Week 4 - Culture and Consumer Behaviour Flashcards
(29 cards)
culture
sum of total learned beliefs, values and customs that serve to regulate the consumer values of a particular society
- fabric of society, structures and regulates how an individual appropriately functions within the society
cultural knowledge
- some cultural knowledge is overt and even formalised e.g., laws, regulations, guidelines, policies
- most cultural knowledge is tacit (invisible)
how is culture learned?
social habits
social values
via brands e.g., coca-colonisation
social habits
beliefs, customs, rituals, symbols and traditions we acquire from a young age
e.g.,
- inherited from parents
- cultural norms
- religious rituals
social values
- acquired from parents and those around us
e.g., family, friends, relatives, religion, health, continuous learning, fairness and trust
structure and movement of cultural meaning (diagram)
culturally constituted world –> consumer goods –> individual consumer
on slides
instruments of meaning (McCracken’s structure + movement of cultural meaning model)
- advertising system and fashion system
- consumer’s ritualistic interactions with the good
the culturally constituted world definition
- world of everyday experience
- a lens through which we view and interpret stimuli
- a blueprint of individual and societal activity
- cultural categories and cultural principals
the cultural lens definition
- how we make sense/interpret senses
- everything inside lens is ordered and understood according to cultural norms
- everything outside is chaos
the cultural blueprint definition
- determines how the ‘world’ will be created and constructed by the efforts of individuals and collectives
- render cultural blueprint real/visible through the products that we purchase and consume
- construct material world to reflect what we view in our imaginations
instruments of meaning: world to good
- meaning transferred from cultural world to product/brand
via - advertising systems
- fashion systems
instruments of meaning: advertising
- places two key elements together within the same advertisement: consumer good and symbolic representation of the culturally constituted world (the meaning)
- must be symbolic equivalence bw the 2 elements
- consumer must decode the correct meaning in the advertising
instruments of meaning transfer: fashion
- associate new styles w established cultural categories and principals (similar to advertising)
- invents new cultural meanings via opinion leaders
- engages in radical reform of cultural meanings via subcultures (e.g., hippies, punks) (e.g., streetwear - collabs w high-end brands)
- through catwalks, influencers/celebs etc.
instruments of meaning transfer: good to consumer (rituals)
rituals:
- form of symbolic activity that involve a number of steps occurring in a fixed sequence, which is repeated over time (e.g., morning routine)
- extend from birth to death; elaborate/mundane, formal/informal
- often associated w ritual artefacts (e.g., engagement ring)
4 rituals in aiding transfer of meaning from consumer object to consumer
- exchange rituals
- possession rituals
- grooming rituals
- divestment rituals
exchange rituals
- exchange rituals are essentially gift giving rituals - card, wrapping, context - all changed with meaning
- often associated w typical artefacts (e.g., wedding - self selected gift/registry; new baby - silver spoon; birthday - card/present; graduation - pen/watch…)
possession rituals
- allow consumer to claim possession of the good/product
- personalisation (confirm/enhance identity)
- draw the promised qualities from the good/product (claim the symbolic properties)
grooming rituals
- performed when consumers take special care to draw upon the potential image enhancing properties in their clothing, appearance and related products
- transfer these meanings to own identities - new powers of confidence
- sometimes ‘grooming’ focused on product rather than individual
divestment rituals
- ‘cleansing’ of a product of its previously held meaning
- clearing meanings associated w previous owner
- emptying product of the meanings that the individual has associated w the product before selling/giving item away
hofstede cultural dimensions (6)
- uncertainty avoidance
- power distance
- collectivism-individualism
- femininity-masculinity
- long-term orientation
- indulgence versus restraint
uncertainty avoidance (cultural dimensions)
- extent to which the members of a culture feel threatened by ambiguous or unknown situations and have created beliefs and institutions to try and avoid these
e.g., future ambiguity and how it is dealt w - Aus - intermediate level
- China - low score (comfortable w ambiguity)
power distance (cultural dimensions)
- extent to which the less powerful members or institutions and organisation within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally
- Aus - low
- Russia - high - power holders distant, huge discrepancy bw less and more powerful people.
individualism (cultural dimensions)
- degree of interdependence of society among its members
- “I” vs “We” self-image
- Aus - high individualist (ppl look after themselves)
- China - collectivist (in group considerations)
masculinity (cultural dimensions)
- the fundamental issue is what motivates people, wanting to be the best (masculine) or liking what you do (feminine)
- high score - society driven by competition, achievement and success
- low score - dominant values of society are caring for others and quality of life
