...Introduction * Introduce the argument that consumption reflects and shapes our lifestyle and identity. * Why do we consume? * Introduce key points such as Theorists, The big four and how they restrict shopping choices and why, How some people consume in a certain way to protect the environment, inequalities some people can consume whilst others can’t because of money, disabilities etc. Transportation. Main Body * Introduce theorists 1. Baumen-Seduced and repressed 2. Veblen-Leisure class 3. Susman-Society is shaped * How the big four shape our shopping choices. * The ways in which some people consume, what effect consumption has on the environment. * Inequalities. Conclusion * Talk about the links between the concepts the theorists have and how they are evidence to the point that consumption shapes and reflects our lifestyle an identity. * Talk about the big four and the conclusions drawn TMA02 Outline the claim that consumption reflects and shapes our lifestyle and identity. Contemporary UK society today has moved from an industrial society that revolved around work to a society that now focuses on purchasing and having certain possessions, a ‘consumer society.’ There are many reasons why people consume such as to fulfil the desire to live a certain lifestyle or to reflect their hobbies and interests. The claim that Consumption reflects and shapes our lifestyle and identity can be backed by many forms of evidence. First...
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...Understanding Consumption in Context Why am I obsessed with the consumption of toiletries and personal grooming products? It was September ‘08 when I first came to the UK. I remember walking down the high street. I had to buy basic care, so someone suggested that I go to the Boots store. It wasn’t that easy because when I entered the store I was surprised to see the huge collection of healthcare and grooming products. I was extremely excited. Just like a kid in a candy store I went around the store more than twice. There was something in all the sections that seemed like as if were made especially for me. Eventually, I ended up purchasing a lot more than I wanted in the first place. This was just a beginning, now that I know, to what has become my obsession to use these grooming and healthcare products. Shopping for healthcare and grooming products in India is a completely different experience to what it is in the United Kingdom. There are not any dedicated stores for healthcare products such as Boots, Super Drug. The differences in such consumption patterns can be better understood through the concept of Sociohistoric Patterning of Consumption, which suggests that the institutional and social structures systematically influence consumption, such as class, community, ethnicity, and gender. I had never seen, until then, a store with such collection of healthcare products. It was a totally new experience for me. Maybe it was also...
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...Postmodernism is one of the three theories that offer an explanation to the changes from traditional society to the society we live in today. It has been influential in many areas, including Sociology. They argue that we are now living in an unstable, fragmented, media-saturated global village, where image and reality are indistinguishable. For postmodernists, this new kind of society requires a new kind of theory – modernist theories no longer apply. Many sociologists argue that we are now increasingly affected by globalisation which have been brought about through technological, economic, political and cultural changes. Postmodernists argue that there are no true foundations to knowledge which is known as ‘anti-foundationalism’. This view has two consequences. Firstly, although the Enlightenment project of achieving progress is true, the absence of scientific knowledge restricts them from guaranteeing their knowledge is correct, therefore they cannot use it to improve society. Sociologists would disagree and argue that knowledge can be used to solve human problems. The second consequence of their anti-foundationalism view is that postmodernists take a relativist position and reject all-embracing theories such as Marxism, and refers to them as meta-narratives that claim absolute truth. They believe that it is just someone’s version of reality, not the truth. Therefore there is no reason to accept the claims that the theory makes. Postmodernist Baudrillard argues that society...
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...and passed down through generations. Culture defines and differentiates humans from each other. Understanding different cultures from an unbiased view is cultural relativism. That is taking an emic viewpoint into people’s beliefs or practices. Over the course of this paper, I will examine one aspect of my own culture from an etic perspective, and I will examine an aspect of another culture from an insider’s perspective in order to better understand it more. Specifically, I will be examining the American economic culture, contrasted with the introduction of television to rural Fijian villages to show how the economy has almost consumed the culture in America, and that it may not be heathy to be engulfed in a culture that focuses on consumption and driven by the economy. Part I In this section, I will be discussing the state of the economy in America from an etic perspective. Meaning I will take “an outsider's or observer's allegedly ‘objective’ account” (Crapo, 2013, p. 1.1). This will allow me to examine the American economy objectively; even though I will able to pull from my own experiences and knowledge. In the article Body Ritual among the Nacerima by Horace Miner the Nacerima culture is examined from an outsider’s perspective. Miner observes the significance the Nacerima put on their bodies and how that has shaped their routines and practices. These cultural practices have shaped a prospering society; but is much different than what I know from my personal cultural...
