This study examines the organization, function, and role of public relations in Neiman-Marcus Fortnights. Fortnight is an annual October extravaganza combining cultural and community education with merchandising. Information was gathered by interviews with three people associated with Fortnight public relations. The public relations department follows general goals in planning Fortnight public relations activities. Audiences are not restricted. Public relations responsibilities are publicity, press relations, guest relations, community relations, and special events. Evaluations are made with respect to public relations activities of the previous Fortnight. Though public relations is of secondary importance to merchandising, the effectiveness of Fortnight activities would be improved with established objectives, specific audiences, and a formal means of evaluation.

The purpose of the study was to investigate teenage girls' attitudes toward fashion advertising and media. The study also sought to determine the influence of class enrollment and employment on attitudes toward fashion advertising. The data were collected by questionnaires administered to 121 high school girls enrolled in child development and fashion design major study classes. Descriptive statistics were computed along with a t-test for the difference between means for independent samples. Teenagers were found to possess many positive attitudes toward fashion advertising and to view print advertising less negatively than broadcast advertising. A highly significant difference was found between attitudes toward fashion advertising and class enrollment. In addition, a significant difference was found between attitudes toward fashion advertising and employment.

My work is my critique of a generation that is dependent upon the conveniences of consumerism. Consumerism in our culture is almost inescapable. I do not condemn or celebrate this way of life because it is the only one I know. There are many things about consumerism that I hate such as the waste it creates or class system it creates. At the same time I enjoy the ease and the comforts that it allows us. This is one of the problems with our generation; we do not take a stand either way because we are so dependent on consumerism. No matter how self reliant we may think we are our culture still desires consumerism.

The graduation thesis Magazines for women today: a shop-window of consumerism? focuses on analysis of editorials in periodicals Blesk pro ženy and ELLE. I analyzed the year 2009 by using qualitative content analysis. In this thesis I am trying to find out how much these editorials are engaged in consumerism and how much they are appealing to the consumer life style. I was also interested in values connected with consumerism and in the ways the consumer life style is being tied in the editorials. By using semiotic theories, sociology and critical media studies literature I am decoding that the pleasurable images and editorials are primarily rooted in the economic system of consumer goods distribution. This thesis is devoted to anyone who is interested in women's magazines and their economic background.

In Song of Solomon, published during a transitional moment in the history of U.S. feminism, Toni Morrison portrays the destructive forces of hegemonic female beauty standards, materialism, and consumerism in a Midwestern African-American community from the 1930s to the 1960s. She reveals a hierarchy in which men define standards of beauty and respectability that enforce white bourgeois ideals. Focusing on five female characters, this thesis examines this hierarchy; the agents who maintain it; and the ways in which it affects female characters who accept and/or reject it. While one of the characters, Hagar, perishes in her attempt to live up to normative beauty standards, her cousin Corinthians is liberated when she leaves her oppressive father and moves in with a working class male partner. Morrison thus creates a viable alternative to strict adherence to materialist values, while representing the destructive force of oppressive beauty norms and standards of respectability.

Background: Makeup has become the fastest‐growing beauty category in the last years, partly due to the effects of the digitalisation, and the growing importance conferred upon the digital image. Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the business practices behind the goods they buy, and the impact of their purchases on the environment, and the human and animal welfare. However, not always ethical intentions are translated into purchases. This gap between the intention and the actual behaviour, also known as “I-B gap”, has been researched within the sectors of food or clothing; however, it remains unexplored in the case of makeup. Purpose: This thesis aims to explore the main reasons leading to the I-B gap in reference to ethical makeup. Method: An exploratory qualitative study based on 14 semi-structured interviews was conducted among European millennial females. Conclusions: The yawning gap existing between intention and behaviour towards ethical makeup is shown in this paper, as well as the factors that explain it. Despite the positive overall attitude and intention of the sample towards such products, the general lack of awareness associated with the ethical makeup is evidenced. Furthermore, the store environment, ranging from the products display and visibility, to the customer service, and the samples’ trial availability, exert a major influence on purchase. In addition, the brand or product attachment may play a crucial role in the final purchase decision. More specifically, this research reveals that consumers appeared to remain loyal towards makeup products that they are already satisfied and familiar with. These aspects seem to represent a challenge to overcome by ethical makeup companies, since above the ethical credentials, customers value other aspects such as the effectiveness, the suitability of the product with the skin type, the quality-price balance, the availability or the variety.

