Consumed from the New York Times

"Consumed," appears weekly in The New York Times Magazine, looks at consumer behavior from a dual business/anthropology point of view.

Each column discusses a new product and/or consumer trend. Everything in Consumed already has some kind of recognition with some group of consumers; Rob Walker's column attempts to understand what consumers are responding to in that product, which can be anything from a trademark to design to a pricing structure.

Rob Walker is the author - here's his site with the archives.