Soc. 118 Media, Culture & Society

1. Soc. 118Media, Culture & Society Chapter 9 Scenes From A Mall: Cultural Consumption and Style in Everyday Life

2. OVERVIEW • The Centrality of Cultural Consumption • The Mall of America • The Triumph of Style in Everyday Life • Video: TV Commercial for Target • Video: The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills • Landscapes of Cultural Consumption • Urban Renaissance • The Staging of Cultural Commerce • Disneyfication • Video: The Corporation – A Private Celebration •  The Hidden Costs of Cultural Consumption • Emotional Labor • In-Class Exercise: Emotion Work in Everyday Life • When Style Conquers Substance

3. Cultural Consumption and Style in Everyday Life • The centrality of cultural consumption • Recent shift in society • The Mall of America • Focus: • Style in popular culture • Landscapes of consumption

4. The Triumph of Style in Everyday Life • Elements of style and design • Home décor, clothing, accessories, etc. • Video clip: TV commercial for Target • Postmodern consumption • Proliferation of aesthetics • Communicate through senses • Sensations and reactions • Unprecedented opportunities to express personal style • Massive consumption • Style everywhere • Video clip: The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills • Design intensive everyday environments • Businesses, corporations • Starbucks as "multisensory aesthetic experience” • Google offices encourage “creative play” 4

5. Landscapes of Cultural Consumption • Style in public places • Urban renaissance (1990s) • Shifts in city life • Esp. in former industrial centers • Urban entertainment districts • Part of larger urban renewal • Attract global tourism • Total experience • Selling unique, “authentic” locales • Examples: Nashville, South Beach, New Orleans • High-concept, trendy, event destinations • Seen in media and advertising 5

6. The Staging of Cultural Commerce • Simulated environments • Movie-making techniques • Staging, lighting, sound • Disneyfication • Branding, chains, themed entertainment • Restaurants, clubs • Hotels • Shopping malls, stores • Amusement parks • Example: • Video: “The Corporation: A Private Celebration” • Artificial reality • Better than the real thing? 6

8. The Science of Consumption • Engineering shopping • Attract passersby • Manage traffic flow • Using the senses • See, hear, smell and taste, touch • Appealing to buyer instincts • Impulse buying • Items in the checkout line • Money, money • The best price is free? • The theory of relativity • Giving cash some credit • Spending cash hurts more • Part of the herd • Do others know more? • Shopping momentum • Can be triggered by one item • Hunters and gatherers • Gender differences 8

9. The Hidden Costs of Cultural Consumption • Worker exploitation • Workers reflect the brand • The Commercialization of Feeling • Arlie Hochschild • Goffman’s “Presentation of Self” (Dramaturgy) • Emotional Labor • Additional work to display feeling • To please customers, clients • To benefit employers • Required in many service jobs • Examples • Who does this work? • Techniques • Sincere and cynical performances • Consequences • Manage boundaries of backstage, front stage • Stress, alienation, burnout • In-Class Exercise: Emotion Work in Everyday Life 9

10. When Style Conquers Substance • Good looks as advantage in society • Studies show higher incomes for taller, better looking • “Looks sell” • Example: Book authors • More obsession than ever before • Online we lie about or manipulate physical appearance • What are consequences? • Best-looking people in human history • Costs? • Where is the real self?