Date post: | 30-Dec-2015 |
Category: |
Documents |
Upload: | margaretmargaret-holland |
View: | 235 times |
Download: | 1 times |
Culture is. . .
The accumulation of shared meanings, rituals, norms, and
other traditions among the members of an organization or
society
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 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
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
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
•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
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
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
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?