Author : Arthur Asa Berger
Publisher : Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Page : 197 pages
File Size : 49,87 MB
Release : 2021-06-22
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 1527571394
Using concepts from semiotics, psychoanalytic theory, sociology, and Marxism, this book analyzes the role of luxury in American consumer culture. It offers case studies that deal with how our love of luxury affects our choices of automobiles, homes, restaurants, cruises, department stores, and hotels. It also adopts a global perspective and features analyses of luxury in China, Iran, Germany, Monaco, Russia, and Turkey by scholars from those countries.
Author : Arthur Asa Berger
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Page : 154 pages
File Size : 26,6 MB
Release : 2004-11-26
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 1461666228
Are Americans obsessed with shopping? Shop 'til You Drop is a lively look at our consumer culture and its role in our everyday lives and society. Is the United States different from other first-world nations in the amount of time we spend shopping or in our attitudes toward consumption? Are we one unified consumer culture or are several cultures operating and battling against one another? Arthur Asa Berger uncovers the answers to these and other questions, considering the sacred roots of consumer culture, the demographics of consumption, theories about competing cultures, and the semiotics of shopping. Accessibly written and entertaining, Shop 'til You Drop is ideal for courses in cultural studies, advertising, and American studies, as well as for anyone curious about our nation's drive to consume.
Author : Elizabeth M. Liew Siew Chin
Publisher : U of Minnesota Press
Page : 284 pages
File Size : 12,89 MB
Release : 2001
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780816635115
What does it mean to be young, poor, and black in our consumer culture? Are black children "brand-crazed consumer addicts" willing to kill each other over a pair of the latest Nike Air Jordans or Barbie backpack? In this first in-depth account of the consumer lives of poor and working-class black children, Elizabeth Chin enters the world of children living in hardship in order to understand the ways they learn to manage living poor in a wealthy society. To move beyond the stereotypical images of black children obsessed with status symbols, Chin spent two years interviewing poor children in New Haven, Connecticut, about where and how they spend their money. An alternate image of the children emerges, one that puts practicality ahead of status in their purchasing decisions. On a twenty-dollar shopping spree with Chin, one boy has to choose between a walkie-talkie set and an X-Men figure. In one of the most painful moments of her research, Chin watches as Davy struggles with his decision. He finally takes the walkie-talkie set, a toy that might be shared with his younger brother. Through personal anecdotes and compelling stories ranging from topics such as Christmas and birthday gifts, shopping malls, Toys-R-Us, neighborhood convenience shops, school lunches, ethnically correct toys, and school supplies, Chin critically examines consumption as a medium through which social inequalities -- most notably of race, class, and gender -- are formed, experienced, imposed, and resisted. Along the way she acknowledges the profound constraints under which the poor and working class must struggle in their daily lives.
Author : Regina Lee Blaszczyk
Publisher : Wiley-Blackwell
Page : 388 pages
File Size : 39,75 MB
Release : 2009
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN :
This startlingly original and highly readable volume adds a new richness and depth to an element of U.S. history that is all too often taken for granted. In American Consumer Society, Regina Lee Blaszczyk examines the emergence of consumerism in the Victorian era, and, in tracing its evolution over the next 140 years, shows how the emergence of a mass market was followed by its fragmentation. Niche marketing focused on successive waves of new consumers as each made its presence known: Irish immigrants, urban African Americans, teenagers, computer geeks, and soccer moms, to name but a few. Blaszczyk demonstrates that middle-class consumerism is an intrinsic part of American identity, but exactly how consumerism reflected that identity changed over time. Initially driven to imitate those who had already achieved success, Americans eventually began to use their purchases to express themselves. This led to a fundamental change in American culture—one in which the American reverence for things was replaced by a passion for experiences. New Millennium families no longer treasured exquisite china or dress in fine clothes, but they’ll spare no expense on being able to make phone calls, retrieve emails, watch ESPN, or visit web sites at any place, any time. Victorian mothers just wouldn’t understand. Using materials and techniques from business history, art history, anthropology, sociology, material culture, and good story-telling, this lavishly illustrated and highly thoughtful narrative offers a compelling re-interpretation of American culture through the lens of consumerism, making it perfect for use not only as supplementary reading in the U.S. survey, but also for a variety of courses in Business, Culture, Economics, Marketing, and Fashion and Design history.
