Culture And Consumption Flashcards
A society’s culture includes its
Values, ethics and the material objects provided by its people.
It is the accumulation of shared meanings and traditions among members of society
Share systems beliefs and practices
It is not static but constantly evolving
Cultures differ in relationship to space, time and emphasis on individualism (prioritise own personal goals (uk/us)) vs collectivism (subordinate own goals to meet collective goals (Malaysia/China))
Culture (szmigin and piacentini)
Is the sum total of learned beliefs, values, knowledge and customs that together regulate the behaviour of members of a particular society
Beliefs
Thoughts an individual holds about object, idea or person
Values
The deep rooted and enduring beliefs or ideas about what is good and desirable and what is not
Knowledge
The familiarity with people or things, which can include understanding, facts, info and descriptions gained through experience and education
Customs
The norms of behaviour that have been passed from generation to generation - how parents divide labour in home, different things in different countries are prerogative of male or female
Eg diy dads job, but becoming more shared
Digital native
Inherent from birth
Children have more tech
How is culture learned or inherited
Enculturation -
Acculturation -
Consumer acculturation -
Culture is communicated…
To members of society through a common language and commonly shared symbols
Advertising provides models for behaviour and reinforced desired models of behaviour and expectations.
Fam fun day - safety dress- helmets
Enculturation - giving cues about what to do
Dimensions of cultural values
Individualism
Masculinity (force,assertive,competitive)
Power distance (power unevenly distributed)
Uncertainty avoidance
Long term orientation (things that pay off in future)
Converse ad
Collectivism society in Japan
Identified uniform
Individualism through shoes
Norms
The accepted main ways of behaving in a culture: Enacted norms (explicitly decided) Crescive norms (embedded in culture) (- customs - moves - conventions (everyday life like give up seat for disabled/ pregnant))
Role of magic
All cultures have stories and practices to provide a collective sense of its values
Primitive belief in a modern rational society?
Used to market health food, anti aging, gambling offers
The magic most prevalent in consumer culture is transformation of our bodies - detoxing, losing weight, cosmetics surgery, mindfulness.
Things that make sense in some society’s don’t in others eg 8 in China lucky
The role myths
Myths and symbols are example of what we can call a template or cultural blue print for interpretation because hey help us to understand what we observe in social life (Arnold et al)
Emphasis how things are interconnected
Maintain social order by authorising a social code
Provide psychological models individual behaviour and identity
Myth examples
Green and blacks - never as dark as it seems
Myth of little red riding hood
Myths important part of our consumption
Halifax wizard of oz , no place like home , mortgage
Role of rituals
A type of expressive; symbolic activity constructed of multiple behaviours that occur in a fixed, episodic sequence and that ten to be repeated over time. Ok rituals consumers manipulate objects and symbols Birthday cakes - has to have candels Wedding dress-white Wimbledon - strawberries and cream Birth of child - silver spoon Graduation - pen Nye - champagne
Religious rituals
Baptisms etc
Rite of passage rituals
Graduations
Marriage
Fam rituals
Mother’s Day
Meal times