Life in the Glocal Village: How

Arnold Schwartzenegger Meets

Hello Kitty
Russell Belk
University of Utah, USA
The Non-News: It’s a Global World
• WWW, Microsoft, eBay
• MTV, Star Channel,Channel V
• KFC, Jolibee, McDonalds
• CNN, BBC, WSJ
• Nike, Adidas, Reebok
• Ferragamo, Chanel, Mercedes
• TNCs: 51, Nations: 49 (of the 100 largest
entities in the world)
 Global Production example:
IBM Java-based Programming
• Tsinghua University, Beijing
e-mails day’s code to IBM, Seattle
• IBM, Seattle e-mails code to Institute
of Computer Science in Belarus & the
Software House Group in Latvia
• Belarus & Latvia e-mail their builds to
India’s Tata Group, which passes the
extended code back to Tsinghua,
Beijing, then back to Seattle…
Global Consumption examples:
• “I tend to look at things in U.S. dollar
terms, all right? My turnover in U.S.
dollar terms, it’s really nothing. It’s nothing
if you convert it into U.S. dollars. Alright?
I bought this house for Z$3 million, which
would convert to what, to about about
$100,000 U.S….So it’s not really anything.
You read in the paper every day that, you
know, who is it -- Bill Gates -- is putting up
a $50 million house. Against Z$3 million,
$100,000 U.S.. So it’s really nothing.”
[M35, Zimbabwean].
 Global Consumption
• “I love cars. I love beautiful cars [currently
owns a Mercedes & BMW sedans, Nissan
& Kia 4WDs]. If I had more money I
would buy more cars. …I would like to buy
a big American buggy, you know. I have
my eyes set on a Chevy actually..my heart
is set on a Chevy” [M35, Zimbabwean].
• Hong Kong and first growth Bordeaux
• Zimbabwean fondness for golf, cricket,
soccer, tennis, & racquetball
 Global Consumption
• “After the revolution what we believed to
be necessities were below the international
standards. And I automatically thought
people pushed upwards their necessities
levels. For example, daily hot water
became a necessity -- you don’t want to
stink anymore. It is difficult to set limits to
necessities” [M30, Romanian].
• “Rayban” sunglasses and “Armani” sports
coats in China
 Despite New Wealth, Some
Preferences Resist Globalization
• Zimbabwean insistence on sadza
• Romanian insistence on tşuica
• Zimbabwean preference for African music
(partial exception: those educated abroad)
• Indian preference for classical Indian music
and Hindi films
• Northern Indian insistence on curried dishes
• Chinese insistence on rice
A Tale of Archaeology in the
Year 3002
 A Tale of Archaeology
In the Year 3002
Archaeologist Gucci Toyota Rolex, a
recent graduate of Ralph Lauren
University(Once Karl Marx University)
in Budapest, sits in his IBM Sensatorium
seeking clues that will help him under-
stand the obscure origins of the major
world holidays. He believes that some of
these holidays, including Coke Day, Elvis
Day, Saint Johnny Walker Day, The Day
of the Levis, Sony Feel-Man Day, and the
Feast of the Seven-Eleven, may have
originated almost a millenium ago in the 20th
or 21st century. But the evidence is far from
clear. No major catastrophe or war has
obliterated the relevant data. In fact, the
period since the likely origin of these holidays
is now known as the Pax McDonald’s, due to
the extended period of World peace that was
ushered in after McDonald’s first entered
what were then known as China, the Soviet
Union, and Eastern Europe. This signaled the
peaceful global conquest by Saint Ronald
McDonald, at a time when McDonald’s sold
only food products and the people of the
World spoke a variety of languages. No,the
lack of data is instead because at some point
after the development of United World
Government and Entertainment Incorporated,
history simply lacked any tension to make it
interesting. There was also convincing
evidence that history was a source of
discontent and neuroses. So when people
learned to stop recording the trivia of daily
and yearly events, history stopped as well.
As a result, even the details of Saint
Ronald’s birth and life are lost in the mists of
antiquity, along with the biographies of lesser
Deities such as Colonel Sanders, the
Michelin Man, and Mickey Mouse.
Although he accepts the catechism that
history is bunk, Gucci hopes that if the roots
of current celebrations and their patron saints
can be pieced together, this proof of divine
inspiration will help stop a strange socio-
pathology spreading among a growing
number of the people of the earth: heretic
asceticism! Not only does this barbaric and
nihilistic cult refuse to worship Saint Ronald,
they reject all of the major world holidays
and refuse to consume the associated
products and services to which they are
constitutionally entitled. Recently they have also begun
to boycott such sacred sites as Marlboro Country, Ford
Country, Sesame Street, Disney Universe, and even
McDonaldland. What is worse, they fail to show any
enthusiasm for the games, even when such arch rivals as
Nissan and Toyota Contest. Obviously, such heresy is
dangerous and threatens not only the economy, but
essential human values. Gucci has no desire to kindle
nostalgia for a long dead past, but by returning to the
origins of World holidays, perhaps the nonbelievers
can be made to accept the legends celebrated by
these holidays and their sacrilegious apathetic
behavior can be stopped before it spreads
further.
 Alternative Scenarios

ÝNationalist Resurgence
ÝRevival of Localism
ÝConsumer Resistance
ÝLocal Appropriation of Meanings of
Consumer Goods
ÝGlocalism (Creolization; Hybridization)
Resistance is Futile
Ý“We Indians…
ÝWhy do we assume
imported is better?
ÝWhy do we think
local means cheap?…
ÝWhy do we think
anywhere ‘abroad’ is
better?…
ÝWhy don’t we believe
in ourselves?”
 Glocalism
(Roland Robertson)
Global

Local
 Meanings of Global

Cosmopolitan/Multicultural
Modern/Progressive
Postmodern/Fragmented
Foreign/Western
WTO, IMF, World Bank
 Arenas of Globalism
(Appadurai; Ger & Belk)

