The internationalization of marketing activities is a well-known and growing phenomenon. The companies that are unable to pursue global opportunities are at high risk since it could eventually lead them to lose their domestic markets. The failure of the company often results from not being able to meet with culturally based needs and wants of local consumers (Melewar et al., 2003). Taiwan represents a specific consumer culture with a strong persistence of traditional Confucian values (Ahuvia & Wong, 1998). Understanding the reasons for the success and the failure of foreign companies on specific markets may represent a great learning opportunity which may bring a competitive advantage for future entrants. The main goal of this study was to find out the reasons for the failure of Skoda - an internationally successful and growing Czech automaker ¡V in Taiwan through the analysis of its marketing strategy. Consumer culture theory and country-of-origin effects are used in this study to explain the consumer¡¦s behavior. The qualitative approach and case study methodology was carried out. Face-to-face interviews with Skoda dealers, focus group with Skoda customers and the observation were the main sources of data. The research suggested the increased importance of the brand prestige and luxurious materials and high-tech electronics for Taiwanese consumers. Internet was found to be the important source of pre-purchase information. There was found a low knowledge of consumers about Czech Republic as a country-of-origin of automotive products. German technology had a positive impact on automotive product¡¦s evaluations. Skoda marketing strategy was described and evaluated based on the marketing mix conception. The inadequate positioning, insufficient promotion and a low emphasis given on brand building, were identified as the general reason for Skoda¡¦s failure.

Background: Globalisation is changing the world and our daily lives are governed by products and images originating from other countries and other cultures. Globalisation influences consumer culture and different authors have argued for the emergence of global consumer culture. However, previous literature de-emphasizes what consumer beliefs about the global consumer culture are and how people who believe that they are global try to construct themselves as global in terms of consumption. What are their motives of being global and what kind of needs and wants do they cover by being global consumers? Purpose: To explore and illustrate how consumers try to construct their global selves through consumption. Method: An abductive, qualitative research approach with a combination of exploratory and descriptive research design was chosen. Primary data collection through semi-structured in-depth interviews was conducted among 15 respondents who tried to construct their global selves through consumption. These consumers were selected through a non-probability sampling and interviews took place in Jönköping, Sweden. Conclusion: Consumers try to construct their global selves in a variety of ways, the most common ones are through travelling and engaging in cultural experiences, consuming products from specific countries for certain reasons, and by observing the market as one whole global market, thus not limiting themselves into the boundaries of specific countries, regions or continents. This consumption is then grounded on myths and beliefs that they have accumulated about global consumer culture while gaining experience in different parts of the world. These myths and beliefs are however based on their perceptions towards global consumer culture, not objective reality per se.

