Yes / This study explores how global and local forces influence the processes of consumer re-acculturation amongst third-generation British Sikhs in the United Kingdom (U.K.). Data is collected over a three-year period using multiple methods that focus on the experiential consumption of shaadi.com by third-generation British-born Sikhs. Data is analysed using thematic analysis, and findings reveal three transcultural identity patterns: accommodating, re-acculturating, and resisting Sikh culture. We argue that the emergent identity patterns are fluid, as our participants feel neither wholly British, wholly Sikh, nor wholly British-Sikh, positioning themselves beyond, rather than against, Sikh or British culture. We uncover the connectedness between the traditional cultural practices of arranged marriages and the space of shaadi.com, a matrimonial website. We interpret this website as a medium through which transcultural identities are constructed. We contribute to theory by showing the development of transcultural patterns of consumption and consistent transcultural identity construction in non-migrating ethnic communities.

Yes / The face is not the property of an individual; it is a key part of our communicating body. It is performed, in social interaction (Goffman, 1982) and seen and responded to within historicised and gendered ideals of the normal and of beauty. The normal and the beautiful have a particular resonance in a visually mediated consumer society, “looks matter”. But more than half-a million people in the UK have a significant disfigurement to their face (Changing Faces, 2007). This chapter explores the way facial difference illuminates debates on bodily representation. It explores how people living with visible facial difference invoke discursive formations of disfigurement (Garland-Thomson, 2009). It asks how we encounter and respond to facial difference and examines how close personal relationships can offer a source of support. The chapter contextualises the relevance of the face for communication and then examines implications for social selves in personal communities. Seventeen people living with visible facial difference were interviewed as part of a PhD study and interview extracts illuminate different aspects of the aesthetics of inclusion.

La théorie de la diffusion de l’innovation s’est constituée au cours du XXeme siècle autour de modèles qualitatifs et quantitatifs qui ne prennent pas en compte, sinon à la marge, l’influence des valeurs et des normes dans la genèse de l’adoption des innovations. A partir d’une hypothèse de recherche, la « structure complexe » d’Edgard Morin et Jean-Pierre Dupuy, et d’une synthèse épistémologique, ce travail de recherche propose une échelle de mesure expérimentale des « cités » de Boltanski et Thévenot et l’intégration de l’influence des conventions comme variables antécédentes de l’adoption des innovations dans un modèle d’équations structurelles inspiré d’une modélisation classique de comportement du consommateur, la théorie de l’action raisonnée de Fishbein. Appliqué au terrain des émissions de télévision, ce modèle indique que l’adoption des émissions dites de « téléréalité » et le bulletin télévisé de la météorologie répondent à des influences normatives différentes qui impliquent des comportements différenciés chez le téléspectateur lors de la consommation de ces programmes. La modélisation de l’influence des conventions ouvre la voie à une classification inédite des émissions de télévision, en fonction des influences sociales, et, en lien avec l’audience, à une meilleure anticipation du succès des nouveaux formats télévisuels. / The theory of the diffusion of innovations has been built during the XXth century around qualitative and quantitative models which does not take into account, otherwise barely, the influence of values and norms on the genesis of innovations. From a research hypothesis, the “complex structure” thought by Edgar Morin and Jean-Pierre Dupuy and an epistemic synthesis, this thesis proposes an experimental measure scale of the Boltanski and Thevenot’s “worlds” and the implementation of sociological forms, “the conventions”, as variable of the innovation adoption in a structural equations model inspired from the Fishbein’s Theory of reasoned action. Built on the field of Tv programs, this model shows that the adoption of “reality TV programs” are linked with specific sociological influences. These sociological influences involve atypical behaviors of TV viewers in front of the screen. The model of the influence of the “conventions” on consumer behavior opens the way to a new classification of TV programs as well as an improved prevision of the success of new formats.