ß Production
ß Consumption
ß People
ß Technology
ß Money
ß Media
ß Ideas
 Meanings of Local

Home/Family
Neighborhood
Nation
Ethnicity/Tribe
 Correlates of Localism

Age
Gender
Class
World Region -- North/South
National Region--Urban/Rural
Religion (Barber, Jihad vs. McWorld)
A Local Identity Example:
Hongkongese vs. Chinese
Consumption

Gongsik yumcha Dim Sum

Cantonese Puthonghua
Hong Kong “Chinese” fashion
clothing fashion (Mathews & Lui 2001)
Cognac, beer Mao Tai
“Titanic” “The Opium Wars”
 But Identity is More Than
Consumption
Values,e.g., filial piety
Feelings of Nationalism,
e.g., toward flag, anthem
Religion & Philosophy,
e.g., Buddhism, Taoism,
Confucianism, Falun
Gong
Norms & Behaviors,
e.g., student/teacher
 Furthermore, Glocalism Implies
Two-way Culture Exchange; Part I
The Local Appropriates the Global
“Dallas” (Liebes & Katz)
“The Young & the Restless” (Miller)
Westerners in Japanese Magazines (Skov &
Moeran; Rosenberger)
Guailou in Chinese Advertising (Zhou & Belk)
The Local Appeals to the Global
“Banana Republicanization”
Appeal of the Exotic “Other”
International Tourism
 Furthermore Glocalism Implies
Two-way Culture Exchange; Part II

The Global Appeals to the Local

“Coca-colonization”
Snoopy in Hong Kong, 1998
Hello Kitty & Dear Daniel in Singapore, 2000
Arnold Schwartzenegger in Kathmandu (Iyer)
A Sing-sing in Papua New Guinea
The Global Appeals to the Local
 Furthermore Glocalism Implies
Two-way Culture Exchange; Part II

The Global Appropriates the Local

Coca-Cola & the 1996 Summer Olympics
McDonalds & the Year of the Monkey
McDonalds & Ramadan
The Global Appropriates the Local
ÝChinese New Year,
Singapore
McDonald’s
ÝYear of the Monkey
ÝHong Bao Envelopes
Appropriating the Local

ÝRamadan in Turkey
Ý“Free hot Iftar soup
if you buy the ‘menu’
during Iftar hours”
Appropriating the Local
Ý“Forever Happy and
Free-Spirited”
ÝFaces of Coca Cola
• Atlanta
• Romania
ÝThe 1996 Summer
Olympics
• Atlanta
• Sydney
Conclusions: Glocal Consumerism
The Global World of Consumption has yet
to reach much of the world’s population
Localism is strongest among the poor, the
old, women, & religions and ethnic groups
that oppose consumerism & Westernism
Glocalism means that the distinction
between global & local is blurring
Glocalism is two-way and both global &
local admire & appropriate each other
Conclusions: Glocal Consumerism
Global flows of information, labor, capital,
materials, and production, need not mean
global consumerism
Globalism often involves superficial
changes
Changes in deep-seated cultural values
occurs, but only slowly
Glocalism means that the local can be
strengthened by the global
DOING CULTURAL
RESEARCH THAT
MATTERS

Russ Belk
University of Utah
 Matters to Whom?
• Your Grandparents
• Your Children
• You
• Your Chosen Area of Study (not the same
as your colleagues, tenure committee, or
friends)
• The Human Condition: Will you leave the
World a Better Place than You Found It?
 What Matters?
• Life
• Human Well-Being
• Human Relations
• Human Rights
• Peace & Harmony
• Social Justice
• Joy & Pleasure
• Nature
• Culture
What Else Matters?
• What People Feel
Strongly About
• Meaning in Life
• What we Don’t Know
• The Future
• The Environment
• What’s Interesting
• Understanding and
Appreciating Differences
 What’s in it for Me?
• A Chance to Make a Difference
• Research that you Care About
• Research Others Care About
• Feeling Good About What You Do
• Passion and Perseverance
• An Interesting & Worthwhile Career
• Not helping Goliath Beat Up on David
• Challenge
 So Why Don’t More of Us Do
Cultural Research that Matters?
• Challenge
• Not Seeing the Forest for the Trees
• Looking for Hot Topics
• Resignation; Toilers in the Vineyard
• Getting Co-Opted by Funding
• Getting Co-Opted by Managerial Relevance
• Isolation in the Ivory Tower
• Fear
 Some Examples of Cultural
Research that Matters
• Neighborhood Market
Embeddedness in
Calcutta (Varman)
• Advertising Agency in
Mumbai (Cayla)
• Asante Funerals in
Ghana (Bonsu)
• Kente Cloth Among
African Americans
(deBerry-Spence)
Some Cultural Research Issues
That Matter & Need Research
• Haves and Have-Nots
• Newly Rich Consumption
• Development Agencies
• AIDS
• Impacts of Consumerism
• Digital Divide
• Globalism/Localism
• Gift-Giving
More Cultural Research Issues
That Matter & Need Research
Materialism, rituals,
holidays
Necessity, luxury
Consumer Culture,
consumer lifestyles,
religion
The homeless,
Love & hate
Child consumers
Slavery
 Research Issues in Pursuing
Cultural Research that Matters
• Should you be macro or micro in focus?
• Should you pursue a stream of research or
multiple independent projects?
• Should you use positivist or interpretivist
methods?
• Should you work individually or jointly?
• Should you present your work in marketing & OB
outlets or elsewhere?
• How can you make your work accessible?
 More Research Issues
• Should you be cultural
or cross-cultural?
• Should you become an
regional or sub-regional
specialist?
• Should you take a
critical theoretical
perspective?
• Should you bring your
critical perspectives into
the business classroom?
• Should you stay in your
own back yard (e.g., Ron
Hill & the homeless)?
 Some Suggestions
• Find Something that
Matters in Every Project
• Dare to be Different
• Don’t be an Impartial
Scientist
• Take Chances
• Read Promiscuously
• Seek Interesting & Caring
Acquaintances
More Suggestions
• Have Fun!
• Follow Your Interests
• Use Your Strengths
• Use Your Research
Partners’ Strengths
• Make Presentations that
Move People
• Be Culturally Sensitive
• Collaborate Locally
 An Exercise
• Pair With a Student from another Culture &
Another University
• First: Learn Each Others’ Interests and
Experiences, Personally and Professionally
• Second: Construct a List of Cultural Research
Topics One or Both of You Think are Important
(Matter)
• Third: Brainstorm About a Research Project the
Two of You Might Collaborate on From this List
& Briefly Report Idea
 So What?
• A question people should not need to ask about
your research
• “Does this really matter much?” is a question that
should help guide your research (or at least help
you choose between alternative projects)
• Doing Well and Doing Good
• What matters to YOU is ultimately what matters
most
DOING CULTURAL RESEARCH
IN A GLOBAL WORLD

