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Canadi an J ournal of
Pol i t i cal
and Soci al
Theory
Revuecanadi ennede t heor i e pol i t i que et soc i al s
Edi t or/ R
dacteur
Ar t hur Kr oker
P o l i t i c a l
Sci ence,
W nni peg)
Managing Edi t or/
Redactri ce
on
chef
Mari l oui se Kr oker
Associate
Edi tor/Rbdacteur adj oi nt
Al ki s
Kontos
P o l i t i c a l
Economy,
Tor ont o)
Revi ew
Edi t or/
RBdacteur des recensi ons
Al l en
Mi l l s P o l i t i c a l
Sci ence, W nni peg)
Advi sory
Board/Comte
c ons ul t at i f
BenAgger Soci ol ogy,
Wat er l oo) ,
Howard
Ast er
P o l i t i c a l
Sci ence,
McMast er) , P h i l l i p
Hansen
P o l i t i c a l St udi es, Mani t oba) ,
Kenneth
J
Hughes Canadi an L i t e r a t u r e ,
Mani t oba) ,
W l l i a m Lei ss
P o l i t i c a l Sci ence
and Envi r onment al
St udi es,
York),
J ames
Moore P o l i t i c a l
Sci ence, Concordi a), RayMorrow
Soci ol ogy,
Mani t oba) , Mark Novak
Soci ol ogy,
W nni peg) ,
Rod
Preece
P o l i t i c a l
Sci ence,
W l f r i d
L aur i e r ) ,
Henry
Vel t meyer
Soci ol ogy, St
Mar y s) ,
Davi d Wal ker P o l i t i c a l
Sci ence, Wnni peg) ,
Deena
Wei nst ei n
Soci ol ogy, De
P aul ) ,
M chael
A Wei nst ei n P o l i t i c a l
Sci ence, Purdue) ,
Davi d
N
Wei sstub
Osgoode
Hal l LawSchool , York),
Cl audi a
A Wi ght P o l i t i c a l Sci ence, Wn-
ni peg)
The
Canadi an
J our nal
of
P o l i t i c a l
and Soci al Theory i s a r ef ereed, i n t e r d i s c i p l i n a r y
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r6dacteurs
t i ennent 6 ex-
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auConsei l
des Arts du
Canada et
au
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de
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I ndexed
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au
I nt ernat i onal
P o l i t i c a l
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Abst r act s/ Document at i on
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Soci ol ogi cal Abstracts
I nc
Member o f
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Mani t oba I ndependent Publ i shers
Associ at i on and
t he Canadi an
Per i odi cal Publ i sher s
Associ at i on
ous droi t s
reserves 1978,
Canadi an J our nal of P o l i t i c a l
n
Soci al
Theor y,
I nc /Revue
canadi ennede t heori e pol i t i que
et
soci al e,
Ltye
I SSN03809420
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n di n
J our nal
of
o l i t i c a l
andSoci al Theor y
Revue
canadi enne
de t heor i e
pol i t i que
e t
s oc i a l e
Wnter ver
978
Vol ume
Number
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Contents Sommdi re
Adver t i s i ng, Needsand Commdi ty Fet i shi sm
St ephen Kl i ne
and
W l l i am
L ei s s
Emanci pat or y
Theor y/ Theor i e
sur Femanci pat i on
Mer l eau- Pont y s Cr i t i que
of
Mar xi s t Sci ent i sm
J ohn
O Nei l l
33
Mar cus e and t he Pr obl em
of
Happi nes s
Char l es Rachl i s
63
Rei f i cat i on andRecol l ect i on
Emanci pat or y I nt ent i ons
and
t he
Soci ol ogy
of Knowedge
J ams
Schmdt
89
T o t a l i t y
Tempor al i t y
and
Pr axi s
Ex i s t e nt i a l
Phenomnology
andC r i t i c a l P o l i t i c a l Theor y
Her ber t
ei d
113
Revi ewA r t i c l e s Comtes
rendus
omnati on
and
Li ber at or y P o l i t i c s
Doug
Tor ger son
137
Rat i onal
Egoi sm
and t he L i ber al St at e
DavidM l n e
159
Vol ksgei st and t he edempti on
of
Associ at i ons
J ack
Vow es 163
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Exchange Echange
Trade
Uni ons t heWorki ngCl ass n t he State
Al vi n
Fi nkel
167
ol i t i c l
Economy
Quest i on
of
Theory
Henry Vel t meyer
171
Tory Myth
n
Conservat i ve
Real i t y
Hor ow t z
Revi si t ed
od
Preece
175
Books
Recei ved Li vres
regus
8
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Canadi an
J our nal
of
P o l i t i c a l and
Soci al
Theor y/ Revue
canadi enne
de t heor i e
pol i t i queet soci al e, Vol 2, No
1
(Wnter/ Hi ves,
1978)
ADVERTISING
NEEDS
ND
OMMODTYFETISHSM
StephenKl i ne
and
Wl l i am
Lei r s
Af t er revi ewi ng
t he
l i t e r a t u r e
on
consumer
behavi our one i s
t empt ed
t o con-
cl ude
t h a t
i n no other domai n has so much research
yi el ded
so
l i t t l e i ns i ght
Mar ket researchers ar e everywhere, not i ng our
responses
t o
t he
l a t e s t i nspi rat i on
f romt he product desi gner s i magi nat i on Somet i mes
i t
seem
t hat i n
t he
vor t ex
of
momentary
consumer
pref erences
a l l
structured a s p e c t s
of
human
needs
have
di ssol ved, and have been repl aced by
t he
mere
success i on
of
d i s c r e t e
and
p e r f e c t l y
i nt erchangeabl e
want s Mos t
s oc i a l s c i ent i s t s
who
do
empi r i cal
research r e f r a i n f rom vent ur i ng c r i t i c a l comments
on
t h i s s i t u a t i o n
On t he
ot her
hand,
t he
f a m l i a r
concept s
used
i n
t he
r a di c al
c r i t i q u e
of
mar ket
s oc i e t y
e s p e c i a l l y t he
not i on
of
commodi ty fe t i sh ism
have had a purel y r he t o r i c al
f unct i on,
because so l i t t l e
at t empt has
been
made
t o gi ve themsome
empi r i cal
cont ent Thi s a r t i c l e
represent s
our f i r s t t e nt a t i ve s t eps
t oward an
ana l y t i c a l ap-
proach
t hat
d i f f e r s
f rom
bot h of t hese
The st udy
was based
upon
a hypot hesi s
about
cont emporary consumer
behavi our devel oped
i n
a
recent book wri t t en by one of us
z Thi s hypot hesi s
suggest s
t hat we shoul d expect
t o
f ind
i ncreasi ng ambi gui t y and conf usi on i n
t he sense of sat i sf act i on t hat i s exper i enced
i n t he
consumpt i on
process We
deci ded
t o
l ook
at
t he
way
adver t i sement s
are
composed
i n
order
t o
det ermne
whet her we coul d r e f i n e and
el aborat e t he
hypot hesi s
( Si nce
our met hodol ogy
i s
di agnost i c ,
i t does
not
const i t ut e a
t e s t
of t he hypot hesi s
we sought t o
c l a r i f y and el aborat e
t he
hypot hesi s t hr ough empi r i cal
i nvest i gat i ons t i s i m
por t ant
t o
not e at t he out set t hat wedo not vi ew advert i si ng
as t he cause of
t h i s
presumed ambi gui t y and conf usi on
Rather,
we were at t empt i ng t o see
whet her
adver t i sement s present or r e f l e c t
ambi guous
messages
t o con-
sumer s
Our
st udy of adver t i si ng i s
i nt ended t o
l ay t he
bas i s , i n p a r t ,
f o r new
ap-
proaches t o a
t heory
of s oc i a l
change
I n
t he
s oc i al
sci ence model s t hat cel ebrat e
t he consumer
soci et y ,
general
i nc r e as e s i n consumpt i on l e v e l s
under st ood
as
i ncr eased a c c e s s
t o
commodi t i esare
regarded
as primafac ie evi dence of
s oc i a l
progress
Needl ess t o say, wedo not accept t h i s vi ew
and
i t i s i nt erest i ng
t o not e as
di scussed
l a t e r t hat
t h i s
vi ew i s now
bei ng
chal l enged from
a
v a r i e t y
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ST P NKLINE
ND
WLLIAMLEISS
of
st andpoi nt s ut
we a l s o
r e j e c t t he out l ook that i s f ound
al most
uni ver sal l y
i n t he
radi cal c r i t i q u e
of c a p i t a l i s t
s o c i e t y
Thi s
out l ook
has two
pr i nci pal
features
1
t he
spher e
of
consumpt i on
i s
subor di nat e
t o t hat
of
produc-
t ion 2 commodi ty
f et i shi sm
r e s u l t s i n t he
mani pul at i on of consci ousness,
and
t h i s
f a l s e consci ousness (and t he f a l s e needs
a r i s i n g
from
t
i nhi bi t s t he
devel opment of
popul ar demands
f or
r e a l i z i n g t r a d i t i o n a l
s o c i a l i s t goal s
i n
i ndust r i al l y- advanced s oc i e t i e s
The
f i n a l
sect i on out l i nes t wo i deas
whi ch we suggest
as
gui del i nes f o r
f u r -
ther work The f i r s t i s that s oc i a l t ensi ons
a r i s i n g
f r ome f f o r t s
t o
def i ne di f f er ent
structures of
needs and need- sat i sf acti on
wi l l
consti t ut e t he
mai n sour ce of
s oc i a l
change
opt i ons
i n
t he
comng years The second i s that what ever
r e s ol u -
t ion emer ges
wi l l
be
qui t e d i f f e r e n t
from
t he expectat i ons
of bot h
t he
apol ogi sts f or t he consumer s oc i e t y
and t he pr oponent s of
t he
tr adi t i onal
s o c i a l i s t
v i s i on s
Consumer Behavi our
and
Commodi tyFet i shi sm
I n
Sect i on
bel ow
t he
not i on
of
a consumer cul t ur e i s out l i ned i n
r ough
f a sh i on ,
i n
or der
t o speci f y
t he
obj ect i ves
of
our
adver t i s i ng
st udy
Thi s not i on
has been assembl ed
f r om b i t s and pi eces of
s e v e r a l t he or i e s
; i t represents
our
under st andi ng and
r eformul at i on of t he or i e s of mar ket pl ace behavi our
that
c r i t i c i z e t he dom nant
par adi gms f ound i n convent i onal econom cs
F i r s t
we
s ha l l pr esent and
comment
on t wo r ecent
s t u di e s , Ti bor
Sci t ovsky s TheJ oyl ess
Economy and Fred
Hi r sch s
Soci al
L i m t s
t o
Gr owt h,
and then we s hal l tu rn t o
t he t heor y
of
commodi ty
f e t i sh i smhanded
down
i n t he Mar xi st
t r a d i t i o n
Sci t ovsky s et out
t o
undermne
t he
econom c theory of
r a t i on a l
behavi our
and consumer sover ei gnt y
Thi s i s made upof t he
f ol l ow ng pr oposi t i ons
1
what
t he
consumer
chooses
t o
do
i s
an
accur at e
ref l ect i on
of
hi s
t a s t e s ,
i
. e
.
