Cultural Consumption Research Articles

The Impact of Digital Inclusive Finance on Residents’ Cultural Consumption in China: An Urban-Rural Difference Perspective

This paper uses panel data from the 2014–2020 China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) to study the impact of digital inclusive finance (DIF) on the cultural consumption of urban and rural residents using two-way fixed effects. The results show that DIF can promote the growth of cultural consumption of urban and rural residents, and the promotion effect is greater for rural residents. Mechanism analysis shows that DIF increases the cultural consumption of urban and rural residents mainly through easing liquidity constraints, reducing precautionary savings, and increasing payment convenience. Moreover, reducing precautionary savings has a greater impact on the cultural consumption of urban residents, while the other two mechanisms have a greater impact on rural residents. In the heterogeneity analysis, credit business and some indicators reflecting the convenience of payment have a greater impact on rural residents. The insurance business has a greater impact on urban residents. This paper provides policy references for the development of DIF and the enhancement of residents’ cultural consumption.

Determinants Shaping Coffee Consumption Culture among Banking Professionals in Kathmandu Valley

The lifestyle of Nepali consumers, particularly in Kathmandu, is shifting due to the influence of globalization and Western culture. This study explores the emerging coffee culture, primarily among bankers in Kathmandu Valley, where coffee consumption is rising despite Nepal's traditional preference for tea. The research aims to identify the factors driving this trend, such as Western influence and changing consumer behavior and examines the attitudes of bank employees toward coffee. The study provides insights that will help marketers and the coffee industry strategize for future growth and offers a foundation for further research on coffee consumption in among various emerging cultures, Coffee drinking is one of the emerging cultures among Nepali consumers. These days, White Mochas, Cappuccinos, Lattes, Cafe Mocha, Americano, and Espressos are on everybody lips, literally and figuratively. Traditionally, Nepalese are more tea-people than coffee-people. There are tea stalls in virtually every nook and corner of the country and it is still the favorite national drink for the rich as well as the poor. But over the last couple of years, the habit of coffee consumption has shot up dramatically, particularly in Kathmandu and other urban centers, with youngsters of the MTV generation and foreign-returned professionals as the primary consumers.

“If I don’t do it, it feels wrong”: embodying environmental ethical reflexivity through cultivation and enactment of practices

Second-generation practice theoretical research on sustainable consumption has largely overlooked the role of environmental ethics. This is likely due to associations of “ethics” with culture and symbolic understandings of consumption. This article investigates how some environmentally aware and engaged consumers actively try to cultivate ethical and sustainable practices in order to develop ways of living more sustainably. By combining a practice theoretical framework with Michel Foucault’s work on ethical self-cultivation, I combine the ethical – understood as emerging in specific places and time as part of cultural formations – with processes of embodiment and ethical reflexivity to understand how environmental ethical reflexivity can play a role in the sustainable change of practices. The article argues that changing consumption practices based on changed environmental ethics requires an ongoing reflexive and bodily process of training the bodymind to embody skills and mold sensory, affective, and perceptual dispositions. This is a processual change requiring time and effort, in which research participants nevertheless experience meaning and hope as they are able to create sustainable change in their own lives and, over time and to some degree, live up to their ethical ideals. The analysis is based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in two locations using audio-visual methods in participant observation and interviews with research participants who are actively engaged in changing their everyday practices.

Hip and Practical: Cultural Capital and the Two Faces of Sustainable Food Consumption

The paper presents an analysis of the connections between attitudes toward sustainable food consumption and cultural capital based on a nationally representative survey conducted in Hungary in 2018 (N=2,700). Drawing on the literature on food consumption associated with the creation of social boundaries, we sought to capture the characteristics of food-related attitudes of consumers with high cultural capital. According to our results, sustainable attitudes toward food did not form a coherent eco-habitus, but rather, elements of ethical consumption were mixed with (1) elements of conspicuous consumption and (2) health concerns. We identified two dimensions: (1) hipster and (2) practical components of food sustainability. However, our multivariate analysis showed that both components were related to the cultural capital of the survey participants. In linear regression models, we distinguished different (embodied and institutionalised) forms of cultural capital. We found that the effect of cultural consumption overwrote the effect of education on sustainable food consumption attitudes.

