My thesis investigates an interdisciplinary narrative of the transatlantic migration of Surrealism to Mexico during the 1940s. I focus on the ways exiled European Surrealists approached notions of Mexican material culture in a hybrid society where local traditions coexisted with a global modernity. Looking to popular and print culture outlets, I concentrate on how Mexican material culture was perceived, promoted, and marketed through a Surrealist lens. Specifically, I consider the collaboration of the German pharmaceutical company Casa Bayer, S.A. and exiled Spanish-born Surrealist Remedios Varo, who produced a series of medical advertisements during her first decade in Mexico City from 1943 to 1949. Through an examination of Varo’s work, my thesis explores the changing boundaries of fine and commercial art that resulted from the efforts of artists who participated in modern mass culture and consumerism. I investigate the significance of her Surrealist advertisements for Casa Bayer as a material culture bound on one side with fine art and the other side with the development of Mexican advertising. This case study supports my argument that Surrealism, as a transnational aesthetic, was one alternative way of demonstrating the new cultural meanings of advertising in an ambiguous, modern Mexican society. Examining Varo’s illustrations in light of the movement of western Europeans to Mexico and the country’s commitment to modern progress explains why the artist negotiated her past avant-garde sensibilities with her Mexican present. / Art History

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This dissertation is a history of the change in form and location of ballparks that explains why that change happened, when it did, and what this tells us about broader society, about hopes and fears, and about tastes and prejudices. It uses case studies of five important and trend-setting ballparks to understand what it meant to go to a major league game in the twentieth century. I examine the Polo Grounds and Yankee Stadium in the first half of the twentieth century, what I call the classic ballpark era, Dodger Stadium and the Astrodome from the 1950s through the 1980s, what I call the multi-use ballpark era, and Camden Yards in the retro-chic ballpark era—the 1990s and beyond. I treat baseball as a reflection of larger American culture that sometimes also shaped that culture. I argue that baseball games were a purportedly inclusive space that was actually exclusive and divided, but that the exclusion and division was masked by rhetoric about the game and the relative lack of explicit policies barring anyone. Instead, owners built a system that was economically and socially stratified and increasingly physically removed from lower-class and non-white city residents. Ballparks’ tiers allowed owners to give wealthier fans the option of sitting in the seats closest to home plate where they would not have to interact with poorer fans who owners pushed to the cheaper seats further from the action. That masked exclusion gave middle- and upper-class fans a space that was comfortable and safe because it was anything but truly accessible to all Americans. I also argue that owners had to change the image of the ballpark and tinker with the exclusion there as fans’ tastes and their visions of what a city should look and feel like changed. / History

My thesis looks at prescriptive beauty messages generated during 1940-1950 by using a case study of Margaret Morrison Carnegie College. I look at formal prescriptive beauty messages (advertisements, beauty manuals) and informal beauty messages (college yearbooks, newspapers, and beauty queen campaigns) to see what types of messages were created and why. I situate changes in these messages in a timeline of national culture, as it existed before, during, and after World War II. I then compare these messages by looking at which prescriptions were adapted by MMCC women as a group. I argue that these young women adopted an adapted version of the two prescriptions by following the advice given on a national level but also shaping their appearances based on what was occurring on campus. I infer that one set of prescriptions cannot exist in a vacuum; there will be a set of overarching goals to strive for, as well as a set based on standards within her immediate environment. The digital component to this project is available at www.consumingbeauty.com. / Master of Arts

Yes / The concept of acculturation has been based on the assumption of an adaptation process, whereby immigrants lose aspects of their heritage cultures in favour of aspects of a host culture (i.e. assimilation). Past research has shown that acculturation preferences result in various possibilities and influence consumption behaviour. However, the impact of social media on consumer acculturation is underexplored, although the social purpose and information sharing online is utilized for a variety of social purposes. Recent studies have shown the transformation from an offline to an online context, in which social networks play an integral part in immigrants’ communications, relationships and connections. This study merges the views from a number of leading contributors to highlight significant opportunities and challenges for future consumer acculturation research influenced by social media. The research provides insights into the impact of social media on consumer acculturation. / We are grateful to Emerging Markets Research Centre (EMaRC), Swansea i-Lab (Innovation Lab), and Department of Business at the School of Management, Swansea University for their financial support and organisation.

Yes / This special issue of the Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services aims to bring together a variety of disciplines and a scholarly community for the advancement of knowledge regarding practice and research related to digital and social media marketing. Accordingly, the special issue includes papers using a variety of theories, research methods, contexts, and conceptualizations to enrich our understanding of digital and social media marketing from consumer and practitioner perspectives. The thirteen articles accepted for inclusion in this special issue are summarised in this editorial introduction.

