The culture of consumption of modern man. See pages where the term culture of consumption is mentioned The problem of culture of consumption was studied by such scientists as

An important change that largely transformed the face of sociocultural life in late industrial society was the new relationship between the production and sociocultural spheres. As D. Bell writes *, the bourgeois society of the XIX century. for all its social conflicts, it can be viewed as a relatively holistic entity: the economy, social relations and culture were imbued with a single system of values. The rise of Western civilization dates back to this time. On the

* Bell D. The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism. - N.Y., 1976.

At the new stage, there is a gap between the sphere of production and the extended non-production sphere. The organization of production and labor requires rationality, diligence, self-control, dedication, and foresight. Moreover, all these qualities are needed to an even greater extent than before, in view of the complexity of production and the dangers that arise when its normal functioning is disturbed.

In the sphere of consumption, on the contrary, the principle of expanded consumption, extravagance, window dressing, and indefatigable pursuit of pleasure are encouraged. The rising standard of living and the liberation of morals from "repressive culture" now become an end in itself and determine the degree of personal freedom.

As we have seen, these tendencies towards anti-bourgeois rebelliousness manifested themselves as early as the 19th century. in the form of romanticism, aestheticism, modernism, various forms of escapism, etc. But at that stage it was mainly a revolution in art, a cult of aesthetic and spiritual avant-garde. At a new stage, these trends lead to the establishment of alternative styles of behavior and activities for ever wider social groups, primarily young people and various ethnic and cultural minorities.

This culture is tied not so much to extended, how much to original, and hence prestigious consumption. It overturns those basic principles that underlay bourgeois spirituality during the formation of Western civilization. Contrary to the ideas of M. Weber on the rationalization of thinking and behavior in the society of the XX century. the modern dominant culture breaks with the principles of rationality and searches for irrational experience.

The formation of mass culture is usually associated with the completion of the formation of an industrial society and its maturity. The direct prerequisites for this process are the gradual rise in the status of the urban working class and the expansion of democratic institutions, and hence the wider entry of working strata into active civic life. A necessary condition was the spread of literacy. If the origin of mass culture can be attributed to the time when accessible literature and pictures for the “ordinary people” began to appear, then the mature stage begins with the adoption in the 70-90s. 19th century first in the UK, and then in other European countries, the law on compulsory universal literacy. These trends began to spread rapidly to other developed countries in Europe and America, including Russia.

According to a Russian expert on mass

culture of K. Razlogov, “naive observers believed that the golden time had finally come, when the people of “Belinsky and Gogol would be carried away from the market”. But this beautiful dream was quickly shattered. Having barely learned to read, the masses turned to Pinkerton and popular fiction, and in the field bordering on fine art, to comics, which were rapidly conquering territories not yet inhabited by culture.

In 1895, cinema was invented, which became a means of mass art, close to everyone - without distinction of gender, age, religion, which does not require even elementary literacy for its perception. The widespread dissemination of photography, which became a mass medium of information realism, also belongs to the same period. The third major shift was associated with the invention and introduction of the gramophone record, which gave rise to another section of the future mass culture (before the appearance of this term itself) - light music, which captured radio broadcasting, and then all forms of sound recording and shared with screen creativity the glory of "entertainment" and "corruption" of the masses.

The First World War in many ways contributed to the disillusionment with the old values introduced by classical culture. It also compromised the former ruling elites, who were unable to cope with social and national contradictions and conflicts. After the end of the war, mass cultural media developed intensively, first in America and then in Western Europe in the 1920s, first during the post-war boom and then the "Great Depression", when, as is sometimes believed, in conditions of mass ruin, -botitsy, poverty and despair, it was "Hollywood saved America from social upheaval." Of course, in addition to mass culture, effective social programs associated with F. Roosevelt's "New Deal" were used in society. However, no less importance was given to the mass

S social - distributive policy, the social structure of society, consumer culture, fashion, aesthetic tastes, etc.

In the modern world, the movement of consumers to protect their rights is actively developing, using such methods as publishing various kinds of magazines, advertising, consulting, independent examination of goods, filing lawsuits for the provision of low-quality goods and services. And all this is aimed at educating consumers, at developing a culture of consumption. Under pressure from this social movement, most states have adopted special consumer protection laws. Summarizing long-established practices in the world, the UN General Assembly in 1985 developed the Guidelines for the Protection of Consumer Interests in order to:

The perfect cup promotes a new culture of coffee consumption, combining the advantages of an American-style chain project and an elite European cafe.

