Fashion Taste and Ethics - Essay Example

?Topic: FASHION TASTE AND ETHICS 2nd December Introduction In the contemporary world, the purchasing behavior of the customers is strongly linked to their taste and preferences. Based on the various level of relationships that exists between taste and other aspects of identity such as class, gender, sexuality among others, marketers have come up with products that posses the major characteristics required by the consumers. Based on the household’s income, educational levels among other attributes, modern societies have come up with different classes for example the rich and the poor, low income earners, middle earners and high earners. Each of the class has its own taste for the basic and secondary needs aspect that is commonly used by marketers as they launch new products in the market. In their efforts to emulate new consumption habits, members of the middle class as well as those at the lower social class imitate the taste of the upper calls members. This paper evaluates the relationship that exists between taste and class, one of the major aspects of identity. Class Social class entails the set of concepts that are adopted by social scientists to group individuals with similar consumption habits and taste into various categories. Being a vital analysis tool for the political scientists and sociologists, social class enables firms and governments to provide amenities and goods that are not only aimed at improving the living standard of individuals but also to improve economic performance of a country. According to Marxist theory, class involves the combination of subjective and objective factors. While the subjective individuals possess some perception of common interests and similarity among themselves, objectively members of the same class share common relationship to the factors used in the production of goods and services (Arsel and Jonathan, 2013). This implies that in most cases, the subjective factors play a key role in ensuring that members of a similar has have a similar taste towards a particular products. On his part, Max Weber, a renowned sociologist formulated a major theory of stratification that depicted political power as a connection between class, status and group power. According to Weber, education and skills possessed by a person highly determines the class portion of an individual as compared to their relationship with the factors of production. Upper class Upper class is made up of the well-born or wealthy individuals. In most societies, the condition to enter upper class is being wealth. In others, individuals born in particular aristocratic bloodlines are taken to be the member of the upper class. As a result of the passing of the wealth from one generation to another within the upper class, their demand for luxuries and other expensive products remains constant. Some of the major factors that have resulted to high demand for expensive commodities by the members of the upper class include high generation of revenue from lands and rents among other sources of wealth. Even though the members of the upper class are not many especially for the developing countries, their implication on the aggregate demand for consumer products is significant in the growth for any economy. Middle class Middle class involves the group of people who fall between the upper and the lower classes. It covers the white collar employees who earn a significant income to cover their household needs. To ensure that their status is improved, individuals within the middle class have highly demand education and technologies the major aspects that enables them to enter the upper class. As compared to the upper class, members of the middle class have a lower taste for the luxurious products since their aim it to improve their economic status. In this regard, they look for employment opportunities that will expand their incomes and allow them to pursue further education thus enhancing their skills. One of the significant aspects of the middle class members is that they are imitators who copy the consumption habits of the rich people and sending them downwards to the lower class members. Lower class This class covers individual who are employed in low-paying jobs. As a result of the little economic security, members of the low class have little taste for fashions. Even if they like to posses valuable products and an expansive wealth, their aspect of high propensity to consumer does allow them to save extra funds to acquire basic and luxurious products. Also referred to as underclass, lower class members are mostly used by wealth individual in their effort to expand their wealth. Taste for education and skills In regard to the education, social classes have different taste for the type of education for themselves and their children. For instance, members of the upper-class send their children to schools that are perceived to be providing high quality education regardless of the amount of fees they pay. It is worth to note that in most countries, government supported schools offers high quality education to the children from upper class families as compared to the children from lower classes. This is one of the major factors that do not only affect the productivity of the lower class individual but also it has continued to perpetuate division among the classes (Bourdieu, 1984). As the world moves towards becoming a global village, mostly people have turned to the use of technology to undertake their jobs and educational research. However, based on the low incomes by the members of the lower class, the taste for technology such as laptops among others is low thus making the members of the upper class more advantaged. In the same way, members of the upper class have a high demand for university education as compared to their counterparts in the middle and lower classes. As a result of the acquisition of the high education from the local and foreign high institutions of learning, their incomes has continued to increase thus enhancing their taste for quality fashions including houses, cars, food among other necessities. Taste and social classes The underlying divisions among the social classes are highly related to the