No abstract

No abstract

Objective: the paper proposes the methodological use of memes as a shortcut to explore consumer culture. Memes as cultural texts can reveal collective circulating ideologies that may not be accessed through regular interviews. Context: memes are cultural texts that convey easy-to-understand messages, gaining strength within social networks. Cultural texts playfully present the social context and beliefs of societies. We analyzed circulating memes during the COVID-19 pandemic about elderly consumers in Brazil to outline a methodological protocol. Method: we analyzed memes adopting the discourse model to conduct qualitative research of memes as a shortcut to cultural discourses. We collected memes during March and May 2020 using social media networks. They were classified following thematic analysis. Result: the proposal is a methodological procedure for analyzing memes as a cultural text. The process starts with the outline of a data collection protocol, followed by data analysis guidelines, illustrated by the context of elderly consumers. Conclusion: the analysis of memes as cultural texts contributed to understanding of consumer behavior through current cultural content, revealing contrasting ideologies that emerge from consumers, as covert value-systems, circulating alongside institutional mass-mediated ideologies.

Lifestyle politics express the politicization of everyday life and have emerged in opposition to the discourse, generally reproduced by the media, that consumption is essential to achieve a happy and satisfactory life. This paper investigates one of these lifestyles: minimalism. The adopters of this lifestyle believe that by avoiding overconsumption, they are adhering to conscious consumption and challenging the so‐called consumer society. Nevertheless, the development path for minimalists remains unclear. Through this multi‐method study, we seek to discover how a consumer becomes a minimalist. We targeted self‐proclaimed minimalists and members of Facebook communities related to this lifestyle politics. The findings led us to propose a visual representation of a non‐linear minimalist process, composed by overlapped stages, in which consumers choose to engage. By showing the component parts of minimalism, we indicate a new way to approach the topic. We also contributed to outline how consumers forge their identities through de‐growth in consumption practices and unveiled tensions behind minimalism lifestyle. We concluded by proposing venues for future research.

Resumo Este trabalho propõe uma reflexão crítica acerca do consumidor negro. Um grupo consumidor representativo em termos populacionais. Consumidores negros são assinalados estatisticamente, mas seguem quase "invisíveis" como consumidores, sendo estigmatizados e submetidos a uma lógica "branca" de mercado. Poucas ofertas estão direcionadas para os negros no mercado brasileiro. Foram aqui reunidas informações com diferentes origens e perspectivas teóricas. Apresentam-se dados relativos à formação educacional e à inserção desse grupo no mercado de trabalho. A literatura internacional aborda temáticas de consumo ligadas aos negros desde a década de 1960; estudos brasileiros nessa perspectiva são escassos. O ensaio traz reflexões sobre como a lógica "branca" permeia o mercado e a pesquisa de marketing no Brasil. Busca-se provocar pesquisadores e profissionais de marketing a ver o invisível e, assim, abandonar crenças que fortalecem e justificam posições existentes, que beneficiam uma ordem social e de mercado, que pouco inclui a população negra.Palavras-chave: Comportamento do consumidor. Raça. Etnia. Consumidor negro. AbstractThis paper proposes a critical reflection about African-Brazilian consumers. A representative consumer group in population terms. African-Brazilian consumers are statistically signaled, but they remain almost "invisible" as consumers, being stigmatized and subjected to a "white" market logic. Few offers are aimed to AfricanBrazilians in the Brazilian market. Information gathered from different origins and theoretical perspectives was gathered here. Data about the educational background and insertion of this group in the labor market are presented. The international literature deals with consumer themes linked to black consumers since the 1960s, Brazilian studies in this perspective are scarce. The essay brings reflections on the "white logic" that permeates the market and the marketing research in Brazil. It aims to provoke marketers and scholars to see the invisible and to abandon beliefs that strengthen and justify existing positions that benefit from a social order and from a market structure that scarcely includes the black population.Keywords: Consumer behavior. Race. Ethnicity. African-Brazilian consumer. REFLEXÕES SOBRE O CONSUMIDOR NEGRO BRASILEIRO REFLECTIONS ABOUT AFRICAN-BRAZILIAN CONSUMERS