There are several reasons. Let's call the main ones. In many families, parents do not attach much importance to the culture of consumption, and hence they do not bring it up in their children. It is not only about teaching children not to throw away a piece of bread, but to take care of the products of human labor. Here, many things are going well. But how often can one observe such a picture when a child is force-fed For dad, for mom. Well, please, one more piece ... The child asked for a candy - they give three. Lena ate half of the cake yesterday. - What's special. On health.

In this regard, - V. I. Vorobyov returned to the conversation that had begun, - that's what I thought about. It is very important for a person to master the culture of consumption, that is, to develop a diet and measure of consumption. The absence of such leads to a thoughtless attitude to food, to poor health.

Maybe, Vasily Ivanovich, the glaring ignorance of a person, ignorance of how to eat right, how to rationally use products, is still a misfortune. Apparently, all this constitutes the concept of consumer culture.

Consumer culture - a set of achievements of society in the field of organizing the consumption of the population, ensuring its reasonable size. This is the so-called broad interpretation of the concept. It reflects the achieved level of production and organization of consumption of material and spiritual goods and services, in this sense it is included as an integral part in the concept of the standard of living of the population, expands and enriches it.

But the culture of consumption can also be considered as the moral attitude of society and its individual members to consumption, the ability to rationalize it, the ability to ensure the economical use of products in consumption.

The culture of consumption can also be characterized by the degree to which the household is equipped with modern scientific and technical means, their penetration into the sphere of consumption. The higher it is, the higher the culture of consumption, other things being equal. For example, a high degree of equipment of the household with goods that facilitate and automate work in it makes it possible to save the time spent on it and give it more to leisure, to satisfy intellectual and cultural needs.

Such measures include the expansion of the production of goods and services, the use of the retail price mechanism for the purpose of systematic regulation of the demand of the population, the socio-psychological impact on members of society in order to actively form their ideas about reasonable needs, the promotion of norms and principles of a culture of consumption, etc.

At the same time, it is necessary to intensify, especially among young people, schoolchildren, activities to foster a culture of consumption, the formation of reasonable needs for goods and services, the rational use of free time, involving for this all the mass media available to the population, including advertising.

In particular, it is necessary to promote more widely such principles of consumer culture as economy, rationality, expediency. It would be necessary, perhaps, to organize a special series of programs on television, which would talk about rational housekeeping, how to organize a balanced diet, taking into account age, season of the year, etc., introduce appropriate courses in schools.

In the serving of alcoholic beverages, everything is decided by the measure and culture of consumption. For the strongest drinks put the smallest glasses. Wines are poured according to their strength into glasses of medium size,

Often the first reaction is that in the daily bustle, people forget about this opportunity. This is due to the fact that an investment strategy is only one of the components of financial success. The culture of consumption, planning, effective ways of handling money, as well as motivation issues are

Step two. Consumer culture 49

Another direction is fashion, a great farce created by a small group of people. Year after year, millions of consumers are forced to buy what they, in principle, already have. The power of wanting to join a group of successful people drives us to waste. This is a drug that billions of people all over the world have been addicted to. And we ourselves are addicted to it, but only we ourselves can refuse it. How to change the culture of consumption. There is no other way.

If we talk about the most important aspect of universal investing, then it certainly is consistency. It is the monthly infusion of investment funds into the business. Not once a year, not occasionally, but constantly, that is, every month throughout the entire period of capital formation. It only takes one miss for this bad habit to ruin your investment strategy. How often I heard I really need money, I will miss the investment deposit, just once. It ended with the emergence of a new habit - to spend the money that was planned as investment deductions. In the book Five Steps to Wealth, or the Path to Financial Freedom in Russia, I discuss in detail the five conditions for creating wealth. Two of them - consumption culture and budget - will help you use your funds efficiently.

It was against such a historical background that the tea trade and the culture of consumption of this drink was born in Russia.

