Deck 14: The Culture of Consumption

Question 1

Brands that we closely link to our rituals are called ________ brands; once they become embedded in our rituals we are unlikely to replace them.

A) fighter
B) fortress
C) transcultural
D) sacralised

Answer 1

B

Question 2

A set of multiple symbolic behaviours that occur in a fixed sequence and tend to be repeated is called a ________.

A) myth
B) more
C) ritual
D) convention

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Which functional area of culture is most closely related to the idea of a common worldview?

A) Ecology
B) Social structure
C) Ideology
D) Socio-psychology

Answer 3

C

Question 4

A story containing symbolic elements that express the shared emotions and ideals of a culture is called a ________.

A) norm
B) ritual
C) myth
D) more

Question 5

A ________ is a custom with a strong moral overtone.

A) more
B) superstition
C) convention
D) monomyth

Question 6

Researchers primarily see the gift-giving ritual as one of ________ exchange.

A) symbolic
B) stylistic
C) psychological
D) economic

Question 7

We explicitly decide on ________ norms,such as the rule that a green traffic light means 'go' and a red one means 'stop.'

A) crescive
B) enacted
C) reciprocal
D) ritualised

Question 8

________ postulated that myths involve binary oppositions,in which two opposing ends of some dimension are represented (such as good versus evil).

A) Levi-Strauss
B) Freud
C) Hofstede
D) Bettelheim

Question 9

Myths serve four interrelated functions in a culture.All of the following are among those functions EXCEPT the ________ function.

A) cosmological
B) sociological
C) psychological
D) anthropological

Question 10

Culture is best described as a society's ________.

A) attitude
B) consciousness
C) personality
D) history

Question 11

Crescive norms are ________.

A) strict 'must do' rules of behaviour in a society
B) followed only by the females of a culture
C) associated with monetary rewards and punishments
D) subtle rules discovered as we interact with others

Question 12

Through the process of ________,objects associated with sacred events or people become sacred in their own right.

A) congregation
B) reciprocity
C) desacralisation
D) contamination

Question 13

A special ritual marking a person's change in social status is called a ________.

A) convention
B) sacralisation
C) cycle
D) rite of passage

Question 14

The systematic acquisition of a particular object or set of objects is called ________.

A) prioritising
B) hoarding
C) collecting
D) ritualising

Question 15

________ usually dictate what is right or wrong,acceptable or unacceptable.

A) Myths
B) Theories
C) Norms
D) Rituals

Question 16

As a relationship grows and progresses,gift-giving tends to become more ________.

A) exchange oriented
B) reciprocal
C) altruistic
D) reformulated

Question 17

Interest in the occult is most likely to increase in a society when ________.

A) economic conditions begin to improve
B) there has been a major triumph, such as winning a war
C) members of a society feel overwhelmed or powerless
D) people become less religious

Question 18

________ consumption occurs with objects and events that are considered to be ordinary and everyday.

A) Profane
B) Sacred
C) Objectified
D) Ritualised

Question 19

Grooming rituals express two kinds of binary opposition: private/public and ________.

A) work/leisure
B) self/others
C) pride/modesty
D) innocence/experience

Question 20

Which of the following is NOT one of the three distinct stages of gift-giving rituals?

A) Convention
B) Gestation
C) Presentation
D) Reformulation

Question 21

J.P.Stevens always looks perfect in his business suit.The colours are always right for the season and the prevailing style.His tie has the proper knot,he does not wear a tie-tack,his handkerchief is the proper 'two-fingers' above the pocket,and his socks and shoes do not distract from his overall look.Which of the following does J.P.seem to be adhering to with his 'correctness'?

A) Enacted behaviours
B) Customs
C) Mores
D) Conventions

Question 22

Country singers Marty Stewart and Travis Tritt and their record label decided to change the culture of the Country and Western music scene.With their now famous 'No Hats' tour,the singers abandoned conventional country and western fashion (they threw away their hats,let their hair grow long and wore t-shirts)and tried to appeal to larger and younger audiences with a grinding sexy message.The process that these singers went through is best described as a ________.

A) cultural funnel
B) cultural production system (CPS)
C) cultural distribution system (CDS)
D) cultural gatekeeping process (CGP)

Question 23

Product numbers are reduced as they make their way down the path from conception to consumption,a process called ________.

A) diffusion
B) cooptation
C) cultural selection
D) cultural mapping

Question 24

________ occurs as marketers appropriate elements of popular culture and convert them for use as promotional vehicles.

A) Reality engineering
B) Crescive norming
C) Desacralisation
D) Product placement

Question 25

Which of the following statements would be viewed as most true about styles?

A) A style typically starts in a large group of people as a safe but unique statement.
B) Styles are often a reflection of more fundamental societal trends.
C) Influential people play only a minor role in deciding which styles will succeed.
D) Styles most often result from a deliberate statement from ordinary consumers that has been met by a rather spontaneous response from designers.