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...The discourse of advertising 1. What is advertising? Advertising is ubiquitous – it is the air we breathe as we live our daily lives (Jhally, 1995: 79). Advertising is a prevalent phenomenon nowadays that has gained the attention and interest of a large number of individuals in different societies around the world. People are exposed to the advertising process wherever they are. Advertising is not only an ‘ideal tool’ for reaching people economically, but it is a device of attaining and maintaining contact with persons socially, culturally, politically and even psychologically. Therefore, advertising is neither an innocent way of selling products nor the primary factor which changes society’s attitudes and behaviour so as to fulfil its ends and economic purposes. According to Harris and Seldon (1962: 40 apud Vestergaard & Schroder, 1985: 2), advertising is defined as a public notice “designed to spread information with a view to promoting the sales of marketable goods and services”. From this perspective, advertising exists “to help to sell things” (White, 2000: 5), which is limited to giving utilitarian information about the product with the objective of informing the consumer about the necessity and the importance of the commodity advertised. Besides, according to Nicosia (1974 apud Sheehan, 2004: 2-3), to advertise means “to give notice, to inform, to notify or to make known”. He goes on and suggests that a successful advertisement should include...
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...‘Society has now entered a new postmodern age and we need new theories to understand to understand it.’ Assess this view. Sociologists all agree there is something called Modernity and Post Modernity-where they differ is which one they think society currently is. Theories such as feminism, Marxism, and functionalism are structural and believe society influences the individual. Whilst theories like post modernism and interactionism are non-structural and believe that the individual influences society. There are major changes that have occurred in society recently such as: the growing impact of new technology and the media, and new social and political movements (based on gender, environmental concerns and so on). What is being questioned is the nature, cause and effect of these changes which have different theories for explanation. The first argument is that the changes are so profound they represent a major shift from the modern century of the last two centuries, to a new post modern society. The second argument is that recent changes have been significant but they are still a part of modern society- just an intensification of the existing features of a modern society. The second argument is seemingly more valid, especially in terms of science and trying to prove post modernism. For post modernism argues that nothing can be proved to be true and take on a relativism method also supporting interpretivism. if this is the case the theory itself cannot be proven to be true hence...
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...of how consumerism is rapidly changing how life is lived. In order to fully understand how consumerism impacts the environment there needs to be a careful understanding of what makes humans consume at such high rates, what role businesses play in catering to the wants and needs of consumers, and most importantly how the environment responds to all of these new demands. It is important to understand what consumerism is and how it affects life. The Oxford English Dictionary defines consumerism as, “the preoccupation of society with the acquisition of consumer goods”. In his book The Ecology of Commerce, Hawken states, ”every American consumes about 36 pounds of resources a week, while 2,000 pounds of waste are discarded to support that consumption”(45). It is highly unlikely that people are consciously aware that the resources they consume in a week, creates the waste that is equal to the weight of an elephant. The average person is just trying to survive and live as comfortable a life as possible and are not concerned with what is going to go on years from now. Although humans share this planet with literally thousands of other species, it is solely the human race that is...
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...3. What do you think are the major social problems faced by nations in the present era of globalization? When historians write of the world’s recent history, they are likely to reflect on two trends: the advance of globalization and the spread of democracy. Globalization has been the more contentious, because it has effects both good and bad, and democracy has opened space for people to protest the bad effects. So, controversies rage over the environmental, economic and social consequences of globalization. But there is another domain of globalization, that of culture and identity, which is just as controversial and even more divisive because it engages ordinary people, not just economists, government officials and political activists. Globalization has increased contacts between people and their values, ideas and ways of life in unprecedented ways. People are travelling more frequently and more widely. Television now reaches families in the deepest rural areas of China. From Brazilian music in Tokyo to African films in Bangkok, to Shakespeare in Croatia, to books on the history of the Arab world in Moscow, to the CNN world news in Amman, people revel in the diversity of the age of globalization. American coffeehouse chain Starbucks has begun selling its espresso and food items to ever-increasing number of countries and this way spreading American food habits. It is the first time in human history that virtually every individual at every level of society consciously or unconsciously...
