Global Consumer Culture

Myths and Rituals

Global Consumer Culture

Culture is. . .

The accumulation of shared meanings, rituals, norms, and

other traditions among the members of an organization or

society

Iceberg Concept of Culture

Diffusion of Innovations

Diffusion of Consumer Culture

Culture tends to flow from stronger nations to weaker ones

•Coke Cola

•Disney World

•English

Cultural differences

Cultural differences influence the way we, as humans, see

the world, interact in the marketplace, and relate to one

another.

Functional Areas of a Cultural System

Aspects of Culture

Ecology Social System

Ideology

World View Ethos

Cultural ECOLOGY

The way in which a system is adapted to its habitat

Cultural IDEOLOGY

The mental characteristics of a people and the way in which they

relate to their environment and social groups

Worldview: members of a society share certain ideas about principles or order

Ethos: a set of moral and aesthetic principles derived from the worldview

Cultural SOCIAL SYSTEMS

The way in which orderly social life is maintained.

This includes the domestic and political groups that are dominant

within the culture

Cultural Variability

Dimensions of Variability

Power Distance

Uncertainty Avoidance Masculinity/Femininity

Individualism/Collectivism

Hofstede's Typology

Cultural Variability (Hofstede's Typology)

Power Distance

Uncertainty Avoidance Masculinity/Femininity

Individualism/Collectivism

Level of social inequality and how willing members of a

society are to accept authority

Degree to which people feel threatened by ambiguous

situations and have beliefs and institutions that help them

avoid uncertainty

One sex’s roles are considered superior to the

other sex

The extent to which the welfare of the individual

versus that of the group is valued

Values and Norms

Values are very general ideas about good and bad goals

Norms are rules dictating what is right or wrong

Enacted Norms

explicitly decided upon rules

Crescive Norms

embedded in a culture and are discovered through interactions with that culture

•Customs - norm handed down

•Mores - custom with strong moral overtone

•Conventions - norms regarding conduct of daily life

Cultural Opposition

Subculture

Relatively cohesive cultural system that varies in form and substance

from the dominant culture

Cultural Opposition

Counterculture

Culturally homogenous group that develops values and norms that

differ from the larger society because of their opposition to it

Culture and Consumption

Consumption choices cannot be understood without cultural context

•“lens” through which people view products

•Sensitivity comes through understanding underlying issues

Consumption

People buy products not

for what they do, but for

what they mean

Culture and Consumption

A consumer’s culture determines the priorities the consumer attaches to

activities and products

•Will determine success or failure

•Product benefits must be consistent with culture

Culture and Consumption

A successfully designed “new” product will be a reflection of dominant cultural

ideals of that period

•cars

•email

•ipods

Sacred and Profane Consumption

Sacred Consumption

•Involves objects and events that are “set apart” from normal activities and are treated with some degree of respect or awe

Profane Consumption

•Involves consumer objects and events that are ordinary, everyday objects and events that do not share the “specialness” of sacred ones

Sacred and Profane Consumption

Sacralization

•Ordinary events or products are accorded special significance by culture

Desacralization

•Sacred events or products are stripped of special status and/or reproduced in mass quantities

Manifestations of Culture

Myths & Rituals

Myths

Stories containing symbolic elements that express shared emotions and cultural values

URBAN LEGENDS

Myths

Stories containing symbolic elements that express shared emotions and

cultural values

• Emphasize how things are interconnected•Maintain social order by authorizing a

social code• Provide psychological models for

individual behavior and identity

Myths

URBAN LEGENDS•Alligators in the sewer in NYC•Bermuda Triangle•Anonymous student & blue books

Modern Mythology

Mythology of Excess•Consumerism• Consumption will make everyone happy

•Eternal Youth• The search for the ideal self

•Global Village• We can communicate with the world

Rituals

A set of symbolic behaviors that occur in a fixed sequence

Many rituals are at the heart of consumers’ relationship with their

favorite products

•Activities that combine blueprints for action and understandings•Repetitive behavioral sequences•Organize people’s feelings•Facilitate and simplify group communications•Organize life experience and give it meaning

Rituals

•Useful in handling situations involving risk, whether risk is social, emotional, or physical

•Marketing opportunity: product positioning

Rituals

Indispensable to the meaning of the ritual experience and are

used to communicate symbolic messages

Rituals Goods

Ritual Artifacts

Many business owe their existence to customers’ need for ritual artifacts such as birthday cakes, diplomas, ceremonial wine, cigars, greeting cards, etc . . .

Categories of Consumer Rituals

Grooming rituals

binary oppositions: private/public and work/leisure

Rites of passage

separation/liminality/aggregation

Liminality: of or reflecting to a transitional or initial stage of a process

Gift-giving

purchase/presentation/reformulation

Ritual Photo Essay

Myths & Rituals

Your Consumption Rituals?

This morning:What products did you use?

Are some of these brands that you regularly use?

Are some of these brands that you feel loyal to?

Global Consumer Culture