History and philosophy of the media

Dossier / Travail de Séminaire , 2004 , 10 Pages , Note: 1,7

Médias / Communication - Journalisme

“One can choose to study fish or one can choose to study the environment they swim in.” One of the reviewers for the recent book Elusive Consumption Eric J. Arnold summed up the two approaches of market research with his nice little illustration. He goes on to say “many traditional academic market researchers are like those who study the fish. Contributors to this volume [Elusive Consumption] are like those who opt to study the water. One can argue about which approach leads to catching more fish. My bet lies with those who explore the environment.” For him, it is evident that the only way one can come close to evaluating the interaction between consumers and market forces is by focusing on the “environment” the consumer finds himself in. That is exactly what the authors of the book Elusive Consumption found out after extended research. There are certainly critics who oppose this view and want to see more attention paid to the consumer and his habits and behavior. The interesting figure in this problem is the definition of this “environment” the consumer is situated in.
This essay attempts to present some of these definitions of environment and theories of the relationship (if any) between consumer and market. What are the factors that come into play and influence consumer behavior and how has that question tried to be answered in the past. What role do advertisements play specifically in this context? The main argument of this paper is that there is no such thing as an overarching theory when it comes to identifying reasons for consumption just as there is no homogenous audience in relationship with the product being offered. In fact, this argument challenges the notion of a dual relationship between consumer and product, between message and receiver and supports more the idea of multiple factors that all come together in this highly complex interplay of decisions and reasons.

History and Philosophy of the Media

“One can choose to study fish or one can choose to study the environment they swim in.” One of the reviewers for the recent book Elusive Consumption Eric J. Arnold summed up the two approaches of market research with his nice little illustration. He goes on to say “many traditional academic market researchers are like those who study the fish. Contributors to this volume [Elusive Consumption] are like those who opt to study the water. One can argue about which approach leads to catching more fish. My bet lies with those who explore the environment.” For him, it is evident that the only way one can come close to evaluating the interaction between consumers and market forces is by focusing on the “environment” the consumer finds himself in. That is exactly what the authors of the book Elusive Consumption found out after extended research. There are certainly critics who oppose this view and want to see more attention paid to the consumer and his habits and behavior. The interesting figure in this problem is the definition of this “environment” the consumer is situated in.

This essay attempts to present some of these definitions of environment and theories of the relationship (if any) between consumer and market. What are the factors that come into play and influence consumer behavior and how has that question tried to be answered in the past. What role do advertisements play specifically in this context? The main argument of this paper is that there is no such thing as an overarching theory when it comes to identifying reasons for consumption just as there is no homogenous audience in relationship with the product being offered. In fact, this argument challenges the notion of a dual relationship between consumer and product, between message and receiver and supports more the idea of multiple factors that all come together in this highly complex interplay of decisions and reasons.

Before we go into depth about the various theories floating around in the world of communication and consumption I want to sketch briefly the development of American consumer culture as it is known today. By labelling the contemporary American society a consumer culture I am aware that this might be seen as another radical jump to exaggeration. The answer I give is that it depends on how one defines consumer culture. If consumer culture means what it does according to Michael Schudson, then I certainly disagree with those critics. He defines consumer culture at the simplest level in his book Advertising, the Uneasy Persuasion as “a society with a lot of consumer goods.”^[1] But if you identify consumer culture as “a society in which human values have been grotesquely distorted so that commodities become more important than people or, in alternative formulation, commodities become not ends in themselves but overvalued means for acquiring acceptable ends like love or friendship,”^[2] then you voice the opinion of William Leach.

Leach illustrates his opinion with the development in the American media landscape, which changed from a purely informational and even missionary character to a consumption and marketing based arena as a major move away from the traditional values of media outlets such as the newspaper and others. Leach evaluates this change in his book The Land of Desire where he takes a close look at the changes within the American culture and market. He argues that in the decades after the Civil War “American capitalism began to produce a distinct culture, unconnected to traditional family or community values, to religion in any conventional sense, or to political democracy. It was a secular business and market-oriented culture […].”^[3] He traces this change from the time of the Protestant settlers and early American community life, where the ultimate fulfilment was salvation, spiritual blessings for all and an end to poverty, to the 1900s, where those religious ideals were increasingly transformed and commercialized into personal satisfaction and individual pleasures and profit.

With the appearance of “new pleasure palaces” such as department stores, theaters, restaurants, hotels, dance halls, and amusement parks Americans experienced the joy of personal satisfaction. Whereas in the past, Leach writes, “values had taken their character from … the church; now they were deriving it from business and consumption.”^[4]

How did the American society develop into a consumer culture? This part is dedicated to trace the roots of the consumer society and explain the change that occurred. Michael Schudson dedicates a whole chapter to this question, called Historical Roots of Consumer Culture. Schudson looks at the developments at the turn of the 20th century and identifies certain changes and incidents that led to the rise of consumer attitudes. He focuses on the shift in thinking of the people, who earlier could succeed only through work and career and at the dawn of the new century were able to compete through lifestyle and the means of consumption. Schudson elaborates on the new importance of how you presented yourself and how you behaved and not so much who you were in the earlier years. He illustrates this theme on many occasions citing the department store as one crucial factor. He explains how in his view the department store changed the act of shopping entirely. For one thing, people no longer had to ask the storekeeper to go to the shelves or backroom for an item, they could now observe many items themselves which were displayed. This beginning display of mass produced items led to the change of status of the customer. Whereas in the earlier years of the 19th century customers were part of a buyer-seller relationship and personally knew the salesperson or even the manufacturer, they became much more anonymous and part of a mass audience. As the goods became visible to the mass audience in department stores the emphasis in selling the product changed as well. Retailers realised the importance of the “eye-catching” appeal which became a vital attribute of a product, making it more important for merchants to present the product well rather than selling a really good one.^[5]

[...]

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^[1] Schudson: p.7.

^[2] Ibid.: p.7.

^[3] William Leach: Land of Desire . p. 3.

^[4] Ibid.: p. 8.

^[5] Schudson: 148-150.

• Université: Indiana University (School of Journalism)
• Cours: Journalism J650
• Note: 1,7
• Auteur: Michael Schmid (Auteur)
• Année de publication: 2004
• Pages: 10
• N° de catalogue: V66612
• ISBN (ebook): 9783638595537
• ISBN (Livre): 9783638753944
• Langue: anglais
• mots-clé: History, Journalism, J650