9/13/2019

Consumer Behavior Section 1 Part 2

Theories of Consumers

1 2

Who is the Consumer? Range of Theories

• Rational thrifty consumer who thinks carefully before • Consumer culture as…
every purchase and tries to maximize value for money
• Impulsive spendthrift consumer who can’t resist a well- – Bringing more choices, freedom, and happiness
packaged temptation – Alienating, oppressing, and manipulating
• Crowd-following consumer who will follow dictates of
fashion, whatever it happens to be
• Individualistic consumer who will strive for uniqueness • A variety of ways to understand the consumer
and difference
• Timid consumer who needs constant reassurance and – Consumer as…
reinforcement • Chooser, Hedonist, Communicator, Identity Seeker,
• Adventurous consumer who longs for risk and Explorer, Victim, Rebel, Dissident, and Activist
excitement
• ...and many more…

3 4

Choice = Heart of Consumerism

• Core values:
– Choice is freedom: choice is good, the more the
Consumer as Chooser better
• Influence on social and political systems
– Choice is good for the economy: consumer
choices in free markets drive efficiency,
innovation, growth, and diversity

5 6

1
 9/13/2019

But…Limits of Choice Limits of Choice

• Choice without information not a real choice • Overabundance of choices lead to diminishing
– What sort of info, how much, what format, given by returns
whom?
– Imperfect markets – Fear of failing and worries about choosing “right”
option—leading to anxiety
• Choices conditioned by availability and
accessibility • Choice as smoke screen or deception
– Lack of “true” choices – If you choose it, it’s your responsibility (don’t
– Government incentives/policies complain if it goes wrong)
• Choice limited by resources • Choice seen as rational, but in fact driven by
– Disenfranchise poor from large areas of social life habit, instinct, or impulsive emotion
– Leads to relentless competition (rarely results in
greater happiness or well-being overall)

7 8

Limits of Choice Choice is…

• Every choice has consequences, including • Powerful
unintended ones – Taken for granted, until denied it
– 1st choice limits further choices, forces action, or • Like to believe we have choices, even if choose not to
create entrapment (costs of extrication appear too exercise them
– Want the right to vote, even if don’t actually vote
high)
– Inextricably linked with morality
• Choice is not always guarantee of freedom
• “Right” and “wrong” / “Good” and “bad”
– Choice can expose people to control, surveillance,
and other undermining of privacy/freedom

9 10

Choice is… Proliferation of Choice

• Permeation of “more choice the better” logic
• Desirable
– Giant supermarkets, Amazon, etc.
– We prefer choices because it gives illusion of
control • Costs
• Airline with single meal vs. choice of three meals – Enormity of choices and information overload
– Many prefer having choice, even if none is as good as the • Questionable validity and reliability of sources that are
single option supposed to guide your choice
– Control through “curated” choices and “nudges”
• Managing consumer while perpetuating illusion of
consumer sovereignty
– Monitoring
• Choices monitored and used to generate data sold at
high price

11 12

2
 9/13/2019

Discussion
• Discussion: Are consumer choices nudged and
manipulated?
• Discussion: How do sophisticated consumers Choice in Psychology
resist attempts at persuasion?

13 14

20th Century: Rise of Rhetoric of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Choice Realization of
Full Potential
• Applied psychologists: factors that determine Self
choices and ways such factors can be Actualization

controlled (morality, creativity, etc.)

– Motivation theory became key to constraining, Esteem

guiding, and controlling choice (lower: esteem from others; higher: self-respect)

• Key theorists: Maslow, Taylor, and Herzberg Love, Belonging

(friendship, intimacy, family, etc.)

Safety
(personal and financial security, health, safety net, etc.)