RATIONALES AND EXAMPLES,

METHODS & ISSUES
RATIONALES FOR BEING
CROSS-CULTURAL
No man is an island entire
of itself; every man is a
piece of the continent, a
part of the main. If a clod
be washed away by the
sea, Europe is the less, as
well as if a promontory
were, as well as if a manor
of thy friend’s or of thine
own were….
RATIONALES FOR BEING
CROSS-CULTURAL
...Any man’s death
diminishes me because
I am involved in
mankind, and
therefore never send to
know for whom the
bell tolls; it tolls for
thee (John Donne,
Meditation XVII,
1623)
 MORE RATIONALES FOR
BEING CULTURAL
Humanitarianism--What Affects
Others Affects Us
Humanism--Understanding Other
Cultures is Behaviorally Interesting
Broader Horizons Reduce
Ethnocentrism
Global Interdependence is Increasing
 THE SCOPE OF GLOBAL
MNC’S
ßIn 1990, 60 countries (excluding Eastern
Europe and those with < 1 million people) had
GNPs<$1 billion
ßIn 1990, 135 MNCs had revenues>$1 billion
ßIn 2001, 49 of the largest entities =
nations; 51= MNCs
 RATIONALES FOR
HISTORICAL RESEARCH
6Fish
6Process & Change
6Macro Perspectives
6Considering the Future by Examining the
Past
6Archival Treasure Troves
6Crossing Disciplinary Boundaries
 MORE RATIONALES FOR
CULTURAL INTEREST
àOvercoming Overfamiliarity by Seeing
with New Eyes
àStimulating Creativity
àBeing Interesting
àLearning About by Learning About Others
 WHY NOT DO CULTURAL
RESEARCH?
ÞIt Takes More Time
ÞIt Costs More Money
ÞLanguage May be Different
ÞCoordination Can be Harder
ÞMethods are a Challenge--
ÞE.g., Sample/Measure Equivalence
ÞIt May be Harder to Publish
ÞYou Must Leave Your Comfort Zone
ÞIt Requires Cultural Embeddedness
 WHY DO CULTURAL
RESEARCH?
ßYou Must Leave Your Comfort Zone
ßIt Requires Cultural Embeddedness
ßResearch Results Should Be:
ßRicher
ßMore Realistic
ßMore Broadly Applicable
ßIt Allows Personal Growth
ßIt is More Rewarding
 THREE EXAMPLES
6Changing Economies (Consumption in
Marketizing Economies, Clifford Shultz, Russell
Belk, and Güliz Ger, 1994)
6Global Christmas (Unwrapping Christmas, Daniel
Miller ed., 1993)
6Pioneer Possessions (“Moving Possessions: An
Analysis Based on Personal Documents from the
1847-1869 Mormon Migration,” Russell Belk,
1992)
METHODS
CHOICE OF METHODS
6Interrelationship of Research
Questions & Research Methods
6The Law of the Hammer
6What Affects Interpretations?
• Methods
• Results
• Everything Else You Know & Feel
 EXAMPLE: URBAN
LEGENDS OF KIDNEY THEFT
6 U.S.A.: Jan Brunvand, The Baby Train--
Man picks up woman in New York City
bar, or prostitute in Las Vegas; homeless
person abducted
6 Sweden: Bengt af Klintbert, Den Stulna
Njuren (The Stolen Kidney)--European
men meet women at bar in Bangkok,
Brazil, North Africa, or Balkans, or in an
Istanbul Bazaar
 MORE ORGAN THEFT
RUMORS
6 Germany: Men in bars meet women in Organ-
snatching gangs in Tunis, Venice, or Spain
(1991), or Venlo, Amsterdam, or Strasbourg
(1993)
6 Latin America: Rich foreigners or “organ
Mafia” kidnap children
6 18th Century France: Children taken for
leprous King’s blood baths or to provide new
arm for mutilated Prince
 SOME POSSIBLE
INTERPRETATIONS
6 Crime and Punishment
6 Fears for our Children’s Safety
6 Fears of Exploitation of the Weak or Poor by
the Powerful or Rich
6 Fears of Wrongful Mutilation & Death
6 Fears of Frankenstein in an Age of
Transplantation & Medical “Miracles”
6 Fears of Evil Outsiders; Anti-foreigner
Paranoia
APPROACHES & ISSUES
 SOME LIMITED
APPROACHES
6Hofstede’s Dimensions of Cultural
Difference
6Cultural Value Inventories
6Quantitative Content Analyses
6Blitzkrieg Ethnographies
6Distanced Documentaries
6Cross-Cultural Comparisons
of Convenience
 SOME PROMISING
APPROACHES
6Multimethod Studies
6Multimedia Studies
• Still Photography
• Audio and Video Recording
• Interactive Nonlinear Media
6Empowering Methods
6Collaborative Studies
6Studying Meaningful Cultural Differences
 SOME UNDERSTUDIED
ISSUES AND PHENOMENA
XExtraordinary Things--Cultures undergoing rapid
change, “magical” objects, special possessions,
consumer hopes and fears, international tourism,
special occasions and rituals, art, icons, symbols
of cultural ID...
XAspects of Everyday Life--Foods, smells,
furnishings, clothing, music, possessions,
collections, gifts, money, sports, media, pets,
transportation, grooming, travel, etc.
 MORE UNDERSTUDIED
ISSUES AND PHENOMENA
6Institutions--Retailers, peddlers, museums,
advertising, television, transnational corporations,
international sports, religions, restaurants, touristic
businesses, heritage industry, national promotion,
etc.
6Historical Topics--Development of consumer
culture, globalism & localism, impacts of
economic systems, ethical practices, technological
change, etc.
 FURTHER EXAMPLES: TWO
TYPES OF HYBRIDIZATION
6Local Appropriates Global
• Dallas & Dynasty
• Christmas in Japan
6Global Appropriates Local
• Coca Cola
o Museums
o Santa Claus
• McDonald’s
The world’s Largest McDonalds….Moscow
A Tale of Archaeology in the Year 3002
Archaeologist Gucci
Toyota Rolex, a recent
graduate of Ralph
Lauren University
(Once Karl Marx
University) in
Budapest, sits in his
IBM Sensatorium
seeking clues that will
help him understand
the obscure origins of
the major world holidays. He believes that some of
these holidays, including Coke Day, Elvis Day, Saint
Johnny Walker Day, The Day of the Levis, Sony Feel-
Man Day, and the Feast of the Seven-Eleven, may have
originated to celebrate miracles that occurred almost a
millenium ago in the 20th or 21st century. But the
evidence is far from clear. No major catastrophe or war
has obliterated the relevant data. In fact, the period
since the likely origin of these holidays is now known
as the Pax McDonald’s, due to the extended period of
world peace that was ushered in after McDonald’s first
entered what were then known as China, the Soviet
Union, India and Eastern Europe. This signaled the
peaceful global conquest by Saint Ronald McDonald, at a
time when McDonald’s sold only food products and the
people of the world spoke a variety of languages. No,the
lack of data is instead because at some point after the
development of United World Government and
Entertainment Incorporated, history simply lacked any
tension to make it interesting. There was also convincing
evidence that history was a source of discontent and
neuroses. So when people learned to stop recording the
trivia of daily and yearly events, history stopped as well.
As a result, even the details of Saint Ronald’s birth
and life are lost in the mists of antiquity, along with the
biographies of lesser Deities such as Colonel Sanders,
the Michelin Man, and Mickey Mouse. Although he
accepts the catechism that history is bunk, Gucci hopes
that if the roots of current celebrations and their patron
saints can be pieced together, this proof of divine
inspiration will help stop a strange socio- pathology
spreading among a growing number of the people of the
earth: heretic asceticism! Not only does this barbaric and
nihilistic cult refuse to worship Saint Ronald, they reject
all of the major world holidays and refuse to consume the
associated products and services to which they are
constitutionally entitled. Recently they have also begun to
boycott such sacred sites as Marlboro Country, Ford
Country, Sesame Street, Disney Universe, and even
McDonaldland. What is worse, they fail to show any
enthusiasm for the games, even when such arch rivals as
Nissan and Toyota contest. Obviously, such heresy is
dangerous and threatens not only the economy, but our
basic human values. Gucci has no desire to kindle
nostalgia for a long dead past, but by returning to the
origins of world holidays, perhaps the nonbelievers can
be made be properly in awe of the miracles celebrated by
these holidays, and their sacrilegious and blasphemous
behavior can be stopped before it spreads further.
•A plausible scenario?
•Yes and No
Global Branded Pop Culture
Historically: Slow Culture Contact Through
Soldiers, Merchant Traders, Missionaries, &
Immigrants
In the Global Village: New Ambassadors Include
Ronald McDonald, Big Bird, Michael Jordan,
Santa Claus, & Tourists
Santa Among the Hill Tribes
Big Bird in China
Ties & Chivas Regal in PNG
HOMOGENIZATION: NON-
PLACES & WORLD TASTES
Airports, Hotels, & Shopping Malls
Levi’s, Sony, Mercedes
Pastiche: World Music, World Cuisine,
World Wide Web
Global Standard Package
Consumption Community Creed: Gucci,
Rolex, Armani, BMW, Johnny Walker, these
are the things in which we believe.
GLOBAL CAPITALISM &
GLOBAL CONSUMERISM
1979 & 1989-1991
Measuring Materialism (Materialism Scores)
Status Competition Supplants Envy Avoidance
Relative Deprivation & Deservingness
Sacrifices--Cigarettes in Romania & Bangladesh,
Food for Refrigerators, TVs without Electricity
Strengths of global & local appeals--VIDEO
 Materialism Scores

