MS3536
Understanding the Consumer
Culture &
Consumer Behaviour
Dr Tim Stone
(tim.stone@abdn.ac.uk)
University of Aberdeen Business School
Importance of culture in
consumer behaviour
Culture can be viewed as the collective memory of a society (shared meanings, rituals,
norms and traditions among members).
Consumption choices cannot be understood without considering the cultural context in
which they are made.
Culture forms the prism through which people view products and try to make sense of
their own and other people’s behaviour.
Consumer behaviour and culture
A consumer’s culture determines:
•
the overall priorities she/he attaches
to different activities and products.
•
the success or failure of specific
products and services.
Aspects of culture
A cultural system consists of three functional areas.
• Ecology – the way the system is adapted to its habitat by
the technology used to obtain and distribute resources.
• Social structure – they way orderly social life is
maintained including domestic and political groups.
• Ideology – the mental characteristics of the people and
the way they relate to their environment.
Different cultures
• Collectivist cultures – where
people subordinate their
personal goals to those of a
stable in-group.
• Individualist cultures –
where importance is
attached to personal goals
and where people are more
likely to change
memberships when the
demands of the group
become too costly.
Principles for an ethnoconsumerist
approach to consumption
Source: Meamber, L and Venkatesh, A. (2000), ‘Ethnoconsumerist Methodology for Cultural and Cross-Cultural
Consumer Research’, in Elliott, R. and Beckmann, S. (Eds.), Interpretive Consumer Research, Copenhagen: Copenhagen
Business School Press, pp. 87–108.
Crescive norms
Crescive norms are embedded into a culture and are only discovered
through interaction with other members of that culture. These norms can
include:
•
customs – norms handed down from the
past that control behaviours.
•
mores – customs with strong moral
overtones.
•
conventions – norms regarding the conduct
of everyday life. These deal with the
subtleties of consumer behaviour.
Myths
Myths are stories containing symbolic elements that
express the shared emotions and ideals of a culture.
Many myths involve some binary opposition, where
values are defined in terms of what they are and what
they are not, e.g. nature versus technology, life versus
death etc.
Modern myths are transmitted through advertising, films
and other media.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qmglGWMsdk&feature=related
Functions and structure of myths
Myths serve four interrelated functions in a culture.
• Metaphysical – they help to explain the origins of
existence.
• Cosmological – they emphasise that all components of the
universe are part of a single picture.
• Sociological – they maintain social order by authorising a
social code to be followed by members of a culture.
• Psychological – they provide models for personal conduct.
Rituals
A ritual is a set of multiple, symbolic
behaviours, which occur in a fixed
sequence and tend to be repeated
periodically.
Rituals are related to many
consumption activities, which occur
in popular culture, e.g. holiday
observances, gift giving and
grooming.
Types of ritual experience
Primary behaviour source
Ritual type
Examples
Cosmology
Religious
Baptism, meditation, mass etc.
Cultural values
Rites of passage
Graduation, marriage etc.
Cultural
Festivals, holidays etc.
Civic
Parades, elections, trials etc.
Group
Business negotiations, office
lunches
Personal
Grooming and household rituals
Group learning
Individual aims and emotions
Source: Rook, D.W. (1985), The ritual dimension of consumer behaviour, Journal of
Consumer Research, Vol. 12, December, pp. 251-264.
The gift giving ritual

Gift giving can be seen
as a ritual within
contemporary consumer
society

The gift giving ritual can
be broken down into
three distinct phases
◦ 1. Gestation
◦ 2. Presentation
◦ 3. Reformation
Rites of passage
A rite of passage is a special kind of ritual,
which involves a transition from one role to
another.
These passages typically entail the need to
acquire products and services called ritual
artefacts, to facilitate the transition.
Modern rites of passage include
graduations, initiation ceremonies and
weddings, and funerals.
Sacred and profane domains
Consumer activities can be divided into sacred and profane
domains.
Sacred domains are set apart from everyday activities or
products. People, events or objects can become sacralised
taking on sacred meaning to a culture.
Desacralisation occurs when objects that previously were
sacred become commercialised and integrated into popular
culture.
Summary
A societies culture includes its values, ethics and
material objects.

Members of culture share a system of beliefs and
practices.

Myths, rituals and rites of passage embody
cultural practices and have various sacred and
profane consumption patterns embedded within
them.
