Introducing Anthropology of Consumption Dominique Desjeux anthropologist Professor

Introducing Anthropology of Consumption Dominique Desjeux, anthropologist Professor at the Sorbonne (University of Paris 5) Visiting professor at Guangzhou (China) and USF (Tampa, FL, USA) www. argonautes. fr 1

I - The basic principals 2

Three methodological principals to carry out a field study on consumer behavior 3 l Discovering the relevant scale of observation l Following an itinerary of decision making process in the home space l Distinguishing practices from representations

The goals of ethnology applied to understand consumer behavior l l l Focusing more on practices than on motivations, more on what is done than on what is thought Undestanding shoping as a process, as an itinerary Understanding Imaginary § § l Showing that connection between practices and representations is not evident. – 4 As a structure As a dynamic and as a social process – Most often there is a gap among what it is said, what it is thought and what it is done This gap is explained by the constraints of the social life (norms, power relationships, material culture)

II - The scales of observation 5

Five scales of Observation Way of life, life style Social belonging Life cycle Macro-social scale Organizations Pressure groups Meso-social scale Itinerary Micro-social scale Micro-individual scale 6 Biological scale Social interactions Staging of self, norms, codes Practices Objects as markers of life Passages and social belonging Itinerary Individual Cell

Illustration of scales of observation in regard to consumption Macro-social scale Meso-social scale Micro-individual scale 7 Photos D. Desjeux

III - At a micro-social scale of observation Culture Social relationships Material constraints 8

Understanding the three level of constraints which weight on goods trade off l l l 9 Material: size of the household space, income of the family, system of material objects Social: conflicts, cooperation and transactions, strategies Culture: Imaginary, religion, values, social status, meaning of objects

Photos D. Desjeux 1 - Material: little space for storage l l l 10 A student bedroom in 1997 at Guangzhou University: How to cope with limited space for seven students The position of objects depends on space as well as on

2 Social : Entering a structured household space l Goods become integrated in 3 domestic spaces: l l 11 public private intimate Boundaries can be considered both as a fixed structure and a mobile phenomenon

Prescribing, permitting, and forbidding uses of objects l l 12 The use of an object depends on social norms with varying degrees of formality. These norms existed before the object and organize its uses, but they can change if the object takes on new uses. Social rules can be transgressed. Uses of objects are embedded in social constraints.

In public Objects are treated in three different ways l displayed l left visible l 13 2000, USA, displaying the American flag 2004, Israel, weapons visible when shopping hidden 2003, Algeria, hiding hair Photos D. Desjeux

2004, Israel, religious sign displayed on the door In the home 2000, USA, copper pots displayed in the kitchen 2000, France Post-its and notes visible in the entrance 14 1995, USA, goods hidden in the fridge Photos D. Desjeux

Objects are used to express social distance or closeness l Social communication takes different forms: – – – – 15 face to face phone letters e-mail fax Post-its text messages (sms) 2001, France, “Keeping far From others” Photos D. Desjeux

Phone calls: expressing a social relationships USA, 2003 16 Public phones and pagers in China, 1997 Photos D. Desjeux

3 – Culture. In a specific culture, the place of boundaries depends on: l l l 17 Social belonging (social classes, genders, generations and cultures) The position of social actors in all the stages of the life course The gender and generational division of tasks and space in the household The size of the household space The social occasions of uses

Organization of boundaries can be reinterpreted depending on the culture l A Chinese living room with: – – l 18 fridge microwave buffet TV In western countries, fridges are most often in the kitchen, a private space Photos D. Desjeux

Another example of reinterpretation from one cultural use to another American and French bathrooms: toilet paper stored in an intimate space 19 China storing of sanitary paper in the living room, a public space Photos D. Desjeux

Food reinterpretation l l 20 Pernod can be drunk without water in the UK or Cognac with ice and before diner in China In France Pernod is drunk with water and Cognac without ice and after diner Using chopsticks in France as decoration which are only used for lunch or diner in China Succeeding or failing in transferring an innovation depends on these reinterpretation

IV - At a micro-scale of observation The itinerary method 21

The itinerary method Micro-social Representations Practices Itinerary Decision Domestic space Mobility to shopping place Buying Receiving as a gift Stealing Storage Use Disposal Recycling 22

Method to build an itinerary l Photography, on-site interviews and observations – – – l 23 Photos of the neighborhood context Photos of building entrance, stairway, doorway, electric wires, objects Photos of all the rooms All these objects can be used as analyzers of everyday life and domestic practices

IV – Observations 1 - A shopping and eating process in the rising middle class In China, 1997 24

Itinerary: going shopping Bringing a limited amount of money 25 A shopping bag It is an every day shopping process based on limited means Photos D. Desjeux

Mobility to shopping place The old Guangzhou Shopping by foot 26 Photos D. Desjeux

Shopping 27 Unwrapped meat Choosing living shrimps Protecting her money In the pocket Photos D. Desjeux

Living animals as sign of quality 28 Choosing living chicken Ready to be eaten Photos D. Desjeux

Going back home 29 Photos D. Desjeux

Cooking as a long process in a small space No oven Frying 30 “No oven” is a good example of the importance of looking at uses when transferring a cooking innovation, such as roast beef, from one culture to another Photos D. Desjeux

