Individual and neo-tribal consumption: Tales from the Simpsons of Springfield

Abstract

The change from modernity to postmodernity has seen a dramatic increase in the use of goods and consumption both to gain and display meaning. Similarly, through the change towards the postmodern consumers are forever trying to balance the differentiating and integrating aspects of their behaviour in order to achieve a relationship with the society within which they exist. It is the authors' theory that much of this expression of differentiation and integration is achieved through consumption. Briefly, this paper puts forward a model for the analysis of consumption as an expression of the self (individualistic consumption) and as a system of meaning enabling linkage to social tribes (tribalistic consumption). Furthermore, the authors apply this framework in a semiotic analysis of The Simpsons. By examining the consumption and meaning of goods in a popular television show, an indirect reflection of modern society and the centrality of goods to meaning are highlighted. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.