How do you participate in and/or resist “typical” consumer behavior or behavior as it is conceptualized by our course readings? How/has your relationship to consumerism changed over time? To what extent does your purchasing behavior and thinking match up with our various authors’ ideas about the demographic categories they might see you in? In order to consider to what extent your purchasing behavior and thinking matches our various authors’ ideas about demographics, you may want to jump ahead to take a peak at future readings (for example, week 5 on “Sex and Gender Targeting”). To what brands, if any, do you show particular fidelity and what academic knowledge might be derived about you from these associations? If a consumer psychologist or market research team was to see a list of all your purchases in the last year (e.g., for food, clothing, entertainment, education, travel, etc.), what conclusions do you think they might draw about you? What do you think of these conclusions? Are you OK with the way you participate in consumer culture or does reflection inspire you to make changes? What, if any, changes would you hope to make? additional resource; “Marketing to Women: The Difference Between Sex Appeal and Gender Appeal,” pp. 183-208, from Why She Buys, by Bridget Brennan.