Question 26

Gen greatly values her micro-refrigerator.The refrigerator is so small it will fit almost anywhere.Gen believes that the efficient use of space is one of the characteristics any good product should have.With respect to the functional areas of a cultural system,Gen is focusing on ________ as a variable in selecting her products.

A) ideology
B) ecology
C) social structure
D) socio-psychology

Question 27

Which of the following statements most accurately describes high and low art?

A) High art is very expensive, but low art is relatively cheap.
B) It is becoming harder and harder to distinguish between high and low art.
C) Low art is popular with the masses while high art is popular among the cultural elites of Australian society.
D) Especially in Europe, low art is seen as commercial in nature while high art is seen as independent of commercialism.

Question 28

Which of the following is an object that is admired strictly for its beauty or because it inspires an emotional reaction?

A) An art product
B) A reality-engineered product
C) A craft product
D) A trial product

Question 29

In the cultural production process,the people who control the flow of information between producers and customers are called ________.

A) lead users
B) cultural gatekeepers
C) cultural transformers
D) innovators

Question 30

The culture we live in creates the meaning of everyday products; these meanings move through a society to consumers.Meaning transfer is largely accomplished by ________.

A) product design and distribution
B) product design and pricing
C) the advertising and fashion industries
D) public relations and the music industry

Question 31

A ________ innovation is a new product that creates major changes in the way we live.

A) globally continuous
B) continuous
C) discontinuous
D) dynamically continuous

Question 32

Fashion refers to ________.

A) a particular combination of attributes within a style
B) the process of social diffusion by which a new style is adopted by some groups of consumers
C) being positively evaluated by some reference group
D) rejecting the norm and pushing for newness

Question 33

Sharon is upset with her secretary.Though everyone in the office agreed not to give Christmas presents this year,Sharon's secretary gave her an expensive bottle of perfume.Which of the following best identifies the source of Sharon's feelings?

A) Objectification
B) Self-serving guilt
C) The reciprocity norm
D) Role transference

Question 34

In the diffusion of innovation process,the ________ are the one-sixth of the population that is very slow to adopt.

A) innovators
B) early adopters
C) late adopters
D) laggards

Question 35

It is quite common for mainstream culture to modify symbols identified with 'cutting edge' subcultures and present these to a larger audience.Such cultural products undergo a process of ________,by which their original meanings are transformed by outsiders.

A) innovation
B) transformation
C) diffusion
D) cooptation

Question 36

Pavel was an inventor.He read that there were several million people who could not sleep at night until they looked under the bed.He invented a light that could be put under a bed and went on automatically when someone looked there.Pavel's product is designed to help people perform a ________.

A) ritual
B) symbolic exchange
C) convention
D) rite of passage

Question 37

Thomas and his family recently toured the Anzac Cove battlefield on their vacation to Turkey.The area was rich in history.While walking,Thomas remembered all the accounts of the war he had read in school.He finally understood why this place had such a special meaning in Australian history and to Australians in general.This tour is best classified as an example of ________ consumption.

A) profane
B) objectified
C) sacred
D) crescive

Question 38

A ________ is a very short-lived fashion.

A) trend
B) fad
C) classic
D) style

Question 39

When a sacred item or symbol is removed from its special place or is duplicated in mass quantities,it becomes profane as a result of ________.

A) sacralisation
B) desacralisation
C) defamation
D) objectification

Question 40

Promoters attempt to have their products shown prominently in full-length films.This type of promotion is referred to as ________.

A) desacralisation
B) objectification
C) product placement
D) advertainment

Question 41

Fallon was the son of a very wealthy banker from Sydney.The first time Fallon saw an artist on MTV wearing a polished bicycle chain around his neck,he knew he had to get an item like that for himself.Fallon's behaviour is best explained by the ________ theory of fashion.

A) trickle-down
B) trickle-up
C) trickle-across
D) prestige-exclusivity

Question 42

What is the primary difference between an innovator and an early adopter?

A) Early adopters are much the same as innovators except that they (as a group) have higher average salaries and more education than innovators.
B) Innovators are more risk adverse than early adopters.
C) Innovators are more likely to accept risk than early adopters.
D) Innovators are less socially active than early adopters, who tend to be the true trendsetters of a society.

Question 43

Most holidays commemorate a cultural myth.

Question 44

Passing a driving test to receive a driver's licence is an example of a rite of passage.

Question 45

A style typically begins as a risky or unique statement by a relatively small group of people.

Question 46

Romance novels often follow a cultural formula.

Question 47

The trickle-down theory of fashion says that fashion moves from the upper classes to the lower classes.

Question 48

The diffusion of innovations is the process whereby a new product,service or idea spreads through a population.

