User:4L14S/Consumer Culture Theory (CCT)

Consumer Culture Theory is a marketing school of thought interested in studying consumption choices and behaviours from a social and cultural point of view, as opposed to an economical or psychological one. It does not offered a grand unifying theory but "refer to a family of theoretical perspectives that address the dynamic relationships between consumer actions, the marketplace, and cultural meanings" (Arnould & Thompson 2005). Anchored in postmodernism, it views cultural meanings as being numerous and fragmented (Firat & Venkatesh 1995) and hence view culture as an amalgam of different groups and shared meanings, rather than an homogenous construct (i.e. the american culture). Consumer culture is viewed as "social arrangement in which the relations between lived culture and social resources, between meaningful ways of life and the symbolic and material resources on which they depend, are mediated through markets" (Arnould 2006) and consumers as part of an interconnected system of commercially produced products and images which they use to construct their identity and orient their relationships with others (Kozinets 2001).

Methodology

There is a widely held view outside CCT researchers that this field is oriented toward the study of consumption contexts (Arnould & Thompson 2005). Memorable study contexts, such as the Harley-Davidson subculture (Schouten & McAlexander 1995) or the Burning Man festival (Kozinets 2002) probably fueled this perspective, which is far from the theory development aim of this school of thought.

While CCT is often associated with qualitative methodologies, such as interviews, case studies and ethnographies, which are well adapted to study the experiential, sociological and cultural aspects of consumption, these are not a prerequisite to CCT contribution (Arnould & Thompson 2005).

Fields of study

Arnould & Thompson (2005) identifies four "research programs" in CCT:
- Consumer identity projects, such as Schau & Gilly (2003) study on personal web space, which studies how consumers creates a coherent self through marketer-produced materials

- Marketplace culture, such as Schouten & McAlexander (1005) study on the Harley-Davidson subculture, which looks at consumers as culture producers.

- Mass-Mediated Marketplace Ideologies and Consumers' Interpretive Strategies, such as Kozinets (2002) study of the Burning Man Festival, which looks at consumer ideologies and identities are influenced by economic and cultural globalisation and how cultural product systems orient consumers toward certain ideologies or identity projects.

- Sociohistoric Patterning of Consumption, such as Holt (1997 1998) studies which looks at the influence of social capital on consumption choices, which looks at the influence of institutional and social structures on consumption.

Notable researchers

Stephen J. Arnold
Eric J. Arnould
Russel Belk
Samuel K. Bonsu
Stephen Brown
Antonella Carù
Bernard Cova
A. Fuat Firat
Eileen Fischer
Elizabeth C. Hirschman
Morris B. Holbrook
Douglas B. Holt
Robert V. Kozinets
James H. MacAlexander
Deborah MacInnis
Albert Muniz
Thomas C. O'Guinn
Lisa Penaloza
Linda L. Price
Hope Schau
John W. Schouten
John F. Sherry
Craig J. Thompson
Alladi Venkatesh
Melanie Wallendorf

References

Arnould, E.J. (2006), “Consumer culture theory: retrospect and prospect”, in Ekström, K.M. and. Brenbeck, H. (Eds), European Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 7, ACR, Duluth, MN, pp. 605-7.

Arnould, Eric J. and Thompson, Craig J., (2005), Consumer Culture Theory (CCT): Twenty Years of Research, Journal of Consumer Research, 31, issue 4, p. 868-882.

Firat, A. Fuat and Alladi Venkatesh (1995). "Liberatory Postmodernism and the Reenchantment of Consumption," 22 (3), 239-267.

Kozinets, Robert V. (2001), “Utopian Enterprise: Articulating the Meanings of Star Trek’s Culture of Consumption,” Journal of Consumer Research, 28 (June), 67-88.

Kozinets, Robert V. (2002), "Can Consumers Escape the Market? Emancipatory llluminalions from Burning Man" Journal of Consumer Research, 29 (2), 20-38.

Holt, Douglas B. (1997). "Poststructtiralist Lifestyle Analysis: Conceptualizing the Social Patterning of Consumption," Journal of Consumer Research, 23 (Marcli), 326-50.

Holt, Douglas B. (1998). "Does Cultural Capital Structure American Consumption?" Journal of Consumer Research, 23 (June), 1-26.

Schau, Hope Jensen and Mary C. Gilly (2003). "We Are What We Post? Self-Presentation in Personal Web Space," Journal of Consumer Research, 30 (December), 385^04.

Schouten, John and James H. McAlexander (1995), "Subcultures of Consumption: An Ethnography of the New Bikers," Journal of Consumer Research, 22 (June) 43-61.