Purpose. The article is devoted to consumption as a natural process of economic agents. The relevance of the appeal to consumption is determined by changes in socio-economic relations that form new consumer attitudes in an era of abundance of goods. By now, consumption has become a complexly structured, heterogeneous integral function of society itself. It is assumed that transnational corporations implement consumer allocation strategies aimed to manage the needs of consumers and consumer attitudes. The authors try to identify risks for society derived from further increase of consumption. Methodology. The research is based on general scientific methods (analysis, synthesis, logical methods), as well as the historical and philosophical method. Results. The results are the following. It was clarified the role of consumption in the development of socio-economic relations. In addition, the formation of consumer allocations was highlighted as the main modern strategy used by multinational corporations. The question of state regulation of consumption is raised. Practical implications. The results can be applied in risk-based approach in managing various scales economic agents.