Culture Brand Community: The Case of Tiziano Terzani s Culture of Consumption

Transcription

1 The Consumption of Culture. The Culture of Consumption Venice, 16 th -17 th April 2009 Culture Brand Community: The Case of Tiziano Terzani s Culture of Consumption Andrea Moretti with Elena Bonel, Donata Collodi and Francesco Crisci

2 Agenda Research objectives Methodology Theoretical foundations Results/Findings Discussion Bonel, Collodi, Crisci, Moretti The Consumption of Culture. The Culture of Consumption 2

3 Research objectives (1) to present an ethnographic analysis of a subculture of consumption focused on the enthusiastic and charismatic figure of Tiziano Terzani (TT and TTSC) to address specific methodological implications in studying subculture of consumption and to refer to the phenomenon of brand community creation (TTBC) to argue in favor of specific cultural discourse in consumer research for understanding: the objects and consumptions patterns with which people (and markets) define themselves in our culture (Schouten and McAlexander 1995, 44); and to remember that the researcher and the researched move between a background of shared meaning and a finite foreground of experience within in (Joy et al. in Belk 2006, 346) Bonel, Collodi, Crisci, Moretti The Consumption of Culture. The Culture of Consumption 3

4 Research objectives (2) This article is part of a pilot study, a detailed ethnography of Tiziano Terzani literary phenomenon, by which we wished to identify and describe different themes connected with Consumer Culture Theory tradition (Arnould, Thompson 2005): Sub culture of consumption; Sub culture and sources of meaning; Element of brand community sense-making Build and manage brand community and brand meaning Bonel, Collodi, Crisci, Moretti The Consumption of Culture. The Culture of Consumption 4

5 Agenda Research objectives Methodology Theoretical foundations Results/Findings Discussion Bonel, Collodi, Crisci, Moretti The Consumption of Culture. The Culture of Consumption 5

6 Methodology (1): a consumer-oriented ethnography. Time line of research Time line Stage of ethnographic involvement Marker events Researcher status Research tasks Personal involvement Jan May Oct Jan Mar May Oct Jan May Sep Non-participant observation Different research groups involved (*) Full-time ethnography Part-time observ. (A) (B) (C) (D) (E) (F) (E) (F) outsiders : tourists at events neophites : us and TT s fans evolving insiders : inquiry during V/L festival insiders in culture of consumption; insiders/outsiders (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) Occasional readers of TT s books Passionate about TT s books; Fascination with V/L artistic projects Positive Self- Consciousness; Participants but not members Partially involved with community Self-Consciousness referrig to V/ L project (organizational culture) Bonel, Collodi, Crisci, Moretti The Consumption of Culture. The Culture of Consumption 6 Partially involved with organization

7 Methodology (2): time line of research (complete pilot study) Marker events: A. Conceptualize project; first inquiry about V/L organization and festival project; B. First contact with TT s culture of consumption C. Tony Capuozzo and his interview (WHY TT in UDINE?) D. Preliminary research phase E. Naturalistic and survey inquiries during V/L Festival; F. Interpretative phases (in progress) Research tasks: 1. Identify and describe V/L s organizational culture; 2. Examine stereotypes and ideologies; intial interviews 3. Revelatory incident 4. Descriptive dimensions of TTSC as sacred consumption phenomenon; 5. TT readers as research object ; sources of meanings for TTBC members 6. Conceptualize intepretative dimensions of TTBC (*) Research Groups. Universities of Udine and Trento: Naturalistic Inquiry; Universities of Udine and Padova: Survey Inquiry Bonel, Collodi, Crisci, Moretti The Consumption of Culture. The Culture of Consumption 7

8 Methodology (3): ethnographic procedures The cultural sites/contexts of this ethnography are two artistic projects of vicino/lontano cultural organization (V/L): the vicino/lontano festival and the Tiziano Terzani International Literary Prize We combine data-collection methods to achieve representation consistent with informant experience: photographic essay of the last three editions (Holbrook 1995), internal and public documentations of V/L cultural organization (Stern 1998), cultural events video of last two editions of V/L Festival, press review of last two editions, TT s books, TT s reportage (Sherry 1995, Kozinets 2001), TT s fans community and online discussion forum, online book reviews of TT s readers (Belk 2006); Bonel, Collodi, Crisci, Moretti The Consumption of Culture. The Culture of Consumption 8