Studien har utgångspunkt i den föreslagna upplösningen av det svenska spelmonopolet. Lagregleringen föreslås träda i kraft i början av 2019 för att tillåta privata spelaktörer att både agera och marknadsföra sig på den svenska spelmarknaden på lika villkor som de statligt ägda spelbolagen idag har. Genom att ge de privata aktörerna tillträde på den svenska marknaden menar svenska myndigheterna att man genom licenser kan kontrollera att samtliga aktörer agerar måttfullt med sin marknadsföring. Spelberoende är klassats som ett folkhälsoproblem och belastar därmed samhället både ekonomiskt och ur en hälsosynpunkt. Utifrån ett konsumtionskulturellt perspektiv beskriver och bidrar studien med en djupare förståelse för representationers innebörd i spelbolags reklamfilmer samt vad spel har för betydelse utifrån dessa. En kvalitativ innehållsanalys på 12 reklamfilmer har genomförts. Det empiriska materialet har sedan analyserats och tolkats med hjälp av konsumtionskulturella teorier. Studien visar på att budskapen som reklamfilmerna kommunicerar skiljer sig åt beroende på vilken spelform som marknadsförs. Reklamfilmer för lotterispel är missvisande då de bland annat endast skildrar vinnare. De säljer drömmen om en ny identitet och självförverkligande samt att det kan uppnås genom spelande. En vinst anses möjliggöra mer konsumtion vilket tillskriver individen en högre social status i ett konsumtionssamhälle. Kasinospel och betting säljs och marknadsförs som en upplevelsebaserad produkt med spelande som aktivitet i fokus. Vidare påvisar studien att reklamfilmernas representationer av manliga attribut befäster och förstärker stereotypa föreställningar om manlighet och spelande som en manlig aktivitet. Studien påvisar problematik med de kriterier i lagförändringen som spelbolagen förväntas förhålla sig till. Kriterierna ämnar kontrollera att marknadsföringen präglas av måttfullhet. De är dock vagt formulerade och lämnar tolkningsutrymme för både konsumenter och rättssystemet. Tolkningarna av de kommunicerade budskapen skapar konnotationer hos mottagaren som blir svåra att kontrollera. Spellicensutredningens föreslagna kriterier för att upprätthålla måttfullhet i spelbolags marknadsföring är baserade på okunskap och förenklade föreställningar om hur reklam egentligen fungerar. / The study is based on the proposed dissolution of the Swedish gambling monopoly. The regulation is suggested to take effect in early 2019 in order to allow private actors to both act and promote themselves on the Swedish gambling market on equal terms as the state-owned gambling companies. The purpose of granting private gambling companies access to the Swedish market is, according to the Swedish authorities, to by a gambling license system make sure that all actors promote their business moderately. Gambling is classified as an addictive disease, and thereby burdens society both economically and from a health point of view. With a consumer-cultural approach, the study describes and contributes to a deeper understanding for the meanings’ of the representations in gambling companies’ commercials and what meaning gambling has from a cultural point of view. A qualitative content analysis of 12 commercials from gambling companies has been made. Theories in consumer-culture have been applied to analyze the empirical data. The study finds evidence that the messages communicated by the commercials differ depending on the type of gambling being marketed. Commercials promoting lotteries are misleading as they only portray winners. They sell the dream of a new identity and self-realization which can be achieved through gambling. Winning on a lottery is considered to enable more consumption which gives the individual a higher social status in a consumer society. Casino gambling and betting is promoted as an experience-based product with focus on the gambling as an activity. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that the commercials’ representations of male attributes consolidate and amplify stereotypes of masculinity and gambling as a male activity. The study shows problems with the criteria in the regulation that the gambling companies are expected to abide by. The purpose of the criteria is to ensure that marketing is characterized by moderation. However, they are vaguely formulated and leave interpretation for both consumers and the judiciary. The recipient creates connotations of the interpretations of the communicated messages that become difficult to control. The proposed criteria for maintaining moderation in gambling companies’ marketing are based on ignorance and simplified notions about how advertising really works. The study is written in Swedish.