hi s
behavi our i s r eveal ed by hi s preferences and
v i c e
versa
;
2 t he consumer
devel ops
hi s
own
t a s t e s and pr ef er ences i ndependent l y of
those of ot her con-
sumer s
;
3
w t hout s u f f i c i e n t
means t o s a t i s f y l l of
hi s de s i r e s , t he consumer
must keep unsat i sf i ed
mar gi ns
on l l hi s
needs
and
desi r es , i n or der t o i n-
sur e that
any
extra
d o l l a r he spends onone
t hi ng
y i e l d s hi m
as much s a t i s f a c -
t ion
as
that e x t r a do l l a r woul d
i f
he spent i t on
any other t h i ng
Sci t ovsky chal l enges
hi s
f e l l ow
econom st s by t ur ni ng a ga i n s t
them
t h e i r
most cher i shed val ue
he cl ai ms that t he theory
i s u n s c i e n t i f i c i n i t s portrayal of
human
psychol ogy
He
poi nt s
out
that t he
accept ed
theory
si mpl y cannot
ac -
count
at l l f or t he
obvi ous
f a c t
that t he i ndi vi dual s preferences change
over
t i me
or ,
more
pr e c i s e l y ,
that i t
cannot showwhy or
how
preferences change,
s
they
obvi ousl y do
These
changes ar e
under st andabl e
onl y i n
r e l a t i o n
t o
a
s oc i a l pr ocess of
i nt er per sonal
r el at i onshi ps
Mor eover ,
there i s
r eci pr ocal r e l a -
8/10/2019 VOL02NO1_1
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OMMO TYF TI SH SM
t i o n
bet ween
changi ng pref er ences
and
changes
i n
t he sense
of
s a t i s f a c t i o n
der i ved
f r om any par t i cul ar
a c t i v i t y ;
i n Sci t ovsky s wor ds, t he domnant
par adi gm
over l ooks t he
p o s s i b i l i t y
t hat t he
same
i nf l uences t hat
modi f y
our
t a s t e s mght
a l s o
modi f y our abi l i t y t o der i ve
s a t i s f a c t i o n
f r om
t he
t hi ngs
t hat
c a t e r
t o
our
t a s t e s
Expressed i n
t s si mpl est
term, Sc i t o vs k y s
a na l y s i s at t empt s
t o
expl ai n
why
t he expect ed
corr el at i on
bet ween
gr eat er happi ness and
r i s e s
i n r e a l i ncome
does not occur
He
r e f e r s t o empi r i cal st udi es done i n t heUS
bet ween 1946
and 1970 Over
t h i s per i od, al mos t
t went y- f i ve y e a r s ,
per
capi t a r e a l
i ncome
rose by 62 per c e n t , y e t t he pr opor t i on of
peopl e who
consi der
t hemel ves very
happy,
f a i r l y happy,
and
not t oo
happy has
har dl y
changed at
l l
Our
economc
wel f ar e
s
f orever r i s i n g , but we are no happi er as a
r e s u l t
. s
He
cl ai m t h a t
t he
convent i onal
economc par adi gms cannot account f or t h i s , and
he
at t empt s t o construct a t heor y t hat w i l l doso
Ther e
ar e
four
di mensi ons F i r s t , t her e
s empi r i cal evi dence
t hat peopl e
der i ve
s a t i s f a c t i o n f r om s t a t u s i t s e l f ,
t hat
s from
e l a t i v e s oc i al
r anki ng
or
i n-
t er per sonal compar i sons t hat
occur
at any i ncome l e ve l Second,
s a t i s f a c t i o n s
der i ved
f r om
wor k, but agai n l a r g e l y
as a
f unct i on
of
t he rel at i ve i ncome and
pr est i ge at t r i bu t e s of a pa r t i c ul a r j ob i n t he s oc i a l
hi er ar chy
Thi r d,
s a t i s f a c -
t i o n
c o r r e l a t e s
p o s i t i v e l y
w t h
novel t y
i n
one s
exper i ences,
but our
own
cul t ure
t ends
t o
st andar di ze
exper i ence and pr ogressi vel y r educe
novel t y
Four t h,
mat er i al pr ogr ess
s
t r ansl at ed
pr i mar i l y
i nt o i ncreas i ng
comort
Comort,
however ,
s
l i k e
addi ct i on
we become
accus t omed
t o
t
and soon
take t
f o r
gr ant ed
;
t he pr esence
of new
comorts
cease t o gi ve
pl easur e
i n
t hemel ves,
and
onl y bei ng depr i ved
of
them
makes us f e e l t he
pl easur e
of
havi ng them
c e n t r a l
heat i ng, i ndoor t o i l e t s , adequat e
quant i t i es of
f ood,
f or exampl e) Taken
t oget her ,
Sci t ovsky
concl udes,
t hey
wel l
expl ai n
why happi ness shoul d de-
pend s o
much
on
one s r ank i ng
i n
s oc i e t y
and s o l i t t l e on
t he absol ut e
l e v e l of
one s
i ncome
.
The
backgr ound cont ext t hat
makes sense of t h i s
r ank- happi ness
s of
c o u r s e , t he mar ket or commodi t y- or i ent ed s o c i e t y
ost
i ndi vi dual
a c t i v i t y
s
di r ected at
i ncr easi ng
i ncome t hat s e r v e s as t he a c c e s s t o
pur chasi ng
goods
and
s e r v i c es
Thi s cont ext s t e a d i l y
depr eci at es t he
val ue
of
a c t i v i t i e s
t hat do
not
s e r v e t h i s o bj e c t i v e , i ncl udi ng t he i n t r i n s i c s at i s f a c t i on s
t hat
mght otherw se be
der i ved
f xomwor k c r e a t i v i t y or
i nf ormal
i nter per sonal r el at i onshi ps
No
s t a b l e
or per manent sense
of s a t i s f a c t i o n
s
achi eved si mpl y by
vi r t ue
of t he
f a c t t hat
most i ndi vi dual s have
hi gher st andar d of l i vi ng t han precedi ng
genera-
t i o n s
had
Ther e are many ot her i nt erest i ng
a s p e c t s
of Sci t ovsky s
a n al y s i s
t hat we s hal l
not comment
on
her e
What has
been
present ed above s compl ement ed,
f r om
a
s l i g h t l y
di f f erent angl e, by
Hi r sch s
Soci al
L im t s
t o rowth
The
ba s i c
s i m l a r i t y i n
t he
t wo
books
r e s t s on
t he i mpact
of
changes i n
i ndi vi dual
8/10/2019 VOL02NO1_1
9/31
ST PH N
KLIN
ND
WLLI M
L I SS
pr ef erences on t he s oc i a l consequences of economc gr owt h
Hi r sch ar gues
t h a t ,
once
basi c mat er i al
nec es s i t i es ar e met f or t he
maj or i t y
of
t he popul at i on i n
mar ket - exchange
economy,
t h e r e
i s
i n tens i f ied
compet i t i on
f or
what
he
c a l l s
pos i t i onal goods
Si nce t hese goods
ar e s c a r c e by t h e i r very
nature, t he
i n-
t e n s i f i e d
compet i t i on f or thtmy i e l d s no net bene f i t s f or i ndi vi dual s the
pro-
por t i on
of i ndi vi dual s i n t he popul at i on
who
get
them
r emai ns r oughl y
con-
s t ant , and
at
t he samet i me
there
s
a
hi gh
s oc i a l
c o s t i ncur r ed
What ar e posi t i onal goods?
