Consumer and Brands
Why we shop?
Abstract
Miller’s assertion that people generally consume for a number of reasons, for example women shop while
considering the needs of their loved ones while the people in London buy their clothes to avoid drawing attention to
themselves and in Trinidad, the citizens compensate their hard work by indulging in extreme ostentation. These
actions on consumer behaviors make it difficult to draw a line on what actually causes consumption. Daniel Miller
(2012) asserts that people generally buy what they need the most while the environmentalists interfere with the
freedom of expression and basic rights among individual consumers. In a free market economy, the wishes of the
people or the consumers, translates into production decisions which are implemented as efficiently as possible to
maximize profitability (Miller, 2012).
Introduction
Daniel Millers theories are three aspects. Firstly, he contends that consumption is most often perceived as a moral
shortcoming when it’s basically a need constituent of culture which defines human conditions and relationships.
These misconception leads to misrepresentation and misunderstanding which ultimately leads to misguided
association about consumption. The Millers peanut butter concept clarifies that contemporary consumption is largely
powered by the desires to harness the lowest common denominator that pleases everyone and offends none besides
delighting a few. It’s a concept that can be applied successfully as a marketing strategy in most three star hotels.
Secondly, Miller believes that shopping is rather mundane than it’s hedonistic. Mundane shopping is guided by
morality that is beyond reproach and it’s defined as a devotional act of love and whose occurrence is a dutiful
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exercise closely related with female shoppers viewed as a spiritual need for the family’s glorification. The third
aspect of Millers assertions is popularly referred to as the little or small black dress concept or the denim theory. The
real concept is an acknowledgement that a small portion of consumption is somehow driven by the desire of
achieving normality. Hegel and Smith concepts emphasize that consumption stabilizes cultural principles and
categories (Herzog, 2013). Miller explains that branded products sell more in regions recovering from conflicts as
brands are associated with stability and they represent continuity, growth and normality in nations that have been
traumatized by wars and infightings. These theories negate the hedonistic, wasteful and selfish perceptions about
consumption. Miller Consumption is about the nearest and dearest just as much as the wearer of denim jeans
expresses nothing, it creates an egalitarian effect as people, through some expressive personal statement, do not
literally want to embarrass themselves. Miller suggests strict regulation on consumers to control consumerism but in
a capitalist economy enforcement of such regulation would not be possible (Miller, 2012).
Application
Miller’s theories on shopping borrows heavily on his initial concepts of dialects of shopping which elaborates the
code switching objectives as applied in social and active processes. He focuses his discussions on households and
family relationships. His emphasis has a background of cultural anthropology that oscillates largely between
normative theories and actual dimensions that relate to purchasing decisions. Miller’s stimulus or response theories
are applied as social learning theories that can be grouped together with Skinner’s personality theories and
Bandura’s social learning theories (Goddard, 2002).
Code switching
Code switching is common in monolingual communities while advertising in an environment that’s made up of
stereotypes and other wordplays that are largely connected to the audience’s social environment. Code switching is
part of communication strategy that’s utilized in ordinary conversations to associate switching with a particular
place where the citizens have code-switched themselves. Code switching is used to convey either positive or
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negative messages to the public. They provide the psycholinguistic and also the sociolinguistic narrative perspective
of cognitive advertising (Lunar & Peracchio, 2005).
Code switching is utilized in branding of certain commodities. Car companies make use of code switching in
marketing their latest products. For example, the Rolls Royce’s make of vehicles rebranded their products to Silver
Shadow when they were penetrating the German market while Toyota rebranded its flagship brand in the French
market as Toyota MR2. Code switching is a persuasive marketing communication strategy that is used in
advertisement. They are mostly utilized in international markets to penetrate specialized markets by blending with
the local dialects to produce advertisement slogans that identify with the population. Foreign words written in local
dialects or language are salient and more appealing to the consumers and play a great role in establishing consumer
loyalty (Nerghes, 2011). Code switching in marketing is of great importance.
