The effect of the commodification of education on the consumer culture regarding education expenditures

In contemporary society, we observe that nearly everything has become a commodified product. The process of commodification affects every aspect of human life. One of the most significant elements impacted by commodification is education. With the commodification of education, consumer societies are now progressing in a manner that deviates education from its fundamental purpose. Assigning a consumer identity to individuals throughout their lives corresponds to the socialization that followed the industrial revolution. With changing economic systems, increased production, and the resulting needs arising from product sales, it is observed that consumption habits of individuals as consumers have diversified (Çelik & Çuhadar, 2023). Under the influence of neoliberalism, the inevitability of everything being marketable and sellable has made education an inevitable commodity. The increase in education expenditures is also attributed to the transformation of education into a commodity. Addressing this issue in this manner highlights the necessity for more research on the commodification of education and finding solutions to this problem. This study is limited to the parents of children enrolled in educational institutions in the province of Eskişehir. During the determination of the thesis topic, a thorough literature review was conducted, revealing that while some foreign researchers have focused on this topic, there are very few studies that link the commodification of education with consumer culture. In Turkish sources, this thesis topic has not yet been explored, which indicates a gap in the literature. Thus, this research topic was chosen to fill that gap and contribute to the literature.