An optimized use of space 31 Photos D. Desjeux

A collective meal Shop stick tips are displayed outside the table as hygienic practice. There is no individual Meal. 32 Photos D. Desjeux

Picking in the same bowl 33 Photos D. Desjeux

Eating Having more rice 34 No napkin Left over on the table Photos D. Desjeux

Washing up 35 Photos D. Desjeux

2 - Observing meaning of objects in the home In China, 1997 36

A busy neighborhood: an ordinary apartment building Security: Window bars 37 Flowers on many balconies

Entrance Energy: electric wires Security: Door with bars 38 Photos D. Desjeux

Living room l Displayed objects (as a sign of social relationships) Presents in a glass case (Ceramic objects) – Television prominently displayed in middle of room (as a sign of social status) – 39 Photos D. Desjeux

Living room Plastic aquarium Gifts Telephone with decorative cover Displayed objects 40 Photos D. Desjeux

Dining area l l 41 Table in the living room Tradition respected with paintings: mountains and water symbolize wisdom A high table rather than a coffee table as sign of modernity Modernity and confort also shown by rice cooker Displayed object Photos D. Desjeux

Living room l Exposed objects l Neon light Ceiling fan Electric wire Sockets l l 42 Coffee table for receiving guests Photos D. Desjeux

Kitchen: water Entrance to kitchen l l l Water for washing Water for cooking Boiled water for drinking (two thermoses) Toothbrush 43 Strainer Faucet Photos D. Desjeux

Kitchen: fire, boiled and stir fried Soup pot boiling Soup strainer Knife scissors Wok Stir frying 44 Cutting board Sterilizer Utensiles for cutting Photos D. Desjeux

Kitchen: Storage Inmportance of plastic bags and newspaper for wrapping food products 45 Condiments for frying Photos D. Desjeux

Toilet 46 l Turkish toilet l Nowadays European toilets are a sign of social disctinction Photos D. Desjeux

Bathroom l 47 Use of body products and cosmetics on the rise Rudimentary installation Photos D. Desjeux

Bedroom 1: a pleasure zone Pink bed Vanity table 48 Stuffed animals

Badminton racket (a widespread activity) Bedroom 1 Cover on conputer Desk 49 Bookcase Wardrobe Photos D. Desjeux

Bedroom 2: an ascetic area Sober colors Fewer objects Utilitarian objects (dictionary and textbooks) 50 Photos D. Desjeux

Bedroom 2: a sacred zone Buddhist shrine Increasing religious practices (Buddhism and ancestor worship) 51 Photos D. Desjeux

Photos D. Desjeux Balcony used for additional storage Washing machine Bicycle Clothes drying Bluejeans 52 Fan

3 - A Danish itinerary At Odense, Denmark, 1999 53

Photos D. Desjeux A Danish Itinerary at Odense Arriving to the Mall: Taking a caddy Decision making process in the home: The shopping list 54

Photos D. Desjeux Shoping 55 “Making love in a supermarket”, Daniel Miller

Photos D. Desjeux Way back home Loading the trunk 56 Unloading the trunk

Photos D. Desjeux Odense, Denmark preparation 57 Deash washing machine cooking Left over Fridge and storing Table manners

Shopping as the result of a domestic use l l 58 Instead of focusing on motivation, pleasure and individual what is a relevant psychological angle of observation Anthropology focuses on what organized the behavior of consumers beyond the intention of individuals Conformity (and transgression) of social norms are observed Buying an objects is conditioned by use in the home which is conditioned by social norms.

V - Various forms of retailing enchantment Transcendence and immanence Ordinary and enchanting display 59

Ordinary display Super market, Israel, 2004 60 Photos D. Desjeux

France: ordinary display 61 France 93, « Vide grenier » , 2003 Supermarket Babou (France 93), 2002 Cf. The social Life of Things, Appadurai, Kopitoff, 1986 Photos D. Desjeux

Ordinary display USA, Home depot, 2001 Israel, ordinary control in entering a super market 2004 62 France, misturbeanisation, 2003, cf. O Badot Photos D. Desjeux

The modern magical way of thinking Disneyland, Paris 75014, 2003 Crédit Lyonnais, Paris 75018, Barbés, 2003 63 BNP, Nice 2003 Photos D. Desjeux

The transubstantiation, a magical immanent mechanism of enchanting daily life The ordinary object is transformed into a brand which becomes a person with its own identity, but without any transcendental dimension unlike the catholic mass where there is transcendence. 64 Photos D. Desjeux

Enchanting retailing Victoria secret, USA, 2003 Mall, Israel, 2004 65 Real. Vestate ads, Guangzhou, 2001 Ka. De. We, Berlin, 2003 Photos D. Desjeux

Significant objects of consumption Shopping cart Credit card Internet 66 Photos D. Desjeux

Some of the best researchers in consumer researches nowadays in France at Caen (France) Badot et Cova Benoît Heilbrunn 67 Patrick Hetzel Photos D. Desjeux

Conclusion (Inspired by Barbara Kruger, 1987) 68 London, January 2004 (sales) Photos D. Desjeux