9 Bonel, Collodi, Crisci, Moretti The Consumption of Culture. The Culture of Consumption 9 credits: tizianoterzani.com

10 Bonel, Collodi, Crisci, Moretti The Consumption of Culture. The Culture of Consumption 10 Tiziano Terzani s Books

11 Bonel, Collodi, Crisci, Moretti The Consumption of Culture. The Culture of Consumption 11 Tiziano Terzani Biography

12 Agenda Research objectives Methodology Theoretical foundations Results/Findings Discussion Bonel, Collodi, Crisci, Moretti The Consumption of Culture. The Culture of Consumption 12

13 Theoretical foundations (1) A subculture of consumption is defined as a distinctive subgroup of society that self-select on the basis of shared commitment to a particular product class, brand, or consumption activity (Schouten, McAlexander 1995); In this article the TTSC is informed by the: intertextual linkages of cultural objects (i.e., V/L Festival as a cultural product) (McCracken 1988), texts (TT s books and TT International Literary Prize winners) (Hirschman, Holbrook 1993), and ideologies in consumers cultural meanings systems (TT s fans) (Kozinets 2001) Bonel, Collodi, Crisci, Moretti The Consumption of Culture. The Culture of Consumption 13

14 Theoretical foundations (2) Descriptive dimensions: the domains of sacred consumption (Belk et al. 1989) in TTSC. Places; Times; Tangible Things; Intangible Things; Persons and Others Beings; Experiences Interpretative dimensions: movement of meanings (McCracken 1988) in the TTSC as processes of sacred consumption (Belk et al. 1989). Sacralization processes: ritual; pilgrimage; quintessence; gift-giving; collecting; inheritance; external sanction; Perpetuating Sacredness: separation of sacred from profane; sustaining rituals; bequets; contamination Bonel, Collodi, Crisci, Moretti The Consumption of Culture. The Culture of Consumption 14

15 Agenda Research objectives Methodology Theoretical foundations Results/Findings Discussion Bonel, Collodi, Crisci, Moretti The Consumption of Culture. The Culture of Consumption 15

16 Movement of meaning in the TTSC: Location of meaning Instrument of Meaning Transfer CULTURALLY CONSTITUTED WORLD Places Times Tangible Things Intangible Things Persons and Others Beings Experiences Sacralization Processes SACRED CULTURAL PRODUCTS Ritual, Pilgrimage, Quintessence, Gift-Giving, Collecting, Inheritance, External Sanction Separation of Sacred from Profane, Sustaining Rituals, Bequets, Contamination INDIVIDUAL SACRED CONSUMPTION Perpetuating Sacredness Bonel, Collodi, Crisci, Moretti The Consumption of Culture. The Culture of Consumption 16

17 Culturally Constituted World Culture constitutes our phenomenal world in two ways (McCracken 1988): culture is the lens through which all phenomena are seen ( cultural categories as the fundamental co-ordinates of meaning, referring to TT experience as journalist and writer ); culture is the blueprint of human activity ( cultural principles consists in the ideas or value according to which [TT] cultural phenomena are organized, evaluated, and constructed ). Bonel, Collodi, Crisci, Moretti The Consumption of Culture. The Culture of Consumption 17

18 Sacred Cultural Products (1) Cultural categories of TTSC as the constitutive dimensions of sacred consumption : Places. The St. Francis Church in Udine during V/L Festival? But also: the Hanoi Station; the train for the Chinese border during Saigon freedom; Tiananmen Square; Amur River, the frontier from URSS and China; the huts in Himalaya or Orsigna; etc. Times. Foundation myths and the history of a community. The sacred past is associated with nostalgia or with everyday life: cyclically or episodically during the day (the press conference announcing prizewinner), week (the sequence of artistic program during V/L Festival), month (the announce of a new edition of TT books) and year (the anniversary of TT death in Orsigna). Bonel, Collodi, Crisci, Moretti The Consumption of Culture. The Culture of Consumption 18