This thesis critically explores the role of consumer culture in young women’s understanding of self. Drawing on media and cultural studies literature as well as post-structuralist and critical perspectives, this study asks: how does consumer culture guide or influence a young woman’s way-of-being in everyday life? Despite arguments that consumer culture, underpinned by neoliberal principles of personal responsibility and individualism, has become the institution of reference for young women, consumer research on the experiences of women, and from feminist perspectives, is generally sparse. Moreover, claims that consumer culture may covertly subjugate young women by encouraging practices of self regulation are in contention with consumer research that emphasises consumption as a means of self-expression and agency. Therefore, a qualitative, feminist study was conducted in which, over 18 months, fifteen women, aged 20 to 34, engaged in multiple in-depth interviews. The data generation process typically consisted of four interviews over a nine-month period: the first interview covering life history and background was followed by an in-home ‘show-and-tell’ interview about the participant’s ‘stuff’. The third interview addressed participants’ engagement with digital technologies also through a ‘show-and-tell’ approach and the final interview was semi-structured, addressing themes emerging from previous interviews. This generated 50 interviews lasting two hours on average, as well as data from observation, photographs and engagement with social network sites. From a critical thematic analysis, four significant findings emerged. Firstly, in relation to being a woman, participants felt pressure to ‘have it all’ in terms of both traditional (e.g., getting married, raising children, being attractive) and progressive (e.g., achieving career success) ideals. Whilst some disagreed that women continue to be subjugated, most participants experienced a sense of mounting pressure and expectations compared to men and subscribed to neoliberal principles of personal responsibility in combatting gender inequality. Secondly, participants reflexively experienced being a consumer as an unavoidable, often burdensome and anxiety-provoking position that encouraged the making of the self through appearance, as well as adherence to hegemonic feminine ideals. A consumer orientation was further reinforced by increasingly pervasive digital spaces, particularly social media, infused with advertising and consumption. From this, a third finding emerged related to the understanding of self: participants often experienced or expressed a sense of self as a task, an individualistic project for which they felt responsible. Constantly comparing themselves to others to benchmark the project of the self, participants worked to continually craft a story of success and agency despite unpredictability of the life course and contradictory events sometimes conspiring. Moreover, participants who did not feel they had achieved career goals placed greater emphasis on crafting an ideal appearance. The fourth finding addresses the importance of others in understanding the self. Rather than experiencing an ‘identity’ as formed individually, participants looked to others (e.g., family, peers, media, ideologies) to understand the self. Focusing on the opinions of others was associated with anxiety, which varied in degree but was part of all participant accounts. This study suggests that consumer culture is indeed an institution of reference for young women as they experience a sense of self through consumption practices, increasingly digitally mediated. In this sense, the findings align with theorisations in consumer research. However, for the participants of this study, the experience of living the subject position ‘consumer’ is anxiety provoking, particularly in light of postfeminist, neoliberal discourses that encourage experiencing the self as a ‘project’ for which the individual is responsible. As reflected in the data, a self-as-project orientation triggered anxiety given disjointedness between the desire to manage or control the self fostered by dominant discourses, and the impossibility of doing so as reflected by lived experience. This positioning engendered alienation from the self and therefore anxiety that was further sparked by increasing individualism and competition with others; feelings of shame and envy; and a forward-looking temporal positioning. Therefore, findings suggest that consumer research’s conceptualisations of ‘identity’ as a ‘project’ in which individuals can express themselves through marketplace resources is problematic, if not further perpetuating the subjugation of women by rendering them as ‘free’ to consume their way into being. This calls into question individual agency and the role of cultural influences in the making of subjects. Therefore, findings suggest that, from an emancipatory perspective, consumer research examining processes of subject constitution might be more productive to understandings ‘identity’ and the ‘self’ in a particular space and time, with attention to implicit power relations.

