This paper explains that the phenomenon of material consumption is an integral aspect of contemporary society, but the '
consumer
revolution' occurred in Britain in the eighteenth century resulting in the emergence of a whole new class of consumers through the rise in family incomes and hence an
increase in their personal disposable incomes. The author points out that the availability of new goods, through (1) the development of the British Empire and increase in colonial power and (2) expansion and change of British based manufacturers, clearly fuelled the surge in consumer spending on new exotic goods and fashion. The paper states that the English society was a perfect breeding ground for this change and is the most significant contribution to the 'consumer
revolution'; the desire to consume--the demand--was always there and industrialization 'supplied' the goods.