The power dynamics of consumerism is an important aspect of contemporary consumer culture. Within the field of marketing and consumption, consumer culture theory (CCT) tends to understand power in terms of agency, the ability of consumers to emancipate from a market infused by the culture of consumerism. As such, CCT assumes a repressive hypothesis of power, as if consumerism was an external reality from which agentic consumers can escape by acts of dialectical opposition. In contrast, through a Foucauldian approach, the present study emphasizes the productive side of power, arguing that consumerism operates beyond dialectical oppositions to constitute consumption at different levels of scale – at the macro, meso and micro levels. More specifically, through qualitative data generated from official documents and interviews with state agency officials, consumers, and food manufacturers and retailers, the study undertakes a discourse analysis of date labeling in the food market. In accounting for the regulative, organizational and performative dimensions of consumption, the case of date labeling makes it possible to study consumerism at the intersection of the state, business and consumers. The study argues that consumption is constituted through a multiplicity of mundane power struggles that arise in the wake of date labeling. As such, it extends previous approaches by suggesting an extra-dialectical theory of consumer culture. Further, it argues that date labeling reinforces the mind/body dualism of consumerism by privileging cognition and choice at the cost of the human embodiment and sensory perception. It concludes that empowered performativity does not represent a negation of power, but that it emerges as a product of power and the consumerist attempt to constitute effective, predictable, responsible and controlled consumption. However, future research should continue studying the dominant institutional conditions of particular consumption contexts.

In 1881, an Ontario-based group known as the Temperance Colonization Society began looking towards the Canadian West with a speculative eye. Interested in acquiring tracts of land from the Canadian Government, the Temperance Colonization Society hoped to one day establish a new colony free from the temptations of alcohol and the troubles associated with older colonies. By 1884, a settlement was established along the south shore of the South Saskatchewan River. This was the beginning of Saskatoon.<p> As Saskatoon grew from a small settlement founded on temperance ideals to a recognized municipal corporation, the meaning of the material culture associated with this transition also changed. Two archaeological sites pertaining to this transition, the Marr Residence at 326 11th Street East (FaNp-5) and the 11th Street Privy site (FaNp-31), currently comprise the only excavated privy assemblages in the city and hold rich potential for shedding light on urban consumption behaviour at the turn of the 20th century. This study will analyze the archaeological assemblages recovered from these excavations under the scope of consumer behaviour. By orienting the essence of this study towards an archaeology of consumerism, information regarding the dimensions of everyday life in the Saskatoon area at the turn of the 20th Century can be ascertained.

The rise of ethical consumerism has contributed to that organisations increasingly include CSR policies in their business and marketing strategies. Consumers want to make more ethically based purchasing decisions, and are guided by organisations’ ethical claims and by product labels. However, there are many different ethical organisations and labels on the market today and consumers find it difficult to separate them and know what each of them stands for. Ethical consumerism stems from green consumerism and has contributed to the development and rise of the Fair Trade movement. The general idea of Fair Trade is to support producers in poor countries, and by purchasing Fair Trade products consumers can contribute to realising the Fair Trade objectives. Previous research has identified a gap between consumers’ attitudes and actual behaviour regarding Fair Trade consumption. Consumers clearly express a positive attitude towards the Fair Trade movement and Fair Trade products, but their attitudes are not reflected in actual purchases. Researchers suggest that the gap could depend on lack of information and proof that Fair Trade actually contribute to better working and living conditions of producers in poor countries, but this had not yet been investigated. Our main purpose with this degree project is to identify factors that could affect the attitude-behaviour gap, and more precisely how access to information affects the existing gap. Our conclusions and recommendations are providing valuable insights for Fair Trade and other ethical organisations and businesses that are part of ethical value chains. We therefore formulated the following research question: In what ways can Fair Trade certification organisations and retailers diminish consumers’ attitude-behaviour gap in Fair Trade consumption? In order to answer our research question, we formulated the following four sub-purposes; to investigate the dialogue between Fairtrade and consumers; to investigate how Fairtrade and retailers communicate and share information with each other; investigate retailers’ expected and perceived responsibility as part of the Fairtrade value chain; identify what factors consumers believe are important regarding Fairtrade and their Fairtrade consumption. Our study is delimited to Sweden and is based on content analysis of communication between Fairtrade Sweden, consumers and retailers, on Fairtrade Sweden's Facebook page. The study has both qualitative and quantitative characteristics, although focus is on qualitative data analysis. We collected a total number of 1671 posts and comments, where 357 were published by Fairtrade, 1215 by consumers and 99 by retailers and other businesses. All data were collected and categorised manually and copied into an excel sheet where each post and comment were coded. The analysis and discussion of our empirical findings are further based on theory within the fields of Fair Trade consumption, ethical and political consumerism, online communication, retail marketing and branding. The main findings from this research are that consumers view retailers as an important actor in the Fair Trade value chain. Consumers put high value in communication and cooperation between Fair Trade and retailers, but these two actors have not realised the advantages and opportunities of it. We have also observed that consumers seek to maximise utility and that the existing attitude-behaviour gap thereby is influenced by several factors. Branding and labelling within Fair Trade consumption are important for consumers' purchasing decisions. Although, we have observed that product brands that have the Fairtrade mark are perceived as more important than the Fairtrade brand itself. Consumers are loyal to brands and do not show a willingness to switch brands to buy a Fairtrade marked product. Moreover, Fair Trade consumption is influenced by other ethical and environmental concerns. Consumers want Fair Trade organisations to be ethical and also environmentally friendly at all stages and throughout the entire value chain.

