Consumption Of Culture

Consuming culture is a topic that has a wide range of topics and themes intertwined within it. It has been widely discussed and researched by many authors and a number of common themes and topics become apparent. The most common theme is that the consumption of culture helps to create identity, either for individuals or groups, via consumption rituals and the consumption of goods, services or experiences. These will be discussed in further detail throughout the literature review.

The creation of a status or identity through the consumption of culture is a topic that can be linked to the research found. The consumption of goods, services or experiences can assist an individual in creating or forging an identity, and it is used as a form of communication

Much like how the use of makeup assists in forging an identity for Chinese women, Belk and Varman, (2012), state that the consumption of the “shopping mall experience” attempts to transform the identities of Indian teenagers. In post –colonial India, much of the young population are attempting to hide or transform their “third world identities.” “ A renewed exposure to the colonial powers of the West through global cultural flows creates a fresh anxiety and desire to mask Third World identities and to emulate the West.” (Belk and Varman, 2012). Indian teenagers are becoming increasingly exposed to Western culture through the media, advertising and fashion industry, which correlates to McCracken’s (1986) research. In Indian culture, the West holds an aspirational position; this is desired by the culture and emulation attempts are made to imitate the Western culture within their own. The consumption of the shopping mall experience by Indian youth is an attempt to form an illusion that they are contemporary and in touch with modern society, and the shopping mall holds a culturally symbolic meaning in India. Shopping malls are creating a new culture within the existing Indian culture, and the experience of consuming in a mall is helping forge identities and communicate these identities to those around them. It helps Indian teenagers to overcome a sense of inferiorness. Belk and Varman (2012), describe the consumption of the shopping mall experience as a “masquerade”, and that although they are still very much part of Indian culture, they are attempting to create illusions, and hide their true identities behind a mask. This is slightly contradictory when contrasted more in depth with the research carried out by McCracken (1986), where he says