Physiological
(air, food, water, sleep, etc.)
Basic
Survival (A.H. Maslow, 1954) 16

15 16

Taylor’s
Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory
“Scientific” Management Theory
• Idea: Workers motivated mainly by pay • Disagreed about importance of financial reward
– Workers do not naturally enjoy work → need close – Focus: importance of non-financial factors
monitoring and control
– Industrial psychology to remove unpredictability of • Two Factors
human factor in production – Motivators
• Method • Factors that directly motivate people to work harder
– Responsibility at work, meaningful/fulfilling work, achievement &
– Work study: identify most efficient production recognition
methods
– Hygiene factors
– Identify: Spot most efficient workers and see why they
are good • Factors that de-motivate if not present, but do not actually
motivate to work harder
– Train: Train remaining workers to work like the best – Pay & other financial rewards, working conditions, appropriate
– Reward: pay based on productivity (e.g., piece rates) supervision and policies

17 18

3

Rise of Interest in Consumer Choice
• Study of behavior as study of control
– Applied to consumers→ help producers
understand how consumers discriminate between
products
• E.g., Whether wrapper on a loaf of bread can influence
consumer perception of freshness
– Consumers judged wrapped bread, whether 1 or 2 days old, as
equally ‘fresh’ as freshly baked bread (Brown, 1958)
– Core objective to control and manage both
consumers and producers (workers) using insights
from psychology
19
Psychoanalysis and Depth Psychology
• Another major tradition more alluring to
marketing applications
– Since 1950s, used to promote specific products by
connecting them to unconscious desires or by
presenting them as substitute gratification for
repressed or unexpressed wishes
• Wanting power and prestige → a product to make you
feel powerful and important
• Charge everyday products with powerful meanings
– Sexualization of everyday objects (fast cars, cigarettes,
lipsticks, etc.) was one of the outcomes
21
23
9/13/2019
Behaviorist Psychology
• Dominated in middle part of 20th century
– Ignore reasons people give for actions and focus
exclusively on behaviors
• Behavior as learnt conditioning, prompted by incentives and
punishments
• Decisions as conditioned by earlier experience, habits and
context
• Choice merely learned behavior, and act of discrimination
between stimuli
– Choice was almost an illusion→ consumer as target for
behavior modification
• (How to Train a Brain - Crash Course Psychology #11 video)
20
22
Rise of Brands
• Brands epitomize the enduring success of
marketing psychology in charging everyday
consumer products and experiences with
conscious and unconscious meanings
– Brands are a key part of how individuals define
themselves and relationships with others
• Can break down old barriers of class and rank
• Allows yourself to define yourself
24
4

Brands
• Unique personality associated with number of
qualities
– Tradition, success, beauty, economy, etc.
• Supported by variety of images, stories, characters,
slogans, and logos associated with brand
• Becoming more and more ubiquitous
– Individuals brand themselves (job search, Facebook)
– Organizations brand themselves to employees as much
as customers
– Employee looks and personality capable of enhancing or
contaminating a brand
• Managing brand just as important as managing employees and
customers
25
Brands and Choice
• Belief in consumer choice and the power of
brands to meet the consumer’s needs for
meaning and identity
– In an uncertain world, brands symbolize stability and
continuity
– In a highly standardized world, brands symbolize
individuality and uniqueness
– In a highly unequal world, brands symbolize
egalitarianism and democracy
• Ability to reconcile deep-seated contradictions in
contemporary consumerisms makes them powerful
27
Discussion
• How does advertising create false choice?
29
9/13/2019
Brands and Choice
• Brands objects of choice AND filters of choice
• Brands as identity OR deep mistrust
– “Non-branded” as brands (association with thrift
and savvy consumerism)
– MUJI 無印 (started as “no brand symbol”)
• Brands as security (stability) AND insecurity
(new temptations)
26
Information
• Information is precondition for meaningful
choice
– BUT! Information can create false choices or
guided choices concealing rather than showing full
range of options
28
Information and Advertising
• Old way of obtaining information relied on
experts and experiences of friends /relatives
– Demise of extended family→ loss of sources on
consumer experience and know-how in the home
• Advertisers as “experts” and “friends”
• (Listerine Antiseptic Mouthwash Commercial video)
30
5