These
ar e
goods whi ch
def i ne
s oc i a l
s t a t u s
d i f -
f er ences
among i ndi v i dual s
;
t h e i r val ue l i e s c h i e f l y
i n
t he
f a c t
that
some persons
possess
them
and others do
not
For exampl e,
t o be
abl e
t o
move
t o a subur ban
communi ty
t o
escape
a
decayi ng ur ban
envi r onment
can
be such
a
good
;
those
who can
do so
enj oy
a c c e s s
both t o
c i t y
and
count r ysi de
ut
when
and i f
many
peopl e
become subur bani t es t he advant ages ar e l a r g e l y negat ed
t he ur ban
cul t ur e has
dec l i ned
s o
much that t
no l onger
s wor t h
v i s i t i n g , and t he near by
count r ysi de
has been swal l owed upby t he newer subur ban devel opment s
Al l
that r emai ns f or most
i s
t he wel l - known
empt i ness
of
subur bi a i t s e l f
Anot her
exampl e
s a c c e s s
t o s ceni c beaut y
or
f or ei gn
cul t ur es
When
onl y
afew
persons
have t he means
of
a c c e s s ,
t he advantages t o
them
ar e enor mous, as
i s t he
s oc i a l
di st ance bet ween
them
and thosewho cannot afford t he c o s t s
n
i ncr easi ng
gener al
l e ve l
of
af f l uence
opens
t he
g a t e s ,
but
at
t he
pr ice
of
shar pl y
deval ui ng
t he
exper i ence,
due
t o
over cr owdi ng and t he r es ul t ant
det er i or ati on i n
t he
qual i t y of t he
s i t e s
The det er i or at i on
of
over cr owded
s i t e s
s
an
exampl e
of t he s o ci a l
c o s t s
r e s u l t i n g
f r omposi t i onal compet i t i on better exampl e can be drawnf romt he
r el at i onshi p bet ween j obs and educat i onal qual i f i cat i ons
t
s
a
wel l - known
f a c t
t hat t he l e vel of
educat i onal
r equi r ement s f or
j obs
has been
s t e a d i l y
i n-
c r e as i ng,
and
t h a t
i n most cases t h i s bears l i t t l e or no
r e l a t i o n
t o
t he r e q u i s i t e
j ob
s k i l l s
The f l aw
l i e s
i n i ndi vi dual
ass umpt i ons
about
t he
cor r el at i on
bet ween
f or mal educat i on and
hi gh- payi ng
j obs The pr opor t i on of top
posi t i ons
i n
s oc i e t y
r emai ns
appr oxi mat el y t he same, but l a r ge r numbers of i n-
di vi dual s now
compete f or
them
S t i f f e r
educat i onal
qual i f i cat i ons ar e one of
t he scr eeni ng mechani sms
used t o
s o r t
out t he compet i t or s
The same
propor-
t i on
succeed nowas i n t he past
but s o c i e t y
pays t he enormous cost of
l a r ger
f a c i l i t i e s f or f ormal
educat i on
f or
l l t he compet i t or s
I n di f f er ent ways bot h Sci t ovsky and Hi r sch ar e concer ned
w t h
one of t he
key
aspects of a
compet i t i ve,
mar ket - or i ent ed
s o c i e t y whi ch has
r eached a c e r -
t a in general
l e ve l
of
mater i al af f l uence
t he
i mpor t ance
of
t he
symbol i c
at -
t r i but es of
goods,
and
t he
ways i n
whi ch
rank and s t a t u s are
attached
t o
them
Thi s
i s
by
i t s
very nat ur e an i nt r actabl e probl emw t h i n t he
sel f - i mposed
l i m t s of that
s o c i e t y
When r e l a t i v e
posi t i on s
at s t a k e , then t he
s o c i e t y wi l l
andmust c r e a t e new
c ar c i t i es at
every tu rn
that
s newsymbol s of
success t o
8/10/2019 VOL02NO1_1
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OMMO TY
FETI SH SM
be s t r i v e n
f o r
t mat t er s
l i t t l e what
i s
chosen t o
s i g n i f y s t a t u s
di f f er ences The
i mpor t ant
poi nt
t hat t here i s
no
l i m t
t o
t he
pr ocess
Hi r sch
under st ands what he
c a l l s
posi t i onal compet i t i on as i n t r i n s i c a l l y
r el at ed t o a commodi t y- or i ent ed economy oneof hi s chapt er s
ent i t l ed
The
New
Commodi ty
Fet i shi sm The posi t i onal economy
i n f a c t l a r g e l y an ex -
pr essi on
of a bi as t o
mat er i al
commodi t i es
The
concept
of a commodi ty b i as
t h e r e f o r e i mpl i es
t hat
an e x c es s i v e pr opor t i on of
i ndi vi dual
a c t i v i t y
channel ed
t hr ough
t he
mar ket
so that
t he
commer ci al i zed
s e c t o r
of
our l i v e s
undul y l a r g e r el at ed concept whi ch i s sug -
gest ed by t h i s appr oach i s a commer ci al i zat i on e f f e c t
meani ng t he e f f e c t on s a t i s f a c t i o n fromany
a c t i v i t y
or
t r ansact i on bei ng
under t aken
on a
commer ci al
ba s i s
t hr ough
mar ket exchange or t equi val ent , as
compared
w t h i t s bei ng under t aken i nsomeother way
Hi r sch
uses
t he phr ase
commodi ty
f et i shi sm
i n
a
book
whi ch,
whi l e
t
hi ghl y c r i t i c a l of our pr esent
s oc i et y
not
Mar xi st
i n
t he usual sense
Yet of
course t h i s
concept i s one of t he great hal l marks i n t he Marxi st
c r i t i q u e
of
capi t al i sm
Mos t
aut hor s who
wr i t e
i n
t he Marxi st
t r a d i t i o n cont i nue t o
use i t
as
a
concept
whi ch
accur atel y depi ct s
key
a s p e c t s of c api t a l i s t
s o c i e t y down
t o t he
pr esent
day
On
f ur t her
exam nat i on, however , there appear t o be ser i ous d i f -
f i c u l t i e s
i n t h i s appr oach
Marx
used i t
i n
a very
r e s t r i c t i v e
s en se and used i n
t h i s
sense i t does not have very w de
r el evance
f o r
a
c r i t i c a l
assessment of con-
t empor ar y
s o c i e t y
Moreover , there
a
bas i c
f l a w
i n
Mar x s
concept i on
t hat has
gone l a r g e l y
unnot i ced s i n c e
hi s t i me
Marx
devel oped t he
concept of
commodi ty
f et i shi sm
fromhi s
p r i o r
di s c us -
s i on of
use- val ue
and exchange- val ue
The f ormer
const i t ut es t he mat t er of
t he
commodi t y,
t he l a t t e r i t s form
The c r u c i a l aspect
of
t h i s ana l y s i s
i s t hat
t he f et i shi smof
whi ch
he speaks a r i s e s onl y w t h respect t o t heform
of t he pr o-
duct
The
r el evant
passages
ar e wel l - known
The
myst i cal char act er of
t he
commodi ty
does
not
t her ef or e
a r i s e
f r om i t s
use- val ue
Whence
t hen,
ar i s es
t he
eni gmat i c character
of t he pr oduct of l abour , as soon as
i t as sumes t he
f o rmof a
commodi t y?
Cl ear l y i t ar i s es from
t h i s
f o rm
i t s e l f
The myst er i ous character
of t he
commodi t y- f or m c o ns i s t s t her ef or e si mpl y i n
t he f a c t t hat
9
8/10/2019 VOL02NO1_1
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ST PH N
KLINEND
WLLIAM
LEISS
t he
commodi ty
r e f l e c t s t he s oc i a l c ha r a c t e r i s t i c s of
man s
own l abour
as
o b j e c t i v e
c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of
t he
pr oduct s of
l abour t hemsel ves,
as t he soci o- nat ur al
pr oper t i es
of
t hese
t hi ngs t he pr oducts of l abour become commodi t i es,
sensuous t hi ngs whi ch ar e at t he same t i me supr a- sensi bl e
or s oc i a l
These passages
ar e
so
f a m l i a r
so
much
t aken
f o r grant ed a f t e r r epeat ed c i t a -
t i o n
t hat we r a r e l y ask t he obvi ous quest i ons Wat
e xa c t l y
t he
myst er y
t hat
al l uded
t o
here?
The
d i v i s i o n
of
l abour has
stamped
t he
pr oducts of
human
a c t i v i t y w t h a s o ci a l character as f a r back as our
ant hropol ogi cal r e -
sear ches permt us t o go
Ws
not t he dual character of
obj e c t s
as sensuous
t hi ngs and as obj ect s whose si gni f i cance i s
establ i shed
by
c ul t ur a l f orms
al ways qui t e
obvi ous?
Further
i s arx cl ai mng t hat
peopl e a c t u a l l y
ar e
myst i f i ed by
t h i s
dual i t y? Or t hat peopl e do not r ecogni ze t he
c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s
of
t h e i r l abour i n t he
pr oper t i es
of produced obj ects?