Author : Lawrence B. Glickman
Publisher : Cornell University Press
Page : 436 pages
File Size : 36,80 MB
Release : 1999
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780801484865
This volume offers the most comprehensive and incisive exploration of American consumer history to date, spanning the four centuries from the colonial era to the present.
Author : Tisiruk Potavanich
Publisher :
Page : pages
File Size : 43,60 MB
Release : 2016
Category :
ISBN :
Author : Arch G. Woodside
Publisher : Emerald Group Publishing
Page : 160 pages
File Size : 39,2 MB
Release : 2013-03-14
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 1781902119
Focuses on the study of how humans use high quality, highly pleasurable, and frequently rare products, services, and experiences to distinguish to themselves and others who they are as well as whom they are not - both within and across cultures.
Author : Roberta Sassatelli
Publisher : SAGE
Page : 254 pages
File Size : 50,74 MB
Release : 2007-05-17
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781412911818
'Roberta Sassatelli has written a thorough and wide-ranging synthetic account of social scientific research on consumption which will set the standard for the second generation of textbooks on cultures of consumption. Consumer Culture is an appealing and lucid introduction to the major themes - historical and contemporary, theoretical and empirical - surrounding the growth, nature and consequences of consumer culture. It will be of professional interest as well as serving a student audience' - Alan Warde, University of Manchester Showing the cultural and institutional processes that have brought the notion of the 'consumer' to life, this book guides the reader on a comprehensive journey through the history of how we have come to understand ourselves as consumers in a consumer society and reveals the profound ambiguities and ambivalences inherent within. While rooted in sociology, Sassatelli draws on the traditions of history, anthropology, geography and economics to give: - A history of the rise of consumer culture around the world; - A richly illustrated analysis of theory from neo-classical economics, to critical theory, to theories of practice and ritual de-commoditization; and - A compelling discussion of the politics underlying our consumption practices. An exemplary introduction to the history and theory of consumer culture, this book provides nuanced answers to some of the most central questions of our time.
Author : Natalie Althea Mitchell
Publisher :
Page : 344 pages
File Size : 10,12 MB
Release : 2014
Category :
ISBN :
The current research explores how luxury brand mentions impacts consumer culture. Specifically, the social, cultural, and economic implications of such mentions when integrated in reality television is investigated. Exploring this phenomenon is important as consumers are afforded several options to skip or avoid advertising when viewing television. Hence, consumers are now exposed to brand mentions that are integrated in media by advertisers who aim to combat the advertising avoidance. Generally, brand mentions are depicted in media as inexpensive, convenient products, such as household goods or food products. But with the emergence and popularity of reality television, consumers are now exposed to those brands, in addition to luxury brands. This is true as brand mentions financially support production costs for many reality television programs and also serve as aspirational props. Luxury brand mentions are worthy of study as they exude exclusivity and status and are traditionally targeted to a niche, elite market. As luxury brands are integrated in reality television, a broader, more diverse consumer audience is exposed to such mentions. This research is one of the first to specifically explore how luxury brand mentions appear in reality television. Using the consumer culture theory framework, two studies were conducted to understand the nuanced meanings of such mentions among consumers. Study One explored the integration of luxury brand mentions using a content assessment. Study Two used depth interviews to gauge consumer response to such mentions. Study One results indicate luxury brand mentions are highly prominent in affluent-lifestyle reality television shows. Five of the most frequently mentioned luxury brands represent the automobile, entertainment/technology, and hospitality product categories. Overall, the promotion of materialism, aspiration, and elitism were messages consumers were exposed to. Study One results were supported by findings in Study Two which revealed informants' race, class, and gender as strong influencers of their interpretations of luxury brand mentions.
Author : Gary S. Cross
Publisher : Columbia University Press
Page : 342 pages
File Size : 10,55 MB
Release : 2000
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780231113120
The victory of consumerism in America was not a foregone conclusion. The United States has traditionally been home to the most aggressive and thoughtful critics of consumption such as Puritanism and Prohibition. This work offers a history of how market forces came to dominate American life.