Gaining Information
• Rise of Internet
– Options more numerous and more complex →
information overload
• More time spend on searching but less confidence that
made best choice
– Increase in “paradox of choice” / “tyranny of
choice”
• (THE PARADOX OF CHOICE BY BARRY SCHWARTZ _
ANIMATED BOOK REVIEW video)
31
Choice in Cultural Studies
• Psychology: Examine how consumers make
different choices and what obstacles and
resources they find along the way
• Cultural studies: Explore choice as part of
zeitgeist, spirit of times, and as defining
feature of contemporary culture, politics, and
society
33
Bauman’s Theory
• Choice as freedom…but unequally distributed
freedom
– Choice liberates some, but exacerbates the
oppression of others
• The very system that offers “a lot of choice and makes
him a truly ‘free’ individual, also generates on a
massive scale the experience of oppression” (Bauman,
1988)
• Poor as disenfranchised from choice
35
9/13/2019
Choice in Cultural Studies
32
Choice in Cultural Studies
• Key Insight: Even individual choices are
socially situated
– Constantly judge others’ choices and worry how
own choices will be judged by others
• Strongly influenced by postmodernist thinking
– Plurality of meanings, importance of language,
and social construction of reality
• Argument: Much modern consumption unfolds in realm
of seduction, where goods are not chosen for its uses
but as objects of fantasy
34
Gidden’s Theory
• Choice and individual’s struggle for identity
and selfhood
– Past: Fixed by social position, tradition, and habit
• Choice as demise of traditional society
– Today: Unending project of self-creation by
continuously making choices
• “We all not only follow lifestyles, but in an important
sense are forced to do so—we have no choice but to
choose” (Giddens 1991)
• Consumption as opportunity to create and display one’s
identity
36
6
 9/13/2019

Analyzing Tensions of Choice

• Choice as quest for difference vs. choice as
quest for similarity
– Seeking of individuality Choice in Economic Theory
– Tastes as social demarcation and “cultural capital”
• Choice as opening up choices vs. closing down
choices
– Power relations
– Hierarchies of privilege and exclusion

37 38

Consumer Sovereignty Consumer Sovereignty

• Sovereign definition (Merriam-Webster dictionary) • Conventional economic theory argues that
– One possessing or held to possess supreme society is consumer-driven where the
political power or sovereignty consumers are the ultimate determinate of
– One that exercises supreme authority within a their needs, wants, and desires
limited sphere
– An acknowledged leader: arbiter – Marketplaces should be designed to serve their
needs and satisfy their desires (which are freely
chosen by consumers themselves)
• Consumer as the supreme decider of what
goods and services are produced

39 40
http://study.com/academy/lesson/consumer-culture-theory-definition-quiz.html http://study.com/academy/lesson/consumer-culture-theory-definition-quiz.html

39 40

Consumer Sovereignty In the Past…

• The consumer is the “ultimate sovereign” of • Sumptuary laws
the economy because they determine what
goods and services will be produced – Laws that regulated who can consume what
– If no one buys→ Go out of business • Traditionally, they regulated and reinforced
social hierarchies and morals through
• Under this view, consumer culture is restrictions, often depending upon a person's
empowering and improves the overall well- social rank, on permitted clothing, food, and
being of the members of society luxury expenditures
– Self-interested actions as a positive force – Prevented commoners from imitating the
– Dollars as “votes” appearance of aristocrats
– Sometimes also to stigmatize disfavored groups
41 42
http://study.com/academy/lesson/consumer-culture-theory-definition-quiz.html

41 42

7
 9/13/2019

Sumptuary Laws of Early Tokugawa Japan

Vs. The “Sovereign Consumer”
• Farmers
– Ordinary farmers and their wives could wear • A new kind of individual and way of
only cotton or ramie thinking under consumerism
• Could not wear silk even if they raised, spun, and
dyed it themselves – Free of all obligations or restrictions
• Village heads or samurai farmers could wear silk
on special or festive occasions
• Wholly free to purchase what they please
– Purple, crimson, and plum colored dyes were http://www.ngv.vi c.gov.a u/essay/japanese-woodblock-prints-a-mass-medium/
• Can potentially purchase anything
prohibited – As long as they have the money
• Pale yellow, gray, dark blue, and persimmon
allowed
• Gain their main pleasure in life from consuming
– Combs and hair pins must be wood or whale
bone
• Tortoise shell and metal prohibited 43 44
https://historyofjapan.wordpress.com/tag/edo-period/

43 44

Discussion Limits to Consumer Sovereignty

• What are your thoughts on consumer • To be truly “sovereign,” consumers would
sovereignty – Have a wide range of options
– Advantages of consumer sovereignty – Unlimited amount of information
– Disadvantages of consumer sovereignty – Good education
– Sound understanding of own needs and wants
– Be immune to temptation

• Does this reflect reality?

