Christmas as Consumption Fantasyland in the UK, US and Tunisia - Literature review Example

Christmas as consumption fantasyland in UK, US and Tunisia Student name Course name Institution Date of submission Student Number Introduction There is a general consensus among some marketing theorists that rituals are essentially incidences of symbolic consumption (Joy & Lo 2012; Blythe 2013). A majority of the marketing literature that have made an attempt to examine the argument have examined the characteristics and impacts of consumption during some ritual events like Christmas, wedding, Thanksgiving, and weddings. Research evidence shows that modernity, globalization and capitalism have influenced rituals in two key ways. While some have examined the revitalization of some local rituals, leading to reinterpretation of a disappearing rite using the lens of modern-day consumerist lifestyles, others have examined how certain rituals get reinterpreted in the imported context and as a result become interpreted within the context of mixed cultures, including celebrating Christmas in Christian- and non-Christian-dominant cultures. According to McKechnie and Tynan (2006), commercialization is a causal factor for the underlying experiences of rituals, such as Christmas. This paper analyses the Christmas ritual based on cultural and psychological perspectives. It is argued that that while Christmas is celebrated in non-Christian countries, the traditionally Westernised Christmas rituals tend to be hybridized adaptations that only seem to promote Western materialism, consumerism, and hedonic consumptions into other cultures. Theoretical background of consumptions during Christmas Cultural perspective of consumption is concerned with how cultural artefacts or rituals affect the way consumption is structured, as well as communicates or transfers meanings of certain aspects of consumption decisions and patterns to others (Blythe 2013). The idea of meaning transfer points to the meaning transfer model suggested by McCracken (1986). McCracken’s (1986) structuralist model can be used to analyse consumptions during Christmas. The model provides a means to analyse the trends of cultural meaning through consumption. It seeks to determine the link between culture and consumption, as well as promotes the idea of the creation of meaning that involves objects, individuals, as well as associated rituals. As shown in Figure 1 below, consumer meanings move through three key points: “the culturally constituted world,” “consumer goods,” and “individual consumer” (McKechnie and Tynan 2006). Figure 1: McCracken’s (1986) meaning transfer model (McKechnie & Tynan 2006) By alluding to the trickle-down theory, the McCracken’s (1986) structuralist model shows how advertising and marketing are instrumental in transferring meanings among different cultures to purchased items, and how four kinds of consumption rituals (mainly grooming, possession; divestment and exchange) convey cultural meanings to consumers from the items purchased. The rituals are further illustrated in Table 1. Table 1: Instruments of meaning transfer (McKechnie & Tynan 2006) In other words, the theory contends that advertising and marketing transfer meanings of Christmas from Christian cultures to non-Christian cultures, including from the United States to Tunisia. On the other hand, Psychological perspective is concerned with how consumers make decisions regarding what to purchase and the surrounding factors that influence their purchase decisions. In a seminal research by Belk (1987), the meanings and symbolism of Christmas were examined to show how the popular media influenced the consumption cultures during Christmas. Belk (1989) concluded that Christmas was a chiefly a secularised celebration of commercialisation, hedonism and materialism. According to Webster and Rennie (2008), hedonistic consumption is essential subjective and personal given that it reflects a psychological implication of purchases that appeal to values like excitement and joy achieved during shopping. Hence, hedonic consumption seeks surprise, joy, variety, and novelty. Within the psychological perspective, hedonic consumption during Christmas points to materialism. On the other hand, the psychological perspective points to commercialisation, consumerism, and materialism (Webster & Rennie 2008). Within the psychological and cultural perspective, therefore, Christmas could be termed a traditionally a Christian cultural activity that influences consumer’s purchase decisions and consumption patterns. As McKechnie and Tynan (2006) explain, Christmas is among the rituals that are annually celebrated globally on the 25th of December, even in traditionally non-Christian countries. It is generally associated with family gathering and giving out of gifts. In Christian countries like United Kingdom and United States, as well as non-Christian countries like Tunisia or Japan, Christmas is celebrated alongside 'Boxing Day’ as a public holiday. It is also considered to be a part of twin-peaked festivals that traditional comprises “Christmas and New Year” celebrations. Within the context of marketing, Christmas embodies a range of consumption practices, and being major event in the retail calendar globally, it embodies a significant shopping event annually that is characterised by varying levels of spending among different cultures and psychological contexts. United Kingdom and United States Consumption patterns Christmas embodies the most vital consumption festival across the United Kingdom and the United States, as it mobilizes nearly the whole population for many weeks (McKechnie & Tynan 2006). Among the most striking features of the Christmas