key themes Flashcards
Genevieve Bell
Anthropologist at Intel - very different style of ethnography to Malinowski etc
You have to see about what people care about in order to understand business
Things are bought because of cultural meanings
Denny and Sunderland
What is coffee?
meanings are dependent on the cultural context
meanings = symbolic
Hawthorne Project
Warner (anthropologist) and Mayo (psychologist)
Mayo interested in the external e.g. how lighting affected production
Warner focused on actual workers - by understanding workers and what was important to them (equal pay), he created a bonus incentive which meant a work pace was created so everyone would get the same
Helped to create HR (human relations)
PARC
Palo Alto Research Centre
Working on: society & product use, design process
e.g. Julian Orr - observation of photocopier machine led to creation of help manual
Daniel Miller
Shopping = emotional practice. Capitalism does not mean a breakdown of relationships
- there is a split between expected norms and specific tastes of knowing what to buy for people
- material culture of love - meanings associated with what you buy for people, this reinforces relationships and shows emotional meanings
- imposing ideas : e.g. gifts bought for children by parents represent the aspirations parents have for children
- shopping for the individual - idealised version of self, the gap between reality and ideal
Grant McCracken - Ideals
Consumption = reflection
Interested in collections and luxury goods in particular: buying out of your budget can equate to symbolism of an ideal life (claiming part of this ideal, which in reality is unlikely to be attained)
One of luxury items = front runners representing ‘consumption in training’/acting as the face of an idealised future
Why do goods work in this way? They’re concrete and enduring and have both economic and symbolic value
Harley Davidson & Schembri
How products are interpreted differently by different groups
How Harley Davidson has different meanings for different groups:
UK: community/commitment, ethos, emotional
USA: brotherhood, sensory experience, customisation (the feelings)
China: its not about customisation, vintage/retro/heritage, ‘every dent has a story’
Overall: harley davidson becomes an essence of the self , brand appropriation (representing more than just the brand) -
Everyday consumption
Lynx marketing - represents a very specific consumer
Pink (2005) - detergent working as self presentation
Marketing/packaging reflect differing consumer needs e.g. wealthier countries have big packets of luxury detergent vs less wealthy small packets (suiting cultural needs)
Appropriation
Consumers as active co-producers
Producing a meaningful attachment to a product
Grant McCracken - Homeyness
Being ‘homey’ = particular kind of aesthetic in line with the American ideal, conveying a moral sense of the occupants
Memory wall - personal flare that shows individuality and authenticity
Material culture of the home - helps with the performance of family life, a manipulation of family presentation
Mary douglas
dirt = matter out of place
systems of classification
Pauline Garvey
how window practices affect cultural norms
Window practices in Norway - comparing natives and Somalian community
Norwegians: leave curtains open and lights in window: visibility of their conformity to cosy norm: represents the cultural practice of visiting
Somali: home more associated with family solidarity whereas public space was more important for socialising
Daniels
Japanese homes represent cultural norms: distinct inside/outside and private/public
e.g. small frosted windows, taking shoes off
this is all interlinked, nature of housing in Japan e.g. limited garden space
Consumer to user
How consumers have appropriated business practices to make products both meaningful and useful to them
-People appropriate and create new meanings (Bell)
Design ethnography
how people use products
peoples everyday experiences (can potentially shape products)
-Understanding different social worlds
Identifying niches/opportunities within this
