon of consumerism in the society. To understand the phenomenon of consumerism in the society, the