Mais da metade da população no mundo vive em povoados e cidades. Estes lugares correspondem àqueles que têm sido imediata e diretamente influenciados pela globalização. Nesse cenário, muitas empresas multinacionais estão alterando seus portfólios de marcas em favor de marcas globais; essa situação faz com que surja o conceito de cultura de consumo global - conjunto de símbolos relacionados ao consumo e comportamentos que são comumente entendidos, mas não, necessariamente, compartilhados pelos consumidores e negócios ao redor do mundo. Isso dependeria da suscetibilidade para a cultura de consumo global (SCCG), uma característica ou traço latente dos consumidores que varia através dos indivíduos e é refletido no desejo dos consumidores ou tendências para a aquisição e uso de marcas globais. Esse traço, pela literatura revisada, compreenderia a conformidade com a tendência de consumo global, percepção de qualidade, prestígio social, responsabilidade social, credibilidade de marca, risco percebido e custo de informação armazenada. É nesse contexto, portanto, que se insere a presente tese, ao caracterizar e verificar o impacto dos traços latentes da suscetibilidade para a cultura de consumo global (SCCG) de consumidores em distintas culturas (países) na aquisição de marcas globais. A pesquisa empírica consistiu de um survey com uso de questionário pela Internet, direcionado a estudantes universitários e profissionais procedentes de carreiras de ciências empresariais em distintos países. Os dados, um total de 467 questionários válidos, foram analisados sob duas abordagens metodológicas: (1) Teoria Clássica dos Testes (TCT) e (2) Teoria de Resposta ao Item (TRI). Ambas as abordagens justificadas pelos constantes questionamentos, identificados na literatura, ao uso de técnicas estatísticas aplicadas a escalas assumidas como intervalares, mas que na realidade são ordinais (tipo Likert). Os resultados foram divididos em três partes. A primeira, ao nível do modelo de mensuração, constou a relação positiva dos construtos subjacentes ao construto de SCCG. A segunda, ao nível do modelo estrutural, verificou que o construto de SCCG antecede a intenção de compra de uma marca global. Por fim, em terceiro lugar, sob a abordagem da TRI, escolhida por apresentar maiores vantagens sobre a TCT, constatou-se que não existem efeitos invariantes nas relações do framework proposto quando comparados quatro países, mas sim existem, em alguns casos, quando comparados pares de países. De forma geral, a presente tese traz uma contribuição teórica-empírica ao propor um framework mensurável da suscetibilidade para a cultura de consumo global, que reflete o desejo dos consumidores para adquirir e usar marcas globais. A tese é finalizada com a descrição das conclusões, implicações, limitações e direcionamentos futuros sobre o framework proposto e salienta a utilização da abordagem TRI como complemento à abordagem da TCT, amplamente usada em pesquisa sobre o comportamento do consumidor. / More than half of the world population lives in towns and cities which have been directly and immediately influenced by globalization. In this scenario, many multinational companies are changing their brand portfolios in favor of global brands. This situation arises the concept of global consumer culture - a set of symbols related to consumption and behaviors that are commonly understood, but not necessarily shared, by consumers and businesses around the world. This concept depends on the susceptibility to global consumer culture (SCCG), a characteristic or latent trait of consumers that varies across individuals and is reflected in the consumers willingness or trends to purchase and consume global brands. According to the literature reviewed, this trait is related to the trend of global consumption, quality perception, social prestige, social responsibility, brand credibility, perceived risk and cost of information stored. It is in this context that this thesis will distinguish and verify the impact of latent traits of the susceptibility to global consumer culture (SCCG) of consumers from different cultures (countries) in the acquisition of global brands. For this purpose, a questionnaire was administered via the Internet, through a snowball sampling, aimed at students and business professionals from different countries. The data, a total of 467 valid questionnaires were analyzed under two approaches: (1) Classical Test Theory (CTT) and Item Response Theory (IRT). Both are justified by the constant literature questioning about the use of statistical techniques applied to scales assumed to be interval, but which in reality are ordinal (Likert). The results were divided into three parts. The first one, at the level of the measurement model, it was found a positive relationship between the subjacent constructs to the SCCG construct. The second one, at the structural model level, found that the SCCG construct precedes the global brand purchase intention. Finally, the TRI approach was chosen because it presents major advantages over the TCT, as there is no invariant effects on the framework relations proposed compared to the four countries, but there are some cases when compared to pairs of countries. Overall, this thesis provides a theoretical and empirical contribution due to a measurable framework of the susceptibility to global consumption culture, which reflects consumers\' desire to acquire and use global brands. The thesis concludes stating the findings, implications, limitations and future directions of the proposed framework and emphasizes the use of the IRT approach as a complement to the TCT approach, widely used in consumer behavior.