45

45 46

“[U]nless the wants of consumers exist Choice in Economic Theory

independently of the products created by industrial
concerns it is not correct to speak of the market as
acting to adapt the given resources of the economy • Start with assumption of rational choice and
to meet the material requirements of society. In explores implications
fact, not only do producers determine the range of
market goods from which consumers must take – Basic tenant of modern economics is that people
their choice, they also seek continuously to on the whole act rationally in pursuit of self-
persuade consumers to choose what is being interests
produced today and to ‘unchoose’ that which was • Prefer to speak of “preferences” rather than “needs” or
being produced yesterday. Therefore to continue to “desires”
regard the market…as primarily a ‘want-satisfying’
mechanism is to close one’s eyes to the more • Preferences are formed independently of options
important fact, that it has become a want-creating available to them (exogenous to the economy)
mechanism” (Mishan, 1967)

47 48

8
 9/13/2019

Discussion Consumption as “Utility Maximization”

• Do you think of yourself as a rational • In economics, utility is a measure of
consumer? preferences over some set of goods and
• Does it depend on… services
– Product type – This concept is an important underpinning of
rational choice theory
– Intended use
– Timing of purchase

• Or do you “rationalize” what you bought?

49 50

49 50

Consumption as “Constrained
Optimization”
• Resources are finite, but wants are infinite
– Choices must be made between competing
alternatives
• Based on best available info, people choose
optimal course to maximize welfare
– After careful consideration of ALL options
– Under existing budget constraints
Criticism
• Classic theories assumes ideal world
– Individuals have perfect information
– Know exactly what needs are
– Act consistently and rationally
• Not a reflection of reality

51 52

Adjustment: Bounded Rationality People are NOT Rational

• Even “rational” actors will come to a decision
when they find an alternative deemed “good
enough” instead of endlessly seeking perfect
option
• BUT…
– (Bubbles and Tulip Mania videos)
• Prospect theory
– People’s judgment of risk are fundamentally and
systematically biased
• Exaggerated tendency to avoid risk where gains are
concerned
• Seek risk where potential losses are concerned
– Generally prefer certain outcomes over uncertain ones, even
when uncertain ones offer better rewards
• Purchase conditions
– Make different choices when buying “useful” thing vs.
goods that give “pleasure”

53 54

9

Are Preferences That Important?
• Other factors not reflected in models
– Budgets, availability, information, uncertainty
55
Galbraith’s Theory
• Choice as an “ideology” about how decisions
are made
– Fetishization of choice as highly convenient to
those in power (especially as markets become
increasingly oligopolistic)
• Serves dominant economic interests to uphold belief
that free marketplace allow sovereign consumers to
determine success and failure of products, services,
and companies
57
Current Trends
• Increasing critiques of choice as foundation of
economic activity → questioning of free markets
as guarantors of economic progress and
prosperity
– Bringing economic theory towards other disciplines
including social and cultural studies, psychology, and
politics
• Seek to reintroduce ethical dimension to
economic theory
– BUT continued dominance of neo-classical economics
in many government’s policy-making
59
9/13/2019
Galbraith’s Theory
• Institutional economist
– Challenge assumption that preference formation
is unrelated to actual goods and services
produced by an economy, especially in society
dominated by mass advertising
56
Fetishization of Choice
• Sustains rampant faith in free market as
guarantee of freedom, progress, and
democracy
• Degree of immunity to any choice (even
immoral or distasteful) if there is market for it
– Choose “best value for dollar” irrespective of
ethical, environmental, or political considerations
58
Conclusion
• Choice, where it is felt to exist, occurs within
limits
• There is a downside to consumer choice
• While there is debate on nature and extent of
choice, choice itself is assumed
60
10
 9/13/2019

Conclusion
• Glorification of consumer choice in post-WWII
created a blind spot in Western cultural values
Consumer as Hedonist,
– Focused on idea of choice resolutely on which
product or service we select and deliberately Communicator, and Identity Seeker
forgot about whether and how to consume