Let us r e c al l t he
subsequent passages
to see
whet her
further l i g h t shed on
t hese
quest i ons
t he
commodi t y- f orm
and t he val ue- r el at i on of t he
pr oducts
of
l abour w t hi n whi ch
i t
appear s,
have absol ute-
l y
no
connect i on
w t h
t he
physi cal
nat ure
of
t he commodi
t y and t he
mat er i al r e l a t i o n s a r i s i n g out
of
t h i s I t i s
not hi ng
but t he def i ni te s o c i a l
r e l a t i o n
bet ween men
t hemsel ves whi ch assumes here,
f o r
them
t he
f a n t a s t i c
form
of a
r e l a t i o n
bet ween t hi ngs I n o r d e r therefore, t o
f i nd
an
anal ogy
we
must
t ake
f l i g h t
i nto
t he
msty
r eal m
of
rel i gi on
Ther e
t he pr oducts of t he human brai n appear as
autonomous f i gures
endowed
w t h a l i f e of
t h e i r
own,
whi ch
enter i nto
r e l a t i o n s bot h
w t h each
other and
w t h
t he
human
r a c e
So t i n t he wor l d of commodi t i es w t h
t he pr oducts of men s
hands
I
c a l l t h i s
t he
f et i shi sm
whi ch
at t aches i t s e l f t o t he pr oducts of l abour as soon as t hey ar e
produced as commodi t i es, and
therefore
i nseparabl e
from
t he pr oduct i on
of
commodi t i es
The anal ogy w t h r e l i g i o n makes
c l e a r
what t he
e s s en t i a l
poi nt about t he
commodi ty i t a
physi cal
obj ect t hat appear s t o have a
l i f e
of
i t s own
Thi s
consi st ent w t h t he underst andi ng of
f e t i s h e s
i n
pr i m t i ve
r e l i g i o n a f e t i s h
8/10/2019 VOL02NO1_1
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OMMO TY
F TI SHSM
i s
an
obj ect whi ch
i t s e l f
i s
t hought t o
pos s e s s c e r t a i n power s,
t hus
d i f f e r i ng
f r om
an
i d o l ,
whi ch
onl y
symbol i zes
t he
power
of ,
s a y , a
d e i t y
Thr ee
poi nt s
ar e wor t hy of
not e
F i r s t , Marx
s t a t e s
t hat t he
commodi ty
form
has absol ut el y
no connect i on
w t h
t he
phy s i c al
nat ur e of t he
commodi ty
( our i t a l i c s )
Thus i t
i s
not somet hi ng a r i s i n g out
of
t he
i nt er pl ay
of
f o rmand
mat t er
i n t he
commodi ty
t hat i s t he
i nher ent
dual i t y of t he
commodi ty
i t s e l f t hat
pr oduces
t he myst er y
i t s myst er i ous char act er i s
s o l e l y
a
f unct i on
of t he
formal one Second, t he
passage
suggests t hat
al l
system
of goods-
exchange whi ch
are
s u f f i c i e n t l y ext ensi ve
t o
r equi r e
a
separate
commodi ty
as a
medi um
of
exchange
have
t h i s
r e s u l t
t he fe t i shismof commodi t i es bears no
i n-
t r i n s i c
r e l a t i o n
t o
t he
capi t a l i s t
mode
of
pr oduct i on
Thi r d,
Marx
gi v es
no
i n-
di cat i on
howt he f et i shi smoccurs
under
c a p i t a l i s t
r e l a t i ons
I n ot her wor ds,
i f
t he
commodi tyform s t he
general i zed
f e t i s h , what s p e c i f i c
ki nds
of
f e t i s h i s t i c
a c t i v i t i e s occur?
I n order t o devel op
hi s poi nt , Marx
c o n t r a s t s
t he
medi eval and modern
per i ods
Economc
r e l a t i o n s
i n t he
f or mer
are
l a r g e l y s e r v i c e s
i n ki nd and
payment s i n ki nd , and t he
s o c i al
r e l a t i ons
bet ween
i ndi vi dual s i n
t he
per-
f or mance
of
t h e i r l abour
appear at
a l l event s
as t h e i r
own
personal
r e l at i ons ,
and are not
di sgui sed
as s oc i al
r e l a t i ons
bet ween t hi ngs,
bet ween
t he
products
of
l abour
One
mght
ask
whet her
t h i s
i s
an
accurat e pi ctur e
of medi eval
s o ci al
r e l a t i ons ,
i
e
whet her l abour di d appear
as a
f o rm
of
per sonal r e l at i on,
or
whet her t he f undament al
dist inct ion
bet ween nobl e and non- nobl e
( whi ch
may have been a ki nd of fet ishism
al s o )
was not
i n
f a c t
t he di f f erent
d i s g u i s e
of
t h a t per i od
Ther e may
be l i t t l e di sagr eement
w t h
t he
suggest i on
that there are
d i f f e r ent
f orms
of
r e i f i c a t i o n i n s oc i al
r e l a t i o n s
The
quest i on r emai ns
What e xac t l y i s
t he
r e i f i c a t i o n
i n c a p i t a l i s t
commodi ty pr oduct i on?
What exact l y
i s
t he
whol e
myst er y
of commodi t i es ,
al l
t he
magi c
and
necr omancy
t hat
sur r ounds
t he
pro-
duct s
of
l abour
on
t he bas i s of
commodi ty
pr oduct i on?
t t he end of t he
chapt er
on commodi ty
fet ishism
Marx
r e f e r s t o
what he
regards a s
a s e r i e s of
concept ual
e r r o r s by e a r l i e r economc t h e o r i s t s
;
and t hese ar e appar ent l y t he
source of t he
fe t i shism I t seems somewhat
of an
exaggerat i on
t o speak of
t hese
as magi c and
necr omancy , but t h i s may be mer el y
qui bbl i ng
The i m
por t ant poi nt
i s
t hat
t he
ki nds of
not i ons
Marx r e f e r s t o wer e
gradual l y
rej ected
i n t he f ur t her
devel opment of bour geoi s economc
theory
i n
ot her wor ds,
t hey
r e f l e c t t he i mmat ur e phase of a d i s c i p l i n e
whi ch was at t empt i ng t o r e p r e -
sent i n
concept ual t erm
t he
compl ex
mechani sms
of
a general i zed
mar ket
ex-
change
economy
Wewoul d l i k e t o
concl ude
onl y
w t h a s e r i e s of
quest i ons
1 ) D d Mar x s
concept
of commodi ty
fe t i shism
r e f e r
onl y
or chi e f l y ) t o
i deol ogi cal
el ement s i n economc t heor i es
up
t o hi s
day?
2 )
Ar e
there s p e c i f i c
concept s
i n
8/10/2019 VOL02NO1_1
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ST P NKLIN NDWLLIAM
LEISS
contempor ary non- Marxi st
economc t heori es t hat are expressi ons
of
commodi -
t y
f et i shi sm
I f
s o , what
are they?)
3 Dd Marx
mean that or di nary i n -
di vi dual s
i n
t he
c a p i t a l i s t
s o c i e t y
of
hi s day, as
opposed
t o
economsts,
wer e
myst i f i ed
ie
mademstakes
i n thei r choi ces
or
opi ni ons
because of t he
way t he system
of
commodi ty
product i on operated?
I f s o , what s p e c i f i c ki nds of
mstakes di d they make? 4
s t
t he
case that i ndi vi dual s t oday make t he same
o r d i f f e r e n t
mstakes
f or t he same
reasons?