Romania 66.1 India 57.7

USA 61.1 U.K. 56.5
New Zealand 60.5 France 56.5
Ukraine 59.9 Sweden 53.2
Germany 59.2
Turkey 59.1
Israel 58.9
Thailand 58.3
ALTERNATIVE SCENARIOS
Nationalist Resurgence
Revival of Localism
Consumer Resistance
Local Appropriation of Meanings of Consumer
Goods
Hybridization (Creolization)
Two-Way
Coca-Colonization
Banana Republicanization
REVIVAL OF LOCALISM?
“We Indians…
Why do we assume
imported is better?
Why do we think local
means cheap?…
Why do we think
anywhere ‘abroad’ is
better?…
Why don’t we believe in
ourselves?”
 RESISTANCE...
Consumers can reject the
use of standard market
objects in order to assert
identity, reclaim control,
and counter the trends
toward globalism,
hyperreality, and
multinationalization.
 Local Appropriation of the
Global....
The presence of foreign
brands, theme parks, films,
and TV programs should not
be taken to imply that these
things mean the same thing
in Bucharest, Paris
Amsterdam, or L.A.
HYBRIDIZATION/GLOCALIZATION
(WOLF BRANDS) Chinese New Year,
Singapore
McDonald’s
Year of the Monkey
Hong Bao Envelopes

