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Consumer behavior and cross-cultureal variations
The Role of Culture in Consumer Behavior
The Role of Culture in Consumer Behavior
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Consumption is a complex social phenomenon in which people consume goods or services for reasons beyond their basic use-value (Firat, Kutucuoglue, Arikan Saltik & Tuncel, 2003). Sometime after the industrial revolution, consumer societies emerged around the world. A consumer society is one in which the entire society is organized around the consumption and display of commodities through which individuals gain prestige, identity, and standing. Media as well, has for long been contributing in increasing the level of consumption among people. There is evidence that since the 16th century, visual media such as paintings, print and architecture contributed to the expansion of consumption, a multiplier effect that has increased with the invention of mass advertising, and the growth of new media (Schama 1988, Mukerji 1983).
Researchers stated that there are five types of consumption. The first being Conspicuous Consumption: it is the consumption of products and services to satisfy physiological and security needs in large quantities more than the basic needs, to impress others. The first to touch upon and elaborate on this type of consumption is Thorstein Veblen. He said that consumption first appeared on the 2nd and 3rd generations of those who became rich after the industrial revolution. The second type on consumption is Symbolic Consumption. It is known as the phenomenon whereby people consume to reflect their sense of self-identity. An example to that is when people buy clothing items from premium brands not for their high quality, but for the purpose that these clothes reflect the person’s identity and self-image. This type of consumption is not about showing materialistic class but showing a certain identity of one’s self. Addict...
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...sing an unpleasant presence of consumption and is transforming into a consumer society. Acts should be done toward this problem before it is too late.
References*
Aytekin Firat, Kemal Y Kutucuoglu, Isil Arikan Saltik, & Özgür Tunçel. (2013). Consumption, consumer culture and consumer society. Journal of Community Positive Practices, 13(1), 182-203.
Baudrillard, J. (1998). The Consumer Society: Myths and Structures. London: Sage
Mukerji, Chandra 1983. From Graven Images: Patterns of Modern Materialism. New York: Columbia University Press.
Schama, Simon 1988. The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Wilcox, G. B., Kamal, S., & Gangadharbatla, H. (2009). Soft drink advertising and consumption in the united states 1984-2007. International Journal of Advertising, 28(2), 351.
The chosen article is Two Cheers for Consumerism by James Twitchell. In this article he talks about consumerism, commercialism, and materialism. He argues the stand point of consumers and the role they live by every day. In other hands the critics, Academy, gives the consumers and overview description to their consumers.
Through out the world, thousand of starving people look wherever they can for scraps of food or spare change. On the other hand, millionaires and billionaires can buy a private jet to fly anywhere on a whim while eating the finest of foods. In the middle, ordinary people work regular twelve-hour days in order to pay the bills and put food on the table. Each person can be in a different category. Most often you can tell which category an individual is in by looking at the things they own. Consumerism, or the push to buy goods and services, is not a new thing. It has been around since the very first sale or trade centuries ago. Although today, controversy has arisen about the rapidly growing rate of consumerism and how it affects the economy around the world. Is the current rate of consumerism a good or bad effect on the economy? Also, what are some ways to help people understand consumerism better? As I do research and explore, I hope to find the answers to these questions in order to understand the issue better myself.
In 1899 Thorstein Veblen wrote The Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study of Institutions. In this work, Veblen presented critical thinking that pertains to people’s habits and their related social norms. He explores the way certain people disregard the divisions that exist within the social system, while subsequently emulating certain aspects of the leisure class in an effort to present an image of higher social status. He also presented the theory of conspicuous consumption, which refers to an instance when a person can fulfill their needs by purchasing a product at a lower cost that is equal in quality and function to its more expensive counterpart; however, said person chooses to buy the more expensive product, by doing so, they are attempting to present an image of a higher social status. The almost 110 year cycle between 1899 and 2010 reveals few differences in buying behaviors, other than the differing selection of luxury goods to indulge, or over-indulge in.
Individual’s consumption pattern and purchase decision are strongly influenced by cultural norms and values of the society he lives in (H. S. Kim & Drolet, 2003; Oyserman, Coon, & Kemmelmeier, 2002; Sun, Horn, & Merritt, 2004). Since individuals in collectivist society pay more attention towards harmony of the gro...
If a person wants to learn about what is important to this culture, all they have to do is turn on the television and watch the advertisements. The advertisements that air, provide strong evidence of what is popular in this culture. It seems that people hastily buy their wants in search for the one object that could make them happy and feel fulfilled, in turn, they only find out that the item did not generate happiness for a prolonged period of time. The evidence suggests that because society has reached their needs a door is open to people wanting to continually satisfy their wants and their happiness, which is leading to the hunger for more.
