Consumer Culture

Description

We live in a society that defines us by what we consume and how. Every day we make purchasing decisions that express our sense of belonging, our commitments to the environment and our systems of belief. We often choose to buy things, not necessarily because we need them, but because we believe that these things will help us express who we are – in our own eyes and in the eyes of others. Whether we like it or not, consumerism is the prevalent ideology of our time. Led by Gjoko Muratovski who has long been influential at the intersection of design and business, Consumer Culture is the ideal starting point for an investigation into the social construction of the global economy.

Chapter 1 - Icons of Popular Culture: Religious Dimensions of Branding 

Gjoko Muratovski

 

Chapter 2 - Business, National Identities and International Politics: The Role of Built Environments and Architectural Propaganda in Nation Branding

Gjoko Muratovski

 

Chapter 3 - Race, Advertisements and YouTube: Identity and Nationality

By Kathleen Connellan

 

Chapter 4 - The Use of Gold Rush Nostalgia on Wine Labels: Brief History of New Zealand’s Central Otago Wine Region

By Lloyd Carpenter

 

Chapter 5 - Mad Men and Women: Construction and Management of Advertising Executives in Popular Culture

By Anne Peirson-Smith

 

Chapter 6 - The Big Earn: A Study of Criminal Business Enterprises in Popular Culture 

By Carolyn Beasley

 

Chapter 7 - Brand IKEA in a Global Cultural Economy: A Case Study

By Susie Khamis

 

Chapter 8 - The ‘Good’ Corporation: The Uneasy Relationship Between Reputation and Responsibility 

By Robert Crocker

 

Chapter 9 -  Acceleration in Consumerism, Technology and Sustainability

By Robert Crocker

Sujets

• Vente
• Marketing stratégique
• Cultural Studies
• General
• Business
• Economics
• Globalization
• General officer
• Consumerism
• Marketing et communication
• POLITICAL SCIENCE
• Consumer Behavior
• Gestion des ventes

Informations

• Publié par: Intellect Books
• Date de parution: 01 mai 2016
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781783205486
• Langue: English