(SHEEP’S
CLOTHING)
HYBRID MCDONALD’S

Ramadan in Turkey
Free hot Iftar soup if
you buy the ‘menu’
during Iftar hours”
HYBRID COCA COLA
“Forever Happy and
Free-Spirited”
Faces of Coca Cola
Atlanta
Romania
The 1996 Summer
Olympics
Atlanta
Sydney
 Tiger
“I never take
my Nike cap off”
Woods
Brad Pitt for Honda
Mel Gibson’s
real reason…
money
Dennis
Hopper
 FORCES OPPOSING
GLOBALISM
WTO/World Bank/IFM Protests
Languages
Regional Strengths
Religion & Culture
Jihad vs. McWorld (B. Barber)
The Lexus & The Olive Tree (T.
Friedman)
 Language

MAP 1
Language

Languages

Arabic German Mandarin Spanish

English Hindi Portuguese Other
French Japanese Russian

The Eventual 4…
 INTERNATIONAL
STEREOTYPES OF
HEAVEN AND HELL
àHeaven is a place where the police are
British, the chefs are French, the mechanics
are German, the lovers are Italian, and
everything is organized by the Swiss.
àHell is a place where the chefs are British,
the mechanics are French, the police are
German, the lovers are Swiss, and
everything is organized by the Italians
 Religions

Religions
Religions

Atheism (and C hristia n, Ro m a n

Communism) C a tho lic Hindu Others
Buddhism C hristia n, Ortho d o x Muslim
Christian, C hristia n, Pro te sta nt Traditional Tribal
no major sect
 Religious Difference

ÞTaoism: Shit happens.

ÞConfucianism: Confucius say, “Shit
happens.”
ÞZen Buddhism: What is the sound of Shit
happening?
ÞHinduism: This Shit has happened before.
ÞIslam: If Shit happens, it is the will of
Allah.
 Religious Difference

àProtestantism: Let Shit happen to

someone else.
àCatholicism: If Shit happens, you deserve
it.
àJudaism: Why does this Shit always
happen to us?
àAgnostic: Who gives a shit?
àLDS: Heavenly Father sent me this S___.
 SOME QUESTIONS
Advertising is Inherently Hyperreal
Criticisms of Sanitized, Stylized, Fantasy-Driven
Presentations is Not New: McDonaldization,
Carnivalization, Disneyfication, Trivialization
How Sinister is Ronald McDonald & Buying the
World a Coke?
Is Finding our Myths/Fantasies in
Corporate Icons so Bad?
Conclusion

Just Do It!
Life in the Glocal Village: How
Arnold Schwartzenegger Meets
Hello Kitty
Russell Belk
University of Utah, USA
The Non-News: It’s a Global World
WWW, Microsoft, eBay
MTV, Star Channel,Channel V
KFC, Jolibee, McDonalds
CNN, BBC, WSJ
Nike, Adidas, Reebok
Ferragamo, Chanel, Mercedes
TNCs: 51, Nations: 49 (of the 100 largest entities
in the world)
 Global Production example:
IBM Java-based Programming
Tsinghua University, Beijing e-
mails day’s code to IBM, Seattle
IBM, Seattle e-mails code to Institute of
Computer Science in Belarus & the
Software House Group in Latvia
Belarus & Latvia e-mail their builds to
India’s Tata Group, which passes the
extended code back to Tsinghua, Beijing,
then back to Seattle…
Global Consumption examples:

“I tend to look at things in U.S. dollar terms, all

right? My turnover in U.S. dollar terms, it’s
really nothing. It’s nothing if you convert it into
U.S. dollars. Alright? I bought this house for Z$3
million, which would convert to what, to about
about $100,000 U.S….So it’s not really anything.
You read in the paper every day that, you know,
who is it -- Bill Gates -- is putting up a $50
million house. Against Z$3 million, $100,000
U.S.. So it’s really nothing.” [M35, Zimbabwean].
Global Consumption
“I love cars. I love beautiful cars [currently owns
a Mercedes & BMW sedans, Nissan & Kia
4WDs]. If I had more money I would buy more
cars. …I would like to buy a big American buggy,
you know. I have my eyes set on a Chevy
actually..my heart is set on a Chevy” [M35,
Zimbabwean].
Hong Kong and first growth Bordeaux
Zimbabwean fondness for golf, cricket, soccer,
tennis, & racquetball
 Global Consumption
“After the revolution what we believed to be
necessities were below the international standards.
And I automatically thought people pushed
upwards their necessities levels. For example,
daily hot water became a necessity -- you don’t
want to stink anymore. It is difficult to set limits
to necessities” [M30, Romanian].
“Rayban” sunglasses and “Armani” sports coats in
China
 Despite New Wealth, Some
Preferences Resist Globalization

Zimbabwean insistence on sadza

Romanian insistence on tşuica
Zimbabwean preference for African music
(partial exception: those educated abroad)
Indian preference for classical Indian music
and Hindi films
Northern Indian insistence on curried dishes
Chinese insistence on rice
 Glocalism
(Roland Robertson)
Global

Local
 Meanings of Global

Cosmopolitan/Multicultural
Modern/Progressive
Postmodern/Fragmented
Foreign/Western
WTO, IMF, World Bank
 Arenas of Globalism
(Appadurai; Ger & Belk)
ß Production
ß Consumption
ß People
ß Technology
ß Money
ß Media
ß Ideas
 Meanings of Local