This book report is on the society of the spectacle by guy Debord. It is a theory that our society is dominated by images and characterizes and drives our consumer society. The images we see are seen through various methods such as Advertisements, television and other media outlets along with banners and signs. People in consumerism see images of things for them to buy and they go and but things and the reality that the world makes becomes what they are about. Regardless if the people have the money or not they can get credit and pay for it with money they don’t have. This idea of credit for everyone helps the people with power to attain more money and power. The more technology progresses the easier it becomes to enhance the consumer society and move into new market areas and continue to move forward with the new way of life in American and the world.
"4 / Ceremony and Society." Art Through Time: A Global View. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.
Luxury goods are not the necessities but are very much desirable to people which is supported by a share of money income. They are not easily available and affordable for everyone but due to the coming up of competition in market this has been changed. Nowadays, every individual wants to raise their self high and wants to be different from everyone. Since, the times have changed luxury goods have become more affordable for middle class consumers. Whenever we open our social media accounts such as Instagram, snapchats or news on internet or be it the reality shows, it is full of rich people showing off their dresses, bags, accessories etc. Such news put an impact on our inner thinking about our need to look and feel good through rich possessions. Several manufactured goods have become luxury goods as they are designer, durable and better quality. These goods are considered as luxury goods by the consumers because they play a role of status and class for those who showcase or owns them. These items are not necessarily better than less expensive substitutes are purchased with the main purpose of showcasing their wealth. These kinds of goods are object of socio-economic phenomenon which includes watches, jewelleries, designer clothes and accessories, large
The rebellion staged by the United Provinces against Spanish dominion, and the subsequent independence won after the Thirty Years’ War, led to an epoch later known as the Dutch Golden Age. This period in Dutch history was characterized by significant advances in technology, expansion of colonialism and trans-national commerce, and a new form of national consciousness that put the Netherlands at the forefront of the global stage. Naturally, all of these advances were paralleled by the magnificent art produced during the era, which explicitly and implicitly told the story of the rising nation and its prosperity. Jacob van Ruisdael’s Windmill at Wijk bij Duurstede , Willem Kalf’s Still Life with a Late Ming Ginger Jar, and Rembrandt’s The Conspiracy
Sassatelli, R. (2007). Consumer Culture: History, Theory and Politics, London: Sage, Page 30, Page 126, Page 132, Page 133
Chang’s discussion focused on the effect of ‘superlogos’, or high-fashion brands such as Chanel and Louis Vuitton, tracing the growth in fake products to the Japanese period of ‘logomania’ in the 1980s. During this period, explosive growth of the Japanese economy led to one of the highest per-capita incomes in the world (Chang, 2004). It also led to a shift in consumption patterns, with the previous consumption patterns set by American occupiers (an ‘American’ mode of consumption, focused on quantity of goods) shifting to a ‘European’, quality-based consumption model (Chang, 2004). During this period the brand logos integrated into clothing and other items became increasingly important, as they were indicative of consumption power (Chang,
Nowadays, consumers are attracted by “the combination of quality emotion and rarity” (Perry and Kyriakaki, 2014). Luxury items make them feel more prestigious even if these products do not have any functional utility. The importance of luxury in today’s world is the expression of the immaterial world; as cited by Solomon (1986) consumers are seen as “meaning creators, who live in a dynamic interaction with social and cultural environment” (Perry and Kyriakaki,
According to Slater (1997), Consumer Culture is the culture of market societies and is defined though market relations. It predominantly is the product of capitalism. He believes that this new culture is a pecuniary culture based on money. The central claim is that the values from the realm of consumption will spill over into other domains of social action. He further argues that Consumer Culture is in principle, universal and impersonal. He simultaneously agues, that there is an ultior claim towards this definition, as although it seems universal and is depicted as a land of freedom, in which everyone can be a consumer, it is also felt to be universal because everybody must be a consumer. ...
The general idea of materialism is through conspicuous consumption, whereby the satisfaction derived from the product through the reaction of the audience, rather than personal utility use (Flouri, 1999). Materialistic tend to focus on the purchasing of “status goods” that impress other people (Fournier and Richins, 1991).
Nevertheless, one of the most important constants among all of us, regardless of our differences, is that, above all, we are buyers. We use or consume on a regular basis food, clothing, shelter, transportation, education, equipment, vacations, necessities, luxuries, services, and even ideas. As consumers, we play an essential role in the health of the economy; local, national and international. The purchase decision we make affect the requirement for basic raw materials, for transportation, for production, for banking; they affect the employment of employees and the growth of resources, the successfulness of some industries and the failure of others. In order to be successful in any business and specifically in today’s dynamic and rapidly evolving marketplace, marketers need to know everything they can about consumers; what they are want, what they are think, how they are work, how they are spend their leisure time. They have to find out the personal and group influences that affect consumer decisions and how these decisions are made. In these days of ever-widening media choices, they need to not only identify their target audiences, but they have to know where and how to reach