Beyond Economic and Cultural Capital: Network Correlates of Consumption Tastes and Practices

This paper attempts to provide a picture of network effect on cultural participation by building on theoretical concepts of social capital and social networks as well as on original data collected by the author on 362 inhabitants ofWrocław. The central discussion of the study concerns the relative explanatory power of network variables (such as intensity of contacts with friends and acquaintances, or access to resources via social ties) in predicting the reported consumption tastes, practices or knowledge, net of structural factors. The findings support the hypothesis that more networked persons (particularly those having many non-kin contacts) are more likely to participate in a greater number of cultural activities and to be more “omnivorous” consumers. The article concludes with some possible directions of future research.