festival is the highlighting on gift-giving and an exchange process among consumers. Some scholars have also argued that as a festival in the UK and US, Christmas is characterised by hedonic consumption, as celebrates sensory pleasure given that it is a holiday of feasting and eating, decorations, and cheery music. McKechnie and Tynan (2006) also contend that Christmas has a wealth of consumption mythology and symbolism, as it is a festival where a variety of secular and sacred iconography become blended to form a composite reminiscent social event. McKechnie and Tynan (2006) observed that in the American society, Christmas festival is embodied by a set of sacred and secular symbols of a Christmas tree, Santa Claus, holy wreath, poinsettia, mistletoe, snow and reindeer, chimneys, hearths, stockings, roast turkey, yule log, stars and tinsel, and a combined colour of green and red. The religious symbols of the festival vary from a manger surrounded with animals, three kings carrying gifts, the star of Bethlehem, and shepherds, and a flock of sheep, and symbols of Joseph and Mary, and Baby Jesus in manger. Such symbols seem to be purely Christian, as Christianity is predominantly a Christian affair. Indeed, according to Ozlem and Ger (2009), among the reasons for the distinctive pattern of such symbols having Christian value is because Christmas is distinctly celebrated in Christian-dominant cultures, such as in the US and UK, where Hindus, Jews, and Muslims are merely small minorities. Regarding the cultural meanings of these symbols, Hirschman and LaBarbera (1989) explain that their key purpose is psychological in nature as they strengthen kinship ties and social solidarity. For instance, the gifts given and received, and the meals taken in togetherness provided a means to making family relationships that bind tangible across different generation and welcoming loved ones into the family. According to McKechnie and Tynan (2006), the rituals of Christmas among the British and American consumers have been mostly examined in terms of its effects on cultures and family units. As both are traditionally Christian countries, Christmas is perceived as a definite ritual that is likened to gift-giving rituals as well as a display of ritual symbols like Santa Claus, mistletoe, victuals and coloured lights. McKechnie and Tynan (2006) identified the common themes during Christmas in UK as including family gatherings, materialism, commercialism, sensuality, hedonism, spirituality, gift giving, spirituality and sociability. Hirschman and LaBarbera (1989) also observed some conflicting profane and sacred values, in addition to the significance of performing sustaining rituals, as a way of promoting sacredness through consumption in different cultures. Similar characteristics were observed by McKechnie and Tynan (2006) in a later study. McKechnie and Tynan (2006) went on to conclude that the ritual basis of celebrating Christmas in the United States is not necessarily different from the UK, as both are Christian countries. Indeed, the growing literature on the Christmas gift-shopping and gift-giving rituals in the US and UK provide evidence supporting this argument. McKechnie and Tynan (2006) examined the role of Christmas in American life and traced shifts in the meanings of American Christmas festival going as far back as the Colonial days to the mid-20th Century. From his analysis, it becomes clear that Christmas reflects much profound contemporary American value system. Sandikci and Ger (2009) explain that the American Christmas acquires a seasonal offbeat status that captures a participation of a majority of the population. While there are formal religious elements of the cult in the American life, Christmas is also embodied by elements of family life, where parents show affection for their offspring, people provide to the needy. It also embodies capitalist or profit-making cultures, where businesses strive to capitalise on the festival to maximise profits. In a different study of hedonic consumption by Moschetti (1979), the researcher investigated the asymmetries of gift-giving among a variety of 'classes' of consumers during Christmas. An example of this includes the manifest inclination of parents to give gifts to their children to a greater extent than children giving out gifts to their parents. Moschetti (1979) also applied the principle of asymmetry to examine how the larger American society behaved during Christmas and noted that adults get to donate money, food, toys, in addition to other gift items, which they would then distribute to orphanages and the general poor in the society. In his view, asymmetries in gift-giving exist relative to the social power, where a greater quantity of gifts is given out by social classes with greater economic values and social power (Moschetti 1979). In a different review, Belk (1987) examined the cultural and psychological meaning of Christmas by examining literature on the consumption ideology of the Christmas festival and Santa Claus. Unlike Moschetti (1979), Belk (1987) was chiefly concerned with the hedonistic and materialistic elements of the Christmas festival. Belk (1987, p.91) pointed out that “… if Santa was a god, he would be a god of materialism…” Belk (1987) further highlighted that Santa alongside Christmas rituals like New Year's Eve parties, family feasts and the huge circulation of Christmas Playboy magazine, represented a celebration of greed and hedonism. Belk’s (1987) perspective can also be applied to support the idea that the American society reflects its deepest values on Santa Claus and belief in material gifts and hedonistic delight. Hence, Santa Claus could be viewed to be a