Submitted by JOSIANE SANTOS DE OLIVEIRA (josianeso) on 2018-12-11T11:40:22Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Douglas Araujo Klock_.pdf: 716663 bytes, checksum: 63e83c55fd9b26ff1e9beb8d58dedd7c (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-12-11T11:40:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Douglas Araujo Klock_.pdf: 716663 bytes, checksum: 63e83c55fd9b26ff1e9beb8d58dedd7c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-08-23 / Nenhuma / De forma geral, os estudos de consumo colocam a mulher sob três prismas distintos: como coadjuvante, ao considerar que suas atividades de consumo dependem do masculino; buscando condições de equidade, ao analisar o momento que ela se masculiniza para uma determinada situação de consumo; ou em posições conservadoras, ao estudar o consumo em seus papéis de mãe, esposa ou em eventos ligados ao lar. Alinhado com Pierre Bourdieu, que defende a existência de uma espécie de dominação masculina na sociedade operando por meio de mecanismos bem definidos e seus reflexos podem ser vistos no comportamento de consumo. Especificamente, a cerveja e o bar, no Brasil, são frutos dessa dinâmica preestabelecida, onde a mulher é vista como um objeto dentro de um ambiente historicamente masculinizado. O objetivo desta dissertação é, justamente, analisar o consumo feminino de cerveja em bares da cidade Porto Alegre e, ainda, verificar a possível influência de padrões sócio-historicos de consumo, descrevendo o comportamento feminino dentro do contexto estudado. Para isso, foi realizada uma pesquisa qualitativa, inspirada em estudos etnográficos, no momento do consumo de cerveja por mulheres em bares da cidade, identificando os significados e as representações do consumo feminino de cerveja. Os resultados foram estruturados em três partes para discussão. Primeiro, por meio das mitologias de mercado, que interferem no consumo. Na segunda parte, por intermédio dos discursos e o reflexo no comportamento feminino. A terceira parte traz o contexto e o produto pela lente das entrevistadas. Este estudo incentivou contribuições teóricas no avanço sobre a visão das mulheres nas pesquisas de consumo em uma posição privilegiada dentro de um ambiente masculinizado, sugerindo a existência de desdobramentos para novas investigações. Sob a ótica profissional, o estudo inspira um conjunto de sugestões práticas para tornar as experiências de consumo feminino de cerveja mais inclusivas, usando o posicionamento da marca, a atuação de mercado das empresas do setor e o surgimento de novos produtos. / In general, consumer studies place women under three different prisms: as a coadjuvant, when considering that their consumption activities depend on the masculine, seeking conditions of equity when analyzing when it masculiniza to a situation of consumption or in conservative positions, by studying consumption in their roles as mother, wife or in household-related processes. Aligned with Pierre Bourdieu who advocates the existence of a kind of male domination in society, operating through well defined mechanisms and their reflexes can be seen in consumer behavior. Specifically, beer and bar in Brazil are reflections of this pre-established dynamics, where the woman is seen as an object within a historically masculinized environment. The objective of this dissertation is to analyze the female consumption of beer in bars in the city of Porto Alegre and to verify the possible influence of socio-historical consumer patterns, describing the female behavior within the studied context. For this, a qualitative research was carried out, inspired by ethnographic studies, at the moment of the consumption of beer by women in bars of the city, identifying the meanings and the representations of the female consumption of beer. The results were structured in three parts for discussion: first through market mythologies that interfere with consumption. In the second part through the discourses and the reflex in the feminine behavior. The third part brings the context and the product through the lens of the interviewees. This study encouraged theoretical contributions in advancing the position of women in consumer studies in a privileged position within a masculinized environment, suggesting the existence of unfoldments for new studies. From a professional point of view, the study inspires a set of practical suggestions to make female beer consumption experiences more inclusive using brand positioning, market performance of companies in the sector and the emergence of new products.

