Symbolic Meaning Creation and Consumption - Essay Example

Introduction Conspicuous consumption refers to the idea of buying expensive brands which individual might not need at all but they do out of the inherent need to achieve some recognition and status within the eyes of the people or circle of people in which a consumer socializes. This however, also provides a symbolic meaning creation to the way brands are perceived by the consumers. More expensive the brand is, a different meaning will be attached to it by the consumer regardless of other non-pricing factors such as quality. Discussion on the symbolic aspects of the products and goods started to emerge during 1950s and it essentially tried to embody the notion of buying things not based on what they do but what they actually mean to the consumer. This aspect of products and relative tendency of consumers to assign meanings to the different products therefore suggest some very interesting challenges for the overall brand management and how brand managers can create and sustain such symbolic meanings for their brands. This line of thinking therefore suggests that marketing systems are conceptualized as the culture production systems also because of their ability to create symbolic and cultural meanings for the goods and services. Issues like conspicuous consumption therefore come within the domain of how the marketing systems can be utilized as the meaning creation systems too with emphasis on the meaning creation by symbols. (Wattanasuwan, 2005) This paper will therefore attempt to discuss as to whether the symbolic meaning creation is central to the management and consumption of the brands. Symbolic Meaning Creation and Consumption It is generally believed that the contemporary society is the society which is based upon consumerism. Different social arrangements within this society therefore crafted around the way different individuals in society consume. Consumption therefore is considered as the central to the different central practices in any given contemporary society. Thus the products which are consumed by individuals and the services enjoyed by the individuals just refer to the ways individuals associate themselves with different groups in a society. It is also argued that the consumers therefore not only consume the products and services but also the associated images with these products and services also. From the social perspective, it is therefore believed that in a fast paced society there is a greater need for having an individual meaning for the consumers also therefore consumers tends to associate themselves with different products and services and images attached to these products. Thus the overall concept is based upon the individual urge to have the sense of meanings to the self therefore this search for achieving individual meaning provides an added level of satisfaction to the individual consumers. (Wattanasuwan, 2005) Thus the cultural perspective of the brand consumption view it at the macro level and is often linked to the traditional cultural studies and how they actually embody the overall concept of meaning creation by the brands. This also means that all the aspects of the cultural shall therefore be viewed from a cultural perspective. Product Symbolism “The idea that goods and services hold symbolic as well as functional value has been recognised for decades, but is still poorly understood in the context of business management. Management theory and practice tends to focus on business processes: the most efficient and economic way to deliver good quality, functional products. Indeed, management studies prefer to shy away from “wishy-washy” topics like branding, considering it more of a sloppy marketing concept.”1 Product symbolism as a concept started to emerge during 1950s and was subsequently carried forward into the 1960s also. Over the period of time, it has been argued that the consumers increasingly associate themselves with the certain products through the symbols. For them, using a product is like a symbol which can actually associate them with a certain life style. This congruence between the life style of the consumers and the product symbolism therefore offers a greater insight into how actually the products or particular brands are consumed by the consumers. (Hirschman, 1986) It is also important to understand that the creation of product symbolism is often associated with the different managerial styles and initiatives which subsequently emerge as the subsystems. For example, idea origination may come from the creative individuals which are than merged with the managerial subsystems in order to materialize them into the real objects of consumption. It is with the integration of different subsystems which can actually create the cultural products for the firms. Culture and Brands Great brands like Apple and Nike not only tend to provide the distinctive advantage to their customers but they were also successful in forging a deep cultural link with their customers. This deeper connection therefore allows such brands to become more related with their customers because consumers can actually associate some part of their identity and self with the consumption of these brands. (Holt, 2003). In brands which are specially related with the life style such as foods, beverages and clothing, symbolism becomes more critical in terms o overall success which brand managers can enjoy. In such type of brands, brand managers therefore have to evoke a certain type of cultural and personal associations with the consumptions of the brands which can help them to become more successful. The competition therefore is on how successful brand managers can create a deeper connection with the personal and cultural values of an individual. (Heding, Knudtzen, & Bjerre, 2009) It is also important to understand the creation of myths which can take important role in the overall recognition of the brand. It is generally believed that people tend to associate themselves with the myths and stories which can help them to make sense out of the world. This also means that the individual consumers tend to associate themselves with the brands which can help them to associate with such myths and conform to a certain degree of cultural association with the consumers. What is also significant to understand is the idea of how the consumers actually assign meanings to such products. This can largely be enhanced if the brand managers can adapt the concept testing methods so that the overall acceptability of the products can be greatly enhanced before they are disseminated to the consumers. The creation of cultural products therefore starts to happen before the products are actually being transmitted to the consumers. The overall development of the products and ideas behind