Home/Family
Neighborhood
Nation
Ethnicity/Tribe
 Correlates of Localism

Age
Gender
Class
World Region -- North/South
National Region--Urban/Rural
Religion (Barber, Jihad vs. McWorld)
A Local Identity Example:
Hongkongese vs. Chinese
Consumption
Yum Cha Dim Sum
Cantonese Puthonghua
Hong Kong “Chinese” fashion
clothing fashion (Mathews & Lui 2001)
Cognac, beer Mao Tai
“Titanic” “The Opium Wars”
 But Identity is More Than
Consumption
Values,e.g., filial piety
Feelings of Nationalism,
e.g., toward flag, anthem
Religion & Philosophy, e.g.,
Buddhism, Taoism,
Confucianism, Falun Gong
Norms & Behaviors, e.g.,
student/teacher
 Furthermore, Glocalism Implies
Two-way Culture Exchange; Part I
The Local Appropriates the Global
Westerners in Japanese Magazines (Skov &
Moeran; Rosenberger)
Guailou in Chinese Advertising (Zhou & Belk)
The Local Appeals to the Global
Appeal of the Exotic “Other”
International Tourism
 Furthermore Glocalism Implies
Two-way Culture Exchange; Part II

The Global Appeals to the Local

Snoopy in Hong Kong, 1998
Hello Kitty & Dear Daniel in Singapore, 2000
Arnold Schwartzenegger in Kathmandu (Iyer)
Conclusions: Glocal Consumerism

The Global World of Consumption has yet to

reach much of the world’s population
Localism is strongest among the poor, the old,
women, & religions and ethnic groups that oppose
consumerism & Westernism
Glocalism means that the distinction between
global & local is blurring
Glocalism is two-way and both global & local
admire & appropriate each other
Conclusions: Glocal Consumerism
Global flows of information, labor, capital,
materials, and production, need not mean global
consumerism
Globalism often involves superficial changes
Changes in deep-seated cultural values occur, but
only slowly
Glocalism means that the local can be
strengthened by the global
Thank You
Fallacies of Marketing and
Development

Russell Belk
University of Utah
 Development
A post-WWII concept
Marketing’s Role in Development has
been loosely theorized in the
past 2 decades
Nevertheless, predecessor theories
Modernization theories
Livingstone’s 3 C’s & demonstration effect
Political economy theories
Development in a global era
 Conventional Wisdom

1. Development is good; it involves more production &

more consumption of more things
2. Less economically developed nations should become
more like more economically developed
3. Marketing should serve consumer wants & needs
4. Consumers try to satisfy “lower order” needs first
 More Conventional
Wisdom

5. In today’s global world, global products &

services are essential
6. Capitalism has won & will be the dominant
system for some time
7. Poor nations will prosper if only they
follow the IMF & World Bank SAPs
1. Development is good; it
involves more production & more
consumption of more things
Development equated with
economic & industrial development
Higher incomes and more consumption
equated with greater well-being
True to a degree
In 1985 Boulding estimated that degree as
$2000 per capita ($8-10,000 in 2000)
 Further basic problems with
development as a concept

The world economy as a pyramid scheme

Finite global resources
The fragile environment of planet earth
Relativity and development
Is infinitely more infinitely better?
2. Less economically developed
nations should become more like
more economically developed
Situations of European
industrial growth
Colonialism
Slavery
Neo-colonialism & wage slavery
Post-WWII recovery & world balance
The new consumerism: I want it all, I want it now
 Further basic problems with
“them” becoming more like “us”
Psychological inferiority complex
Helplessness
Dependency
Lack of self esteem
Cultural insensitivity
Language
Religion
Philosophy
Resulting cultural alienation
 Nervous Conditions
(Dangarembga 1988)
…my broad-toed feet that had grown thick-skinned through
daily contact with the ground in all weathers. You could see it
from the way the keratin had reacted by thickening, and …
had hardened and cracked so that the dirt ground its way in
but could not be washed out. It was evident from the
corrugated black callouses on my knees, the scales on my skin
that were due to lack of oil, the short, dull tufts of
malnourished hair. This was the person I was leaving behind.
At [the mission] I expected to find another self, a clean, well-
groomed, genteel self who could not have been bred, could not
have survived on the homestead (pp. 58-59).
3. Marketing should serve
consumer wants & needs
But consumers often don’t know or
cannot articulate needs
Social Construction
Luxuries & necessities
The Marketing Concept inhibits innovation &
creativity
What consumers want may not be good for them as
individuals & a society– e.g, cigarette smoking in
the Third World
 4. Consumers try to satisfy
“lower order” needs first
Maslow as Normative Western humanitarianism
Sacrificing “lower order” need fulfillment for
“higher order” needs
A brief history of higher order needs
Cave paintings & sculptures
Grave goods
Collections
Some problem cases: cosmetics, books, music,
television
 Drakulić (1991)
“What is the minimum you must have so you don’t
feel humiliated as a woman? It makes me understand
a complaint I heard repeatedly from women in
Warsaw, Budapest, Prague, Sophia, East Berlin.
“Look at us--we don’t even look like women. There
are no deodorants, perfumes, sometimes even no soap
or toothpaste. There is no fine underwear, no
pantyhose, no nice lingerie. Worst of all, there are no
sanitary napkins. What can one say except that it is
humiliating?”
5. In today’s global world, global
products & services are essential

Dangers of Westernization
Loss of cultural identity
Loss of nutrition
Loss of consumer welfare
The triumph of the local
Foods
Music
Television & Film
6. Capitalism has won & will be the
dominant system for some time

Capitalism is only a few hundred

years old
It is much newer in some parts of the world
The overthrow of Communism had little to do
with desire for economic freedom
Most consumers were better off before
The Asian meltdown
7. Poor nations will prosper if
only they follow the IMF
& World Bank SAPs
Missionary zeal
Economic & human catastrophe
E.g., Sub-Saharan African SAP “growth”
Unemployment growth—16%
Per capita consumption decline—20%
Real wages/education decline—25%
Health care spending decline—50%
Ain’t nothing surer…
 Conclusion
Conventional wisdom about marketing and
development is faulty
Prescriptions for economic development are
widening the gap between the haves and have-nots
of the world
We need to critically reexamine & rethink our
fundamental assumptions about development
policy, theory, & research
Otherwise we are part of the problem rather than
part of the solution
 Ethnographic & Naturalistic
Methods of Consumer Research