In 1881, an Ontario-based group known as the Temperance Colonization Society began looking towards the Canadian West with a speculative eye. Interested in acquiring tracts of land from the Canadian Government, the Temperance Colonization Society hoped to one day establish a new colony free from the temptations of alcohol and the troubles associated with older colonies. By 1884, a settlement was established along the south shore of the South Saskatchewan River. This was the beginning of Saskatoon.<p> As Saskatoon grew from a small settlement founded on temperance ideals to a recognized municipal corporation, the meaning of the material culture associated with this transition also changed. Two archaeological sites pertaining to this transition, the Marr Residence at 326 11th Street East (FaNp-5) and the 11th Street Privy site (FaNp-31), currently comprise the only excavated privy assemblages in the city and hold rich potential for shedding light on urban consumption behaviour at the turn of the 20th century. This study will analyze the archaeological assemblages recovered from these excavations under the scope of consumer behaviour. By orienting the essence of this study towards an archaeology of consumerism, information regarding the dimensions of everyday life in the Saskatoon area at the turn of the 20th Century can be ascertained.

Hong Kong¡¦s return of sovereignty to China was the focus of world attention, especially how to combine the two different systems in political, economical and social fields, etc. Although Deng Xiao-ping excogitated ¡§One Country, Two systems¡¨, it didn¡¦t figure out all problems. After many years¡¦ separation, Hong Kong was still impressed by the historical miserable memories and the fears of the unknown future. ¡§One Country, Two systems¡¨ perhaps offered an initiative compromise. But the people in Hong Kong were still forcing to face the immediate clash of their identities. The aim of this thesis is to discuss the people in Hong Kong how to deal with the relations of Hong Kong and China, including the feelings of ¡§self/the other¡¨ and ¡§superior/inferior¡¨. Not only the Hong Kong's developments of political freedom, economy and the standards of living are more advanced than China, but also the emergence of a commonality shared by the population as a whole in Hong Kong. How to fill the gap between both of them is an important issue of the people in Hong Kong. It seems a mess when we talk about the identities in Hong Kong, since ¡§the Chinese Citizen¡¨ and ¡§the Hong Kong Citizen¡¨ are thought conflicting. The global age also brings the new choice to people in Hong Kong, and especially the value behind the globalization is brand-new idea of identities may reduce their patriotism. As the world¡¦s economy shifts so immediately, whether Hong Kong bends the knee to China for the aids is also the topic we want reach in this thesis. In the article, we try to explain the relations between Hong Kong and China under the age of the globalization by the approach of postmodernal identity. At the same tome, we regard ¡§the Chinese Citizen¡¨ and ¡§the Hong Kong Citizen¡¨ as the ¡§national¡¨ and ¡§urban¡¨ identity in different layers. And we also suppose the people in Hong Kong deal their own choices of identities by the ¡¨consumer culture¡¨ which comes along with the global society. As the respect of postmodernal identity reveals: the identification is always in the status of¡§becoming¡¨along with different environmental settings.

