Chapter 14

Culture
Chapter Objectives
When you finish this chapter, you should
understand why:
1. A culture is a societys personality; it
shapes our identities as individuals.
2. Myths are stories that express a cultures
values, and in modern times marketing
messages convey these values.
Chapter Objectives (continued)
3. Many of our consumption activities
including holiday observances, grooming,
and gift giving are rituals.
4. We describe products as either sacred or
profane, and its not unusual for some
products to move back and forth between
the two categories.
Chapter Objectives
5. Styles act as a mirror to reflect underlying
cultural conditions.
6. We distinguish between high and low
culture.
7. Many modern marketers are reality
engineers.
Chapter Objectives (continued)
8. New products, services, and ideas
spread through a population. Different
types of people are more or less likely to
adopt them.
9. Many people and organizations play a
role in the fashion system that creates
and communicates symbolic meaning to
consumers.
10.Fashions follow cycles.
Learning Objective 1
A culture is a societys personality; it
shapes our identities as individuals.

What is Culture?
Culture is the accumulation of shared
meanings, rituals, norms, and traditions
Culture is a societys personality
Understanding Culture
Products can reflect underlying cultural
processes of a particular period:
The TV dinner for the United States
Cosmetics made of natural materials
without animal testing
Pastel carrying cases for condoms
Functional Areas in a Cultural System
Ecology
Social structure
Ideology
For Reflection
If your culture were a person, how would
you describe its personality traits?
Now, select another culture youre familiar
with. How would those personality traits
differ from your own?
Learning Objective 2
Myths are stories that express a cultures
values, and in modern times marketing
messages convey these values.

Myths
Myths are stories with symbolic elements
that represent the shared emotions/ideals
of a culture
Story characteristics
Conflict between opposing forces
Outcome is moral guide for people
Myth reduces anxiety by providing
guidelines
Functions of Myths
Metaphysical
Cosmological
Sociological
Psychological
Help explain origins of existence
Emphasize that all components of the
universe are part of a single picture
Maintain social order by authorizing a
social code to be followed by members of a
culture
Provide models for personal conduct
Myths Abound in Modern Popular Culture
Myths are often found in comic books,
movies, holidays, and commercials
Monomyths: a myth that is common to
many cultures (e.g., Spiderman and
Superman)
Many movies/commercials present
characters and plot structures that follow
mythic patterns

For Reflection
Identify modern day myths that
corporations create.
How do they communicate these stories to
consumers?
Learning Objective 3
Many of our consumption activities
including holiday observances, grooming,
and gift giving are rituals.

Rituals
Rituals are sets of multiple, symbolic
behaviors that occur in a fixed sequence
and that tend to be repeated periodically
Many consumer activities are ritualistic
Trips to Starbucks
Sunday brunch
Common Rituals types
Grooming
Gift-giving
Holiday
Rites of passage

Grooming Rituals
Transition from private to public self
Transition from work self to leisure self
Natural state to social world

Gift-Giving Rituals
Consumers procure the perfect object,
meticulously remove the price tag,
carefully wrap it, then deliver it to recipient
Gift giving is a form of:
Economic exchange
Symbolic exchange
Social expression
Every culture prescribes certain occasions
and ceremonies for giving gifts
Stages of the Gift-Giving Ritual
Gestation: giver is motivated by an event to
procure a gift
Structural event: prescribed by culture (e.g.,
Christmas)
Emergent event: more personal
Presentation: process of gift exchange when
recipient responds to gift and donor evaluates
response
Reformulation: giver and receiver adjust the
bond between them
Holiday Rituals
Holidays are based on a myth with a character
at center of story
Christmas
St. Patricks Day
Marketers find ways to encourage gift giving
Secretaries Day and Grandparents Day
Retailers elevate minor holidays to major ones
to provide merchandising opportunities
Cinco de Mayo
Rites of Passage
Rites of passage: special times marked by
a change in social status

Separation
Liminality
Aggregation
Rituals and Brands
Fortress brands are those that have become
embedded in our ceremonies
Consider these rituals:
Getting ready for bed
Checking e-mail
Shaving
Putting on makeup
Do you use the same brands every time you
perform the ritual?
Types of Ritual Experience
For Reflection
Explain some of your own family holiday
traditions. How do they affect your
behavior as consumers?
Learning Objective 4
We describe products as either sacred or
profane, and its not unusual for some
products to move back and forth between
the two categories.

Sacred and Profane Consumption
Sacred consumption:
involves objects and
events that are set apart
from normal activities that
are treated with respect or
awe
Profane consumption:
involves consumer objects
and events that are
ordinary and not special
Sacralization
Sacralization occurs when ordinary
objects, events, and even people take on
sacred meaning
Objectification occurs when we attribute
sacred qualities to mundane items,
through processes like contamination
Collecting is the systematic acquisition of
a particular object or set of objects
Domains of Sacred Consumption
Sacred places: religious/mystical and
country heritage, such as Stonehenge,
Mecca, Ground Zero in New York City
Sacred people: celebrities, royalty
Sacred events: athletic events, religious
ceremonies
Sacred Souvenir Icons
Local products (e.g., regional wine)
Pictorial images (e.g., postcards, photos)
Piece of the rock (e.g., seashells)
Literal representations (e.g., mini icons)
Markers (e.g., logo-oriented t-shirts)
Desacralization
Desacralization: when a sacred
item/symbol is removed from its special
place or is duplicated in mass quantities
(becomes profane)

Religion has somewhat become
desacralized
Christmas and Ramadan as secular,
materialistic occasions
For Reflection
Give examples of items that were once
sacred but are now materialized and
marketed. What are the implications in the
shift in reverence to the items in question?
Learning Objective 5
Styles act as a mirror to reflect underlying
cultural conditions.