A seguinte pesquisa explorou a figura da blogueira de moda como intermediária cultural nas práticas de consumo de sua audiência. Para tanto, foi selecionado um blog específico que se destacou durante o período de pesquisa, o blog Camila Coelho. Com base em teorias socioantropológicas, a moda é tratada pela perspectiva do consumo, ou seja, é um fenômeno cujo desenvolvimento está atrelado à sociedade e cultura de consumidores. O papel dos meios de comunicação em massa no campo da moda é crescente e a indústria cultural passa por transformações profundas oriundas da comunicação em rede e da maior participação dos indivíduos, permitida pela vasta oferta de ferramentas sociais. Logo, as noções de liderança que regem os processos de consumo não são rígidas, observam-se alternância de autoridades e de poder de influência no gosto e nos estilos de forma cada vez mais dispersa e efêmera. A análise do blog escolhido revelou a necessidade de integrar as instâncias da representação, da participação e dos vínculos para compreender o papel das blogueiras no campo da moda. A pesquisa foi conduzida com caráter exploratório e qualitativo. O corpus de análise foi retirado de um intervalo de seis meses de publicações no blog, em que foi realizada a observação não participativa, e é composto por dez publicações que obtiveram grande volume de comentários. As informações foram categorizadas e descritas, enredando a representação identitária da blogueira à participação da audiência como prática de consumo: por aprovação, por colaboração, por crítica ou por vínculo. A etapa de observação participativa complementa a pesquisa discutindo esses vínculos criados entre a blogueira e suas leitoras. Os resultados mostram que o capital simbólico que faz a blogueira ascender à posição de intermediária cultural é acumulado pelo gosto, consumo e autoridade conspícuos, que são reconhecidos e debatidos publicamente e, principalmente, pela manutenção da audiência por meio de estratégias que fazem da blogueira um híbrido entre celebridade e par de suas leitoras. / The following research explored the figure of the fashion blogger as cultural intermediate in consumption practices of the audience. Thus, a specific blog that stood out during the research period, Camila Coelhos blog, was selected. Based on socio-anthropological theories, fashion is treated by the consumption perspective, a phenomenon that has developed along linked to the consumer society and culture. Mass media has a growing importance in the field of fashion, and the culture industry is undergoing profound changes arising from communication network and the greater involvement of individuals, allowed by the wide range of social tools. Therefore, the leadership notions governing the consumption processes are not rigid, its observed toggle authorities and power of influence in taste and styles increasingly dispersed and ephemeral. The analysis of the selected blog revealed the need to integrate the instances of representation, participation and bonds in order to understand the role of bloggers in the fashion field. The research was conducted exploratory and qualitatively. The corpus of analysis was taken from a range of six months of blog entries, when the non-participant observation was conducted, and consists of ten publications that have achieved great number of comments. The information was categorized and described, tangling the identity representation of the blogger to the audience participation as consumer practices: by approval, by collaboration, by critics or by bonds. The step of participant observation complements the research discussing these bonds created between the blogger and the readers. The results show that the symbolic capital that makes the blogger ascend to the cultural intermediate position is driven by conspicuous taste, consumption and authority, which are recognized and publicly discussed, and especially by maintaining the audience through strategies that make the blogger a hybrid between celebrity and a peer to her readers.