19 Sacred Cultural Products (2) Cultural categories of TTSC as the constitutive dimensions of sacred consumption : Tangible and Intangible Things. The sacred should connect authentically with TT narratives and the themes of cultural relations and conflicts in today globalized world through debates and talks in V/L Festival. Persons and Others Beings. The lives of TT (as journalist and writer), take on a sacred character through good deeds, self-abnegation, sacrifice, martyrdom, and piety Experiences. The prophetic charisma of the TT message, as correspondent from different tragical theaters of war, descends from magical power of experience Bonel, Collodi, Crisci, Moretti The Consumption of Culture. The Culture of Consumption 19

20 Movement of meaning in the TTSC: Location of meaning Instrument of Meaning Transfer CULTURALLY CONSTITUTED WORLD Places Times Tangible Things Intangible Things Persons and Others Beings Experiences Sacralization Processes SACRED CULTURAL PRODUCTS Ritual, Pilgrimage, Quintessence, Gift-Giving, Collecting, Inheritance, External Sanction Separation of Sacred from Profane, Sustaining Rituals, Bequets, Contamination INDIVIDUAL SACRED CONSUMPTION Perpetuating Sacredness Bonel, Collodi, Crisci, Moretti The Consumption of Culture. The Culture of Consumption 20

21 Individual Sacred Consumption (1) Sacralization processes. The ways objects and people move between the sacred and profane realms : Rituals: Reading TT books; on-line community as a non-place Pilgrimage: the theme of journey ; a TT book (or reportage) as a venerable portolan during the liminal time of vacation Quintessence: the sense of odyssey or the escape journey Gift-giving: TT book as transcendent guide Collecting: quotation is a serious matter for TT readers Inheritance: continuous readings in searching for a new hermeneutically correct interpretation; narratives of authentic and personal stories; External Sanction: discussion concerning stigma and false stereotypes Bonel, Collodi, Crisci, Moretti The Consumption of Culture. The Culture of Consumption 21

22 Individual Sacred Consumption (2) Perpetuating the sacredness. Processes to prevent lost of sacred status, and the practices required to maintain sacredness : Separation of sacred from profane: the book, as profane object, become sacred by reason of a ritual transfer of possession ; Sustaining rituals: utopianism in TTSC is connected with stigma to remark the social sphere of TTSC in which acceptance of differences is the norm form us!. Bequets: Why an award dedicated to TT? «What inspires us is the desire to acknowledge those who demonstrate a willingness to understand, the willingness to look at the world and at different cultures with the eyes of a curious child» (Angela, TT wife); Contamination: the prizewinner book is authentic if it is perceived to be a reflection of his writer s future confidence in leading everyday journey of TT readers. Bonel, Collodi, Crisci, Moretti The Consumption of Culture. The Culture of Consumption 22

23 Agenda Research objectives Methodology Theoretical foundations Results/Findings Discussion Bonel, Collodi, Crisci, Moretti The Consumption of Culture. The Culture of Consumption 23

24 Discussion (1): locations of cultural meaning in TTSC Three locations of meaning in the case of TTSC (culturally constituted world, sacred cultural products and individual sacred consumption) was identified and described (McCracken 1988) Two moments of meaning transfer connecting three locations are analyzed (Belk et al. 1989): the properties and manifestations of the sacred in cultural products (places, times, tangible and intangible things, persons and other beings, experiences); and the processes by which consumers sacralize and desacralize the dimensions of their experiences Bonel, Collodi, Crisci, Moretti The Consumption of Culture. The Culture of Consumption 24

25 Concluding remarks The brand is the principal repository of meaning in culture consumer, in both a residential and generative sense (Sherry 2005) Describing meaning transfer between constitutive dimensions in TTSC is only a step to understanding the brand meaning processes and relationships whitin a bearing brand community The evolution of our research program: Describe and analyse brand meaning and the sources of meanings co-generate between cultural organization and audience to move from brand equity management to brand meanings management Bonel, Collodi, Crisci, Moretti The Consumption of Culture. The Culture of Consumption 25

26 Thank you for the attention! Andrea Moretti with Donata Collodi and Francesco Crisci Department of Economics University of Udine and with Elena Bonel Department of Informatics and Business Management University of Trento Bonel, Collodi, Crisci, Moretti The Consumption of Culture. The Culture of Consumption 26