중년 여성의 여가로서 팬덤 활동의 의미 탐색

The purpose of this study is to explore the meaning of fandom activities that middle-aged women participate in as leisure activities. Fandom activities as leisure have mainly been studied with a focus on youth, but recently, middle-aged women are actively participating in fandom activities and forming a new leisure culture. From this perspective, this study applied qualitative research to analyze the meaning of middle-aged women's fandom activities, focusing on Trot singer fandom. The research results suggest themes of self-discovery, emotional benefits, social connection, communication, and cultural consumption. Middle-aged women improved their physical, psychological, and social health through fandom activities. Additionally, these activities were shown to have a positive effect on improving the quality of their lives. It was revealed that middle-aged women's fandom activities are a meaningful leisure activity in their lives.

Life satisfaction and the variety and intensity of cultural participation in Italy: disentangling the individual and regional dimensions

ABSTRACT This paper proposes a novel approach to explore the relation between cultural participation and subjective well-being, and to dig into the relation between the individual and regional dimensions. Using the Italian Multipurpose survey, we derive major cultural consumer profiles that combine the variety and intensity of engagement through latent class analysis. We then investigate how heterogeneity in cultural profiles at the national and regional levels relates to overall life satisfaction and relevant domains (leisure and friendship relationships). The results indicate a positive relation with diversity in consumption becoming more significant in specific domains. At the same time, we find patterns of regional variation in the relation, which is only partly explained by indicators of cultural supply at the regional level. The findings shed light on the role of habits of cultural consumption in individual well-being and inform the policy debate on culture-led interventions.

The “dispersed” market: trading vegetables in Bamberg’s vegetable-growing district

Based on field observations, interviews, personal websites and news publications, the article takes a detailed look at the trade in Bamberg vegetables in a traditional vegetable-growing district. I ask the following questions: why, despite logistical and transportation inconveniences, buying vegetables from the producer is in demand and popular in today’s Germany? what can the convenience of the supermarket be opposed to? and what can sellers who have grown their own produce offer the sophisticated resident of a wealthy German city? The collected field material shows that the sale/purchase of vegetables in the stalls of the “dispersed market” occupies a certain niche in the consumption culture of the city dwellers and realizes a specific, emotionally loaded purchasing experience, which speaks of the eventization of trade. This different experience of consumption is purposefully constructed as if it is rooted in tradition and referring to some idealized past and notions of homeland, as well as to the concept of urban authenticity.

Methodological and methodical features of studying the sphere of cultural consumption

This article reveals the theoretical and methodological foundations of studying the sphere of cultural consumption in the region and suggests the methodology of sociological research developed by the author on the presented topic. Analyzing scientific research devoted to the study of the sphere of cultural consumption, the author conducts a theoretical interpretation of the term, considers the main approaches to the study of this sphere, addresses the history of its research and issues of operationalization. Coming to the conclusion that the concept of "cultural consumption" has not yet been unambiguously defined, the researcher proposes to consider cultural services (cultural services) as the main condition for cultural consumption, and, accordingly, to understand cultural consumption as the use of society's achievements in the field of culture, presented in the form of cultural services, to satisfy the cultural needs of society. The author has developed a methodology for sociological research of the sphere of cultural consumption in the region, which is based on a qualitative research paradigm and the method of expert interviews. The author's special contribution to the research of the topic is the methodology he developed. The novelty of the research lies in the author's combined step-by-step methodology of sociological research of the sphere of cultural consumption of the region, which is based on a qualitative research paradigm and the method of expert interviews. The experts in this methodology are structured according to a four-stage system, which allows to evaluate the entire existing structure and look at it both through the eyes of consumers themselves and those who are directly involved in the creation of cultural goods. In addition, the data obtained at each stage of the study provides material for further study of the field, predictive information, and also allows to identify the most effective ways to solve emerging problems. Thus, the presented technique is interesting not only from a scientific, but also from an applied point of view.