Este trabalho tem o propósito de compreender uma atividade de consumo pelas lentes da globalização. Em específico, volta-se às práticas de alimentação doméstica e à maneira como esta reage a processos globalizadores. O foco pretendido decorre da crença de que é pertinente se falar a respeito de comida a partir do domínio discursivo do “global”, assumindo-se que muitas das mudanças que ocorrem nas práticas de alimentação estão de alguma forma relacionadas aos movimentos da globalização. Conforme destacam Ger e Belk (1996, p. 295), “a dialética entre globalização e localização não pode ser compreendida a menos que se conheça a forma como o local experimenta essa dialética”, ou seja, a maneira como as forças globais e locais são sentidas no dia-a-dia das pessoas. Para tanto, optou-se por uma perspectiva microssociológica a partir do estudo de oito famílias pelo período de nove meses. O método empregado seguiu a tradição interpretativa da pesquisa do consumidor (i.e. THOMPSON et al., 1989; ARNOULD, 1998) e é inspirado tanto na etnografia quanto na fenomenologia. Diversos procedimentos de coleta e produção de dados foram aplicados, envolvendo observações, entrevistas em profundidade, entrevistas autodirigidas com imagens, diários de alimentação e análise de fotografias. Apesar de haver teses mais alarmistas acerca da homogeneização dos hábitos alimentares, os resultados aqui apresentados indicam que a globalização proporciona recursos simbólicos para que diferentes significados sejam produzidos e negociados no dia a dia do jantar doméstico. Processos globalizadores penetram nesses jantares e são incorporados principalmente via processos de apropriação e creolização, sem necessariamente ameaçar práticas mais arraigadas relacionadas às famílias de origem e à cultura local. / This work aims to understand consumption activities through the lens of globalization. In particular, turns to the eating practices at home and how it reacts to globalizing processes. The focus of this work stems from the belief that it is appropriate to talk about food from the discursive domain of the "global", assuming that many of the changes that occur in eating practices are somehow related to globalization movements. According to Ger and Belk (1996, p. 295), "the dialectic of globalization-localization cannot be understood unless we begin with how the local experience that dialectic", that is, the way global and local forces are felt in daily lives. To this end, I opted for a microsociological perspective through the study of eight families for a nine months period. The method used followed the interpretive consumer research tradition (eg. Thompson et al. 1989; Arnould, 1998) and is inspired both in ethnography and phenomenology. Several procedures for collecting and producing data were applied, involving observations, in-depth interviews, autodriving interviews with pictures, eating diaries and photographs analysis. Although more alarmist arguments about the homogenization of eating habits, results indicate that globalization provides resources for the production and negotiations of different symbolic meanings in everyday domestic dinners. Globalizing processes penetrate these dinners and are incorporated mainly through processes of appropriation and creolization, without necessarily threatening the most solid practices related to parent’s families and local culture.

Este trabalho tem o propósito de compreender uma atividade de consumo pelas lentes da globalização. Em específico, volta-se às práticas de alimentação doméstica e à maneira como esta reage a processos globalizadores. O foco pretendido decorre da crença de que é pertinente se falar a respeito de comida a partir do domínio discursivo do “global”, assumindo-se que muitas das mudanças que ocorrem nas práticas de alimentação estão de alguma forma relacionadas aos movimentos da globalização. Conforme destacam Ger e Belk (1996, p. 295), “a dialética entre globalização e localização não pode ser compreendida a menos que se conheça a forma como o local experimenta essa dialética”, ou seja, a maneira como as forças globais e locais são sentidas no dia-a-dia das pessoas. Para tanto, optou-se por uma perspectiva microssociológica a partir do estudo de oito famílias pelo período de nove meses. O método empregado seguiu a tradição interpretativa da pesquisa do consumidor (i.e. THOMPSON et al., 1989; ARNOULD, 1998) e é inspirado tanto na etnografia quanto na fenomenologia. Diversos procedimentos de coleta e produção de dados foram aplicados, envolvendo observações, entrevistas em profundidade, entrevistas autodirigidas com imagens, diários de alimentação e análise de fotografias. Apesar de haver teses mais alarmistas acerca da homogeneização dos hábitos alimentares, os resultados aqui apresentados indicam que a globalização proporciona recursos simbólicos para que diferentes significados sejam produzidos e negociados no dia a dia do jantar doméstico. Processos globalizadores penetram nesses jantares e são incorporados principalmente via processos de apropriação e creolização, sem necessariamente ameaçar práticas mais arraigadas relacionadas às famílias de origem e à cultura local. / This work aims to understand consumption activities through the lens of globalization. In particular, turns to the eating practices at home and how it reacts to globalizing processes. The focus of this work stems from the belief that it is appropriate to talk about food from the discursive domain of the "global", assuming that many of the changes that occur in eating practices are somehow related to globalization movements. According to Ger and Belk (1996, p. 295), "the dialectic of globalization-localization cannot be understood unless we begin with how the local experience that dialectic", that is, the way global and local forces are felt in daily lives. To this end, I opted for a microsociological perspective through the study of eight families for a nine months period. The method used followed the interpretive consumer research tradition (eg. Thompson et al. 1989; Arnould, 1998) and is inspired both in ethnography and phenomenology. Several procedures for collecting and producing data were applied, involving observations, in-depth interviews, autodriving interviews with pictures, eating diaries and photographs analysis. Although more alarmist arguments about the homogenization of eating habits, results indicate that globalization provides resources for the production and negotiations of different symbolic meanings in everyday domestic dinners. Globalizing processes penetrate these dinners and are incorporated mainly through processes of appropriation and creolization, without necessarily threatening the most solid practices related to parent’s families and local culture.