61 62

Consumption as Utility Maximization Hedonic Consumption

• In economics, utility is a measure of • Hedonism
preferences over some set of goods and – Doctrine that pleasure or happiness is the sole or
services chief good in life (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
– This concept is an important underpinning of • Vs. Utilitarianism (usefulness is what’s important)
rational choice theory • Hedonic Consumption
– It represents satisfaction experienced by the – Consumption to experience pleasure
consumer of a good • “[C]onsumer behavior that relate to the multisensory,
fantasy, and emotive aspects of one's experience with
products” (Hirschman & Holbrook 1982)

63 64

63 64

Fun window displays

Hedonic vs. Utilitarian

• Hedonic products
– Perceived as relatively more fun, enjoyable, and
pleasant
http://bjx.jp/797
http://www.fashionsnap.com/news/2014-11-02/hermes-shinjuku-yokoyama/gallery/ • Emotional/affective
• Utilitarian products
– Perceived as relatively more functional, necessary,
and effective
• Instrumental/cognitive

65 (Alba & Williams 2012) 66

http://blog.mannequinmadness.com/2012/12/five-popular-holiday-props-that-retailers-can-use-year-round-for-amazing-window-displays/ http://madodesign.jp/2011/05/2011_05_globalgreen/

65 66

11
 9/13/2019

Discussion Consumption as Pleasure

• Give some examples of hedonic and utilitarian • Consumer pleasure lies not so much in
products/brands physical sensation as in total emotional
experience
converse is a hedonic product – Pleasure lies in the meaning of this experience
• Pleasure of style over function, substance or use
– Object is idealized in same way as any object of
infatuation
• Objects assume qualities of art and lose functional and
material bearings

67

67 68

Underbelly of Pleasure Hedonic Consumption Is…

• The “market becomes the dominant institution • Person-driven (Alba & Williams 2012)
regulating relations among individuals, and tastes
reign supreme with little restraint from loyalty, – Products serve merely as a means to a pleasurable
morality, duty or love. Pleasure derived from end
material and symbolic manipulation of people – Consumer’s pleasures can be idiosyncratic
and objects entails a substantial amount of
aggression and the pursuit of this type of • Symbolic (mix with utilitarian motives)
pleasure may be ultimately futile. The consumer – Non-hedonic objectives of status-seeking or
becomes an addict capable of inflicting any identity-signaling hedonic products
amount of pain on others in order to obtain what
he or she believes will satisfy his or her desires.” • Value-expressive motives possess both hedonic and
utilitarian aspects (Chandon, Wansink, & Laurent, 2000)

(Alba & Williams 2012) 70

69 70

Conspicuous Consumption
Discussion
• Coined by Thorstein Veblen in “The Theory of
the Leisure Class” (1899) • What are some examples of conspicuous
consumption in your home country?
• Acquiring luxury goods and services to publicly
– Is it considered controversial to practice
display economic power
conspicuous consumption?
– Desire for prestige
– Public display of social status (real or perceived)
• Focus not on the intrinsic, practical utility of goods and
services themselves (rational man of economic theory)

vs.
71 72
http://www.amazon.co.jp/CASIO-MQ-24-7B2LLJF-Mens-Analog-Watch/dp/B000VOBQXK
http://www.prowatches.net/2015-rolex-presidential-luxury-watches/

71 72

12
 9/13/2019

Psychology of Conspicuous
Conspicuous Consumption
Consumption
• Key aspects • Impression management
– Visibility – Self-managing one’s public image
• Focus tends to be on exterior • Goal-directed conscious or subconscious process in
design and newness which people attempt to influence the perceptions of
– Exclusivity others by regulating and controlling information in
• Even better if it cannot be social interaction (Piwinger & Ebert 2001)
purchased just by having money
– Birkin bag’s “waiting list”: even
if you can afford $10,000 to
$80,000 (or higher), it is not
easy to buy them because they
are so limited in quantity

73 74
http://www.therichest.com/luxury/shoes-hand-bags/the-journey-to-own-an-hermes-birkin-bag/