Exploring the culture of consumption

Petersburg coffee houses. In St. Petersburg, by Russian standards, there is a very old culture of coffee consumption. Many still remember Cafe Saigon, Dissident Hall, Pizza Hut - favorites of the 80s and 90s. Despite the fact that a cup of coffee, for example, in Pizza Hut cost one and a half dollars, coffee lovers went there from offices located several blocks away. Along with this, confectioneries are very popular, where mediocre coffee is an accompanying product for a branded cake. One of the reasons for the popularity of coffee is the lack of places where you can just eat. Therefore, many people drink coffee with cake instead of lunch.

Kanevsky E. M., Krasnyansky E. V., Lysov M. M., Novozhenov Yu. M. About products and consumer culture. M. Economics, 1984.

For example, the trading house Rusimport has the following mission Unconditional and significant growth of the culture of consumption of real wines in Russia, as well as the development of this market as a whole. Based on this mission, a global philosophy of action for the entire holding is built, which is based, first of all, on a thorough knowledge of the specifics of wine as a product and an impeccable business reputation.

In the practice of domestic business, a considerable number of companies not only have their own mission, but also actively use it in relations with employees, partners, and consumers. For example, the trading house Rusimport has the following mission Unconditional and significant growth of the culture of consumption of real wines in Russia, as well as the development of this market as a whole. Based on this mission, a global philosophy of action for the entire holding is built, which is based primarily on a thorough knowledge of the specifics of wine as a product and an impeccable business reputation of all departments and employees of the company.

As you can see, the marketing process begins with the study of the consumer and the identification of his needs, and ends with the acquisition of goods, satisfaction of the consumer's needs and the study of possible changes in the structure and range of needs and desires of the consumer. At the same time, the culture of consumption is being studied as a factor that determines the quantitative characteristics of demand. Since the buyer does not always purchase a product to satisfy his own needs, but mostly to transfer it to the final consumer and receive a profit from this, he is not always an objective representative responsible for the formation of needs. At the same time, the buyer acts as a subject that forms the demand for goods and services. Therefore, the marketing process, along with the consumer, includes the buyer and, accordingly, the fulfillment of the function of studying the current demand. At the stage (stages) of studying the possibilities of implementing a future product through R&D, benchmarking, market research and competitor products, possible technologies for the production of a product are formed, the compliance of the technological processes available at the company and the necessary resources with the requirements of the organization, ecology and culture in the production of this product is established, and it also provides an assessment of the possible volumes of sales of products in the framework of meeting the existing and potential demand.

Culture influences all kinds of human activity. There is a culture of work and life, economic and social culture, a culture of family relations, etc.

One of the types of culture is the culture of consumption - it is the prevailing form of use by members of this society of the totality of consumer goods that exists in a certain society. It includes beliefs about consumer values and norms that govern consumption and consumer habits arising from the constant consumption of goods, consumer rights and obligations.

The culture of consumption also includes objective and subjective aspects.

The objective aspect of the culture of consumption includes the characteristics of the product, the conditions for its purchase, sale, that is, something that exists independently of the consumer. The subjective aspect reflects the individual's attitude to the product and its properties, how a person perceives the product and remakes it to his taste.

The consumer culture of a person can change under the influence of some factors (for example, when he moves to another country for permanent residence).

The culture of consumption cannot be called a sustainable phenomenon. It is in a constant process of change and reproduction. The dynamics of consumer culture is manifested in the rapid change of preferences, fashion, consumer basket, in the form of their presentation and interpretation (often prestigious things quickly become old-fashioned, etc.).

Rationing the culture of consumption consists of certain parts, such as:

1) norms - rules and patterns of behavior dictated to a person by the culture prevailing in his society;

2) ideals - desirable norms that cause admiration, but are inaccessible at the present and in the near future;

4) law - a set of norms and patterns of behavior, enshrined in legislative acts. Violation of rights entails liability, which is also enshrined in legislation.

The rights of consumers are protected by the legislation of the Russian Federation. The Law of the Russian Federation of February 7, 1992 No. 2300-1 “On Protection of Consumer Rights” is of the greatest importance in this area. This normative act establishes the right of the consumer (buyer) to demand compensation for damage caused due to defects in the goods (work, service). The consumer has the right, at his choice, to demand from the seller to eliminate defects free of charge, reduce the price or replace the purchased product if it turned out to be of poor quality.