Extrait

First published in the UK in 2016 by
Intellect, The Mill, Parnall Road, Fishponds, Bristol, BS16 3JG, UK
First published in the USA in 2016 by
Intellect, The University of Chicago Press, 1427 E. 60th Street,
Chicago, IL 60637, USA
Copyright © 2016 Intellect Ltd
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Cover designer: Gjoko Muratovski
Copy-editor: MPS Technologies
Production managers: Steve Harries and Mike Grimshaw
Typesetting: John Teehan
ISBN 978-1-78320-546-2
ePDF ISBN 978-1-78320-547-9
ePub ISBN 978-1-78320-548-6
Printed and bound by Short Run Press Ltd, UK
Contents
Consumer Culture: An Introduction Gjoko Muratovski
Chapter 1 Icons of Popular Culture: Religious Dimensions of Branding Gjoko Muratovski
Chapter 2 Business, National Identities and International Politics: The Role of Built Environments and Architectural Propaganda in Nation Branding Gjoko Muratovski
Chapter 3 Race, Advertisements and YouTube: Identity and Nationality Kathleen Connellan
Chapter 4 The Use of Gold Rush Nostalgia on Wine Labels: Brief History of New Zealand’s Central Otago Wine Region Lloyd Carpenter
Chapter 5 Mad Men and Women: Construction and Management of Advertising Executives in Popular Culture Anne Peirson-Smith
Chapter 6 The Big Earn: A Study of Criminal Business Enterprises in Popular Culture Carolyn Beasley
Chapter 7 Brand IKEA in a Global Cultural Economy: A Case Study Susie Khamis
Chapter 8 The ‘Good’ Corporation: The Uneasy Relationship Between Reputation and Responsibility Robert Crocker
Chapter 9 Acceleration in Consumerism, Technology and Sustainability Robert Crocker
Notes on Contributors
Introduction
Consumer Culture: An Introduction
Gjoko Muratovski
Introduction
Whether we like it or not, we live in a world that is driven by consumer economics. While people often tend to see economics as something that falls only within the domain of big business and governments, many fail to notice how consumer economics influences every facet of our lives. Our culture, attitudes and behavioural characteristics are, in one way or another, defined by the way we consume.
Consumer culture theory (CCT) is a field of study that has been particularly focused on developing new theoretical knowledge on all issues related to consumption and marketplace behaviours. One of the key figures in this field, Eric Arnould, describes consumer culture as ‘[…] the central construct, conceived as a social arrangement in which the relations between lived culture and social resources, between meaningful ways of life and the symbolic and material resources on which they depend, are mediated through markets’ (Arnould, 2006: 605). This type of research addresses the sociocultural, experiential, symbolic and ideological aspects of consumption, and is inspired by an emerging theory that addresses the complex dynamics between consumer identity projects, marketplace structures, marketplace ideologies, emergent socio-historic patterning of consumption and popular culture (Arnould, 2006: 605).
CCT research presents a continual reminder that consumption is a historically shaped mode of sociocultural practice that can be found within dynamic marketplaces. This type of research, as Arnould and Thomson (2005: 875–876) argue, also highlights the notion that the ‘real world’ that we often take for granted is neither unified, monolithic, nor transparently rational. In doing so, CCT research shows that our lives are constructed around multiple ‘realities’ linked to fantasies, invocative desires, aesthetics and identity play, and that we use consumption to experience things that differ dramatically from our everyday lives (Arnould and Thomson, 2005: 876). What is more, this way of looking at consumption is even changing the way economics is being taught at universities. For example, academics increasingly use various popular culture references in their teaching in an attempt to help students understand a range of business concepts that drive our economy (Suddath, 2013; Williams, 2013).
In this book, Consumer Culture: Selected Essays , I introduce you to nine studies that examine various aspects of consumer culture. All of these studies are markedly different to each other in terms of the topics they examine and in the way that the authors have approached the issues that are being examined. Rather than trying to define a set of limitations of how CCT should be studied and presented, I have chosen to celebrate the difference that exists within this field. Anything else would have been a futile task, as this is a rich and diverse field that defies strict methodological conventions (for a review of the field of CCT, see Askegaard and Scott, 2013).
None of the chapters try to define what CCT is, as that is not the focus of this book. Rather, Consumer Culture: Selected Essays will contribute to this field by providing a range of studies on how economics and business cultures define the very fabric of our society by influencing the ways we live our lives. By approaching these issues from new and previously unexplored perspectives, the authors in this book have examined a myriad of ways in which business affects society. The book presents the works of seven authors, including myself: Gjoko Muratovski, Kathleen Connellan, Lloyd Carpenter, Anne Peirson-Smith, Carolyn Beasley, Susie Khamis and Robert Crocker.
Summary of Contents
In ‘Icons of Popular Culture: Religious Dimensions of Branding’, I examine branding not as a marketing concept, but as a belief system that is integral to popular culture. In this study, I have explored how five iconic brands – Apple, Coca-Cola, McDonalds, Disney, Harley-Davidson and Nike – have assumed religious dimensions. By adopting elements of religious propaganda, these brands have replaced a consumer culture driven by wants and needs with one of desire and worship. In doing so, the brands have created alluring narratives that have transcended the material values of their products. In return, they have managed to surround themselves not with consumers, but with loyal followers. This process of cultural transformation has triggered the emergence of what has now been referred to as ‘consumer religion’.
In ‘Business, National Identities and International Politics: The Role of Built Environments and Architectural Propaganda in Nation Branding’, I have looked at how ‘new’ nations exhibit consumerist ideologies in order to establish themselves and achieve their national and international objectives. Countries (like corporations) have their own images and reputations. This perception has often been used as a foundation of a new form of brand building – nation branding. However, this study holds the position that regardless of some similarities, there is a fundamental difference in the branding of products, corporations and places – in this case, cities and nations. Then again, unlike their commercial counterparts, nation brands are not only driven by economic benefits but also by cultural and sociopolitical reasons. Through a historical overview and selected case studies – United Arab Emirates, Turkmenistan and Macedonia – the study blends issues of corporate branding and national identities, and examines the role of built environments and iconic architecture in developing nation brands.
In ‘Race, Advertisements and YouTube: Identity and Nationality’, Kathleen Connellan looks at racial stereotyping in advertising on YouTube. According to Connellan, while racial and ethnic signifiers operate across several commercial platforms in popular culture, advertising on YouTube offers a media space that is fluid and accessible. The reading of Internet advertising in this study reveals that it is intricately related to the subject and power. Consequently, this study looks at the devices utilised to position the subject in advertisements on YouTube through the Foucauldian lens of power relations. Connellan uses critical race methodology to discover how racial signifiers operate in YouTube advertisements. The approach is therefore a theoretical one that engages with the phenomenon of YouTube and looks at the discursive nature of its messages and narratives, which, in the selected examples, are intrinsically embedded in capitalist aspirations of progress and economic status. Examples are drawn from South Africa and Australia to examine representations of identity in post-apartheid, multicultural and migrant societies.
In ‘The Use of Gold Rush Nostalgia on Wine Labels: Brief History of New Zealand’s Central Otago Wine Region’, Lloyd Carpenter reflects on the Central Otago gold rush theme on wine labels from the wine-making region of New Zealand. Before it became known for its wines, Central Otago was transformed by gold. While gold miners sought riches, some early pioneers experimented with grape cultivation. When the gold was gone, wine was forgotten and the area developed farming and tourism, but in the early 1980s it transformed again. Vintners realised that classic ‘terroir’ conditions of Burgundy, Champagne and Bavaria were emulated in Central Otago’s dusty countryside. In the mid-2000s, faced with a plethora of high-quality wines, some winemakers looked to the history of the region in order to differentiate themselves. This chapter examines how and why the Central Otago ‘goldfields’ vineyards exploit nostalgia to market their wine by creating a romantic, mythic past.
In ‘ Mad Men and Women: Construction and Management of Advertising Executives in Popular Culture’, Anne Peirson-Smith examines how creative industry executives are constructed in the hugely popular television series Mad Men . Peirson-Smith studies the mediated constructions of fictional exe