Cette recherche se concentre sur les centres commerciaux et sur les expériences de magasinage produites et vécues au sein de ces espaces de vente dans différentes villes et régions du monde (Angleterre, Argentine, Brésil, France). Bien qu’il existe de nombreuses recherches sur ce sujet dans les économies développées, il en existe peu consacrées aux économies émergentes (Amérique Latine, notamment) et encore moins à des comparaisons inter-zones. Ce travail à caractère inductif et interculturel s'appuie, pour la discussion théorique des observations menées, sur les apports de la “Consumer Culture Theory”, en particulier sur les recherches sur l’expérience de magasinage transposées aux centres commerciaux, et tente de dégager des implications marketing. / This research focuses on shopping centers and on the shopping and consuming experiences produced and undergone within these retail spaces in different cities and in different regions of the world. Although significant work has been done on this topic in developed economies, significantly less has been devoted to emerging economies and even less has been done in comparative terms. This work builds on the existing Consumer Culture Theory related literature and it attempts to address current gaps in this body of work, as well as to provide managerial recommendations based on research findings. It differentiates itself from previous research on shopping centers on four main aspects: (1) By studying the phenomenon of shopping centers in Latin America, a largely unexplored domain; (2) By adding a multicultural perspective to the body of research on consumer and shopping experiences at shopping centers through the study of cases in five different cities; (3) By establishing a process of case selection to provide a priori variability of cases; (4) By comparing on ¨continuum¨ (Carù & Cova, 2007; Roederer, 2008) the full array of shopping experiences: produced, undergone and co-driven (Csaba and Askegaard, 1999; Tsai, 2010) and assessing whether these experiences vary across locations as well as the possible causes of variation.

Klädkonsumenter spelar en aktiv roll i konsumtionsutvecklingen och besitter en kraft att förändra klädkonsumtionen. Över tid har olika motreaktioner till dagens klädkonsumtion etablerats och Product-Service Systems (PSS) erbjuder alternativa konsumtionsmöjligheter. Under PSS faller kollaborativ klädkonsumtion och klädbibliotek, som syftar på byte av ägarskap eller delat ägarskap av modeprodukter. I studien presenteras Consumer Culture Theory (CCT) som riktar sig mot dynamiken i kulturella och sociala synpunkter. CCT används som teori för att identifiera kopplingar till PSS-perspektiv och huruvida klädbibliotek kan utvecklas till en bredare konsumtionskultur. Syftet med studien är att undersöka inställningen hos yngre kvinnliga klädkonsumenter till att använda klädbibliotek, genom att titta på kulturella påverkande faktorer. Genom kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer visar resultat på att interna och externa kulturella faktorer bidrar till ökad medvetenhet inom hållbarhet. Allt fler klädkonsumenter förespråkar hållbara konsumtionsalternativ, vilket innebär att klädbibliotek kan få en ökad spridning. / Clothing consumers play an active role in the consumption development and have the power to change clothing consumption. Over time, various counter reactions towards today's clothing consumption have been established and Product Service Systems (PSS) offer alternative consumption opportunities. PSS includes collaborative fashion consumption and clothing libraries, which refer to an exchange of ownership or shared ownership of fashion products. The study presents Consumer Culture Theory (CCT) that aims towards the dynamics of cultura land social perspectives. CCT is used as a theory to identify connections to the PSS perspectiveand whether clothing libraries can evolve into a wider consumer culture. The purpose of this study is to investigate the attitude of younger female clothing consumers to use clothing libraries, by looking at cultural influencing factors. Through qualitative semistructured interviews, the results show that internal and external cultural factors contribute to an increased awareness of sustainability. More and more clothing consumers advocate sustainable consumption options, which means that clothing libraries can increase its spread.