Question 49

Once a culture is established it doesn't change.An apparent change in a culture is simply the emergence of a new culture.

Question 50

Casting directors,textbook authors and retail buyers are all examples of formal gatekeepers in the culture production process.

Question 51

Which of the following best supports the argument that tourism can be seen as a sacred experience?

A) Tourism often involves the binary opposition of work and leisure.
B) Tourism involves setting events, places and time aside from everyday, mundane activities.
C) Tourism involves the four most important dimensions of culture.
D) Tourism provides opportunities for individuals to better understand their culture's crescive norms through interaction with other cultures.

Question 52

A myth that is common to many cultures is called a monomyth.

Question 53

Profane consumption involves consumer objects and events that are ordinary.

Question 54

In many cultures,stories feature talking animals that act as mediating figures.

Question 55

A metaphysical myth fulfills the cultural function of explaining how the components of the universe relate to each other.

Question 56

Raymond Chandler wrote classic detective stories.By always using certain roles for his characters and props that were appropriate to the genre,Chandler's novels followed what the text calls a(n)________.

A) cultural formula
B) enacted norm
C) fashion cycle
D) innovation process

Question 57

Several years ago,a new Acme Mark II automobile design was introduced with several features added that had never been seen in a car before.The car had a ten-stack CD changer (stored in the boot),a special garage door-opener button,technology allowing the driver to talk on a car phone without having to use her hands,and an air-suspension ride that raised and lowered the car for different driving conditions.Which of the following best describes the type of innovations included in the Acme Mark II?

A) Revolutionary innovations
B) Continuous innovations
C) Dynamically continuous innovations
D) Discontinuous innovations

Question 58

Kyle liked to think he could program anything digital.He created a new video game,and a major industry firm wanted to buy it from him.He was bothered by their insistence that he modify the game by including a popular product's logo on the clothing of his main character.In this example,Kyle is concerned about the practice of ________.

A) cultural jamming
B) advergaming
C) pretailing
D) plinking

Question 59

The most radical of the innovation change forms is called a discontinuous innovation because it creates major changes in the way we live.

Question 60

A fad has a relatively long acceptance cycle in today's marketplace because of the money necessary to develop the fad.

Question 61

In the modern holiday rituals of Christmas,the figures of Christ and Santa can be seen as binary opposites; one promotes selflessness while the other promotes materialism.

Question 62

Because Stephanie is an innovator with computer products,marketers should assume that she is also an innovator with clothing styles.

Question 63

Define the term 'monomyth.' Give an illustration.

Question 64

A cultural system consists of three functional areas.What are they? Give a brief explanation of each.

Question 65

A teacher was given a warning after he made a bad joke about Princess Diana shortly after her death.Students were likely upset because they now saw Princess Di as a profane character worthy of special attention and respect.

Question 66

Describe the difference between an enacted norm and a crescive norm.Indicate forms that the crescive norm may take.

Question 67

Shift Corporation could not sell its premium running shoe at $49.99,but when they were priced at $159.99 the shoes sold out of the stores almost overnight.Shift had just experienced the snob effect characteristically explained by the sociological model of fashion.

Question 68

Identify and describe the factors that affect the successful adoption of innovations.

Question 69

Compare and contrast sacred and profane consumption.

Question 70

Anna's best friend Aubrey was getting married.Anna spent a lot of time thinking of the perfect gift.She was so excited about the gift that she gave it to Aubrey before the wedding.Aubrey cried and told Anna that she would never in her life have a better friend.Reformulation is the proper term for the new bond between Anna and Aubrey.

Question 71

Shira wants to prove that even the most mundane of objects can be sacralised through the process of objectification.She should use examples of hoarding to support her argument.

Question 72

Explain the idea of an antifestival and describe an example of an antifestival.

Question 73

Identify what the term 'co-optation' means.Give an illustration of the concept and demonstrate how it applies to the movement of meaning as shown in the text.

Question 74

Products appearing in retail stores are examples of the use of product placement.

Question 75

Where you choose to sit in an almost empty movie theatre is most likely determined by your culture's mores.

Question 76

A clothier produced a line of clothing with insect repellant impregnated into the fabric for outdoor enthusiasts.This product has a good chance of being adopted because it has a relative advantage.

Question 77

Define rites of passage and indicate the various stages of role transition that can occur.Give at least two examples of rites of passage.

Question 78

Every year,the students at a prestigious engineering school remove a car from the parking lot and place it on the highest point of the roof of the main engineering building.The students have been doing this for decades,but not once has anyone ever confided to an outsider how it was done.This is a classic example of a ritual.

Question 79

Compare and contrast the trickle-down,trickle-up and trickle-across theories.

Question 80

A promotions director of a fine arts museum could use mass-marketing techniques to promote a fine art gallery much the same way she could promote any other mass-marketed product.