CHAPTER 14: CULTURE

23 consumer fairy tales

. They tell stories that include magical agents, donors, and helpers to overcome villains and obstacles as they seek out goods and services in their quest for happy endings.

32 The tossing of the garter:

At one time the bride and groom were expected to conclude the marriage ceremony and retire immediately to a nearby room to "close the deal." To make the consummation official, witnesses would crowd around the nuptial bed and hope to grab a lucky piece of the bride's gown as it was ripped from her body. Over time, modesty prevailed and the guests had to settle for a symbolic piece of her undergarments.

60 Trialability—

Because we think an unknown product is risky, we're more likely to adopt an innovation if we can experiment with it before making a commitment.

31 The best man:

His original job was to stand next to the couple to be sure the bride wasn't kidnapped during the ceremony. He was chosen because he was "best" with his sword. Similarly, bridesmaids were instructed to dress similarly to the bride to confuse potential kidnappers and evil spirits; somehow this custom evolved to the design of hideous gowns that make the bride look better by comparison!

63 Relative advantage—

Most importantly, the product should offer ________ over other alternatives. The consumer must believe that it will provide a benefit other products cannot offer.

24 Gone with the Wind—

Myths often take place in times of upheaval such as wars. In this story, the North (which represents technology and democracy) battles the South (which represents nature and aristocracy).

33 Throwing rice:

Rice is a symbol of fertility; this action is supposed to encourage the newlyweds to get busy and start producing offspring. More recently many couples have replaced rice with butterflies or other items because of the false rumor that birds who eat the rice will die when it expands in their stomachs.

55 Technology Acceptance Model (TAM).

The TAM suggests that the likelihood of change is based on two factors: The perceived usefulness of the new option and its perceived ease of use.

59 Compatibility—

The innovation should be compatible with consumers' lifestyles. A manufacturer of personal care products tried unsuccessfully several years ago to introduce a cream hair remover for men as a substitute for razors and shaving cream.

4 Ideology—

The mental characteristics of a people and the way they relate to their environment and social groups.

26 Star Trek—

The multiple television series and movies, prequels, and sequels that document the adventures of the starship Enterprise also link to myths, such as the story of the New England Puritans who explore and conquer a new continent ("the final frontier").

61 Complexity—

The product should be low in complexity. All things being equal, we will choose a product that's easier to understand and use rather than a more complex one. This strategy requires less effort from us and it also lowers our perceived risk.

2 Ecology

The way a system adapts to its habitat. The technology a culture uses to obtain and distribute resources shapes its ecology. The Japanese, for example, greatly value products that make efficient use of space because of the cramped conditions in their urban centers.

18 Cosmological—

They emphasize that all components of the universe are part of a single picture.

19 Sociological—

They maintain social order because they authorize a social code for members of a culture to follow.

20 Psychological—

They provide models for personal conduct.

50 desacralization.

This occurs when we remove a sacred item or symbol from its special place or duplicate it in mass quantities so that it loses its "specialness" and becomes profane.

30 Giving away the bride:

Years ago it was common for fathers to use daughters as currency to pay off a debt or to appease a member of a more powerful tribe. The bride wore a veil so that the payee would not refuse her as payment in case she turned out to be less attractive than he desired.

11 _____________ is an object we admire strictly for its beauty or because it inspires an emotional reaction in us (perhaps bliss, or perhaps disgust).

art product

15 conditioned superstition;

consumers who don't feel they have control over their outcomes come to associate a product that is paired with a reward with the outcome itself (see Chapter 4)

47 One way that this process occurs is via ________ whereby objects we associate with sacred events or people become sacred in their own right. This explains many fans' desire for items that belonged to (or were even touched by) famous people.

contamination

5 It's common for mainstream culture to modify symbols from "cutting-edge" subcultures for a larger audience to consume. As this occurs, these cultural products undergo a process of_____________________in which outsiders transform their original meanings

cooptation

12 ____________ because of the beauty with which it performs some function (e.g., a ceramic ashtray or hand-carved fishing lures).13 A craft tends to follow a formula that permits rapid production.

craft product

58 discontinuous innovation

creates really big changes in the way we live. Major inventions, such as the airplane, the car, the computer, and the television, radically changed modern lifestyles.

10 Many judges or "tastemakers" have a say in the products we consider. These _________________filter the overflow of information as it travels down the "funnel." Gatekeepers include movie, restaurant, and car reviewers; interior designers; disc jockeys; retail buyers; magazine editors; and increasingly a fan base that obsessively follows and shares the latest gossip, styles, TV and film plots, and other pieces of popular culture.

cultural gatekeepers

34 A study the BBDO Worldwide advertising agency conducted illustrates the close relationship between brands and rituals.46 It labels items that we use to perform our rituals __________ because once they become embedded in our ceremonies—whether we use them to brush our teeth, drink a beer, or shave—we're unlikely to replace them.

fortress brands

37 The gift-giving ritual proceeds in three distinct stages

gestation presentation reformulation

35 Whether you brush your hair 100 strokes a day or give yourself a pep talk in the mirror before a big date, virtually all of us practice private ______________. These ceremonies help us to transition from our private self to our public self.

grooming rituals

49 We distinguish this from ______________ which reflects a reluctance to discard used objects.80 ___________ is a problem in some cities where residents' refusal to properly dispose of old newspapers, food, or even deceased pets results in fires, eviction, and even the removal of children from the home.

hoarding,

44 Profane consumption

in contrast, describes objects and events that are ordinary or everyday; they don't share the "specialness" of sacred ones. Again, note that in this context we don't equate the word profane with obscenity, although the two meanings do share some similarities.