Advertising in Taisho Era Japan

Advertising messages of the Taisho era on one hand reflected the life of the new middle class in a rapidly changing urban world and on the other hand influenced the public consciousness by offering appropriate to the era images and behaviours. Advertising was a guide to the “brave new world”, advertising posters and texts enlightened the masses, telling the consumer about their options. Under the influence of advertising, the culture of mass consumption was formed. Advertising gives symbolic significance to ordinary tings, creates new communicative patterns, ideals, standards. The diachronic analysis of advertising messages of the Taisho era helps us trace the mutual influence of advertising and the processes taking place in society and this is the principal value of the research. The object of the study is advertising of the Taisho era. The main aim is to reveal the impact of the advertising to consumer and society of this period using content analysis methods. The author comes to conclusion that the advertising of the Taisho era became an entertainment genre; the value of all sorts of elements of suggestive impact and interactivity increased during the Taisho era. The development of graphic design of Japanese advertising in the XX century passed similar stages in comparison with the development of advertising design in Western countries. The Japanese advertising has features inherent in the discourse of the modern and postmodern era. Meanwhile, the content of advertising messages has national and cultural specificity.

You make me feel like dancing: the effects of dance exposure on children’s cultural interests and social-emotional development

Stratification by race and socioeconomic status generates disparities in cultural exposure and consumption. Though public education can serve as a mechanism for addressing social inequalities, schools with high concentrations of low-income and minority students often lack the resources to provide enriching cultural experiences. Efforts to make cultural exposure and consumption more equitable remain stymied by school and neighborhood stratification, as well as by lingering questions about the value of cultural consumption for students. Employing a randomized research design, we analyze the effects of elementary students in under-resourced school participating in a collaborative dance program provided by a major ballet company. We find that participation increases students’ enthusiasm for dance and sense of self-efficacy. Students with prior lower levels of arts and culture exposure demonstrate the largest gains in self-efficacy and experience an increase in their sense of school connectedness. Male students, who were less enthusiastic about dance prior to the program, show the largest increase in dance enthusiasm. These findings demonstrate that targeted efforts by schools and arts organizations can play a meaningful role in students’ cultural capital acquisition, which in turn leads to higher student self-efficacy and sense of belonging, particularly for students with lower levels of arts and cultural learning experience.

Commodification of Umrah through Social Media: Phenomenological Study on Umrah Pilgrims of Sociosalites in Jakarta

This research aims to find out the religious activities of Umrah pilgrims of socialites in Jakarta commodified through social media and to find out socialite individuals uploading religious activities on social media. In obtaining data in this study, researchers used qualitative methods based on the constructivism paradigm. This paradigm views knowledge as the result of the construction of human thought, not just the experience of facts. In this case humans understand social reality more based on the subject that examines rather than the object under study. The results of this study indicate that there are individual socialite factors uploading religious activities on social media, this study also found two elements of commodification that were implemented, namely Exchange Value and Use Value, and this study found that Umrah, which is traditionally a religious experience, has now been transformed into a culture of Conspicious Consumption.

The Consumerism Culture of the Younger Generation in Fashion

Fashion is one of the most widely known phenomena of everyday life, inextricably linked with art, communication, and mass culture. The scope of fashion includes clothing, forms of everyday life, cars, aesthetic and artistic tastes, etc. In most cases, researchers understand fashion as clothing patterns that are most popular in a specific historical period. A person always searches for his belonging, tries to identify himself with a social group that is a reference for him. Habit, following a model and imitation are the basis of self-determination, which ensures the rituality of culture and the mechanisms of its development and reproduction. Fashion helps to preserve cultural tradition, is a symbol of social status, directs behavior and sets the boundaries of what is permitted and desired, and acts as a means of achieving social recognition. In modern world, fashion has received much attention from both ordinary people and scientists. Being an interdisciplinary object, fashion attracts the attention of researchers from different fields of knowledge. More precisely than others, the essence and concept of fashion are reflected by those who create it. Therefore, the article studies and analyzes the understanding of fashion by famous couturiers. In conclusion, the author, according to literature materials, and combining the approaches considered, explain main attributes of the consumption culture of young generation. Keywords: fashion, consumption culture, youth, fashion industry, social recognition

Research on Marketing Strategies for Optimizing Entertainment Products Using the Internet