However, code switching also has its own pitfall. To launch a successful advertisement slogan, the linguistic theory
must come to play. The Code switched messages or slogans must be from minority-to-majority which is more
persuasive and successful than slogans from majority-to-minority among the bilingual communities. The excessive
use of foreign dialect or words may leave the audience perplexed and confused (Luna, Lerman & Peracchio, 2005).
These misunderstandings may create misgivings on the brand being advertisement as the slogans may be offensive if
they have been misunderstood. The code switched messages are meant to be authentic, playful and attractive to the
audience
Other examples of code switching have been applied in different countries. Pizza Hut in an effort to boost its sales
decided to brand its products as P’Zone which is pronounced as el pezòn which literally means “nipple” in Spanish.
However it managed to sell with its tagline “grab a P’Zone” in Spanish restaurants (Arieanna, 2008).
Coca-cola tried unsuccessfully to code switch its brand name initially as “bite the wax tadpole” in the Chinese
market. But after a thorough research in Chinese language it came up with a replacement known as “ko-kou-ko-le”
which means “happiness in the mouth” in Chinese language (The Guardian, 2004)
Brand Loyalty
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Brand loyalty is an informing theory that concerns the consumer-brand relationship. Most of the insights generated
and contributed on brand theory are methods that inform the phenomenology of the contemporary consumer brand
bonds (Okada, 2012). Loyalty is primarily a fertile ground for the relationship concept, which relies on the
proportion or sequence of purchase while its nuances have disappeared on traditional research on brand loyalty. The
well intentioned attempts that consider loyalty much more than repeat purchase have generally explained the process
as narrow cognitive and totally utilitarian effort of personal decision making hence lacks the talismanic relationships
that consumers proudly form with what they have consumed (Belk, 1988).
Conceptualization of brand loyalty as a committed, long term and effect laden client partnership has constrained the
valuable relationship that characterized and bonded with the consumer brand. Thus the relationship between brands
and consumers and what consumers seek and value in brands remain largely unexplained.
Culture Shopping and Swapping
Consumer behavior observed in a Haitian study sheds some light on the construction of consumer identity by way of
purchases, selection and the use of goods. Consumer behavior mirrors the characteristics of the consumer. Belk
explored how consumers subject themselves to consumption rituals, project themselves and acquire possessions but
when such possessions are lost through theft, fire or any change, consumers experience great grief (Belk, 1988).
Consumption constitutes some form of discourse or unconscious values that drive consumer behavior. While
consumer behavior is form of mirror, consumption manifests itself as goods to be loved, handled carefully or even
hated. Consumption resembles a mirror that’s two way and which reflects and also internalizes the symbols of
consumer culture. Consumer culture may be exemplified through a scheme of things like speech, food, dressing or
other forms of consumer culture that mirrors itself through construction and also deconstruction of self as it seeks to
identify itself through things that are basically contingent on consumption (Goddard, 2002). Code switching
observed among the Haitian culture indicates a rooted culture of lifestyle shopping. While celebrating their son’s
birthdays, several Haitian families were observed taking their children to American restaurants or in fast food chain
outlets which are popular with American children when being hosted by American families. It’s noted that there is a
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display of culture swapping when the Haitian children are assimilated to the American culture by constantly relating
to their host families.
Theories Animism
Theories of Animism provide that brand vitality can be generally realized in the relation. The first animistic form
involves circumstances that relate to the past and which possess the present or past spirit. Advertisement by popular
movie or talk show stars serve as an example. The stars mostly have very strong personalities that also fit the brands
being advertised and after sometime the brands now become the stars with repeated association. Brand-person
associations are also common in personal lifestyles. A brand of perfume can be closely associated with a particular
person that is related with the past and they generally evoke the person’s spirit in the brand.
Another kind of animism relates to complete anthropomorphosis of a brand object upon itself by transference of the
nature of human qualities involving emotion, volition and thought. Anthropomorphized brand characters are
examples of characters endowed and related with laughs, jokes and schemers (Belk, 1988). Brands mostly reflect the
actual transcendent needs, wants and preference of the targeted market.