Esta pesquisa, de caráter qualitativo exploratório, procurou identificar manifestações de obsolescência programada presentes atualmente no mercado brasileiro, assim como os principais produtos relacionados a ela. A maneira como artefatos são produzidos e comercializados desde a implementação da obsolescência programada estão colocando a sociedade frente a uma limitação ambiental no que diz respeito ao esgotamento dos recursos e um crescimento alarmante na geração de lixo eletrônico. Frente a essa limitação, modelos de consumo e fabricação são questionados. Considerando o design como uma atividade engajada intrinsecamente nas questões sociais, ele pode ser uma importante ferramenta para modificar este cenário. A pesquisa baseou- se nas definições de obsolescência programada elaboradas por Packard, Papanek e Slade para definir parâmetros conceituais que possibilitassem a identificação da obsolescência programada por meio de práticas de consumo. Foi usado como método de coleta de dados um questionário para identificar a percepção dos consumidores e entrevistas com designers para tentar estabelecer uma relação entre o fenômeno estudado e o design. Os produtos mais citados foram telefones celulares e computadores. Durabilidade mostrou-se pouco importante para aparelhos com rápida evolução tecnológica como o telefone celular. Para produtos sem essa característica tecnológica, durabilidade mostrou-se rara, pois, de acordo com o resultado da pesquisa, há uma grande associação entre materiais baratos e frágeis, que comprometem a durabilidade dos produtos. Apesar de o resultado permitir identificar os três tipos de obsolescência programada determinados pelos autores -- artificial, psicológica e tecnológica --, a pesquisa concluiu que o conceito de obsolescência programada, da maneira como foi criado, está tão assimilado nos dias de hoje que acaba por tornar o termo em si obsoleto. Isso porque hoje produtos não precisam ser feitos para quebrar para que sejam trocados e muitas vezes descartados. / This exploratory qualitative research tried to identify planned obsolescence\'s manifestations in the Brazilian market, as well as the main products related to it. The way consumer goods have been produced and sold since the planned obsolescence\'s implementation is leading society to an environmental limitation in terms of natural resources and alarming growth in the generation of electronic waste. Consumption the way it is and manufacturing are questioned, faced with this limitation. Considering design as an activity intrinsically engaged in social issues, it can be an important tool to modify this scenario. The research was based on planned obsolescence and on conceptual parameters by Packard, Papanek and Slade, which allowed the identification of planned obsolescence through consumption practices. As a method, a questionnaire to identify consumer perception and interviews with designers tried to establish a relationship between the studied phenomenon and the design. The most cited products were cell phones and computers. Durability proved to be unimportant for devices with rapid technological evolution such as cell phones. For products without this technological characteristic, durability proved to be rare, as according to the research results there is a great association between cheap and fragile materials, which compromise the durability of the products. Although the result allows to identify the three types of programmed obsolescence determined by the authors -- artificial, psychological and technological --, the research concluded that the concept of programmed obsolescence, in the way it was created, is so assimilated today that it ends up making the term itself obsolete. This is because today products do not have to be made to break to be changed and often discarded.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T16:44:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Afonso Carlos Braga.pdf: 2490707 bytes, checksum: 1bad16493bfabedde7e2927d9efb566e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-09-17 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The present dissertation addressed the sustainability challenges, under the planet environmental limitations point of view, to meet the corporations continuous profit and revenue growth objectives as well a potential paradox that some marketing executives have been facing, considering he/she is responsible to lead the communication initiative that many times encourages 'consumerism'. The idea was to understand if this topic is relevant to these professionals, hence their companies, and raise some hypotheses on how to approach this problem in order to provoke those companies to practice conscious marketing . Moving one step further, the type of organizational paradigm in which the executive s company acts influenced the way to approach this professional when conducting the personal interviews to collect data. Considering that, three organizational paradigms were considered: Funcionalism, Interpretativism and Radical Humanism. The cross analysis of existing marketing theories and how those professionals envisioned facing the challenges mentioned above revealed points and suggestions for future marketing strategiess / A presente dissertação explora qual o impacto do tema sustentabilidade, sob a perspectiva dos limites ambientais do planeta, entre executivos e executivas de marketing de grandes empresas, de modo a obter respostas confiáveis, se as estratégias de crescimento de mercado de suas respectivas companhias podem ser limitadas se houver necessidade de se reduzir o consumo ou mesmo o consumismo , algumas vezes incentivado por essas próprias companhias. A idéia é entender se esse tema é relevante para esses profissionais e organizações e levantar hipóteses de como abordar a problemática no sentido de sensibilizar essas companhias a praticar o marketing consciente . Indo um pouco além, o tipo de paradigma organizacional no qual o executivo atua influencia a maneira de se abordar o assunto com o profissional e, para tanto, nesta pesquisa foi adotado como referência para análise três paradigmas presentes na atualidade que são o Funcionalista, o Interpretativo e o Humanismo Radical. Para essa finalidade foram selecionadas empresas/executivos atuantes nestes enfoques para avaliar possíveis diferenças de percepção. Ao interpretar os resultados chega-se a algumas conclusões e sugestões a serem consideradas futuramente pelos profissionais da área