The research subject in the study is conducted on the members of Consumers¡¦ Foundation, and the study intends to realize their behavior intention of ethical consumerism. The study derives from the theory of planned behavior of Ajzen, by utilizing questionnaires and surveys to verify those pre-factor variables for the inclusion of personal aspect toward the behavior (AT), subject norm (SN), and perceived behavior control (PBC), and those post-factor variables are identified by personal behavior intention of ethical consumerism. Ultimately statistical analysis is performed based on information obtained from the survey. 75 copies of valid questionnaires are acquired from those 100 published, among them 23 copies from males (30.7%) and 52 from female (69.3%) in the study. The statistical analysis finds that the factors which affect the members to take action in behavior intention of ethical consumerism include ¡§subject norm (SN, £]=0.471)¡¨, ¡§attitude toward the behavior (AT, £]=0.454)¡¨, and ¡§perceived behavior control (PBC, £]=0.387)¡¨ and that subject norm being the most influential. Furthermore, the result also finds the participants agree on the following conclusions: 1. Ethical consumerism manifests to be most effective in minimizing the damage to the natural environment. 2. Organizations of consumer protection concur on ethical consumerism and it is executed based on their opinions and inputs. 3. Relevant information related to ethical consumerism can be difficult to acquire; therefore, the key factor is rather informational rather than financial. 4. Information on ethical consumerism is obtainable from organization of consumer protection, magazines, periodicals and experts. Nevertheless, 11.7% of the surveyed participants are unfamiliar with the terminology and practice. 5. The anticipation of willingness to adopt ethical consumerism will elevate.

<p>The political development in the Western world is transforming. Political party participation decreases as well as other non-profit associations. This individualistic development is described as a threat to democracy. Nevertheless, some scholars argue that the political participation is a transformation into a new type of participation that instead could strengthen the democracy.</p><p>The political parties are the foundation of the democratic system and they receive their power by representing the citizens in the decision making process. Yet, the parties transform from organisations with a close linkage to their core groups, to catch-all organisations that aim to maximise votes. Since the goal for parties is to attain as much power as possible, new parties and other political actors have effectively been kept out of political system.</p><p>The individualistic development is observed through the political consumerism in this thesis. The political consumption is described as a political activity where consuming is used as the mean to impact. To actively select products that represent certain values influence companies to work for those values. It is a free individualistic movement without rules. If asked to describe the typical political consumer it would be a young female with a higher education and thus, an income above average. The political consumer prefers to be involved in issues of personal interest rather than broad party politics. Companies are believed to contain a great deal of power in society and must therefore also obtain responsibility.</p><p>The problems associated to political consumerism are connected to poor information. Citizens may make wrong political decisions since the information presented to them is poor or faulty. Another problem is the lack of tools to measure political consumption; we do not know how important it is in comparison to other political activities.</p><p>It is difficult to compare traditional politics with political consumerism since they target different issues and work in different ways. However, political consumerism is not a threat to traditional politics and should instead be recognised as a compliment.</p> / <p>Den politiska utvecklingen i västvärlden håller på att förändras. Deltagandet i politiska partier och ideella organisationer minskar och denna individualistiska trend anses vara ett hot mot demokratin. Dock finns det forskare som hävdar att det politiska deltagandet påvisar en förändring till en ny typ av deltagande som kan stärka det demokratiska systemet.</p><p>De politiska partierna utgör basen för det demokratiska systemet. Partiets makt grundas i att representera medborgarna i beslutsprocessen. Trots det utvecklas partierna från organisationer med en klar koppling till sina kärnväljare till röstmaximerande organisationer som vill attrahera den breda massan. Eftersom partiernas mål är att få så många röster som möjligt har nya partier och andra politiska aktörer effektivt kvarhållits utanför systemet.</p><p>I den här uppsatsen observeras den individualistiska trenden genom politisk konsumtion. Den politiska konsumtionen beskrivs som en politisk aktivitet där konsumtion används som påverkningsmetod. Att aktivt välja produkter som representerar vissa värden påverkar företag att jobba mot dessa värden. Det är en fri och individualistisk rörelse utan klara regler. Den typiska polisiska konsumenten är en ung kvinna med högre utbildning och en inkomst över genomsnittet. De politiska konsumenterna föredrar att involvera sig i frågor av personligt intresse istället för bred partipolitik. Företag anses ha mycket i samhället och måste därför också ta ett ansvar.</p><p>Problemen med politisk konsumtion är kopplade till dålig information. Medborgare kan ta felaktiga politiska beslut när den disponibla informationen är dålig eller oriktig. Ett annat problem är att det saknas verktyg att mäta politisk konsumtion. Vi vet inte hur viktigt fenomenet är i förhållande till andra politiska aktiviteter.</p><p>Det är svårt att jämföra politisk konsumtion med traditionell politik eftersom de jobbar på olika sätt mot olika frågor. Hursomhelst, politisk konsumtion är inte ett hot mot traditionell politik utan bör snarare ses som ett komplement.</p>