14 cultural formula

in which familiar roles and props occur consistently.20 For example, we expect characters in a classic western to ride horses to get around, while in a science fiction movie they use spaceships; hard-boiled detectives drive a beat-up car and characters in a family sitcom ride in a minivan

56 continuous innovation

is a modification of an existing product, such as when General Mills introduces a Honey Nut version of Cheerios or Levi's promotes shrink-to-fit jeans.

27 ritual

is a set of multiple, symbolic behaviors that occurs in a fixed sequence and is repeated periodically.37 Bizarre tribal ceremonies, perhaps involving animal or human sacrifice, may come to mind when you think of rituals.

57 dynamically continuous innovation

is a significant change to an existing product. When IBM introduced its Selectric typewriter that used a typing ball rather than individual keys, the new design permitted secretaries to instantly change the typeface of manuscripts as they replaced one Selectric ball with another.

1 Culture

is a society's personality. It includes both abstract ideas, such as values and ethics, and material objects and services, such as the automobiles, clothing, food, art, and sports a society produces.

16 myth

is a story with symbolic elements that represents a culture's ideals. The story often focuses on some kind of conflict between two opposing forces, and its outcome serves as a moral guide for listeners.

52 innovation

is any product or service that consumers perceive to be new. It may take the form of an activity (skateboarding), a clothing style (Thom Browne T-shirts), a new manufacturing technique (the ability to design your own running shoe at nike.com),etc .

6 culture production system (CPS)

is the set of individuals and organizations that create and market a cultural product.9 The structure of a CPS determines the types of products it creates.

53 roughly one-sixth of the population (innovators and early adopters) are quick to adopt new products, and one-sixth (________) are slow. The other two-thirds, so-called ________ are somewhere in the middle.

laggards and late adopters

45 Sacralization

occurs when ordinary objects, events, and even people take on sacred meaning. Many consumers regard events such as the Super Bowl and people such as Elvis Presley as sacred. I

43 Sacred consumption

occurs when we "set apart" objects and events from normal activities and treat them with respect or awe. Note that in this context the term sacred does not necessarily carry a religious meaning, although we do tend to think of religious artifacts and ceremonies as "sacred."

46 Objectification

occurs when we attribute sacred qualities to mundane items (such as smelly socks).

39 presentation

or the process of gift exchange. The recipient responds to the gift (either appropriately or not), and the donor evaluates this response.

51 Diffusion of innovations

refers to the process whereby a new product, service, or idea spreads through a population.

48 Collecting

refers to the systematic acquisition of a particular object or set of objects.

25 E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial—E.T.

represents a familiar myth involving messianic visitation. The gentle creature from another world visits Earth and performs miracles (e.g., he revives a dying flower).

22 mediating figure

resolves the conflict between mythical opposing forces; this links the opposites as it shares characteristics of each.

42 rites of passage,

rituals we perform to mark a change in social status. Every society, both primitive and modern, sets aside times for these changes.

54 Early adopters

share many of the same characteristics as innovators. An important difference is their high degree of concern for social acceptance, especially with regard to expressive products such as clothing and cosmetics. Generally speaking, an early adopter is receptive to new styles because he or she is involved in the product category and he or she values being in fashion.

40 reformulation stage,

the giver and receiver redefine the bond between them (either looser or tighter) to reflect their new relationship after the exchange.

38 gestation

the giver procures an item to mark some event.

28 ritual artifacts

to consumers. These are items we need to perform rituals, such as wedding rice, birthday candles, diplomas, specialized foods and beverages (e.g., wedding cakes, ceremonial wine, or even hot dogs at the ball park), trophies and plaques, band uniforms, greeting cards, and retirement watches.

7 A creative subsystem

to generate new symbols and products

9 A communications subsystem

to give meaning to the new product and provide it with a symbolic set of attributes

29 ritual script

to identify the artifacts we need, the sequence in which we should use them, and who uses them. Examples include graduation programs, fraternity manuals and etiquette books.

8 A managerial subsystem

to select, make tangible, produce, and manage the distribution of new symbols and products

36 gift-giving ritual,

we procure the perfect object, meticulously remove the price tag, carefully wrap the object (where we symbolically change the item from a commodity to a unique good), and deliver it to the recipient.

13 street art

where artists create paintings, murals, and other pieces in public places

41 reciprocity norm,

which obliges people to return the gesture of a gift with one of equal value.

21 binary opposition

which represents two opposing ends of some dimension (e.g., good versus evil, nature versus technology).

62 Observability

—Innovations that are readily apparent are more likely to spread because we can learn about them more easily. The rapid proliferation of fanny packs (pouches people wear around the waist in lieu of wallets or purses) was a result of their high visibility.

3 Social structure

—The way people maintain an orderly social life. This includes the domestic and political groups that dominate the culture (e.g., the nuclear family versus the extended family; representative government versus dictatorship).

17 Metaphysical

—They help to explain the origins of existence.