SOC 202 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Roland Barthes, Media Culture, Starbucks

• School: Ryerson University
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOC 202
• Professor: Graeme Metcalf

Document Summary

A stage in the development of industrial capitalism. Befo(cid:396)e (cid:373)ass p(cid:396)odu(cid:272)tio(cid:374) a(cid:374)d the i(cid:374)dust(cid:396)ial (cid:396)e(cid:448)olutio(cid:374) (cid:862)o(cid:271)je(cid:272)ts(cid:863) (cid:449)e(cid:396)e (cid:448)alued a(cid:272)(cid:272)o(cid:396)di(cid:374)g to use i. e. (cid:862)a(cid:374) u(cid:373)(cid:271)(cid:396)ella i(cid:374) a(cid:374) u(cid:373)(cid:271)(cid:396)ella(cid:863) Mid-19th century saw production of goods increase with new machinery and thus new consumers were required. Cultural managers: create new markets and new consumers. With increased production came the need for increased consumption. This (cid:449)as i(cid:374) o(cid:396)de(cid:396) to a(cid:448)oid (cid:862)(cid:272)o(cid:374)su(cid:373)ptio(cid:374) fatigue(cid:863) The (cid:272)ultu(cid:396)al (cid:373)a(cid:374)age(cid:396)s (cid:449)o(cid:396)ked to (cid:272)(cid:396)eate a (cid:862)(cid:374)e(cid:449) (cid:272)lass of (cid:272)o(cid:374)su(cid:373)e(cid:396)(cid:863) Shift towards knowledge of the consumer i. e. what women want. Ads based less on the performance only but also on the qualities desired by consumers. Knowledge about the consumer is central e. g. starbucks asking for ur name eventually they will know your name. Gained psychological profiles of consumers via survey, questionnaires, statistics. Commercialized symbolic interaction -> commercial hugo boss and perfume. Television becomes more specialized and advertising follows suit. Marketing concentrates on sub-groups referenced on speciality channels.