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...Science http://ann.sagepub.com/ Capital, Consumption, Communication, and Citizenship: The Social Positioning of Taste and Civic Culture in the United States Lewis Friedland, Dhavan V. Shah, Nam-Jin Lee, Mark A. Rademacher, Lucy Atkinson and Thomas Hove The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 2007 611: 31 DOI: 10.1177/0002716206298694 The online version of this article can be found at: http://ann.sagepub.com/content/611/1/31 Published by: http://www.sagepublications.com On behalf of: American Academy of Political and Social Science Additional services and information for The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science can be found at: Email Alerts: http://ann.sagepub.com/cgi/alerts Subscriptions: http://ann.sagepub.com/subscriptions Reprints: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.nav Permissions: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav Citations: http://ann.sagepub.com/content/611/1/31.refs.html >> Version of Record - Apr 30, 2007 What is This? Downloaded from ann.sagepub.com at NATIONAL UNIV SINGAPORE on October 14, 2011 Capital, Consumption, Communication, and Citizenship: The Social Positioning of Taste and Civic Culture in the United States By LEWIS FRIEDLAND, DHAVAN V. SHAH, NAM-JIN LEE, MARK A. RADEMACHER, LUCY ATKINSON, and THOMAS HOVE In this article, the authors analyze the field of cultural consumption in the United States. Using the 2000 DDB Lifestyle Study, they examine a cross-section of...
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...[pic] |Course Design Guide College of Humanities SOC/105 Version 5 Introduction to Popular American Culture | |Copyright © 2011, 2010, 2006, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2000, 1999 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved. Course Description This is an introductory course on modern American culture. The course focuses on the interactions between social forces such as advertising, media, and lifestyle and cultural trends in modern American society. Students are asked to cast a critical eye on current trends and changes in our culture. Policies Faculty and students/learners will be held responsible for understanding and adhering to all policies contained within the following two documents: • University policies: You must be logged into the student website to view this document. • Instructor policies: This document is posted in the Course Materials forum. University policies are subject to change. Be sure to read the policies at the beginning of each class. Policies may be slightly different depending on the modality in which you attend class. If you have recently changed modalities, read the policies governing your current class modality. Course Materials Petracca, M., & Sorapure, M. (2007). Common culture: Reading and writing about American popular culture (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. All electronic materials are available on the student website. |Week One: Overview of Culture ...
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...Chapter 1 - Geography Matters: Definitions: * Human geography the study of the spatial organization of human activity and of people’s relationships with their environments * Cartography: the body of practical and theoretical knowledge about making distinctive visual representations of Earth’s surface in the form of maps * Map projection: a systematic rendering on a flat surface of the geographic coordinates of the features found on Earth’s surface * Ethnocentrism: the attitude that a persona’s own race and culture are superior to those of others * Imperialism: the extension of the power of a nation through direct/indirect control of the economic and political life of other territories * Masculinism: the assumption that the world is and should be shaped mainly by men for men * environmental determinism: a doctrine holding that human activities are controlled by the environment * globalization: the increasing interconnectedness of different parts of the world through common processes of economic, environmental political and cultural change * ecumene: the total habitable area of a country. Sine it depends on the prevailing technology, the available ecumene varies over time. Canada’s ecumene is so much less than its total area. * Geodemographic research: investigation using census data and commercial data (i.e. sales data and property records) about populations of small districts to create profiles of those populations for market research ...