Este trabalho tem o propósito de compreender uma atividade de consumo pelas lentes da globalização. Em específico, volta-se às práticas de alimentação doméstica e à maneira como esta reage a processos globalizadores. O foco pretendido decorre da crença de que é pertinente se falar a respeito de comida a partir do domínio discursivo do “global”, assumindo-se que muitas das mudanças que ocorrem nas práticas de alimentação estão de alguma forma relacionadas aos movimentos da globalização. Conforme destacam Ger e Belk (1996, p. 295), “a dialética entre globalização e localização não pode ser compreendida a menos que se conheça a forma como o local experimenta essa dialética”, ou seja, a maneira como as forças globais e locais são sentidas no dia-a-dia das pessoas. Para tanto, optou-se por uma perspectiva microssociológica a partir do estudo de oito famílias pelo período de nove meses. O método empregado seguiu a tradição interpretativa da pesquisa do consumidor (i.e. THOMPSON et al., 1989; ARNOULD, 1998) e é inspirado tanto na etnografia quanto na fenomenologia. Diversos procedimentos de coleta e produção de dados foram aplicados, envolvendo observações, entrevistas em profundidade, entrevistas autodirigidas com imagens, diários de alimentação e análise de fotografias. Apesar de haver teses mais alarmistas acerca da homogeneização dos hábitos alimentares, os resultados aqui apresentados indicam que a globalização proporciona recursos simbólicos para que diferentes significados sejam produzidos e negociados no dia a dia do jantar doméstico. Processos globalizadores penetram nesses jantares e são incorporados principalmente via processos de apropriação e creolização, sem necessariamente ameaçar práticas mais arraigadas relacionadas às famílias de origem e à cultura local. / This work aims to understand consumption activities through the lens of globalization. In particular, turns to the eating practices at home and how it reacts to globalizing processes. The focus of this work stems from the belief that it is appropriate to talk about food from the discursive domain of the "global", assuming that many of the changes that occur in eating practices are somehow related to globalization movements. According to Ger and Belk (1996, p. 295), "the dialectic of globalization-localization cannot be understood unless we begin with how the local experience that dialectic", that is, the way global and local forces are felt in daily lives. To this end, I opted for a microsociological perspective through the study of eight families for a nine months period. The method used followed the interpretive consumer research tradition (eg. Thompson et al. 1989; Arnould, 1998) and is inspired both in ethnography and phenomenology. Several procedures for collecting and producing data were applied, involving observations, in-depth interviews, autodriving interviews with pictures, eating diaries and photographs analysis. Although more alarmist arguments about the homogenization of eating habits, results indicate that globalization provides resources for the production and negotiations of different symbolic meanings in everyday domestic dinners. Globalizing processes penetrate these dinners and are incorporated mainly through processes of appropriation and creolization, without necessarily threatening the most solid practices related to parent’s families and local culture.

Diploma thesis Construstion of Identity in the Emotional Culture deals with possible changes in the construction of identity of man after the fall of the millenium. The thesis stems from Eva Illouz's description of society which states that our present society is unprecedently emotional and rational at the same time. The goal of this thesis is to advocate the intitial statement, that in this organization of society the main source for construction of identity is no longer the consumption of material goods as it put notable social theorists since the second half of the twentienth century. I do not state that this remarkable era is fully over now, but I would like to point out, that consumption of material goods is loosing its strength in the process of identity construction due to the overall increasing living standards and mainly due to the fragmentarization of lifestyles. Considering the unprecedently high level of penetration of our society with emotion I consider them to be the new source of identity creation.

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.

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