them therefore take place much before the products are actually produced and sold to the customers. Brand Management and Meaning Creation The above discussion would not be complete if the overall meaning of brand and its dimensions are not discussed. Defining brands within the context of social psychology indicates that the brands only exists in the minds of the consumers therefore in order to manage the brands, all the brand managers and organizations have to is to manage and manipulate such perceptions in order to ensure that the brands become successful. This line of argument therefore suggests that the overall brand management is also related with how successful brand managers are in understanding such perceptions and putting their brands in relevant context in order to give them meanings. This also involves allowing consumers to relate themselves with the brands in any manner i.e. within the context of time and space. (Kornberger, 2010) An overall brand management strategy therefore need to focus exactly on the accurate market segmentation in order to align the consumer perceptions with that of the qualities and attributes of the brand itself and how it can enhance the selfdom of an individual. A relatively more critical concept which is associated with the meaning creation and the use of brands is the authenticity of the brands. Not all brands were successful despite the fact that they created strong cultural link with their customers. The issue of customer authenticity is therefore is of great importance to allow the brands to get the wider level of recognition in the eyes of the consumers. (Alexander, 2009). Consumers tend to become alluded with the overall authenticity or the overall genuineness of the product before they can start using it. This notion of genuineness of the products therefore required that the brand managers must also convey a message to their consumers which not only help them to extract meaning out of the brand but also associate them with the authenticity of the product. Since consumers tend to consume products owing to the reason of being associated with a particular lifestyle therefore if the product is not authentic it may not allow the consumers to effectively associate themselves with the brand. This is also due to the reasons that the brands tend to create their aura- their own sense of self which consumers find it attractive. Luxury brands often become successful in developing that aura in a manner which can allow them to invoke a certain degree of the specialty for the consumers and consumers purchase them because of their aura an overall power of attraction. This aura however, can only be created by historically associating the brand with the events or cultural variables to which consumers can easily relate to. The historical embodiments of the brands however need to be deeply connected with some historical and provable facts which can increase the overall genuineness and authenticity of the brands. As such it becomes critically important that the firms planning to offer some brands to associate them with certain historical facts or events if the firm is actually willing to take advantage of how the consumers actually relate with the product. Brand Strategy and changing consumer needs As discussed above that an effective brand strategy requires the accurate assessment of the target market. This is critical owing to the fact that once the overall market positioning has to be in accordance with the defined market segment. As discussed above that the consumers consume the brands in accordance with the overall meaning they attach to the brands, it becomes therefore critically more important that the brand managers must design their market positioning strategies in a manner which can help them to direct the brand to the exact audience defined through the process of market segmentation. Over the period of time, consumers have also started to associate themselves with the new emerging trends such as ethics in the brands. The emergence of the ethical brands therefore attempted to address this increasing perception of the consumers. Again the issue of ethics outlines a particular mindset of the consumers and how they attach meaning to the different brands within a particular context. The ethical consumers therefore comprised of such group of consumers who increasingly viewed themselves as part of the group who were concerned with the sustainability of the natural resources and how businesses can actually contribute towards the increase in the sustainability of the resources of the world. (SZMIGIN, CARRIGAN, & LOUGHLIN, 2007). Thus integrating the ethical brands with that of the overall consumption patterns of the consumers is something which requires a conscious assessment of the powers of the brand and its overall acceptability in given market. Conclusion Consumers tend to associate themselves with different products and services in order to identify themselves and gain the wider level of recognition. This often happens due to the overall inherent need for recognition in given setting of time and space therefore the development and subsequent marketing of the products is also always considered within given parameters of time and space. Over the period of time, great brands have been able to successfully create a sense of symbolic meaning for their users and therefore were successful in sustaining for long period of time. Thus to successfully launch and manage a brand, it is important that besides offering the traditional benefits and attributes, a brand shall also allow the development of a deeper connection between the overall perceptions held by the consumers regarding the use of that particular brand. It is because of this reason that the luxury brands often tend to maintain a certain degree of aura and attraction for their consumers because of the deeper links and the sense of authenticity of the brands. Bibliography Alexander, N. (2009). Brand authentication: creating and maintaining brand auras. European Journal of Marketing , 43 (3), 551-562. Heding, T., Knudtzen, C. F., & Bjerre, M. (2009). Brand management: research, theory and practice. New York: Taylor & Francis. Hirschman, E. C. (1986). THE CREATION OF PRODUCT SYMBOLISM. In R. J. Lutz, Advances in Consumer Research (pp. 327-331). UT: Provo. Holt, D. B. (2003, Marach 1). What becomes an Icon most? Harvard Business Review , pp. 43-49. Kornberger, M. (2010). Brand Society: How Brands Transform Management and Lifestyle. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. SZMIGIN, I., CARRIGAN, M., & LOUGHLIN, D. O. (2007). Integrating ethical brands into our consumption lives. BRAND MANAGEMENT , 14 (5), 396-409. Wattanasuwan, K. (2005). The Self and Symbolic Consumption. Journal of American Academy of Business , 6 (1), 179-185. Read More