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...How Far Is Religion a Conservative Force? (33 marks). In the views of functionalism, neo-functionalism, feminism, and Marxism, religion is a conservative force that prevents social change from happening and maintains the current status quo. Yet neo-Marxism and Weber contrast this view by saying religion is used as a force for social change, while post-modernism argues we have the ability to ‘pick and mix’ our religion with the growth of new-age religions. This is all then contrasted by fundamentalism, which looks to bring about social change to take society back to biblical traditions and values. Before we try and figure out if religion is a conservative force or not, we should first define the difference between substantive and functional definitions in sociology: substantive definitions are more concerned with looking at what makes religion distinctive, while functional definitions look at how it is that religion contributes to society as a whole. Starting with functionalism, this is supported by Durkheim, Malinowski and Parsons, this views religion as a conservative force. Durkheim split all items into two different categories: the sacred and the profane. The sacred items were ‘special, unworldly and forbidden’, while all other ‘normal’ objects were just profane, such as a chair. Specifically, Durkheim focused his research on the Aborigines. He found that their Totems were sacred (a Totem was a carved animal), and they were often carved from bull roar wood, the most sacred...
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...Consumer Behavior Assignment 1 Activity | Community | Observations | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | * Marketing Manipulation : Market manipulation describes a deliberate attempt to interfere with the free and fair operation of the market and create artificial, false or misleading appearances with respect to the price of, or market for, a security, commodity or currency.[1] Market manipulation is prohibited in the United States under Section 9(a)(2)[2] of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and in Australia under Section s 1041A of the Corporations Act 2001. The Act defines market manipulation as transactions which create an artificial price or maintain an artificial price for a tradeable security. * Hobby -> product * Perception = view, opinion, taste, feeling, sound(hearing), touching, smell -> Sensory Stimulation Smell – Nose Touch – Skin See – eyes Sound – ears Tastes – Mouth * Expose to products -> attention -> Interpretation * Associating with sensory stimuli * Percepting * 1. Sensory Marketing Sample of perfumes [ Smell ] Music (in Zara – club music) [ Sound ] * Subliminal Messaging : Subliminal stimuli (pronounced /sʌbˈlɪmɨnəl/, literally "below threshold"), contrary to supraliminal stimuli or "above threshold", are any sensory stimuli below an individual's absolute threshold for conscious perception. Visual stimuli may be quickly flashed before an individual...
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...USA Abstract Purpose – The choice of which country or countries to enter is a critical decision and needs to be made with considerable care and deliberation. Initial market entry decisions have typically focused on country evaluations based on macro-economic data. While appropriate in providing an initial screening of countries, other factors, notably contextual factors, can provide important insights in assessing international market opportunities. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of context at four distinct levels. Design/methodology/approach – The literature on the influence of context on consumption and purchase behavior is reviewed to provide a framework to understand contextual factors as a means to refine entry strategy and develop effective segmentation strategies. Findings – A wide range of contextual factors exert influence on consumption choices and contribute to within-country heterogeneity. These are typically examined at the macro-level, but also need to be examined at the meso-level, micro-level and situational level to fully assess market opportunities and establish viable market segments. Practical implications – Examination of contextual factors provides a richer and deeper understanding of which international markets to enter and which segments to target. Within-country cultural diversity, dramatic economic and regional disparities and marked differences in the infrastructure need to be assessed. In particular, examination of contextual factors...
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...explores The Body Shop’s application of these elements to its business. The case study is contextualised by The Body Shop’s retail environment forming a particularly important communication channel for the company. Findings – The Body Shop has in many ways been the victim of its own success. Being a unique proposition, and having effectively created its own retail category, it has appeared slow to evolve its brand identity. The strong association between the company and its campaigning founder, increasing competition and changing consumer attitudes, have been significant factors in the company’s struggle to re-align and update its brand. Research limitations/implications – The case study largely draws on secondary sources. However, it is informed by one of the authors’ experience and knowledge of The Body Shop’s design process, which has previously remained unpublished. Practical implications – The problems of planning and managing store design as a communications channel are highlighted. In particular, it demonstrates the difficulties in aligning a retailer’s visual identity with its brand and market. Originality/value – The case study examines the under-researched relationship between retail branding and design, and contributes to knowledge of the...
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