Russell Belk
University of Utah
USA
 What is Naturalistic Research?
• NOT artificial laboratory experiments
• NOT standardized questionnaires
• In-Situ (Naturalistic)
• Generally Qualitative Data
• 2 Basic Data Collection Method
– Depth Interviews
– Observation/Participant Observation
• Results Can be Descriptive or Interpretive
• Analysis is Iterative; Codes or Gestalt
 Why Do Naturalistic Research?
• Closer to being “real”
• Rapport rather than distance
• Rich/thick description helps reader/viewer feel
they understand the people, places, organizations,
and situations better
• NOT usually exploratory
• Trades off thin representative results for thick
non-representative results
• Helps ask different questions
 Why NOT do
Naturalistic Research?
• It usually takes longer
• It is initially more challenging for a researcher
than the hands-off approach
• May require multiple researchers with different
characteristics
• Narrower range of publication outlets, although
this is changing
• Marketing academia has been slower to accept it
than industry & other fields
 Some Examples
• Arnould & Price, “River Magic: Extraordinary
Experience and the Extended Service Encounter,”
JCR, June, 1993
• Belk & Costa, “Modern Mountain Men: A
Consuming Fantasy,” JCR, December, 1998
• Celsi, Rose, & Leigh, “An Exploration of High-
Risk Leisure Consumption through Skydiving,”
JCR, June, 1993
• Schouten & McAlexander, “Subcultures &
Consumption: An Ethnography of the New
Bikers,” JCR, June, 1995
 Selected Methods

• Focus Groups (the most familiar)

• Depth Interviews
• Projective Methods
• Observation & Participant Observation
• Analysis Methods
 Interviewing is A
Journey...
• Discovery about the person being
interviewed, their perspectives on their
behavior
• Know where the journey will lead--an idea,
a topic, a focus
• Take side trips
• Stay in charge, but be flexible
Mechanics of interviewing....
• Set the stage
• Produce a record:
immediately, preferably
verbatim, including
everything, uhs and ahs
Mechanics of interviewing....

• Tape/audio record, or not?

• Notes or not?
• Developing your memory and focus
• Listen well
• Sample within: emotions, time, ideal
to real, general to specific
 Probes
• Openness, acceptance,
understanding
• “Tell me about”
• “uh-huh”
• Repeating
• “sewing it up”--recap
 Avoid

• Questions requiring “yes”

or “no” answers
• “Why?”
HOW DO YOU TO MEASURE
CONSUMER FANTASIES?

^Thematic Apperception Tests (TATs)

^Cartoon Tests
^Word Associations
^Sentence Completion
^(Generally) Projective Responses to
Ambiguous Stimuli
That
woman...
That
woman...
Projective Results: Draw how your Stories & Drawings About Roaches
mouth feels before, during, and after
brushing
A Simple Unscaled Profile
Instant Coffee User Image
of Lux Soap Based on
By Projective Techniques
Name &Logo
 Projective Measures
Collage
Associations (Sea
of Things)
Fairy tale
Antonyms
Antonym Objects
Synonyms
Synonym Objects
& Feelings
(Before, During, &
After Getting
Desired Thing)
[Projective Measures]
Desires versus Wants
Sketches
Metaphoric Portraits
• a Taste • a Smell
• a Texture/Feel • a Color
• a Sound • a Shape
• an Emotion
Projectives: 29 (T), 17 (D), 38
(US)
Journals & Interviews

Both elicited specific

experiences in desiring
things (tangible possessions
and persons or pets) that
were or were not acquired
Journals by students;
interviews with non-students
Journals: 36 (T), 17 (D), 49
(US)
Depth Interviews: 90 (T), 34
(D), 141 (US)
ILLUSTRATIVE MARKETING
STUDIES, 1930S-PRESENT
^Radio Serial Listeners
^Greeting Cards
^Automobile Speed
^Save versus Spend
^Grooming
^Gift-Giving
^Consumer Desires
 OBSERVATION

Gathering & Reporting Observations

THE PRIMACY OF VISION

Seeing is believing.
See for yourself.
It’s good to see you.
I should have seen that coming.
I see what you mean.
Do you have any insights?
The doctor will see you now.
 VISUAL EXAMPLES

• Family photo albums and acculturation of

Japanese-American Families (Richard
Chalfen 1988)
• Photographs/ancient Greek pottery and
facial expression in Southern Italy (Morris,
Collett, Marsh, & O’Shaughnessy 1979)
• Travel Postcards and Images of Native
Americans (Albers & James 1988)
 BUT WE CAN “OBSERVE”
MORE THAN THE VISUAL
• Sounds
• Smells
• Tastes
• Tactile--textures, temperature, pressure
• “Feel” (sixth sense)
• ALL of these details go together to make
up the ambiance and action
 APPROACHES TO
OBSERVATION

• Build-up Approach--categories deduced

from observations
• Break-down Approach--a priori categories
induced Non-categorical Approach--Seeks
details related in narrative fashion
• Alternative foci--place, person, group, time
period, event, combinations
TWO TYPES OF
KNOWLEDGE

• Propositional Knowledge--Knowledge that;

knowledge about (e.g., “The wrapping rule”
Caplow 1984)

• Experiential Knowledge--Knowledge of (e.g.,

What it was like to be a poor tenant farmer in the
1930’s; Agee & Evans 1960

“Seeing is believing…but feeling is the truth”

 TO CONVEY EXPERIENTIAL
KNOWLEDGE
• “Thick Description”
Who, what, where, when
Telling details
Mormon Pioneer Diaries
• Also Consider
Photos
Video/Film
Artifacts
WHAT CANNOT BE
OBSERVED?