The Movement of Meaning
Culture Production Process
Culture Production System
A culture production system is the set of
individuals and organizations that create
and market a cultural product
It has three major subsystems
Creative
Managerial
Communications
Cultural Gatekeepers
Cultural gatekeepers are responsible for
filtering the overflow of information and
materials intended for customers
Tastemakers
Throughput sector

For Reflection
How have cultural values influenced the
items that you feel have value?
Learning Objective 6
We distinguish between high and low
culture.

Where Does Culture Come From?
Influence of inner-city teens
Hip-hop/black urban culture
Outsider heroes, anti-oppression
messages, and alienation of blacks
Flavor on the streets
High Culture and Popular Culture
An art product is an object we admire for
its beauty and our emotional response
A craft product is admired because of the
beauty with which it forms a function
Mass culture creates products for a mass
market
Cultural Formulae in Public Art Forms
Learning Objective 7
Many modern marketers are reality
engineers.

Product Placement
and Branded Entertainment
Insertion of specific products and use of
brand names in movie/TV scripts.
Directors incorporate branded props for
realism.
Is product placement a positive or
negative when it comes to consumer
decision-making?
Advergaming
Advergaming refers to online games merged with
interactive advertisements
Advertisers gain many benefits with advergames
Plinking is the act of embedding a product in a video
Learning Objective 8
New products, services, and ideas spread
through a population. Different types of
people are more or less likely to adopt
them.
The Diffusion of Innovations
Innovation: any product that consumers
perceive to be new
New manufacturing technique
New product variation
New way to deliver product
New way to package product
Diffusion of innovation
Successful innovations spread through
the population at various rates
Types of Adopters
Behavioral Demands of Innovations
Continuous innovation
Evolutionary rather than revolutionary
Dynamically continuous innovation
More pronounced change to existing
product
Discontinuous innovation
Creates major changes in the way we
live
Prerequisites for Successful Adoption
Compatibility
Trialability
Complexity
Observability
Innovation should be compatible with
consumers lifestyles
People are more likely to adopt an innovation if
they can experiment with it prior to purchase
A product that is easy to understand will be
chosen over competitors
Innovations that are easily observable are more
likely to spread
Relative
Advantage
Product should offer relative advantage over
other alternatives
Learning Objective 9
Many people and organizations play a role
in the fashion system that creates and
communicates symbolic meaning to
consumers.

The Fashion System
The fashion system includes all those
people and organizations involved in
creating symbolic meanings and
transferring these meanings to cultural
goods
Fashion is code
Fashion is context-dependent
Fashion is undercoded
Behavioral Science Perspectives
and Models of Fashion
Psychological
Economic
Sociological
Medical
Motives and
Psychological Models of Fashion
Conformity
Desire for variety seeking
Need to express personal
creativity
Sexual attraction
Normal Fashion Life Cycle
Learning Objective 10
Fashions follow cycles.
Fashion Life Cycle Example
Introduction stage: small number of music
innovators hear a song
Acceptance stage: song enjoys increased
visibility
Regression stage: song reaches stage of
social saturation as it becomes overplayed
Comparison of Acceptance
of Fads, Fashions, and Classics
How Might We Know if a Trend is a Fad?
Does it fit with basic lifestyle changes?
Are there benefits?
Can we personalize it?
Is it a trend or a side effect?
Is it a carryover effect?
Who adopted the change?
Behavior of Fads
Cultural Differences and Marketing
People around the world develop their own
unique preferences
Marketers must be aware of a cultures
norms and manage the relationship
between brand and culture strategically
Think Globally, Act Locally
Adopt a standardized strategy
Adopt a localized strategy
Consumers and Global Brands
Emerging Consumer Cultures
in Transitional Economies
Creolization occurs when foreign
influences integrate with local meanings
Peruvian boys carry rocks painted like
radios
Chivas Regal wrappers on drums in
highland Papua New Guinea
Japanese use Western words for anything
new and exciting
I feel Coke and sound special
For Reflection
What is and what should be the role of
fashion in our society? How important is it
for people to be in style? What are the
pros and cons of keeping up with the latest
fashions?
Chapter Summary
A culture is a societys personality.
Myths are stories that express a cultures
values.
Many of our consumption activities include
rituals associated with holidays, grooming,
rites of passage, and other events.

Chapter Summary
Products may be sacred or profane and
some may shift between the two
categories.
Styles are like a mirror that reflect culture.
We can distinguish between high and low
forms of culture.
Marketers are also reality engineers.

Chapter Summary
New products spread through the
population. Certain characteristics make it
more likely that they will be adopted.
The fashion system creates and
communicates symbolic meaning for
consumers.
Fashion follows cycles.