Our tentat i ve
concl usi on
i s
that
one can
gi ve
a
c l ea r af f i rmat i ve
answer onl y
t o t he f i r s t of t hese quest i ons
I f
t h i s t he c a s e , then t he concept
of
commodi ty
f et i shi sm
has a narrow
range
of
appl i cat i on Moreover,
as
Mar shal l
Sahl i ns has
argued, there
a
c r u c i a l
f l aw
i n
Marx s approach
that
weakens
i t s
c r i t i c a l
thrust
Marx assumed that both
needs
and u t i l i t i e s are
obj ecti ve
condi t i ons
that can be speci f i ed w t hout ambi gui t y
Sahl i ns notes
that f o r Marx t he com
modi t y
as a
use- val ue
i s
p e r f e c t l y
i n t e l l i g i b l e
:
i t s a t i s f i e s human needs
He
r e f e r s t o t he
passages
i n whi ch Marx
s t a t e s that
there
not hi ng myst eri ous i n
t he
propert i es
of obj ects i n
so
f a r
as they are use- val ues, and he
comments
But
not i ce that to
achi eve
t h i s
transparency
of
s i g n i f i c a t i o n
by
compar i son
w th
commodi ty
f et i shi sm Marx was
f orced
to trade
away t he s o c i a l det ermnat i on
of
use- val ues
f or t he
bi ol ogi cal
f a c t
that
they
s a t i s f y
human wants
Thi s
i n
c o n t r a s t
t o h i s own best
under st andi ng that product i on
i s
not
si mpl y
t he
r eproduct i on
of
human l i f e
but a def i ni te
way of l i f e From
such c ul t u r a l under st andi ng
t woul d
f ol l ow
that a l l u t i l i t i e s
are symbol i c
I nsof ar as
ut i l i t y
t he concept of
need
appropr i at e
t o a
c e r t a i n c u l t u r a l
o r d e r , i t must
i ncl ude
a representat i on,
by
way
of
concrete
propert i es of
t he
o bj ec t , of t he
d i f f e r e n t i a l
r e l a t i o n s
be-
t ween persons
as
c o n t r a s t s
of c o l o r , l i n e ,
or
f a b r i c
be-
t ween women s
cl ot hes and men s s i g n i f y
t he
c u l t u r a l
val uat i on of t he sexes The
system
of needs
must al ways
be
r e l a t i v e,
not account abl e
as such by
physi cal
n ec es s i t y ,
hence
symbol i c bydef i ni t i on t
o
The
i dea
of
t he
symbol i c
consti t ut i on
of
u t i l i t y
i ndi spensabl e
f or acr i t i que
of
consumer behavi our i n an
i ndust r i al l y- advanced
s o c i e t y 11
I f t he
commodi ty
qua
commodi ty has
an
eni gmat i c
character,
i
. e
i f i t has
such a character
s o l e l y
by
vi rt ue of
t
form then one
of two
concl usi ons
must
f ol l ow Ei t her
there
no pr obl em
h e r e ,
as the apol ogi sts f o r
mar ket s o c i e t y
1 2
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OMMODTY
FETI SH SM
cl ai m or ,
i f
there
i s a
probl em
as i t s c r i t i c s say), there i s
no
sol uti on to i t
For
no i ndust r i al
soc i et y,
however
dedi cated
t o the
i deal s
of
communi sm
coul d
abol i sh
the commodi ty
forment i r el y,
at
l east not wthout
runni ng
the
r i s k
of
erecti nga di ctatorshi p of
tastes
i n
i t s
pl ace
I f
there
i s
onl ydi r ect
product i onf or
use i n
smal l communi ty
groups,
theneach
group
can
sui t i t s pecul i ar tastes
; but
t hi s
r est r i ct s the
assortment of
goods
to
what
handi crafts can produce I n-
dust r i al
product i on
depends
on
extensi ve exchanges ; the
expressi on of
i n-
di vi dual
preferences
and a pri ci ng
mechani smwhi ch
maybe l i mted
i n
i t s
scope
by
express
pol i c i es
on
the
basi s
of
wel fare consi derati ons
has
a pl ace
i n
f aci l i t at i ng those
exchanges
But
we cannot begi n t o
understand
howt o
desi gn
such
pol i c i es
that
i s ,
howt o l i m t the dest r uct i ve ef fec ts
of
commodi ty-ori ented
consumpti on pat
t er ns
f
we
do
not recogni ze the symbol i c
consti tut i on of ut i l i t y
I t i s the key
to
Sci t ovsky s
di l emmas
of rank-happ ness, t o Hrsch s
di l emmas
of
the
posi -
t i onal
economy
and to
the f et i sh
of
the commodi ty
no t
the commodi ty
form as
t he
embodi ment of psychol ogi cal l y- gr ounded
a t t r i b u t e s
For
exam
pl e,
the
associ at i on
of
automob l es wth
animal s
and
the qual i t i es
conven-
t i onal l y ascri bed t o them
agree
wth
Sahl i ns
that a l l
ut i l i t i es
i n a l l cul tures
ar e symbol i c
I n
a soci e-
t y l i k e
ours,
where
l ar ge numbers
of
peop e
par t i c i pat e
dai l y i n
extensi ve
market exchanges,
there i s a
doubl e
symbol i c process at work One
facet of
i t i s
the
symbol i smconsci ousl y empl oyed
i n
the
manufacture
and sal e of
the
pro
duct, i ncl udi ng
the i magery
empl oyed
i n the advert i si ng desi gns The
second
f acet i s
the
symbol i c
assoc i at i ons sel ect i vel y
empl oyed by
consumers
i n
constructi ng l i f e s t y l e model s ; the whol e
marketp ace i s
di vi ded
i nto sem-
autonomous
sectors
whi ch
respond to di f f er ent cues or to
the same
cues
i n
di f -
f erent ways
do
not
pretend to
have
devel oped adequately t h i s concept
of
the doubl e
symbol i c
consti tuti on
of ut i l i t y
at t hi s
t i me
hope
to
do
so
i n
the
context
of
ref i ni ng
our
advert i si ng research desi gn, a prel i mnary
ver s i on of
whi ch
i s
presented
l at er
i n t hi s paper
I t
i s i ntroduced
byan
overvi ewstatement on the
consumer
cul ture as awhol e
I I The
onsumer
Cul ture
The
phrase
consumer cul t ur e
i s
used
as
a
desi gnati on
f or
the
network
of
expectati ons
and aspi r at i ons that
formthe
broader
context
of s pec i f i c
consump-
ti on
ac t i vi t i es Unti l recentl y the
devel opment
of
the
consumer
cul ture
had
been regarded as
a
pri vate
matter,
i
. e
one whi ch i nvol ved onl y the i n-
di vi dual
c i t i zen s j udgments
and preferences Thi s
i s no
l onger
the case
;
i n
1
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STEPHEN
KLINENVILLIAMLEISS
Canadaandel sewhere,
governmnts cl a mthat
i n f l a t i on
i s i n part a functi onof
accel erati ng
expectati ons and they t r y
t o combat th i s
accel erati on
of expecta-
t i ons
wth
both
r hetor i c
and
pol i ci es
The
nature of the
popul ar expectati ons
associ ated
wth
consumti on
act i vi ty
i s
now
seenas
a major
soci al prob em i ndeed
as a
prob emwhi ch
must be
con-
f ronted
by expl i ci t soci al
pol i ci es
I n i t s crudest form
thi s
prob emstem f rom
the f act that
market-based expectati onsdemands f or goods
and
ser vi ces
apparentl y
hadbegun
to
r i s e much
faster than the
rate
of growth
i n
GNP
I n
the
context of a remarkab y
stabl e
conf i gurati on i n
i ncom di stri buti on
i n i n-
dustr i al i zed
nati ons
th i s i ncr ease
i n
expectati ons l eads to soci al pressures
r e
qui ri ng
somef ormof governmnt
i nterventi on
The
r eal di f f i cul t y
posed by
th i s
devel opmnt i s that
thi s
take-of f
of
ex-
pectati ons occurred after
an excepti ona l y l ong peri odof
r eal
growth i n
GNP
and
i n persona
i ncoms
I n other words, i ncreasi ng
aff l uence
seem to
l ead not
to a higher
l evel of contentmnt,
but rather to i t s
opposi tea sense of
r el at i ve
depri vati on
that
i s no
l ess
pa nful than
the
v i s i b l e
poverty
of
ear l i er epochs
I f market-basedexpectati ons r i s e
at
a rate faster than r eal growth i nGNP then
there wi l l be i ncreasi ng soci al tensi ons
at
any
rate of economc growth that can
be
reasonab y
expectedto occur
I t has
become
customary
to
expl a n
the
mai n
f eatures
of
consumr
behavi our
on
the
basi s
of a
postul ate
or axi omknown
as
the
i nsat i abi l i t y
of
human
wants
Thi s
has
been forml ated i n
vari ous
ways, andperhaps
the
most
com
monruns as fol l ows
the
sati sf acti on
of
a want
si ml taneousl y occasi ons
the
for-
mati on
of other wants Thi s
syndrom
i s
supposed y rooted i n
the pecul i ar i t i es
of human psychol ogy,
and
i t i s assumd
that there i s
no
natural l i m t s to t h i s
process
Human
wants, i f
le f t
unchecked, wi l l
expand
i ndef i ni tel y
I n
order
to
i mrove
our
understand ng
of
the consumr cul t ur e
wemust
take a
cl oser l ook
at the experi ence l abel l ed the
sat i sf act i on
of wants ,
whi ch
i s
the
key el emnt
i n
the
axi om
of
i nsat i abi l i t y
Wenwe
say that the sati sf acti on
of a want
t r i gger s
newwants,
we
are assum
i ng
that
what
we
cal l
the
sati sf acti on
of a
want
i s an
i dent i f i abl e
experi ence
w thknown properti es I s
th i s
i ndeed the case? For a l l pr acti cal purposes i n to-
day s soci et y
we
can regard the
marketpl ace as
the
context
f or
want-
sati sf acti ons ; that i s the
obj ecti ves
of wants norma l y
are
purchasab e
goods
andser vi ces Tocomprehend
the experi ence
of want - sat i sf acti on t her ef or e we
must appreciate
the speci f i c
f eat ur es of
i t s
contextua sett i ng
Today s
consumti on process
t akes
pl ace i n what may be
cal l ed
a
hi gh-
i ntens i ty
market setti ng Thi s i s
a
soci al s et t i ng
wherei n
l ar ge numbers
of
i n-
di vi dual s
have access
to
a
very
extensi ve array of goods, and
where
the
char acter i sti cs of goods
are
coml ex and
are subj ect
to
f requent
changes
The
i ndi vi dual s wants are themelves coml ex
states of f eel i ng encomassi ngboth
physi ol ogi cal maintenance
and psychol og ca
wel l -bei ng
sel f - esteem
ego-
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OMMO TY
FETI SH SM
enhancement
i nt er per sonal compar i sons, and so forth)
n
the
marketpl ace,
goods
that
he
or
she encount er s combi ne
what
may be cal l ed obj ecti ve
charact eri sti cs
such
as
physi cal
dimensi ons
and
performance
capabi l i t i es
and i mputed
charact er i sti cs ( symbol i c associ at i ons
w th success,
happi ness,
et c
I n
amarket
economy
st ocked
w thmass-produced
goods
there
cannot
be, f or
obvi ous r easons, a
di r ect corr el at i on f or
al l
i ndi vi dual s
and al l
goods between
the propert i es of an i ndi vi dual s wants
and
the
pr oper t i es
of goods
I ndi vi dual s
cont i nual l y
sh i f t t hei r pr ef er ence or der i ngs
i n
di f f erent
ways,
andproducer s
are
r egul ar l y shuf f l i ng thecharact er i sti cs
and
t he
assor tment
of goods n
t h i s
f l ui d
s i tuat i on
the
common
denomnator
i s
the
i ndi vi dual s
attempt
t o
match
the
qual i t i es
of
hi s wants w th the
character i sti cs
of
goods
When the
matchi ng
s
rel ati vel y successf ul ,
we coul d
take
t hi s as
an i nst ance of the
sat i sf acti on
of
awant
I n a si t uat i on
where
both
wants andgoods are
mul t i f acet ed
phenomena
however ,
w l l
there
ordi nar i l y becl ear
evi dence
of successf ul
matchi ng?