For violation of consumer rights, organizations must bear responsibility established by law.

Conclusion

Thus, we can conclude: Modern society is quite cultural in its consumption. We have learned how to properly plan our expenses, make purchases thoughtfully, and format for ourselves everything that the advertising market presents to us. These indicators are not so high yet, but there is a tendency to develop.

From what has been said, we observe an approximately equal ratio of rational and emotional behavior of the consumer. A successful trend of harmony is when, when choosing a product, an individual is guided not only by subjective factors or not only by objective ones. An equal ratio of both rational and emotional behavior makes it possible to reasonably choose from everything offered, and not to doubt the right choice.

How society will develop in a culture of consumption, time will tell. Will this culture degrade or, on the contrary, progress, depends on the upcoming innovations. The main thing is that everyone continues to be cultured in their consumption, then society as a whole will be cultured.

Bibliography

1. V. Ilyin. Culture as a factor in consumer behavior. (chapter from the book "Consumer Behavior")
2. Social consciousness and its forms. Moscow: Politizdat, 1986.
3. Sociology of consumption. (http://www.consumers.narod.ru)

Advertising professionals often face the problem of adequate consumer segmentation. The correct definition of consumer segments, and then the target audience of the message in media planning is the key to a successful advertising campaign.

Often, when solving this problem, the help of a sociologist is needed, who would understand the characteristics of consumption in households.

When studying the characteristics of consumption in a household, it is necessary to take into account such factors as the socio-demographic structure of the family, family income, the ratio of working family members to non-working family members, the presence of children in the family, etc.

Consumption is largely determined by family income. However, there are families where incomes can be the same, but the nature of consumption is completely different. In this case, we are dealing with the influence of sociocultural factors on the nature of consumption. They depend on the nature of the life of family members, value orientations, cultural attitudes. The nature of consumption in the household is closely related to the socialization of the consumer in the family, the development of consumer preferences in the family.

Expressive and instrumental roles in the family extend to the practice of consumption. Men have more influence on the financial side of consumption, women - on the qualitative nature of consumption. According to some studies, in most cases, women are in charge of organizing consumption in the family. This occurs both in households where the main breadwinner is a woman, and in households where a man earns the main means of subsistence for the family.

There are several roles in the family in the process of buying and consuming:

initiator / controller - the one who submits the idea of a purchase and collects information that contributes to the decision;
influencing - a person whose opinion is recognized as evaluative when buying this type of goods;
decision maker - someone who has financial power or the right to decide how the family's money will be spent (on what products and brands);
buyer - a person who makes a purchase, that is, goes to the store, calls suppliers, writes checks, brings groceries home;
user - the one who uses the product.

When deciding on the consumption of a particular product, family members can have a tangible influence. Of great importance is the type of product that they are going to buy. Thus, all issues related to the provision of family clothing, as a rule, are decided by women. It is no coincidence that providing family members with clothing is called the “female economy”. In addition to buying clothes, moving, exchanging, donating clothes is of great importance here, which is carried out mainly only through the female line of relatives. Studies show an intense exchange of clothes between households (acquaintances of the wife), between the wife's friends, and between sisters. Between the male half of the household, such exchanges are quite rare.

There are several directions in the study of consumption in the family from the standpoint of sociological analysis:

study of consumption in a family depending on its socio-demographic composition: the number of employees in the family, the presence of children of different ages in the family, income per person. Currently, it is becoming more and more relevant to study the nature of consumption in families where relationships are not registered (civil marriages);
analysis of consumption in the family depending on the life cycle of the family;
study of the influence of the child on consumption in the family. The influence of children on the process of making purchase decisions, the influence of children on each other in the process of consumption, the nature of the child's influence on consumption in divorced families and in families with one parent;
study of consumption depending on the role of women in the household. The nature of consumption in a family where the wife is a housewife. Consumption in a family where the wife works and earns less, the same or more than her husband;
study of the influence on the decision to purchase on the part of parents, children, relatives;
study of conflicts in the family on the basis of consumption;
study of changes in the nature of consumption as a result of divorce, death of family members;
the study of consumption in different types of socio-economic structure, in different countries.

Consumption in the household depends on the culture of consumption, which is formed in the process of socialization.

