September 22nd

1
September 22nd

• Attendance and participation cards
• Hand in CCA Research topic
• Questions about CCA?
• Lecture Four Consumer Culture
• Film Overspent American
• Exercise Consumer culture thru Ads
• Homework
• Introduction to Sociology Chapter 5
• Outline for essay 1

2
Lecture Four

• American Culture Consumer Culture

3
What is Culture?

• Culture is the lens through which we see the
  world
• Gives shape and meaning to our daily lives
• Culture is a social process we create and
  recreate culture
• Culture is shared, learned, taken for granted,
  symbolic, and it varies across time and place

4
Material and Non-material Culture

• Material Culture (or material goods)
• The material objects we create are usually the
  first indicators of cultural differences
• Non-material culture
• Beliefs the truth of it all
• Values the right and wrong
• Norms the rules
• Rituals practice and reaffirmation
• Language the heart of it all

5
US Dominant Culture Consumer Culture

• The dominant culture in American society today is
  the consumer culture
• A consumer culture in one in which we define
  ourselves and our value in society in terms of
  goods we purchase
• Consumer culture both unifies us and
  differentiates us from one another

6
The Ritual of Shopping

• In a consumer society consumption is a process by
  which we reflect our values, beliefs, and norms.
• Shopping today has become a cultural ritual that
  reinforces our beliefs and values

7
Overspent American
8
Overspent American

• In the book Overspent American sociologist Juliet
  Schor found that in a consumer culture where
  our social value is determined by the goods we
  consume we are participating in consumption
  competition
• We work more to make more money to be able to
  spend more money on stuff
• And increasingly we go into debt to buy more stuff

9
Consumption Competition

• Consumption Competition the process by which we
  consume goods to demonstrate our status to others
• Schor says in consumption competition we focus on
  visible goods and primarily what she calls the
  Big Three
• The house we live in
• The car we drive
• The clothes we wear

10
Symbols of Consumer Culture

• Brands act as symbols of social status in
  consumption competition
• If you look around you on any given day you can
  see how ubiquitous brands have become in our
  society they are on everything and everywhere
• Research has shown that brands are powerful
  reflectors of latent functions

11
Our Consumption, Our Values

• If we are consuming goods today to gain and
  reflect social status in society today, what
  values beliefs are reflected in our consumption
  of material culture?

12
Socialized into a Consumer Culture

• Socialization the lifelong process of social
  interaction through which individuals acquire
  self identity and the social skills needed for
  survival in society
• Socialization is central to society, without
  learning the culture of a society we could not
  get along in that society
• However, when we act based on our cultural ideas,
  values, and beliefs we recreate that society

13
Mass Media and Socialization

• There are many agents of socialization in our
  society today family, school, peer groups but
  one of the most powerful socializing agents today
  is the mass media and, more specifically,
  advertising
• We live in an advertising environment
• Ads occupy a vast cultural space in our lives and
  are present in virtually all social contexts from
  the labels visible on our clothes to the ads on
  TV

14
Role of Mass Media

• Mass Media plays a central role in the consumer
  culture
• Increases the symbolic value of Brands through
  advertising that associates latent functions with
  brands
• Stretches our reference groups, whereby we feel
  we are competing with the people on TV (TV shows
  like MTV Cribs is a good example) and not just
  our neighbors
• How much influence does mass media have?
• Adults see an average of 2000 advertisements a
  day
• Children see an average of 40,000 commercials a
  year
• We use 6.5 hours of mass media a day

15
Conspicuous Consumption

• According to the sociologist Thorstein Veblen in
  his book The Theory of the Leisure Class
  conspicuous consumption isa heightening or
  reaffirmation of social status.
• In other words, the choices regarding the goods
  we consume are related to how those goods will
  heighten our status in society
• Products that are visible to others are the ones
  that we tend to buy with latent functions in mind

16
The Functions of Consumption

• In a consumer society consumption has both
  manifest and latent functions
• A manifest function is an intended or expressed
  outcome
• The manifest function of goods is the intended
  purpose
• A latent function is an unintended or unexpressed
  outcome
• The latent function of goods is the one that
  gains meaning only in the social context and
  social interaction

17
Advertisements and Socialization

• The goal of advertising is to sell products and
  one of the ways advertising does this is to
  associate latent functions with the products
  advertised
• Often ads tell us we lack something the is
  socially valued, but we can have it we buy the
  product advertised

18
Lets look at some products and think about the
manifest and latent functions
19
Cadillac Escalade SUV

• What are the Manifest and Latent Functions?

20
Cadillac Escalade SUV

• Manifest Function
• A car is a product that helps you get from point
  A to point B
• An SUV fits a larger of people and carries a
  large amount of stuff
• Latent Function
• We spend a lot of time in our cars in American
  society and this car demonstrates to others that
  you can afford to buy an expensive car

21
Chanel Lipstick

• What are the Manifest and Latent Functions?

22
Chanel lipstick

• Manifest Function
• To enhance a womans appearance
• Latent Function
• Lipstick is the most visible makeup product
  because women take it out in public to reapply
  throughout the day
• Chanel brand is a symbol of wealth
• The formula for womens lipsticks are almost
  identical whether it is 0.99 label or a 25
  Chanel lipstick. Studies have show that women
  will spend less on beauty products they only use
  at home and more on the name brand beauty
  products that are socially visible

23
Apple iPod

• What are the Manifest and Latent Functions?

24
Apple iPod

• Manifest Function
• Listen to music, watch videos, etc.
• Latent Function
• The design of the iPod is unique white ear
  buds, slim design, colorful
• iPods have a cool factor about them new, up
  to date technology
• iPods are much more expensive that other MP3
  players

25
Your Ads

• For each ad you picked, answer the following
  questions
• What is the manifest function of the product
  advertised?
• What is the latent function associated with the
  product in the ad?
• What reference group is the ad appealing to?
• Do you think the ad focuses more on the latent or
  manifest function?

26
Consumer Society
27
Are We Prisoners of Socialization?

• Socialization is powerful, but we have a self
• We are unique individuals and we are actively
  involved in the construction our own identities
• We can examine and find common cultural message
  about what it means to be valued in American
  society, but as individuals we can (and do) chose
  to accept or reject those cultural ideas
• This is how cultural change happens we recreate
  culture when we start to redefine our values,
  beliefs, and norms
• Society shapes individualsbut we also shape
  society