Mais da metade da população no mundo vive em povoados e cidades. Estes lugares correspondem àqueles que têm sido imediata e diretamente influenciados pela globalização. Nesse cenário, muitas empresas multinacionais estão alterando seus portfólios de marcas em favor de marcas globais; essa situação faz com que surja o conceito de cultura de consumo global - conjunto de símbolos relacionados ao consumo e comportamentos que são comumente entendidos, mas não, necessariamente, compartilhados pelos consumidores e negócios ao redor do mundo. Isso dependeria da suscetibilidade para a cultura de consumo global (SCCG), uma característica ou traço latente dos consumidores que varia através dos indivíduos e é refletido no desejo dos consumidores ou tendências para a aquisição e uso de marcas globais. Esse traço, pela literatura revisada, compreenderia a conformidade com a tendência de consumo global, percepção de qualidade, prestígio social, responsabilidade social, credibilidade de marca, risco percebido e custo de informação armazenada. É nesse contexto, portanto, que se insere a presente tese, ao caracterizar e verificar o impacto dos traços latentes da suscetibilidade para a cultura de consumo global (SCCG) de consumidores em distintas culturas (países) na aquisição de marcas globais. A pesquisa empírica consistiu de um survey com uso de questionário pela Internet, direcionado a estudantes universitários e profissionais procedentes de carreiras de ciências empresariais em distintos países. Os dados, um total de 467 questionários válidos, foram analisados sob duas abordagens metodológicas: (1) Teoria Clássica dos Testes (TCT) e (2) Teoria de Resposta ao Item (TRI). Ambas as abordagens justificadas pelos constantes questionamentos, identificados na literatura, ao uso de técnicas estatísticas aplicadas a escalas assumidas como intervalares, mas que na realidade são ordinais (tipo Likert). Os resultados foram divididos em três partes. A primeira, ao nível do modelo de mensuração, constou a relação positiva dos construtos subjacentes ao construto de SCCG. A segunda, ao nível do modelo estrutural, verificou que o construto de SCCG antecede a intenção de compra de uma marca global. Por fim, em terceiro lugar, sob a abordagem da TRI, escolhida por apresentar maiores vantagens sobre a TCT, constatou-se que não existem efeitos invariantes nas relações do framework proposto quando comparados quatro países, mas sim existem, em alguns casos, quando comparados pares de países. De forma geral, a presente tese traz uma contribuição teórica-empírica ao propor um framework mensurável da suscetibilidade para a cultura de consumo global, que reflete o desejo dos consumidores para adquirir e usar marcas globais. A tese é finalizada com a descrição das conclusões, implicações, limitações e direcionamentos futuros sobre o framework proposto e salienta a utilização da abordagem TRI como complemento à abordagem da TCT, amplamente usada em pesquisa sobre o comportamento do consumidor. / More than half of the world population lives in towns and cities which have been directly and immediately influenced by globalization. In this scenario, many multinational companies are changing their brand portfolios in favor of global brands. This situation arises the concept of global consumer culture - a set of symbols related to consumption and behaviors that are commonly understood, but not necessarily shared, by consumers and businesses around the world. This concept depends on the susceptibility to global consumer culture (SCCG), a characteristic or latent trait of consumers that varies across individuals and is reflected in the consumers willingness or trends to purchase and consume global brands. According to the literature reviewed, this trait is related to the trend of global consumption, quality perception, social prestige, social responsibility, brand credibility, perceived risk and cost of information stored. It is in this context that this thesis will distinguish and verify the impact of latent traits of the susceptibility to global consumer culture (SCCG) of consumers from different cultures (countries) in the acquisition of global brands. For this purpose, a questionnaire was administered via the Internet, through a snowball sampling, aimed at students and business professionals from