The use of the social media platform Instagram has increased the fastest and has given the opportunity for the phenomenon of influencer marketing to grow in the fashion industry. The increase of influencer marketing has led marketers to understand that a change of focus is needed. Much of the previous research done in the field has focused on what distinguishes or does not distinguish effective use of influencer marketing for a company. Therefore, it is interesting to study the actual role of influencers in a fashion company’s brand communication and this by studying the fashion companies’ choice of influencers and the way consumers perceive the role of influencers in a fashion company. To operationalize the study, a semiotic analysis has been applied where images have been analyzed to answer the purpose of the study from a business perspective. The results from this are the basis for the design of a qualitative method which is then followed up by a quantitative method for answering the purpose from a consumer perspective. The data was collected through the themes formulated with the support of previous research and theories. These were consumption, the consumer’s approach to influencers and belonging to a group and identity. Within the framework of these themes, the study’s findings showed that influencer marketing is beneficial to use for a company in some areas and in others not. The semiotic analysis showed with certain deficits in the match that the companies choose influencers based on the respondents’ preferences and wishes. / Användningen av det sociala mediet Instagram är den plattform som idag ökar snabbast och har gett möjlighet för fenomenet influencer marketing att växa fram främst inom modebranschen. Ökningen av influencer marketing har lett marknadsförare till att förstå att det behövs ett fokusskifte. Mycket av den tidigare forskning som gjorts inom området har fokuserat på vad som utmärker eller inte utmärker effektiv användning av influencer marketing för ett företag. Därför är det intressant att studera den faktiska rollen av influencers i ett modeföretags varumärkeskommunikation och detta genom att studera modeföretags val av influencers och på vilket sätt konsumenter uppfattar rollen av influencers i ett modeföretag. För att operationalisera studien har en semiotisk analys tillämpats där bilder analyserats för att besvara studiens syfte utifrån ett företagsperspektiv. Resultaten från denna ligger som grund för utformningen av en kvalitativ metod som sedan följs upp av en kvantitativ metod för att besvara syftet utifrån ett konsumentperspektiv. Datan samlades in genom de teman som formulerats med stöd av tidigare forskning och teorier. Dessa var konsumtion, konsumentens förhållningssätt till influencers samt grupptillhörighet och identitet. Inom ramen för dessa teman visade studiens resultat att influencer marketing är gynnsamt att använda för ett företag i vissa avseenden och i andra inte. Bildanalysen visade med vissa brister i matchningen att företagen väljer influencers utifrån respondenternas preferenser och önskemål.

I kontrast till fast fashion, som tampas med snabbt mode och massproduktion med korta ledtider har slow fashion-rörelsen kommit och anammats av flera aktörer på modescenen. Med hjälp av slow fashion vill man således inspirera till en hållbar och tidlös garderob som är genomtänkt och står stark mot modevärldens snabba svängar och därpå, bidra till att konsumtionen inte ökar i kvantitet utan i kvalitet. Problemet i hållbar konsumtion är att konsumenter ofta väljer att inte handla utifrån ett hållbart perspektiv trots att deras intention säger det. Forskning visar att det uppstår ett gap mellan vad konsumenter tänker göra och vad de faktiskt gör, ett attityds-beteende-gap. Studiens syfte är att fastställa egenskaper och undersöka kundbeteenden i samband med att handla slow fashion. Samtida forskning har presenterat gapet och dess existens, i vår studie vill vi bygga vidare på tidigare forskning och ta in teorin till slow fashion och kundbeteendet bakom ett sådant köp. Vad får en konsument att välja slow fashion produkter och vad profilerar en slow fashion konsument? För att förstå och tolka det empiriska materialet utformades en teoretisk referensram kring tre olika teorier, Attityd-beteende-gapet, Consumer culture theory och teorin kring behovsidentifikation. Studiens resultat visar att faktorer såsom identifikation, pris, tidlöshet och hög produktkvalitet påverkar konsumenten till att handla slow fashion-produkter. Vidare presenteras hur dessa faktorer prioriteras och planeras i köpprocessen. Planeringen är genomgående hos studiens alla respondenter och insikten diskuteras djupare. Slow fashion konsumeras således med ett stort engagemang och en hög pris-acceptans. / In contrast to fast fashion, which is tussled with mass production and with short lead times, the slow fashion movement has arrived and been adopted by several actors on the fashion scene. Slow fashion wants to inspire with a sustainable and timeless wardrobe that is well thought out and stands strong against the fashion world's quick turns and then, contribute so the consumption is not increasing in quantity but in quality. The problem in sustainable consumption is that consumers often choose not to act on the basis of a sustainable perspective even though their intention says it. Research show that there is a gap between what consumers intend to do and what they actually do, so called attitude-behavior gap. The aim of this study is to determine characteristics and examine customer behavior in connection with shopping slow fashion. Contemporary research has provided support for the gap and its existence, in our study we want to develop that result into further analysis. We want to investigate the theory about the attitude-behavior gap in contrast to slow fashion and its customer behavior and the reasons behind a purchase.Why does a consumer choose to buy slow fashion products and what is the profile of a slow fashion consumer? To understand and interpret the empirical material from this study, a theoretical framework was designed around three different theories, the Attitude-behavior gap, the Consumer culture theory and the theory of needs identification.The result of this study shows that reasons such as identification, price, timelessness and high product quality affect the consumer to buy slow fashion products. Further, it shows how these reasons will get prioritized and planned in a consumer journey within the buying process. The planning itself is through all stages by every respondent and the insights will be discussed further. Slow fashion are therefore consumed with engagement and a strong price acceptance. The study will continue in Swedish