Consumer Behavior - Chapter 14
What is the difference between a fad, a fashion, and a classic fashion life cycle?
A fad is a very short-lived fashion. Relatively few people adopt the product, but it can spread very quickly through a specific group. A classic fashion has an extremely long acceptance cycle. Stable, low risk to purchaser.
A myth is a special kind of story. What makes it special? What is an example of a modern myth?
A myth has symbolic elements that represents a culture's ideals. Its outcome serves as a moral guide for listeners and provides consumers with guidelines. ex: Little Red Riding Hood
What is a ritual? Describe three kinds of rituals and provide an example of each.
A set of multiple, symbolic behaviors that occurs in a fixed sequence and is repeated periodically. Grooming (brush your hair 10 times a day), Gift-Giving (symbolic gift of a rose), Holiday (Christmas), Rites of Passage (marriage)
What is culture? list three dimensions that social scientists use to describe a culture and give an example of each.
A society's personality, including abstract ideas (values and ethics) and material objects and services. The accumulation of shared meanings. Ecology (Japanese value products that make efficient use of space), Social Structure (the nuclear family vs. the extended family), Ideology (mixed-sex swimming in public)
Describe the difference between arts and crafts.
An art product is an object we admire strictly for its beauty or because it inspires an emotional reaction in us. We admire craft products because of the beauty with which it performs some function.
What is an example of a meme?
An idea or product that enters the consciousness of people over time; tunes, catch-phrases, or styles
How is a collection sacred? What is the difference between collecting and hoarding?
By sacralization, when ordinary objects, events, and even people take on sacred meaning. Collecting is the systematic acquisition of a particular object or set of objects, and it involves both rational and emotional components. Hoarding is merely unsystematic collecting.
What are the differences among fashion, a fashion, and in fashion?
Fashion is the process of social diffusion by which some group(s) of consumers adopts a new style. A fashion is a particular combo of attributes. To be in fashion means that some reference group positively evaluates this combo.
Define a cultural gatekeeper, and give three examples.
Filter the overflow of info as it travels down the "funnel"; taste makers that have a say in the products we consider. ex: Oprah, food critics, interior designers, retail buyers, bloggers
List the three stages of a rite of passage ritual.
Gestation - giver procures an item Presentation - the process of gift exchange Reformulation - the giver and receiver redefine the bond between them to reflect their relationship after the exchange
Give an example of a marketer that uses the principle of binary opposition.
I Can't Believe It's Not Butter (defines products by what it's not)
Who are innovators? Early adopters? Laggards?
Innovators are always looking to try something new and find novel products. Early adopters have a high concern for social acceptance, but are receptive to new styles. Laggards are very slow to adopt new products.
What is the trickle-down effect? List some reasons why this theory is no longer as valid as it used to be.
One of the most influential sociological perspectives on fashion; states that two conflicting forces drive fashion change. 1) subordinate groups adopt the status symbols of the upper class as they try to climb the social ladder 2) people in superordinate groups keep an eye on the ladder below to make sure followers don't imitate them and they adopt new fashions to distance themselves from the lower class. styles trickle down from upper classes to those below
Summarize some of the major approaches we can use to understand fashion from the perspectives of psychologists, economists, and sociologists.
Psychological model: conformity, desires for variety seeking, need to express creativity, sexual attraction Economic model: supply and demand; limited supply has high value, desire decreases for readily available products Sociological model: subculture's adoption of a fashion and its subsequent diffusion into society as a whole
What is the difference between sacred and profane consumption? Provide on example of each.
Sacred consumption occurs when we set apart objects and events from normal activities and treat them with respect or awe (valentine's day). Profane consumption describes objects and events that are ordinary or everyday; they don't share the "specialness" of sacred ones (trip to the grocery store).
Describe a culture production system and list its three components.
The set of individuals and organizations that create and market a cultural product. It has a creative subsystem to generate new symbol/products, a managerial subsystem to select, make tangible, produce, and manage the distribution, and a communications subsystem to give meaning to the new product. ex: music release 1) Katie Perry 2)Capitol Records 3) Ten Minute Media
What is collective selection? Give an example.
When we select certain alternatives over others, our choice actually is only the culmination of a complex filtration process that resembles a funnel. Many possibilities initially compete, most of them drop out of the mix as they make their way down the path from conception to consumption. ex: styles begin as risky statements
What is a cultural formula. Give an example of each.
Where familiar roles and props occur consistently; mass-market products aim to please the average taste of an undifferentiated audience, so they follow a well-defined pattern. We expect people to use horses to get around in old western movies.