73 74

Psychology of Conspicuous
Discussion
Consumption
• Self-presentation • When have you used self-presentation to
– Conveying information about oneself or image of 1. Match your own self-image
oneself to other people 2. Match audience expectations and preferences
• Two types: • Did you use a product to accomplish this?
1. To match your own self-image
2. To match audience expectations and preferences
• First impressions matter
• People judge each other based on looks (visual
displays)

75 76

75 76

Conspicuous Consumption
Counterpoint
Across Social Classes
• Previously, thought to be a socio-economic • Americans with a net worth of more than one
million dollars are likely to avoid conspicuous
behavior primarily practiced by the rich
consumption (Stanley & Danko 1996)
– Research has found that it is very common with – Millionaires tend to practice frugality instead
lower social classes and in emerging economies • E.g., Pay cash for high quality used cars instead of
• These groups use displays of wealth to psychologically paying for new car (with high depreciation) with a loan
combat the impression of poverty (cost of financing)
• “Prove” that they are not poor (as stereotypes would – However, the nouveau riche tend to practice
indicate) conspicuous consumption
• Those whose wealth has been acquired within their
own generation, rather than by familial inheritance

77 78

77 78

13
 9/13/2019

Homework
• Reading assignment
– The Atlantic article “Inconspicuous Consumption—A
new theory of the leisure class” (URL in Moodle)
– “Materialism, Conspicuous Consumption, and Consumer as Explorer
American Hip-Hop Subculture” in Journal of
International Consumer Marketing
– “The rise of inconspicuous consumption” in Journal of
Marketing Management
• Please use TIU library resources to access journal articles
• Writing Assignment
– Write 2 paragraphs about your thoughts on these
articles (no summary, just analysis and reflection)

79 80

79 80

Exploring and Shopping as One Boredom

• Bargain hunting • Boredom is fuel of contemporary
– Not just to “save money” but for the delight of consumerism
“the find” – Search for stimulation and excitement
• Quest for difference • But, boredom in familiar shopping and familiar
– Curiosity to know the unknown routines
– Discovering “new” lines, fashions, ideas, and fun – Constant offer of “new” experiences to keep them
• “New” pleasures, meanings, and even new identities interested (e.g., sales)

81 82

Victimhood
• Flipside of consumer sovereignty
– Potential for consumers to be exploited in a free
market
Consumer as Victim • Liable to e defrauded, manipulated, and short-changed
• Idea of victimhood plays central role in
debates about modern consumption
– Victimhood as exceptional
• Market can correct itself (by marketplace)
– WOM as empowering
– Victimhood as endemic
• Need for laws to protect consumers (by government)
83

83 84

14
 9/13/2019

Consumer as Victim Downsides of Consumer Culture

• (TED Talk: We're building a dystopia just to • Commitment to consumer culture can result
make people click on ads video) in:
– Envy, possessiveness, and non‐generosity (Belk
1985)
• Materialism can have alienating dehumanizing
effects (Horkheimer & Adorno 1998/1944)

86

85 86

Alienation Discussion
• A sociological concept • Why would consumer culture be alienating?
– “a condition in social relationships reflected by a – Think about consumerist ideals, practices, values,
low degree of integration or common values and a etc.
high degree of distance or isolation between
individuals, or between an individual and a group
of people in a community or work environment”
(Ankony 1999)
• Leads to feelings of powerlessness, meaninglessness,
normlessness, etc.

87 88

87 88

The Rat Race Homework Discussion

• Where you can never get ahead… • (Decadence - Meaninglessness of modern life -
Episode 1 – Money video)

• Watch documentary and write 3 paragraphs (2

summary and 1 reflection) on your thoughts

89 90
http://abreathofsimplicity.com/5-simple-steps-to-combat-consumerism/

89 90

15
 9/13/2019

Critiques of Consumerism Critiques of Advertising

• Capitalism requires constant consumption • Advertising is manipulative
– Forces individuals to be consumers – “False” needs and false promises
– Constant feelings of insecurity
• (Dove radio ad)

DISCUSSION: Can you imagine yourself as NOT

being a consumer?

