Consuming is the ability to use and dispose of goods or services. In modern society, consumption allows individuals to define who they want to be by creating their own identity through lifestyle choices. This is achieved by purchasing goods and services associated with the lifestyle they aspire to. Bauman suggests that consumption is the dominant characteristic in shaping our identities (Bauman, 2009, p.27). As we walk around any city in contemporary Britain, we see many different types of people. There are those who listen to music with headphones or speakers, those who dress in the latest fashion or those who wear clothes that reflect their musical choices. There are also groups visibly using cell phones and tablets in public places such as coffee shops and bars. Everywhere we look, we see people who define themselves by what they consume. Our lifestyle and identity can also be shaped by where we choose to shop; such as city centers or out-of-town business parks. Although city centers offer stores with the same name as the retail park, people who shop at each of these locations do so for certain reasons such as safety, cleanliness, convenience, or transportation. A recent study was conducted by Peter Jackson (1998) in North London. Jackson and other researchers asked customers why they liked shopping at out-of-town malls. The study showed that the majority of people who shopped in these areas did so because they had a positive view of the area as a safe, convenient and modern place for families to shop (Jackson, 2009, p. 45) . Even larger shopping malls and parks were considered orderly and regulated. City center streets and town centres, however, were seen as places of cri...... middle of paper ......g the kind of retail skills and expertise they have in running such businesses , therefore, obviously one thing they do is generate jobs. Our big four supermarkets alone employ 870,000 people in this country” (Audiovisual, Reflections on 'Material Lives', 2009). This is what Wrong calls a positive-sum game (all parties benefit to some degree and extent, yet divisions are still created). We can conclude that from today's ever-changing society, our consumption reflects and validates our personalities. Thus, we also shape our individual lifestyles, identities and tastes for our peers, families and even strangers we meet on the street. We can also see that what a person does to earn a living now seems to not matter at all. Today we tend to conform to the image of wealth and social position to identify with the lifestyle we have created for ourselves.