Thi s i s
a
di f f i cul t
quest i on
t o
answer
We
t h i nk
t
i s saf e t o
assume
at l eas t
that
the
out -
come of attempts
at
want - sat i sf act i on
w l l
be
pr obl emat i cal
There
s
l i k e l y
t o
be
some
f eel i ng
of
sati sf acti on
or
success
and
si mul t aneousl y
some
f eel i ng
of
di ssat i sf act i on, the
l a t t e r
ar i s i ng
from
t he
f a c t
t hat so
many other unt r i ed op-
t i o n s
f or possi bl y i mpr ovi ng
t he
degr ee
of
s a t i s f a c t i o n
s t i l l beckon
Gven
the
f l ui di t y
of t he
cont extual
set t i ng, i ndi vi dual s
maybecome
pro-
gressi vel y more confused both about t he natur e of
thei r own wants
and
about
what
are the
best ways
of attempti ng
t o
s a t i s f y them
The steadi l y
i ncr easi ng
compl exi t y i n the
makeup
of wants
and
goods may
resul t
i n
among
other
t hi ngs, an
i ncr easi ng
degr ee
of ambi gui ty
i n t he
attempted
sati sf acti on
of
wants
The
outcome
of the
consumpti on
ac t
may
be an
ensembl e
of
s a t i s f a c -
t i ons anddi ssat i sf act i ons, whosecomponents are not
cl earl y
i denti f i abl e,
rather
than adetermnate exper i ence of ei t her sati sf acti on or
di ssati sf acti on
Our concl usi on i s
that
we
r equi r e a much cl earer understandi ng
of
t he i n-
di vi dual s
str i vi ng
f or
the sati sf acti on
of hi s
or
her wants
There are two
r easons
why
i mprovi ngour understandi ng
i n
t h i s
regard s
essent i al
One s
that
t he
probl em
of
r i si ng market based expect at i ons s
cert ai nl y
a t
l eas t
i n part) af unc-
t i o n
of di stort i ons
i n
the present patterns of want - sat i sf act i on The other
i s
that
the
degr ees
of
both sati sf act i on and di ssat i sf act i on,
and
not merel y the
former
al one, may r i s e wth t he
i ndi vi dual s
access
t o
hi gher l e v e l s of consumpti on
When
these
are taken i nto account
we
have
a much better
pi ct ur e of the
i m
pl i cat i ons of the i nsat i abi l i ty
axi om
We
a l s o
have awayof anal yzi ng t he prob-
l emof expect at i ons
1 5
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ST PH N
KLIN
N
WLLIAMLEISS
I I I
Adverti si ng
and
Imagery
W
do
not
yet
have
an
adequate
understandi ng
of
t hi s
probl em
of
expecta-
ti ons nor dowepresume
t o
gi ve
an
explanati on
here
however
wewould
l i k e
to of fer a hypothesi s
that myhelp
t o cl ar i f y
the nature of the probl em
W
suggest
that today
market-based expectati ons are a
functi on
of the symbol i c
properti es
of goods
and
that these symbol i c properti es can
best
beunderstood
through
the examnati on of
i magery
i n marketi ng as i t i s conveyed
through
product
desi gn
packaging store
di spl ays fashi on
t r ends peer-group i n-
f l uences
and
medi a-based advert i si ng A though i n
thi s
paper our
concl usi ons
are formulated f roman examnati on of magazi ne and
t e l evi si on
adverti si ng
trends we by nomeans
assert
that
these
other
agenci es of soci al i zat i on are not
al so si gni f i cant
The
symbol i c
associ at i ons used i n the ci r cul at i on of goods
permeate the
marketplace but
they
are mre readi l y observable i n
medi a
adverti si ng
than
i n
other areas
The research desi gn that
we
haveadopted i n
thi s
study
has
grown
di r ect l y out
of the t heoreti cal questi ons previouslyoutl i ned
I t attempts an al ternat i ve i n-
terpretati on
of the
probl em
of
r i si ng consumer
expectati ons wthi n the
speci f i c
context of the consumer cul ture
By
focussi ng
upon
expectati ons and hence
upon
adverti si ng
as
the
si gni f i cant
si gn
system
thi s
approach
departs
f rom
t r adi t i onal l i nes of economc anal ysi s
I t
starts f romthe
readi l y
observable
com
mn central
them
of a l l contemporary adverti si ng
whi ch
f uses the f i e l d of
humn aspi rat i ons and desi r es wth a means
of
sat i s fy i ng
themthrough
materi al consumpti on
The
anal ysi s
i s deducti ve i n nature Wbroke
down
adverti semnts
i nto consti tuent
parts
and
attempted t o determne
whether
there are any
si gni f i cant
patterns
i n
howthey use
i mages t o
present goods
W
di d
not attempt
t o
ascert ai n how
i ndi vi duals
are af fected or howthey thi nk
they
are
affected by them ei ther
i n
t hei r at t i t udes or behavi our al thoughwe
hope t o extend the
research
i n
thi s
di recti on after further ref i ni ngour
anal yt i c
approach
Even
the
most cursory
glance at
the
worl ddep cted i n
contemporary
advert i s-
i ng would
l ead
one t o
the
concl usi on
that goods are mchmore
than
the sum
of thei r physi cal
properti es They are
presented as
capableof
produci ng
f eel i ngs
of
happ ness
and
sat i s fact i on
i n
t hei r users
Moreover i n
an
hi stor i cal surveyof
adverti si ng
we
havenoted that there i s an i ntens i f i cat i on
of thi s process over the
l ast f i f t y years
z
The
cl ar i f i cat i on
of
thi s
observati on was our central concern i n
deci di ng
to focus
our
study
on
psychologi cal ly
grounded
associ at i ons
These
ex-
pressi ons such
as
famly
happ ness
career success youth
or
f reedom
are
i nstances of what we have cal l ed
the
symbol i c properti es
of goods
and
they are
cruci al
to our understandi ng of the appearance
of the commodi ty i n the
con-
sumer cul ture
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OMMO TYFETI SH SM
I n
the backgrounds, set t i ngs, anduser-representati ons of advert i si ng
i magery
ar e i ncorporated
l i f e s t y l e
model s
and
values
uggest,
wthout
bei ng
abl e to
develop the
poi nt
here,
that the
l i f e s t y l e
model s
ar e
an i mortant
part
of
the
domnant soci al i zat i on patterns of contemorary
soci et y
;
the
decl i ni ng i n-
f l uences of famly and r el i gi on have
opened the way for the market-based
l i f e s t y l e model s to shape behavi our
patterns
The
speci f i c val ues associ atedwth
themar e di f f i cul t t o i dent i f y,
and i n
any
case they
change wthi n short
t i m
cycl es
and
thi s i s probabl y
what i s most s i gni f i cant
about
them
Ewen s
work
3
shows
that
i n ear l i er
peri ods,
f or
examl e