Socialization is associated with the inculcation of values, including the values of consumption. There are two aspects of consumer socialization:

what is directly related to the object of study is the acquisition of knowledge and skills necessary for buying and acquiring. Training in specific skills: how to buy, how to manage money, choose a product, familiarize yourself with stores, products, advertising and sales tools;
what is indirectly related to consumption is an aspect associated with the development of the motivation of consumer and purchasing behavior, with the knowledge, attitudes and values that encourage people to want certain goods.

The culture of consumption is closely connected with the general culture and mentality of people and is reproduced, passed down from generation to generation. The elements of consumer culture, as well as culture in general, are values and norms, which are mainly formed in the family in the process of socialization.

Two aspects of consumer culture can be distinguished: when they decide what to consume and how to consume.

The question is “what to consume”, especially when the choice is large and there are many identical products. In this case, images are created that are associated with the product and, with the same consumer qualities as another product, the product can carry a certain emotional value and benefit. This largely applies to goods that have a status value (clothes, cars, etc.). With regard to consumer goods, such factors as the environmental friendliness of the product, etc., may be important here.
The question "how to consume" also correlates with the culture of consumption. This issue is related to a whole range of measures that accompany the process of purchase and consumption, and concerns the choice of the place of purchase, the availability of after-sales service, product guarantees, instructions, and high-quality packaging. You can buy goods in the market, or you can in the supermarket. You can focus only on the purchase of goods with after-sales service, or you can not attach importance to this. In Russia in the 1990s, it was interesting to watch how people drove expensive cars to clothing markets to buy clothes for themselves, which indicated a certain level of consumer culture.

In some works, it is noted that, on the one hand, the culture of consumption is the level of requirements for various qualities of goods. On the other hand, in the USSR, for example, the culture of consumption was considered in connection with the problem of educating a harmonious personality, proclaimed the goal of communist construction. From the point of view of the harmonious development of the individual, philistinism, materialism, and consumerism were criticized.

Currently, many marketing and advertising companies are trying to classify Russian consumers according to various criteria. In particular, there is a project of the advertising agency "Rodnaya Speech", where consumers are classified according to psychological types and, accordingly, in relation to different brands. There are the following types:

"merchant" appreciates reliability, stability, prefers well-known brands;
"Cossack" values individual, emotional and social benefits, strives to stand out, prefers unique brands;
"businessman" - an adherent of innovation, new in the product. Rational motives for consumption prevail;
"student" strives to be like everyone else, to pseudo-prestige. He is attracted by sales, discounts;
The “Russian soul” appreciates the authority of others and prefers well-known brands.

The Komkon research agency proposed its own typology of consumers: innovators, prosperous, optimists, fatalists, Westerners, outsiders, sensible, focused on quality goods, young, male type.

The GFK marketing agency proposed types of Russian consumers based on the allocation of the degree of innovation and consumer potential:

innovators - a group of people with a high consumer potential, focused on everything new, as well as reliability, product quality, health care, active recreation;
realized - a group of people with a high consumer potential, mainly realized their consumer ambitions, focusing on reliability, product quality, health care. Due to the feeling of self-realization, they prefer traditional quality products and do not pursue novelty;
stable - a group of people with slightly above average consumer potential and with normal consumer behavior. They pay attention to the reliability and quality of the goods, but at the same time they choose cheaper. Not too interested in new products as such. Rather, they lean towards well-known, proven products;
spontaneous - a group of people with an average consumer potential who do not have clearly expressed consumer preferences, and therefore their consumer behavior is spontaneous and impulsive. The most pronounced factor that determines their consumer behavior is the time factor;
aspiring upwards - a group of people with not too high consumer potential, but focusing on more prestigious consumption. In this regard, a high desire for innovation, which they often get a glimpse of through advertising. Prestige is more important than reliability and quality of goods;
traditionalists are a group of people with a low consumer potential, guided by traditional values, pay little attention to quality, and tend to buy in reserve.

Typology of consumption styles

The question of which typology to choose, the researcher decides depending on the situation, often develops his own typology. It is important to pay attention to the fact that there must be a criterion according to which the scale of consumption styles is built, in this regard, of the above typologies, the most successful typology of the GFK company.

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