The Haitian example does not conform to a single category; their consumer behavior to any brands is not entirely
Caribbean, white or even black. Even their ethnicity is not clearly defined as their interaction with the host
influences their culture substantially. The Haitian family migrated to the US in the early 70’s and has struggled with
their children in the tough US economy. Their brand preference is largely influenced by their neighbours, culture
and general preference.
Consumers and Environment
Climate change and consumption are economic problems that hardly go together in a capitalist economy (Sayer,
1995). The connection between consumption and the planetary climate changes catastrophe is difficult to define as
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different theories suggest contrary conclusions (Humphery, 2009). Miller has argued that the major problem lies in
the production and the distribution systems that contribute to the degradation of the environment and consumerism
(Giddens, 2009). To promote lasting changes, Miller suggests some form of regulation to limit production levels and
other forms of distribution methods (Miller 2012). Brand has made contribution to the economics effect of profit
maximization where products on high demand are manufactured increasingly to satisfy the market (Leahy 2011).
Increased production is directly related to consumption that is associated to brands (Leahy, Bowden & Threadgold
2010).
Miller explains the role of different brands, their connection with consumers and the propagation of the theories of
marketing. Brands are powerful repositories that are purposively and differentially placed to substantiate, create and
also supplement the concepts of self in the current marketing era.
Creation Meaning, Elaboration and the Reinforcement Processes
It may seem contentious that the deeply rooted brand relationships are reflected on issues that are rather mundane
and relatively trivial in our daily lives such as brand behaviors (Tennen, Suls and Affleck, 1991). It’s naturally
Consumer Behaviors Brand Behaviors
Intimacy Love/Passion
Brand Relationship Quality
Relationship Quality
Interdependence Self connection Brand Partner Quality
Commitment
Attribution Biases
Devaluation of Alternatives Tolerance and Forgiveness
Biased Partner Perceptions Accomodation
Relationship Stability and Durability
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within the ordinary experiences in life that issues most critical in life are contained (Fiske, 1992). Immersion in the
modern and complex world of normal brand consumption assists in development of relatively generalized theories
of marketing and related consumer behavior (Miller, 2008). The diagram above substantiates the broader perception
that people’s lives are the basis for understanding the constellation of marketing brands and the kind of relationship
that are most likely to occur or develop (Herzog, 2013). The deeper understanding of the consumer-brand
relationship is only realized through relative consideration the larger society’s behavior that the relationship is
rooted (Thompson, 1996). Consumer-brand relationships are directly related to the general goal compatibility than
on discreet brand attributes and the personality trait attached to it. The holistic characteristic of the consumer brand
relationship becomes relevant when it’s considered at the overall level of personal brandscape. Just as much as the
real meaning of a relative construct dependent on its general relationship with the rest of the constructs, the meaning
of a particular brand relationship is also a function of the other relationship in the given portfolio. Most brands
cohere to the ordinary systems that the consumers have created to add value in their lives and also to give real
meaning to their own lives. In short, consumers generally do not choose the brands but they actually choose lives.
These holistic tendencies go unnoticed in local or traditional brand usage experiences that only focus on the concept
of self, for example the ideal verses the real self and also among other managerially defined brand classes together
with other specific processes of relational associations. Brands affect different thematic categories for similar or
different consumers who reveal the polysemous nature of aim derived brand categories. The experiences are varied
between the expectations of the brand managers and the consumers.
Finally, for any brand to maintain legitimate relationship partnership, it must certainly surpass all the personification
that is associated with it. The Haitian example reveals that the general relationship satisfaction in brand partner
relationship is based on positive brand orientation towards the consumer, for example the brand makes the consumer
feel respected, wanted, listened to and cared for. The overall brand judgment on its reliability, dependability and
reliability affects its relationship with the consumers. The adherence of the brand to various rules natures the
relationship. The comfort rested on the brands accountability protects the relationship from a full range of
unexplained circumstances biased or non-biased. The consumer-brand relationship continues to evolve through
meaningful brand and consumer actions.
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