symbol of American efforts to encourage materialism and commercialism globally. This is particularly so as during the Christmas season, most adverts contain a picture of Santa Claus. Perhaps, it could be reasoned that as the American society is not satisfied with merely implanting the consumption values of Santa in children, it intends to implant the values to the whole universe, as once the entire universe has adopted the values, it would validate American materialism. A similar perspective was earlier shared by Belk (1987) when he explained that a modern-day Christmas ritual has gone beyond family celebration to a celebration of materialism, hedonism, and consumption. Tunisia consumption patterns during Christmas Studies of consumption rituals in non-Christian context, like Tunisia, offer insight into the dynamism of rituals and the relationship between rituals and globalization. By description, Tunisia, is situated on the Mediterranean coast In North Africa and borders other Muslim countries like Algeria, Egypt, and Libya. It is virtually a hot and arid or desert country with a population where less than 2 percent are Christians (Sandikci & Ger 2009). For example, the conditions of modern living quarters that have smaller space change the perception of sacred space, where the Christmas rituals have to be restructured or replaced with invented ones. For instance, certain symbols have to be overlooked, including displaying gifts at the hearth or Chimney and having large Christmas trees (Sandikci & Ger 2009). They are also characterised by limited large consumptions or gift-giving. Similarly, in Turkey, the Christmas ritual experience has gone through significant demise due to the predominant Muslim lifestyles. Again, as Tunisia is in North Africa where there is no snow, snow-covered pools, chimneys, and horse-drawn sleighs are lacking. Sandikci and Ger (2009) observed that while Christmas is celebrated in traditionally non-Christian countries like China, Tunisia, India, and Japan, the rituals tend to be hybridized adaptations that only serve to encourage materials, consumerism and hedonic consumptions into other cultures. Indeed, conceiving Christmas within the Muslim context meets great opposition as Christmas is largely a Christian affair. According to Sandikci and Ger (2009), Islam has generally been perceived to oppose Western consumerism and capitalism, which characterise Christmas in the United States and UK. The researchers argued that consumerism provides a variety of likely lifestyles that are contradict the uniform lifestyles encouraged by Muslim countries like Tunisia (Sandikci & Omeraki 2007). A study conducted in Tunisia among the Christians in the country showed significantly different meaning structures compared to those in the United States and United Kingdom. Examples of the divergences included a need to import and purchase holiday-appropriate foods and ornamentations from the traditionally Christian nations in North America and Europe, which are perceived to be more authentic and capable of inducing nostalgia compared to those sold locally (Sandikci & Ger 2009). Christmas is not celebrated widely and openly. Additionally, different from sense of abundance, frivolity, and extravagance that characterise the external environment, such as streets in, Christian-dominant cultures, the sparseness in Tunisia is compensated for by over-decorating the interior of homes decorations, foods, music in addition to other symbols of the holiday, hence creating some form of Christmas haven. In a different study by Sandikci and Omeraki (2007), the researchers found that the individuals living in Muslim countries tend to restrict their consumption and desist from buying products perceived to be traditionally Western, including McDonalds or Coca Cola. On the other hand, while the Islamists are not opposed to consumption, they are likely to engage in consumptions although in ways that intertwine with Islamic traditions. For instance, they are likely to drink juice or soda instead of beer. The Tunisian case, therefore, shows that consumption patterns may be conscientiously acceptable styles without necessarily undercutting consumption. This is specifically so in Muslim countries, where hedonism is an acceptable in life and is less viewed to be sinful compared to Christianity (Sandikci & Omeraki 2007). For instance, Islam allows the believers to pursue their desires provided that they are incorporated with moral principles like sharing or generosity. Again, Islam permits material things although it demands that competition and greed should be balanced with love and fair play rather than unfair capitalism (Sandikci & Ger 2009). Conclusion As established, while Christmas is celebrated in non-Christian countries, the traditionally Westernised Christmas rituals tend to be hybridized adaptations that only seem to promote Western materialism, consumerism, and hedonic consumptions into other cultures. In other words, advertising and marketing efforts transfer meanings of Christmas rituals from dominant Christian cultures like the United States to Muslim cultures like Tunisia. As a festival in the UK and US, Christmas is characterised by hedonic consumption, as people celebrates sensory pleasure given that it is a holiday of feasting and eating, decorations, and cheery music. Conceiving Christmas within the Muslim context meets great opposition as Christmas is largely a Christian affair. In Tunisia, the Christmas symbols have to be restructured or replaced with invented ones. Certain symbols may have to be overlooked. They are also characterised by limited large consumptions or gift-giving. 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