Culture and Consumption: A Theoretical Account of the Structure and Movement of

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Culture and Consumption: A Theoretical Account of the Structure and Movement of the Cultural Meaning of Consumer Goods GRANT McCRACKEN onsumer goods have a signifeance that goes b aconsumer good Then the meaning is drewn from the objeet and uansferred to an indvidual consumer. In other words caltural eaing is located in three plape yond their utiliarian character and commercia ae This sigihcatce rests largely in their ablity to carry and communicane cuteral meaning(Douglas ndheurally conituted world, the cossumer good. tsherwood 19T3, Sablins 19761 During the last decade. and the individuel consumer. and moves in a tjccocry a diverse body of sthoars has made the eultural sig two points of ransfer: world lo good and good 10 nihcance ef eesumergeods the focus of renewed aindividual. The Figure summarizes this relationship. In ademic study (Belk 1982; Bronner 13, Felsea 1976 this articte 1 peopove to analyze this trajecsory ofmea- Furby 1978; Graumann 1974-1973: Kirschmas 1980naking cach of its tages in turn. Holman 130 Lein 198 983e: Prown 1982 Quiaby 197& Rodman and Phi- ina cossumer saciety should help to illuminate two sbert 1985; Schleret 1982, Solomon 1983 These apeets of eonsurpticn in modern sockety. Firs, e h scholars have established a ubfeld exleading ecroas aperspective enoourages us to sce consu mers and con Appreciating the mobile quality of cultural clarity and thorougheess lo the study of person-object to eo sribute & theo comumpioa that havc not aways been emphasited retical perspeetive to this emerping subtield by showing Seodthe "tajectory perspective asks us to uee such that the meaning carried by goods has a mobile quality phenomena as advertising, the Sashion world. and con meaning movenent Agreat limitstion of presem approaches to the study We are encoureged to acksowledge the presence o of the cuteral meaning fgcod is the fil arge and powerful syssem al the hean of moderR c- to oèserve that this meaning is constantly in trareit. mer sciety that pives this society some of its coher. Cultural meaning lows consinually between s several ead lexibiliiy even as it serves as a comstant source locations is the social world, aidrd by the coleetive ofincoherence and discontinaity. In sum, this perspec and individual efforts of designers, producers,advertisivecan help o demonsirae some ofthe ull compkesity ers, and consumer, There is a traditional trajectory 5?of current contumpie ben ior tad to reveal i, a thi movemet Usually, cultural meaning draws more detailed way just what " ?s to he 'enumer from a culturally consiituted world and uranserred 1o society. LOCATIONS OF CULTURAL MEANING: THE CULTURALLY CONSTITUTED WORLD The original location of the cultural meaning that ullimately resides in corsumEr 20ods is the cullurally

Explanation / Answer

Consumer Behavior is greatly affected by the culture being followed in any country. People in West have different tastes and preferences towards the goods which is very different from the people in East. The difference in culture is exhibited in terms of dress worn,language spoken, festivals celebrated and food habits. Marketers have tokeepthemselves updates with the cultural practices being followed in any region or country before launching a product.

The acceptance of any product in any country is laregly determined by the culture being followed. For instance, the hamburger of US from Mc Donalds is not being accepted in India as people in India worship cow and their culture doesnt allow them to consume cow's meat. So McDonalds launch McAloo Tikki specifically for the Indian consumers. Western dresses are being sold largely in Western countries whereas people in Eastern countries look for traditional clothing.

Advertising is also being affected by the culture being followed in acountry. Marketers have to create the advertisement in the local language being spoken in the country otherwise it is not being accepted by the local people. Festival celebrations and accessories used during festivals are aslo being affected by the culture. Diwali is amajor festival in India whereas Christmas is amajor festival of Americans.

Thus it can be concluded that marketers have pay close attention to the culture being followed in any country before launching the product. Thus they can assured of the success of the product if it is in line with the cultural practices of the local people.

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