taste. This is due to the variation that exists in the socioeconomic status of the individuals resulting to preferences for cultural products and practices. One of the major mechanisms that have resulted to differences in ideas and taste among the members of the social classes is the class dynamics. The section below critically evaluates some of the key areas that the social classes have a variation in their taste. Health and nutrition Based on the variation of the level of incomes among the three social classes, their taste for the nutrition varies. For example, the purchasing power of the upper class members is not affected by the prices of the basic foods. This is based on the fact that they are focused at getting the most nutritious products that will improve their health. On the other hand, the middle and lower class members have no financial strength to afford nutritious products since most these products are expensive. As a result of the difference in the economic status among the social classes, the exposure to adequate health care among the three classes varies. For instance, among the lower-class individuals there are many cases of cancer, high rate of cardiovascular disease and rising infant mortality (Richardson, 2000). To protect themselves from accidents, majority of the rich individuals adopt insurance policies while lower class members have no ability to pay for the monthly or annual premium to cover them while in the work places. In their efforts to improve the health of the family members, members of the upper class undertake regular medical check-up in hospitals that are perceived to be providing high quality services. On the other hand, individuals at the lower class do not regularly seek for medical examination an aspect that has resulted to high rate of deaths among the poor. Employment As the level of unemployment rises in poor and developing countries, the few employment chances available are taken by members of the upper class. As a result, the level of poverty among the poor people has continued to rise making them economically disadvantaged to afford quality services and products. Relationship between taste and consumption According to Thorstein Veblen, studies on taste and consumption are vital especially for the firms that are focused at producing products that meet the market demand. Additionally, Thorstein argues that individuals have a strong desire to emulate others an aspect that changes their taste as well as the consumption habits. In their endeavor to match their consumption with that of people at the upper social class, individuals imitate the habits and preference of others thus making them to prefer certain goods to others (Outwaite and Bottonmore, 1996). It is worth to note that firms that are launching new products in the market can adopt the theories of taste and consumption to induce the consumption of their products. For example, by the use of the social emulation, advertisers can first target the upper class members who will in turn transfer the consumption trend to the middle class members and then to the lower class members. Imitation and distinction In our every day undertakings, we express and display taste that is determined by our position in the society. It is vital to note that individual preference for certain products and services may signal their status since it is perceived to be part of the lifestyles for upper class members of the society (Simmel, 1957). For example, individual who prefer high tech motor vehicles and clothes that are in fashion are perceived to be at the upper class. Even if an individual at the lower class purchases a modern cloth or any consumer item at one time he or she does not qualify to enter the upper class. This is based on the fact that it might take sometime before such an individual buys such an item again. In the same way, to be part of the upper class, one must portray a constant purchasing behavior and taste for quality and modernized products that are difficult to be acquired by members of the lower or middle class. It is worth to note patterns of taste are not only determined by the class structure, other individuals use taste as resources of redefining as well as maintaining their social position in the contemporary society. One of the notable models that are adopted to interpret taste and its implications is the social emulation. According to this model, individuals are focused at distinguishing themselves from those in the lower social class. In the same way, people tend to imitate others who are at the upper class. According to Georg Simmel, a German based sociologist, fashion is one of the fundamental aspects that are used by individuals to express their taste. Additionally, Simmel argues that fashion is not only used by members of a particular to create distinction by also as an avenue to strengthen unity among the members of any particular social class. According to the social emulation model, individual at the upper class have the tendency to signal their superiority by their culture of consumption (Horkheimer and Adorno, 1982). In this way, act as the initiators of new trends that are imitated by members of the lower classes. As soon as new trends are set by members of the upper class, the middle class individuals imitate them since they perceive the fashions, manners or products adopted by the upper class members as of high quality. To differentiate themselves once more, members of the upper class innovate more stylistic products and fashions and the trend is repeated once again. According to Thorsten, members of the upper class tend to distance themselves from the challenges of productive labor as a sign of high social status. Additionally, he argues that in their efforts to demonstrate non-productivity members of the upper class waste both goods and time. On their part, individuals in the middle and lower classes tend to imitate the non-productive behaviors of the members of the upper class even if they do not have resources to make them to be at par with individuals at the upper class. Among the most used theories in the analysis of taste by social classes was developed by Pierre Bourdieu, a French based sociologists. According to Pierre, tastes