91 92

91 92

TV as family time

93 94
https://www.etsy.com/listing/160227833/1956-chevrolet-vintage-car-ad-1950s

93 94

95 96

16
 9/13/2019

Discussion Critiques of Advertising

• What are some contemporary examples of
false needs, false promises and insecurities in
advertisement?
• Advertising is manipulative
– No object has an intrinsic or “natural” meaning
• Society defines meaning
– Consumer goods also have no intrinsic meaning
• Meanings attached by advertising agencies
– Champagne = Celebration
– Cigarettes = Cool / Rebel
• Advertising agencies attempt to
– Fix meanings and guide consumer’s thinking
– Try to influence the subconscious

98

97 98

But…
• Do these critiques assume that individuals are
wholly open to manipulation?
– Are consumers unthinking and uncritical?

• DISCUSSION: How have you countered the

effects of advertising?

99

99 100

Critical Consumers
• Use consumption for their own purposes
– Difficult to control (especially with the Internet) Consumer as Rebel, Dissidents,
• New meaning-making going on in public spaces that
reach multitudes and Activist

101

101 102

17
 9/13/2019

Opposition to Mass Consumerism Rebel

• Individual or collective • Using commodities to indicate rejection of
• Rational, emotional or ethical motives status quo
– Counterculture demonstrating opposition to
mainstream by adopting particular styles of
consuming and totemic objects
• Music, cars, clothes

103 104

Dissidents Punk Culture Re-appropriated

• Initiate alternative responses to the mass
consumption system
– These responses typically re-appropriated into the
market system as differentiated, niche products
– Mainstreaming can create a watered down
alternative acceptable to consumer culture that is
neutered of its power to create real change

105 106
Arnould in Encyclopedia of International Marketing

105 106

Anti-Consumeristic Movements
Resistance toward Consumerism
Re-appropriated
• Religious
– Criticizing consumption as a “false religion”
• Markets replacing religion as norm enforcers
– Normalization of self-centered fulfillment
– Lack of morality
• Incites many of the “seven deadly sins”
– Greed, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony

107 108

107 108

18
 9/13/2019

Pope Francis’ Critiques of Resistance toward Consumerism

Consumerism • Nationalist
– Threat to national sovereignty
“The culture of prosperity deadens us; we are • Reliance on foreign markets (food security, etc.)
thrilled if the market offers us something new to – Threat to preservation of national culture
purchase; and in the meantime all those lives • Authenticity and ownership of cultural
stunted for lack of opportunity seem a mere products http://mediaagency.la/media/

spectacle; they fail to move us.” – E.g., Protectionist policies issued on Feta
cheese (only true Feta if it is Greek-made)
“In this system, which tends to devour everything – “Cultural imperialism” (post-colonialism)
which stands in the way of increased profits, • Consumerism = Westernization
whatever is fragile, like the environment, is – Cultural imports “invade” and “conquer” local
culture backed by multi-billion $ advertising
defenseless before the interests of a deified industry that implant “false” needs and desires
market, which become the only rule.” – Dislike of countries (past wars, etc.)
• Japanese brands in China
http://gawker.com/here-are-11-top-screw-capitalism-lines-in-pope-franci-1471888334 109 110
http://www.asahi.com/photonews/gallery/130214_100years/09.html

109 110

Resistance toward Consumerism Slow Food Movement

• Anti‐corporate critiques • International movement started in Italy in 1986
– Lack of trust in big business – As an alternative to fast food
• Rich and powerful multi-nationals • Eating slowly and appreciating food as culture
– Tax avoidance and power over https://www.peaceproject.com/subjects/Anti-Corporate

– Preserving traditional local, regional, and national

governments
cuisine and agriculture
– Anti-globalization movement
• Loss of domestic jobs – Encourages farming of plants, seeds and livestock
characteristic of the local ecosystem
– Consumer movements
• Goals of sustainable foods and promotion of local small
• Organic food, slow food, local food businesses are paralleled by a political agenda directed
movements against globalization of agricultural products
• Fair trade movements
111 112
http://www.kwsnet.com/business-corporate-accountability.html

