No abstract

No abstract

Cultural meaning in a consumer society moves ceaselessly from one location to another. In the usual trajectory. cultural meaning moves first from the culturally constituted world to consumer goods and then from these goods to the individual consumer. Several instruments are responsible for this movement: advertising. the fashion system. and four consumption rituals. This article analyzes the movement of cultural meaning theoretically. showing both where cultural meaning is resident in the contemporary North American consumer system and the means by which this meaning is transferred from one location in this system to another. C onsumer goods have a significance that goes beyond their utilitarian character and commercial value. This significance rests largely in their ability to carry and communicate cultural meaning (Douglas and Isherwood 1978; Sahlins 1976). During the last decade, a diverse body of scholars has made the cultural significance of consumer goods the focus of renewed academic study (

Numa sociedade de consumo, o signifi cado cultural se move incessantemente de um ponto para outro. Na trajetória normal, o signifi cado cultural se move primeiro do mundo culturalmente constituído para os bens de consumo e desses para o consumidor individual. Diversos instrumentos são responsáveis por esse movimento: a publicidade, o sistema de moda e quatro rituais de consumo. Este artigo analisa o movimento do signifi cado cultural do ponto de vista teórico, demonstrando onde reside o signifi cado cultural no sistema de consumo da América do Norte e os meios por onde o signifi cado se transfere de um ponto do sistema para outro. Grant McCrackenHarvard Business School ABSTRACT Cultural meaning in a consumer society moves ceaselessly from one location to another. In the usual trajectory, cultural meaning moves fi rst from the culturally constituted world to consumer goods and then from these goods to the individual consumer. Several instruments are responsible for this movement: advertising, the fashion system, and four consumption rituals. This article analyses the movement of cultural meaning theoretically, showing both where cultural meaning is resident in the contemporary North American consumer system and the means by which this meaning is transferred from one location in this system to another.PALAVRAS-CHAVE Antropologia, bens de consumo, signifi cado cultural, sistema de consumo.

No abstract