Abstract: The rapid development of science and technology has profoundly altered the way people live and consume. As a significant aspect of cultural consumption, the marketing approach to entertainment products has undergone a profound transformation in response to the Internet. The traditional marketing of entertainment products is mainly reliant on the use of television advertisements, newspaper publicity, and other offline activities. Though these methods have achieved notable results over time, their reach and marketing power are constrained, making it challenging to meet the diverse and personalized needs of todays consumers. The paper aims to explore the potential of the Internet and online media to enhance product marketing strategies in the entertainment industry in the digital age. Through a comprehensive analysis of literature reviews, case studies and data studies, this paper explores the concept and current status of online marketing, as well as the application of online marketing in entertainment industries such as movies, music and games, and how existing data analysis can be used to help the modern entertainment industry optimize its existing online marketing strategies. The results show that by rationally applying online marketing strategies and adapting them to local conditions, not only can audience and user engagement be increased, but sales performance and brand image can also be significantly improved.

Construction of a Multi-Level Strategic System for Cultivating Cultural Industry Management Talents in Colleges and Universities

Through SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) and PEST (political, economic, social, and technological) analysis, this study discusses the construction of a multi-level strategic system for the cultivation of cultural industry management talents in colleges and universities. First of all, based on SWOT analysis, it is found that colleges and universities have rich educational resources and policy support, but they face challenges such as insufficient practical teaching and intensified international competition. External opportunities come from the rapid development of the cultivation of cultural industry management talents and policy promotion, while threats come from global market competition and talent flow. Secondly, PEST analysis reveals the key factors in the macro-environment: at the political level, the state vigorously supports the cultivation of cultural industry management talents; at the economic level, the market demand for cultural industries is strong; at the social level, the public cultural consumption is upgraded; at the technological level, digital transformation promotes industry innovation. On this basis, this paper puts forward a multi-level strategic system covering theoretical education, practical skill improvement, interdisciplinary integration, and international vision training. The system aims to solve the problems existing in talent training in colleges and universities and cultivate high-quality cultural industry management talents with theoretical knowledge, practical skills, and global vision, so as to adapt to the increasingly complex and diversified cultural industry management talents market demand and promote the long-term development of the industry.

Food for (political) thought: political inferences from apolitical cues and their social consequences in Italy

ABSTRACT US-based research showed that individuals rely on apolitical cues, like cars or clothes, to form expectations about others’ political preferences. This article uses the concept of ‘politicultural linking’ — producing inferences about others from the perceived alignment between apolitical and political preferences — observing this behavior in Italy, a multi-party European context, through a survey vignette experiment on food preferences. We find that respondents associate vegan/ethnic foods with the political left and carnivore foods with the right. Moreover, ideological self-placement, news media exposure, and cultural consumption are associated with respondents’ willingness to do politicultural linking. Finally, we observe that this behavior affects the propensity to interact and converse with others, with implications for social distance and political polarization dynamics.

The Symbolic Meaning and Cultural Consumption of Virtual Celebrities in the New Media Environment: A Case Study of White Snake: Afloat

With the transformation of the media environment, the star system is also evolving, and virtual celebrities are increasingly visible in the public eye, playing dual roles. The relationship between virtual celebrities and new media is mutually beneficial: new media provides stable channels for promoting virtual celebrities, while the cultural and economic benefits brought by virtual celebrities inspire research into the creation and use of new media. The virtual celebrities in the film White Snake: Afloat offer a typical case for studying the symbolic meaning and cultural consumption of virtual celebrities. By analyzing the role of virtual celebrities in White Snake: Afloat, we can understand the relationship between the star system and media development, how virtual celebrities expand the fan economy in the market, promote the long tail effect in the film industry, and the reasons behind virtual celebrities as a symbol of mass aesthetics, thereby advancing the inheritance and development of traditional culture.

Immersive Entertainment: The Reconstruction and Value Analysis of Chinese Mythology

As an integral part of Chinese culture, Chinese mythology embodies rich historical, cultural, and philosophical connotations. With the accelerated development of the cultural and creative industry, Chinese mythology, with its rich content, imagery, and narratives, has gained favor among practitioners. It is deconstructed and reshaped in contemporary contexts, showing a trend of pan-entertainment in the field of cultural consumption. The immersive real-scene entertainment industry, a nascent sector in China with just over twenty years of development, utilizes advanced technologies to create multi-sensory immersive experiences. This medium, following films, theater, and games, serves as another high-quality, high-density information dissemination channel and has unique advantages in the re-creation of original Chinese myths. This study explores the development of Chinese myths such as "The Legend of the White Snake" and "Dunhuang Feitian," analyzing immersive entertainment cases like "Seeking the Realm of Dunhuang - Digital Dunhuang Immersive Exhibition." Through textual analysis and comparative investigation, it examines the current status and future prospects of real-scene entertainment, and the historical tracing and restoration of Chinese mythology that can be achieved via the industry.