i n
the
ni neteen twen-
t i es,
statemnts
of
val ues
were
commonl y i ncorporated i nto the textual
mteri al
i n advert i semnts
; today,
i t
i s not uncommon
t o encounter
advert i semnts
wth
mrel y a
short
sl ogan
or i ndeed
wth
no text
at
a l l
Thus,
there ar e
two
paral l el
devel opmnts
One
i s the shi f t f romexpl i ci t statemnts
of value busi ness suc-
cess, f am l i al
l ove)
to the
i ncorporati on
of i mpl i ci t
val ues and ambi guous
l i f e s t y l e i mages ;
the
second i s the cor r el at i ve
decl i ne
of t ext ual
mteri al
and the
shi f t
to
vi sual i zed
i mages of wel l -bei ng
Al though the process of the symbol i f i cat i on of
commodi t i es
i s
a
soci al
process
andnot amdi a-basedone, changes i n the mdi a
pl ay a cr uci al r ol e
i n
aml i fyi ng the f or ces wthi n the
marketpl ace
and
transformng
the nature of
the appearance of the commodi ty Much
contemorary
adver t i s i ng, especi al l y
on t el evi s i on,
works almost excl us i vel y
through
the use of i magery ( as
opposed
to
textual
i nformati on)
;
thi s
devel opmnt
has
emrged
gradual l y i n the
hi s tory
of adverti si ng The gradual
pace of
the transformti on, the growng
ambi gui ty
and
i mpl i ci t
nature
of the associ at ed
val ues, and
the d i f f i c u l t
task
of
pi nni ng
downthe s i gni f i cance
of vi sual i zed communi cat i on
may
have a l l
contri buted to
underest i mat i ng
the i mort
of
thi s
aspect of the consci ousness
i ndustry
the growngdomnat i on
of i magi sti c
modes
of communi cat i on
To
be sure, the
adverti si ng i ndustry
i t s e l f
i s
only
now
u l l y recogni zi ng
the i mortance
of
i m
agery
i n
adverti si ng
techni que
4
Yet
i t
i s
wthi n
thi s
trend
t hat
we
have
l ocated
cruci al
f eat ur es i n
the changi ng
dynamcs of want sat i s f act i on i n the consump-
t i o n process
Thi s
communi cat i on-based
i nt erpre tat i on pl aces a greater em
phasi s upon what Stuart
Hal l
has cal l ed
the ef f ect i vi t y of the superstruc-
tures The
emhasi s of
most
adverti si ng unt i l
the ear l y 1920 s
stresses
the
physi cal
charact eri st i cs
of
the product, the
pr i ce
per
quanti ty, and the pr acti cal
ut i l i t y
(what the
product
does Today t hi s tends
to
be
t ypi cal only
of
a very
l imted
category of advert i si ng f or products whi ch
we cal l
Technol ogi cal
Equi pmnt ( radi os, stereos, garden equi pmnt ,
power
t ool s)
However, i n
general ,
a
t r ans i t i on
begi nni ng
i n
the
twenti es
and
progressi ng
f rom
there
transposes
the emhasi s
f rom
materi al charact eri st i cs and
pragmati c
ut i l i t y
i n t o
psychologi cal
u t i l i t y the
commodi ty
appears
desi gned
f or
personal i zed
use
by f ul f i l l i ng a psychol ogi cal
rol e
Commodi t i es appear
as personi f i ed
expres-
si ons of
humancharact er i s t i cs
and r el at i onshi ps
Moreover,
wth the
i ncreasi ng
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i mpl i c i t ness and ambi gui t y i n adver t i s i ng i mager y, t he
commodi ty s eems
t o
become a
pr oj ec t i ve f i e l d i n
whi ch
t he
human
s t a t e s of
f eel i ng achi evabl e i n
consumpt i on
are
f l u i d l y
super i mposed
upon
t he
non human
physi cal - sensory
aspect s of t he
commodi ty
St r et chi ng
t he
metaphor
f or a moment
t he
mask of
t he f et i shi zed
commodi t y,
havi ng
i ncor por at ed t he a b s t r a c t q u a l i t i e s of prom
i s e d
human s a t i s f a c t i o n ,
has
more r e c e n t l y s t become
m r r o r - l i k e , r ef l ect i ng
back
t he vague
and di s to r t ed
i mages
of
wel l - bei ng
t o be
achi eved i n consump
t i o n
16
Nor do we have t o
l ook ver y f a r t o e s t a b l i s h t he mot i vat i ons
behi nd
t h i s
t r end As modern
mar ket i ng t h e o r i s t s s t a t e , t he t a s k of
mar ket i ng was
very
qui c kl y per c ei ved t o be t hat of
maki ng modern
goods
r ecogni zed
a s
psychol ogi cal t hi ngs
symbol i c
of per sonal
at t r i but es and go al s ,
a s symbol i c of
s o c i a l patterns
and str i vi ngs . 7 The pr oduct was
f o r t i f i e d by an i mage
de-
si gned t o be t he
ba s i s of consumer c ho i c e , and dest i ned
a l s o ( we i n f e r t o
become c h a r a c t e r i s t i c
of
t he r edef i ni t i on
of s a t i s f a c t i o n
der i ved i n t he consump
t i o n
process
However , t he des i gn of t he
pr oduct
i mage
di d not occur i n avacuum
A
con-
s i der abl e
amount of cons umer
research
had establ i shed
t he i mpor t ance of these
symbol i c at t r i but es of
goods
i n
t he
ever yday
t hi nki ngo f t he
consumer ,
andhad
poi nt ed
out
t he r el at i onshi p
they
bear
t o
bot h
t he per sonal i t y
and
pos i -
t i onal
f r ames of
reference
t hat t he
cons umer br i ngs t o bear i n
pur chase and
consumpt i on
Throughc a r e f u l
desi gn,
t he
br ands
i mage coul d be based
upon
t he a n a l y s i s of t he
decodi ng
or
i nt er p r et i ve pr edi l ec t i ons of
t he con-
sumer I t i s t he di mensi ons of
i nt er pr et at i on t hat ar e cont ro l l ed by
t he
adver -
t i s e r t hr ough
t h i s process of mar ket r e s e a r c h ,
i n whi ch
heat t empt s
t o
r e f i n e t he
symbol i c
di mensi ons
of hi s product s t o
s u i t
var i ous
segment s of
t he mar ket
Her e then i s t he
or i gi n of
t he
dual symbol i c
process
Dependi ng upon
mar ket i ng
s t r a t e g i e s ,
t he br ands
i mage
can
be
devel oped ei t her f or mas s
mar ket s by
t he us e
of
open
codes
of
i nt er pr et at i on,
or
f o r s p e c i f i c
mar ket s by
t he
use
of
more r e s t r i c t i v e codes
To some
degr ee,
t he t r end t owar ds i mpl i c i t
and v i s ua l pr oduct i mager y can
be
i dent i f i ed w t h t he need f or i ncreasi ngl y open
codes
of i nt erp ret at i on
f or
mas s
mar ket
s e l l i n g
The t a s k of
t he adver t i ser
i s t o desi gn
t he
package of
st i mul i
so t hat
t
resonates w t h i nf or mat i on
al r eady s t ored w t h i n an
i n -
d i v i d u a l ,
and t hereby i nduces t he des i r ed
l ear ni ng
or behavi our al e f f e c t s .