• Meaning is not inherent in images or objects

• Observations
can’t tell why
• Observations can’t be certain about internal
psychological states & processes
• Visual presentations can be mute or
confusing without additional information
about their context and specifics
 UNOBTRUSIVE
PHYSICAL TRACE
OBSERVATIONS
• Erosion Measures (e.g., Chicago Museum
of Science & Industry; Book Use & Grades)
• Acretion Measures (e.g., Garbage, Charles
Parlin, William Rathje, Noseprints)
• Contrived Observation (e.g., Petition-
signing; Stalled Car; Library Table &
Elevator Spacing; Ethnomethodology)
 USES OF OBSERVATIONAL
EVIDENCE
• Secondary Data Analysis
• Primary Data Collection
• Visual Elicitation
• Native Image-Making
• Presentation
Propositional Knowledge
Experiential Knowledge
• Data Archive
INTERPRETATION:
MEANINGS AND
METAPHORS

Beyond the Data

 MEANINGS & METAPHORS
+What’s a Metaphor?
Understanding & Experiencing One Kind of Thing in
terms of another (Lakoff & Johnson)
E.g., Field & Fieldwork in Anthropology
Includes all Figurative Tropes (Analogies, similies,
other imagery; verbal mostly)
+Whose Metaphors Should Concern Us?
Informants’ (Cultures’, Subcultures’)
Ours (Researcher/Analyst’s)
 METAPHORS IN
ANTHROPOLOGY TRAINING
%Rites de passage--Separation, Transformation,
Reincorporation
%Spatial Metaphors--Marginality, boundaries, field,
isolation
BOUNDARY

%Others--Tribe, immersion, craft apprenticeship

%Other Elements of Form (vs. Content) in
Interviews--Contrastive Rhetoric (now vs. then;
them vs. us; here vs. there)
 DOMAIN ANALYSIS
(Taxonomic Structure--Comes from Ethnoscience
(microlinguistic)
(Concerns Symbols within a Specific Domain
(Examples--tree, car, flop (Spradley), fieldwork
(Asks where, when, what, & with what effects (all
in folk terms of shared meanings)
 DATING GIFT PARTIAL
DOMAIN ANALYSIS
%Where is a Dating Gift?
Thresholds
Interpersonal vs. Familial
%When is a Dating Gift?
Occasions (Singular & Mutual)
Stage in Relationship
%What is a Dating Gift?
Luxuries
Cost & Intimacy
 (DATING GIFT DOMAIN)
,“Products” of Dating Gifts
Social--Bonding, Communication, Sharing
Romantic--Pleasing the Other, Surprise, Delight
Unsuccessful Gifts--Economic--”Investment,” “Fiscal
Foreplay”
Errors of Taste, Differing Perceptions of Relationship,
Lack of Effort, Lack of Sensitivity, Too Much, Too
Little, Too Late
,Differences by Gender, Occasion
 ACCOUNTS (MILL’S
VOCABULARY OF MOTIVES)
%Excuses (Deny Responsibility--e.g., It’s the nature
of men)
%Justifications (Neutralize or Valorize Outcome--
e.g., My materialism is good)
%Other Accounts--Examples:
Scientific Success as Luck
Scientific Success as Inevitable (“Truth Will Out
Device”)
%Reflexivity suggests accounts also shape realities
 GOING BEYOND
THE DATA

.Rigorous Data Analysis is Not Enough

.Must Have & Use Ideas (Theory &
Generalization)
.Some Types of Theorizing
Formal & Substantive Theory: Data-based
Theory Building (It is NOT just aggregating &
ordering codes)
Causal Relationships
Ideal Types (E.g., Goffman’s Total Institutions)
 MORE TYPES OF
THEORIZING
-Grounded Theory (Open, Axial, & Selective
Coding--Glaser & Strauss)
-Articulative Ethnography (Explicates Natives’
views -- e.g., Control of Luck)
-Denzin’s Interpretive Interactionism (emphasis on
personal epiphanies)
-Not an Exhaustive List
-Draw on Data, Other Fields, Literature--high and
low, Personal Experiences
 THEORIZING &
GENERALIZING
&Data are Good to Think With & About
&Three Types of Reasoning
Inductive (e.g., grounded theory)
Deductive (e.g., hypothesis testing)
Abductive (interpretive processes that go beyond the
data to generate new configurations of ideas)
&Theories as Heuristic Tools
&Serendipity Aided by Carefully Preparing
 FINAL THEORIZING TIPS
œRead Broadly and Eclectically
œBegin Thinking about Meaning While Still
Collecting Data
œPlay with Metaphors
œTheoretical Principles May Generalize, Not
Specific Descriptive Findings
œThus, We Do Not Usually Seek Representative
Data; We Seek Rich Data that Spur Expansive
Thinking
 What is Videographic
Consumer Research?
• Using video to collect data
– Interviews
– Observations
– Informants’ videotapes -- e.g., Asante funerals
• Using video to present research
– Videotapes
– CD-ROMs & DVDs (Interactive)
– Web Streaming
 Who is Doing Consumption
Videography?
• Academic Consumer Researchers -- e.g.,
Belk, Costa, Groves, Kozinets, O’Guinn,
Piron, Olekshin, Varman, Wang, Watson,
Williams, Zhou, and others
• Consumer Behavior Students
• Corporate Consumer Researchers
• Filmmakers and scholars in other
disciplines
 How to Do Videography

• Equipment
– Digital Camcorder
– Non-linear Editing System
– Extras--microphones, cables, lights, tripods, VCRs,
earphones, software, stabalizers, booms, filters,
batteries, gaffer’s tape, music
• Crew
– Basic: Interviewer, cameraperson
– Extra: Soundperson, director, editor, “talent”
 Miscellaneous Tips

• Camera Can be a Plus or a Minus

• Most People Soon Forget About the Camera,
Especially Those Who Have Them; Tape is Cheap
-- shoot lots
• Backup & Spares are good
• Monitor Sound; Label & Record-Protect tapes;
Don’t Rely on “Post” to fix it all
• Practice & Get to Know Equipment; Train Crew;
Show Restraint
 Some Examples

• Once in a Lifetime, Russ Belk & Ron

Groves
• Athletic Shoes, my students
• My Father’s House, Russ Belk
• Burning Man, Rob Kozinets
• Global and Local Models of Consumption
in Zimbabwe, Russ Belk