Gradual behaviour change towards meat reduction revisited: Applying the decisional balance scale in a Dutch study

Meat moderation is needed to mitigate climate change and to address issues related to animal welfare and public health. Yet little is known on the process that consumers go through towards meat-reduced diets. Strässner and Hartmann (2023) recently developed the decisional balance scale (DB scale) for meat reduction, in order to get a better understanding of the trade-offs that consumers encounter in this dietary shift. The current study sets out to replicate their German study in the Dutch context. A survey has been conducted among a representative sample of Dutch adults (N = 1982). Overall, the present study corroborated Strässner and Hartmann's findings. Similar to the German situation, Legitimation is the most important barrier, and the Downsides of factory farming is the most important motivator for meat reduction in the Netherlands. The present study extends the German study by comparing the DB scale with other established scales in research on meat reduction. Although several motivational elements related to the legitimacy of eating meat, health impact and production of meat appear in different instruments, the DB scale sets itself apart in adding practical elements (feasibility). Finally, the insights in the decision balance of population subgroups at different stages of behaviour change (no intention, intention, performing) showed that the further in the meat reduction process, the more the pros outweigh the cons. With this, the current study provides valuable insights in bolstering consumers in meat moderation. Our findings support the idea of a gradual shift and reveal that there is potential for acceleration in behaviour change towards meat reduction to be found in adjusting the self-evidence of high-intensity livestock farming systems and the meat-centric food consumption culture.

Sacred Water: Neo-Spiritual Consumerism in Catherine Chanter’s The Well

ABSTRACT Catherine Chanter’s The Well depicts a water-scarce Britain where the fertile farm of the Ardingly couple becomes a site of exploitation by a spiritual community called the Sisters of the Rose. By setting her novel on a farm named The Well, Chanter constructs a spatial map that not only exposes the cult’s manipulative power but also serves as a symbolic microcosm of their capitalist exploitation, highlighting the rise of a phenomenon I term “neo-spiritual consumerism.” Drawing on Fredric Jameson’s concept of “late capitalism” (1991) and his theory of “cognitive mapping” (1992), this study examines how Chanter uses The Well as a spatial narrative instrument to re-mythologize religious narratives as a form of cultural consumption. Through a literary analysis of Chanter’s novel, the study examines her ironic use of religious symbols to delve into the social, psychological, and political implications of associating environmental crises with divine retribution, deflecting attention from the socio-economic systems perpetuating environmental degradation. Chanter’s subversive use of religious symbolism highlights how capitalist frameworks exacerbate ecological vulnerabilities. This research prompts critical assessment of modern spiritual movements and emphasizes capitalism’s pervasive influence in sacred domains, compelling readers to consider alternative worldviews and ethical frameworks for navigating a changing world.

Research on the Development Strategy of Cultural and Creative Products of Libraries from the Perspective of Consumer Behavior

ABSTRACTIn recent years, there has been a notable trend and exemplary practice among libraries in effectively developing cultural and creative products. This endeavor not only foster the creative transformation and innovative development of culture, but also meets the escalating demand for high‐quality cultural consumption. Focusing on the consumption behavior of library culture and creative products in China, underscores the critical consideration for libraries, including the evolution of the consumption themes, addressing the symbolic consumption demands, creating new consumption scenarios, enhancing product quality, and augmenting consumer service awareness. Our findings highlight the importance of product diversity and aesthetic appeal, the fulfillment of commemorative value and social value, and the balancing of emotional and cognitive satisfaction in consumer demand. Moreover, the effective integration of both online and offline channels and leveraging the influence of Key Opinion Leader (KOL) are recommended marketing strategies. Regarding pricing, consumers are sensitive to price, preferring products of high quality and originality within reasonable price ranges. Finally, the study highlights the significance of enhancing the overall purchase experience and service quality, which significantly influence subsequent consumption behavior.