different countries. The data, a total of 467 valid questionnaires were analyzed under two approaches: (1) Classical Test Theory (CTT) and Item Response Theory (IRT). Both are justified by the constant literature questioning about the use of statistical techniques applied to scales assumed to be interval, but which in reality are ordinal (Likert). The results were divided into three parts. The first one, at the level of the measurement model, it was found a positive relationship between the subjacent constructs to the SCCG construct. The second one, at the structural model level, found that the SCCG construct precedes the global brand purchase intention. Finally, the TRI approach was chosen because it presents major advantages over the TCT, as there is no invariant effects on the framework relations proposed compared to the four countries, but there are some cases when compared to pairs of countries. Overall, this thesis provides a theoretical and empirical contribution due to a measurable framework of the susceptibility to global consumption culture, which reflects consumers\' desire to acquire and use global brands. The thesis concludes stating the findings, implications, limitations and future directions of the proposed framework and emphasizes the use of the IRT approach as a complement to the TCT approach, widely used in consumer behavior.

[pt] O mercado da saúde privada no Brasil vem se transformando nos últimos anos. Ao mesmo tempo que se observou um importante crescimento do número de vidas atendidas por planos de saúde privados, houve também uma concentração de mercado em operadoras e prestadores de serviço de saúde. O crescimento no número de vidas cobertas por planos privados de saúde teve em seu principal motivo uma penetração nas camadas da população de média e baixa renda, motivados tanto pela formalização do emprego, por ser o Plano de Saúde como um dos principais benefícios concedidos pelo empregador, como também pelo aumento real da renda do trabalhador, por meio da qual ele também passa a adquirir um plano de saúde. Considerando a notoriedade de que a saúde pública brasileira carece de um melhor atendimento, não sendo a primeira opção entre os portadores de planos de saúde, esse estudo exploratório teve o intuito de analisar os simbolismos associados ao serviço de saúde suplementar por consumidores de baixa renda. Para isso, foram realizadas 21 entrevistas em profundidade com consumidores de baixa renda que possuem ou possuíram planos de saúde. A análise dos dados discute os sentimentos e simbologias associados à posse de um plano de saúde e seu status social associado ao plano de saúde, a valorização das empresas que oferecem planos de saúde entre seus benefícios corporativos e a comparação entre os planos de saúde e os serviços públicos de saúde. A partir de tal análise, foi possível chegar a algumas conclusões. / [en] The private health market in Brazil has been changing in recent years. At the same time as there was a significant increase in the number of lives served by private health insurance, there was also a market concentration in private health plans and providers. The growth in the number of lives covered by private health plans had in its main motive a penetration in the layers of the population of middle and low income, motivated by both the formalization of employment, being the Health Plan as one of the main benefits granted by the employer, but also by the real increase in the worker s income, where he also starts to personally acquire health plan. Considering the notoriety that the Brazilian public health needs a better service, not being the first option among health plan holders, this exploratory study had the purpose of analyzing the symbolisms associated with the supplementary health service by low income consumers. For this, 21 in-depth interviews were conducted with low-income consumers who have or have had health insurance plans. Data analysis discusses the feelings and symbologies associated with the possession of a health plan and its social status associated to the health plan, the appreciation of the companies that offer health plans as one of their corporate benefits and the comparison between the private health plans and the Public health services. From this analysis, it was possible to reach some conclusions.