Wat
happens as a r e s u l t of more t han
one- hal f cent ur y of t h i s i nt ense
a d v e r t i s -
i ng a c t i v i t y ? The r e s u l t
s
a s i t u a t i o n
wher e t he
i ndi v i dual
s sur r ounded
w t h
t hi ngs t hat r esonat e w t h stored
i nf or mat i on
I t
i s
not
t h a t
t he
wor l d
of
t rue
needs
has
been
subordi nat ed by
t he
wor l d of f a l s e needs,
but
t hat
t he
r eal m of
needi ng has become a f unc t i on of
t he
f i e l d of
communi cat i on
Here
per haps
s
t he
chi ef f et i s hi sm
i n t he
consumer mar ket pl ace The pr oduct of
human l abour
s
not
hi dden
by t he di s to r t ed
yet seem ngl y obj ect i ve
q u a l i t i e s
of
a mat er i al -
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sensuous
product, but by the i ndi vi dual i zed
and
subj ecti ve
i mages
of
wel l
be-
i ng proj ected
i nto
the commodi ty
As
a
consequence
the
commodi ty
t akes
on
a
rol e
i n
the human
di alogue,
becomnga
message
i n i t sel f
Consi dered as i nformati on i t i s amans bywhi ch
the consumer
may
communi cat e t o others hi s rel at i onshi p t o a compl ex set
of
abstract soci al att r i but es i t
i dent i f i es
him
or her wthi n
the soci al structure
The use of the commodi ty
wth
par t i cul ar
symbol i c qual i t i es merges wth the
i dent i t y
of the user I n thi s sense, pr oduct i mages wer e
never
desi gned
merel y
to
i nc r e as e
purchases,
but to
t ransf orm t he
personal si gni f i cance of
t he
pro-
duct s everyday use
From
a
communi cat i ons
per spect i ve,
thi s symbol i fi cati on
entai l ed
reorgani zati onon a
number
of l evel s of abstr acti on uponwhi ch
the
appearance
and experi ence of the commodi ty i s organi zed The f i r s t
l evel on
whi ch
we
noti ce t hi s
change
i s
the
sensi bl e
and
i mmedi ate
presentati on of
the product
Here, through packagi ng
and
product
styl i ng, the physi cal - ut i l i t ar i an
aspect s
of
the
product
and i t s
sensuous
qual i t i es
as
an obj ect are
de-emphasi zed,
i n order
to harmoni ze i t s
i mmedi ate
experi ence
wth
the i mage proj ectedupon
i t
and to
f aci l i t ate the
di f f erent i at i on of
brands
Where packagi ng
i s
i nappropri ate, the
vi si bl e di mensi ons of the
product
i tsel f ,
through the el ements of desi gn and
styl i ng,
becom
the
means
of conveyi ng
symbol i c
qual i t i es
( e
. g
cl ot hes,
food
col ouri ng) For exampl e, even the
automobi l e,
the
or i gi nal
desi gns of whi ch
emphasi zed
mechani cal
and physi cal properti es
(power,
bul k, speed
through
streami ni ng , has more
r ecent l y
com t o ref l ect the
personi fi ed
qual i t i es
t ypi cal of advert i si ng i mages
(comort, sophi st i cat i on, pract i cal i ty)
The
secondmaj or l evel ,
and theone uponwhi ch we have focussed
our atten-
t i on,
i s the pr oduct i mage Here, through the processes of metaphori cal
associ at i on, the adver t i ser generates
an equati on
between the
par t i cul ar
brand
and
i t s
symbol i c at t r i but es
as
a
commodi ty I n the
i mage
advert i si ngof the ear -
l y
twenti es,
thi s
was
usual l y
accompl i shed by means of a verbal associ at i on be-
tween the brand and an
expl i ci t
qual i t y, usual l y
encapsul ated
i n a sl ogan ( the
sportsman s
ci gar et t e, the sophi sti cated
perfume)
However , as we
have
poi nted
out ,
themore recent
trends
i n
advert i s i ng ref l ect the accel er at ed use of
vi sual mdes of communi cat i on
the l i nkage
i s
generated by
means
of the
associ at i on of the brand
nam
and
package the vi sual market f or the
product)
wth a background i mage
desi gned
t o
e l i c i t
a speci f i c
set of proj ected
associ a-
t i ons As vi sual communi cat i ons, these associ at i ons are
devel oped
i n
term
of
the
grammarof representati on
uti l i zed by adver t i si ng, whi ch
i ncl udes
the
presentati onof a a b s t r a c t q u a l i t i e s ( frosty, sparkl i ng, l i ght ) depi cted
through a
background
or set t i ng, b personal i zed
q u a l i t i e s
depi cted by
i dent i f i abl e
user
groups (famous persons,
beaut i f ul , sophi s t i cated, r i ch), c si tuat i onal as s o ci a-
t i o n s (frequentl y
r ol e r el at ed) through the depi cti on
of i dent i f i abl e
set t i ngs
( nat ur al
scenes, ki t chens, restaurants) and d)
l i f e s t y l e
as s o ci at i o ns depi cti ng a
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par t i cul ar
t ype
of person engaged i n speci f i c
a c t i v i t i e s
i n par t i cul ar
set t i ngs
( young/ r ecr eat i on/ out door )
t h i r d
l evel
of
commodi ty
imagery
that
we
have
noted
i n
t he cur r ent
market
set t i ng
i s that
of t he
corporate
i mage
Here the s e l f
procl ai med qual i t i es
of
the
corporate ent i t y ar e t he
maj or
associ at i ons of the range
of
pr oduct s or
ser vi ces
of f er ed by the
cor por ati on
( Eat on s at t i t ude campai gn
Texaco s respon-
s i b i l i t y
i n
progress )
n
i ncrease
i n
the f requencyof
corporate
i mage adver t i s-
i ng, as
suggested i n our
hi st ori cal
s t udy,
may
i ndi cat e t hat our
anal ysi sbased
on
t he predomnanceof theproduct
i mage
over t he sensi bl e
appearance
of
t he
commodi ty
may
al r eady
be i n need of
modi f i cat i on due t o s i gni f i cant
changes
i n
t he
processes
of product
symbol i f i cat i on
Bef or e
di scussi ng some of our
dat a
and i t s
i mpl i cat i ons
f rom
our study of
cur-
rent adver t i s i ng
i mager y,
we
shal l expl ai n the basi s f or our asser t i on of
t he
i m
por t ance
of
i coni c
modes of
communicati on i n the
process
of
com
muni cati ng product i magery The
r el at i ve cos t s of adver t i s i ng t i me and
space
ref l ect not onl y t he reach of t he medi a
i n to
t he marketpl ace ( i n term of t he
s i z e
anddemographic f eatures of the par t i cul ar
audi ence capt ur ed
as
pot ent i al
cust omer s ) ,
but
a l s o
the
pot ent i al
ef f ect i veness of
medi a
communicat i on f or
changi ng consumpti on patterns
Amongst t he
var i ous possi bl e
medi a
magazi nes
and
tel evi s i on
emerge
as
pr est i ge adver t i s i ng
vehi cl es
because of
t hei r
su i t ab i l i t y f or the t r ansmss i on of
both
l e x i c a l
and
i magi st i c
i nformati on
The i nduct i ve
awar enes s by
adver t i ser s
of
the rel at i ve ef f ecti veness of these
medi a
i s
corroborated
by
f i ndi ngs i n
the
psychol ogi cal
l i terature on i nformati on
pr ocess i ng
I n the f i r s t
pl ace,
gi venthe hi ghl y sel ecti ve way i n
which
per sons
ar e known
t o
survey
t hei r envi ronment
i t
becomes the
task
of t he adver t i s ement
t o
break
through the at t ent i onal barr i ers
t o
i nsure
accept ance by t he audi ence
Desi gn l ayout, contrast,
col our ,
s t r i ki ng
and unusual i magery have al l been
shown t o
ac t as ef f ect i ve means
of
i ncreas i ng
the
l i kel i hood and
dur at i on
of
vi sual
scanni ng
I n
addi t i on,
t el evi s i on
af f or ds
t he conj uncti on of
sound
and
i mage,
camera movement
and
var i ous
edi t i ng s t y l e s t o secure and
enhance at
t ent i on
Furthermore
there s
evi dencewhich i ndi cat es
that
i coni c i nf or ma-
t i on
has a
great er
impact
on the af f ect i ve- opi ni on
components
of at t i t ude
par al l el
pr ocess i ng
model offers an
al t ernat i ve t o
the t heor i es of subl i mnal
per cept i on
I coni c i nf or mat i on has i t s
ef f ects
upon opi ni ons wthout
bei ng
t rans l i t erated i nt o verbal codes,
andhencewthout f u l l consc i ous
awar enes s
Beyond
these
at t ent i onal
f a c t o r s
t he adver t i ser s i nt ent i on i s t o
i ncrease the
ef f ecti veness of the
di f f erent i at i on of
hi s
pr oduct s
i mage
f rom
ot her s im l a r
product s, by
enhanci ng
t he
associ at i onal l i n k s between the
brand and i t s i m
age
The ef f ect i veness
of
t he ad, t her ef or e,
wi l l
be dependent
upon the au-
di ence s r et ent i on of these
associ at i ons Some r ecent research
i n pai r ed
associ at es l ear ni ng has i l l us t rated
t he i ncreas i ng
l at ency
i n memory
of i coni c
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FETI SH SM
over
l exi cal
i nformati on 20 Whenan
i mage
i s used
as
a memorypeg , the
retenti on
of
the
concepts
hung
on t hi s
peg
i s
i ncreased
For
years
the
catchy
tune or
j i ngl e
has been
employed as
a
memory
hook
;
now these processes seem
t o be
further enhanced
whenvi sual memory i s i nvoked
Several
other fac tors
ar e al s o
worthnoti nghere Fi r s t unusual
or
absurd i m
ages
seem
to enhance retenti on Secondl y, the
conj oi ni ng
of separate elements
of
an
i mage
seems
t o
be addi ti ve
a
compl ex
of
at t r i but es i s
more
eas i l y
recogni zed
and remembered
than ar e
s i ngl e
at t r i but es
Thi rdly,
pi ctures
seem
t o be
more
ambi guous
than
words or
noun phrases
i n
that they e l i c i t
a
gr eat er
numer of
f r ee
assoc i at i ons
The
impl i cati ons
of such
f i ndi ngs
ar e
obvi ous
Not
onl y does
theuse
of
vi sual
i magery i ncrease the attenti on pai d to the ad possi bl y
wthout
awareness, but
i t al so
provides
the basi s for the ef f i c i ent bui ldi ng of strongassoci at i onal
l i nks
to a greater
numer
of
qual i t i es
whi le retai ni ng a hi gh degree of ambi gui ty
Theambi gui ty
of the
i magery
i s s i gni f i cant not
only
f or the
f a c i l i t y
wthwhi ch
symbol i c
qual i t i es
become i nfused
wthi n awde
var i ety of product cat egor i es
and t ypes but
i n the
r esul t ant i ndetermnacy of the as soc i at i on I f we
are
asked
t o namethe qual i ty
associ ated
wthCoke,
we
are l i k e l y to respondwth l i fe
yet i f
we
are asked t o namea l i vel y product
we
ar e l i kel y t o thi nk of awde
var i et y of commodi ti es
The fact
that the
product
i mage
i s
so
open
to
varying
assoc i at i ons
and
i nterpretati ons
means that
both
advert i sers and consumers can
experi ment f r eel y
to
determne
whi ch
combi nati ons
ar e most
successf ul at any
ti me
But there
ar e
somnypossi bl e combi nati ons
that
one wonders whether a
compl ete and l as t i ng
sense of sat i s f ac t i on can ever be achi eved
under
these
c i r -
cumtances
I V Resul tsand
Dscussi on
Our
study
f i r s t requi red a
detai l ed anal ys i s of the symbol i c
f i e l d
of
cont