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T20:20:37Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Fabio Mariano Borges.pdf: 1041785 bytes, checksum: f2bbd41fcb283e0208ed427e07b747ca (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-05-10 / Modern society has brought a new actor that had not existed: the consumer. Unlike the buyer, the consumer was founded under the principles of bourgeois private property, freedom and equality. The birth of the consumer is recent and its genesis is marked by struggles and demonstrations for various times in history have been blurred with the struggles for rights associated with citizenship. Throughout consumer education, citizenship principles were incorporated into the composition, resulting in consumer rights. More than a new character of modern society, the consumer is also a legal category, with voting power, political role, economic importance and impact on society changes and reconfigurations. And the consumer citizen in fact exist? In this scenario, this paper attempts to investigate how the meeting between the consumer and citizenship in consumer relations, specifically in times of Brazilian consumer complaints. From this then, several other issues are raised: who speaks for the Brazilian consumers? What are the meanings of the existence of a public agency that maintains the consumer instead of demonstrations and collective movements of consumers? You can find echoes in the voices of citizens complaining consumers? To answer these questions, the object of study was limited in complaints filed in person at Procon. The methodology we use systematic observation, following the service of Procon consumer claimants, in-depth interviews with consumers searching for Procon personally care as well as accounts of customers not served by Procon, about how to articulate their rights as citizens in crisis situations in consumption. It was necessary to draw a genealogy of the global consumer and Brazil, forming the basis for understanding the consumer / A sociedade moderna trouxe um novo ator: o consumidor. Ao contrário do comprador, o consumidor foi formado sob os princípios burguesas da propriedade privada, liberdade e igualdade. O nascimento do consumidor é recente e sua gênese é marcada por lutas e manifestações que, em épocas diferentes épocas da história, se confundiram com as lutas por direitos ligados à cidadania. Ao longo da formação do consumidor, os princípios de cidadania foram incorporados na sua composição, resultando nos direitos do consumidor. Mais do que um novo personagem da sociedade moderna, o consumidor também é uma categoria jurídica, com poder de voto, papel político, importância económica e de impacto sobre as mudanças e reconfigurações da sociedade. E o cidadão consumidor de fato existe? Neste cenário, este artigo tenta investigar como o encontro entre o consumidor e a cidadania se dá nas relações de consumo, especificamente em quanto às reclamações dos consumidores brasileiros. Várias outras questões são levantadas: quem fala pelos consumidores brasileiros? Quais são os significados da existência de um órgão público que protege o consumido? É possível encontrar ecos da cidadanias nas reclamações dos consumidores? Para responder a essas perguntas, o objeto de estudo foi delimitado nas queixas apresentadas pessoalmente pelos consumidores no Procon. A metodologia que usamos foi a observação sistemática, acompanhando o registro das reclamações feitas pessoalmente no Procon e entrevistas em profundidade com os consumidores quer procuraram o Procon. Foi necessário chamar uma genealogia do consumidor global e no Brasil, formando a base para a compreensão do consumidor brasileiro