111 112

Slow Food Movement Slow Food Objectives

• Founder and President Carlo • Grassroots organizations to:
Petrini, believes “everyone has the – Preserve at-risk heritage foods that are sustainably
right to good, clean and fair food” produced and part of a distinct ecoregion
– Good: high quality product with a • Seed banks for heirloom varieties
flavorful taste • Organize small-scale processing for local food systems
– Educate consumers on risks of fast food, commercial
– Clean: naturalness in the way the
agribusiness, factory farms, and monoculture
product was produced and
– Develop political programs to preserve family farms
transported
• Lobby for organic farming and against genetic engineering
– Fair: adequate pricing and treatment and pesticides
for both consumers and producers – Teach gardening skills to students and prisoners
– Encourage ethical buying in local marketplaces
113 114

113 114

19
 9/13/2019

Resistance toward Consumerism Consumer Acts of Resistance

• Environmentalist • Consumer boycotts
– Unlimited • Alternative consumption
consumption of – Ethical consumption (“buycott”)
earth’s limited
resources • Voluntary simplicity
• Mass production
and mass disposal
– Pollution, climate
change, and other https://trashfashiondiscoveringnewways.wordpress.com/2012/11/14/consumerism/

issues

115

115 116

Homework Discussion Voluntary Simplicity

• Read: Shaw, D., & Newholm, T. (2002). • Definition
Voluntary simplicity and the ethics of – “the generic term for a variously motivated
consumption. Psychology & Marketing, 19(2), contemporary phenomenon: the forgoing of
maximum consumption and, possibly, income”
167-185. (Shaw & Newholm 2002)
• Write: 3 paragraphs (2 summary, 1 reflection) • Diverse motivations
– Self-centered to altruistic considerations
• “Downshifting” as response to perception of hurried
and unsatisfactory lifestyle of contemporary society
• “Ethical simplifiers” as response to ethical concerns

117 118

Voluntary Simplicity As Lifestyle Choice

http://www.thecapsuleproject.co/blog/minimal-wardrobe-basics

• Though desiring independence from consumer culture, • Minimalism

may find themselves dependent on the marketplace
– “In most cases participants were able to address their
– Capsule wardrobes
concerns regarding consumer culture through a balancing – “Freedom” from
of self-sufficiency, reduced and modified consumption clutter
practices. They bundled consumption practices such as
positive choice (e.g. fairtrade, organic), non-consumption, • (Minimalism: A
reduction, re-usage and modification of consumption, and Documentary About
went even further by growing some of their own produce. the Important Things
(Official Trailer) video)
They actively engaged in some boycotts (e.g. eschewing
supermarkets), and were very critical of excess
consumption and marketing promotions.” (Shaw, 2009)

119 120

20
 9/13/2019

As Lifestyle Choice As Lifestyle Choice

• Zero Waste Living
Tiny House
Movement

https://www.countryliving.com/home-design/g1887/tiny-house/?slide=19 http://trashisfortossers.com/zero-waste-alternatives-ultimate-lis/ https://www.goingzerowaste.com/blog/2015/12/17/trash-update-cost-of-convenience

121 122

Case Study: Patagonia "The environmental cost of everything we make is

astonishing. Consider the R2 Jacket shown, one of our
best sellers. To make it required 135 liters of water,
• (How a clothing company’s anti-consumerist enough to meet the daily needs (three glasses a day) of
45 people. Its journey from its origin as 60% recycled
message boosted business video) polyester to our Reno warehouse generated nearly 20
pounds of carbon dioxide, 24 times the weight of the
• Don’t Buy Ad (next slide) finished product. This jacket left behind, on its way to
Reno, two-thirds its weight in waste.
• 3 Rs "And this is a 60% recycled polyester jacket, knit and
sewn to a high standard; it is exceptionally durable, so
– Reduce, Reuse, Recycle you won't have to replace it as often. And when it comes
to the end of its useful life we'll take it back to recycle
into a product of equal value. But, as is true of all the
things we can make and you can buy, this jacket comes
with an environmental cost higher than its price."
"There is much to be done and plenty for us all to do.
Don't buy what you don't need. Think twice before you
buy anything. Go to patagonia.com/CommonThreads,
take the Common Threads Initiative pledge and join us in
the fifth R, to reimagine a world where we take only
what nature can replace."

123 124

Discussion
• What do you think of Patagonia’s anti-
consumerist message?

125

21