adopted by various social classes are structured based on the constraints and possibilities of social action. Additionally, he argues that choices of taste are not the same for individuals (Hennion, 2007). This is not based on the fact that members of various classes have different economic resources. In the same way, Pierre depicts that inequality and social stratification are mostly affected by the by non-economic resources possessed by members of all the three classes. An example of the non-economic resources is the cultural capital which is derived from the social origin as well as from the knowledge obtained from learning institutions. One of the major advantages of cultural capital is that it assists individuals by exposing them to education opportunities, social affiliation in addition to occupations. In his efforts to define the relationship between the cultural capital, distribution of resources and the consumption pattern of individuals, Pierre depicted various taste for the social classes that existed in French in the early 1950s. One of the major aspects covered by Pierre Bourdieu in his studies was that taste by members of the upper class portrays subtle distinctions and it has a high value. Based on the fact that the taste displayed by people in the upper class seemed to be good, in French among other societies, the middle class individuals imitated their lifestyle and manners including the pattern of consumption and attitude towards education among other necessities. On their part, members of the middle class have a taste that is not defined with much appreciation as compared to the taste by the upper class members. Criticism theories of taste based on classes Despite their efforts to portray the relationship between taste and the social classes, theories of taste as depicted by various sociologists have faced some criticism. For example, Gronow (1997) argues that status competition cannot be the major source of the social action that exists in the society. It is worth to note that even if status is one of the major incentives, other aspects are equally motivating factors to individuals. Additionally, it is not always that the taste and lifestyles always diffuse from the upper class down to the middle class and then to the lower class. In some cases, the direction of emulation may originate from down moving upwards. For example, some members of the lower class may be innovative making the upper class members to emulate such innovation although in an improved way since they have adequate resources. Similarly, academicians and other sociologists argue that the relationship between taste and social class is not very strong as it used to be. This has caused some problem to the sociologists as they try to show the relationship between taste and class. According to some theorists the diffusion of significant number of cultural products has eliminated differences in capitalist societies (Holt, 1998). In the same way, they some sociologists argue that the products and services consumers by members of various classes are almost similar. Another criticism is based on the postmodern culture. Slater 1997 argues that the current tastes possessed by consumers are not significantly influenced by the social structures. The taste that members of the different classes have is based on how much the consumers value the products they purchase and not necessarily because they are used by the members of the upper class. Conclusion Based on the above discussion, it is clear that as individuals try to change their consumption trends, members of the upper class plays a vital role of setting the trend that is emulated by individuals of the lower class. One of the major factors that makes members of the upper class implement and set a consumption trend is the availability of adequate resources as compared to their counterparts in the middle and lower classes. In their efforts to improve their consumption and taste, lower class members are faced with inadequate resources both in terms of finance as well educational skills. As mentioned in the paper, social emulation is one of the major theories that are used to explain the adoption and the diffusion of taste from the upper class downwards. Despite their efforts to explain the taste and their implication on the consumption pattern of the members of the various classes, some sociologists argue that as compared to the past, the relationship between taste and consumption is no longer strong. In the same way, critics of taste and fashion argue that diffusion of the taste is not always moving from top to down, in some cases lower class members may come up with innovation that is emulated by middle class and upper class members. Similarly, some sociologists argue that the current consumption trends by the consumers are not entirely dependent on the social structures. This implies that individuals have a strong taste for the products that they perceive to be valuable to them rather than emulating the products consumed by members of the upper class. References Arsel, Z and Jonathan, B. 2013. Taste Regimes and Market-Mediated Practice. Journal of Consumer Research. Vol. 12, No. 8, pp. 26-38. Bourdieu, P. 1984. Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste. London: Routledge. Gronow, J. 1997. Sociology of Taste. London: Routledge. Hennion, A. 2007. Those Things That Hold Us Together: Taste and Sociology. Cultural Sociology, Vol. 1, No. 1, 97-114. London: Sage. Holt, B.1998. Does Cultural Capital Structure American Consumption? The Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 25, No. 1 (Jun., 1998), pp. 1-25. Horkheimer, M and Adorno, W. 1982. Dialectic of the Enlightenment. New York: The Continuum publishing Corporation. Outwaite, W and Bottonmore, T. 1996. The Blackwell Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Social Thought. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers. Richardson, G. 2000. Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education. New York: Greenwood Press. Simmel, G. 1957. Fashion. The American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 62, No. 6 (May, 1957), pp. 541-558. Slater, D.1997. Consumer Culture and Modernity. Cambridge: Polity Press. Read More