In this thesis, I provide an analysis of 1960s American popular culture by examining Playboy, "The Playboy Philosophy," Cosmopolitan, and Sex and the Single Girl. These cultural artifacts furthered the feminist movement by challenging gender structures and sexuality. I discuss how these publications focused on the advancement of the individual through careerism, consumerism and sexuality. These publications assisted in challenging and breaking down various aspects of gender and sexual boundaries and assisted in reworking social limitations that kept women from advancing themselves outside of the pre-set gender roles of domesticity. Regardless of the traditional feminist critique of Hugh Hefner and Helen Gurley Brown, this thesis argues that in fact these popular culture icons and their publications worked to re-negotiate sexual liberation, which assisted in furthering women's liberation. This thesis analyzes the writings and advertisements of these publications and shows that Hugh Hefner and Helen Gurley Brown have positive correlations to feminist discourse.

For the last several years a great deal of research has been carried out under the general heading of Consumer Behaviour. Researchers are studying consumer purchasing behaviour in all of its many facets and a great deal of additional highly useful information has become available to marketing scholars and practitioners. Generally these researchers have utilized as a basis for their research one of the current models of consumer behaviour as proposed by the recognized scholars in the field. These models although different contain many similarities. They all are multi-dimensional, containing many elements which interact to Influence the consumer's decision making process. (A more thorough discussion of the various models occurs later. ) Most of the recent research projects have been concentrated on one of the elements, in a logical way, in order to extend the amount of knowledge available concerning the element and how It interacts with the remaining aspects of the model. Inasmuch as the majority of this research is being carried on by researchers in the United States (U. S. ) utilizing the marketing/economic/sociocultural environment of the U. S., it is the writer's contention that not all of these research findings are automatically applicable or useful on a world-wide basis. Indeed, if one is concerned with a different country, for example the United Kingdom (U. K. ) or Canada, in which there exists a differing marketing, economic or sociocultural environment, then one must view the U. S. oriented research results not with scepticism but at least with some apprehension and with a questioning attitude. It is this attitude which led the writer to question the lack of concern and therefore research pertaining to certain aspects of the element "social influences". One of the multi-dimensional aspects mentioned above which, although not uniformly labelled in the various models of consumer behaviour, does appear to be common to these models, is "social influences". The major elements which the writer has identified within this "social influences" dimension are social class, family and culture. Although different researchers have utilized variations in the definitions, and therefore the sub-elements which are included in each of these three elements, it is a truism that a transposed cultural background (or ethnic background) i. e. immigration, is either not considered, or at best briefly noted and thereafter ignored or overlooked. - This lack of references to immigration and the apparent little amount of thought given to the various ethnic backgrounds represented by immigrants disturbed the researcher so for the purposes of this study it was decided to concentrate on ethnic background in order to clearly establish the validity of considering ethnic background as a major social influence of consumer purchasing behaviour, or to validate the position taken by other U. S. oriented researchers, I. e. that ethnic background is not a major influence on consumer purchasing behaviour and can be overlooked. Thus this study is primarily concerned with only two aspects of the models of consumer behaviour: family purchasing and culture. The study is not concerned with the culture in place in the environment but instead with transposed cultures via immigration.

Green marketing has been a main topic of discussion for several years. Most studies conducted in this area have focused on the benefits of green marketing for a normal company. However, no studies have considered the effectiveness of green marketing by a negative brand like BP. This study aims to reveal the effectiveness of green marketing after pollution. An experiment was conducted to evaluate participants’ attitudes toward the marketing strategy. Although the results were not significant, some interesting findings were revealed and are addressed at the end of the paper. They imply that individuals with green awareness are less influenced by both green marketing and an economic-assistance strategy in BP’s case, compared to individuals with lower green awareness. Overall, all participants in this study preferred the economic-assistance strategy, which means that green marketing is not effective for a corporation involved in pollution issues. / text