Consumption: From Commercial Transactions to the Ritualistic Circulation of Meanings

Abstract

This article seeks to present the theoretical bases and empirical evidence on the profitability of understanding consumption as a ritual. From the anthropological foundations of the study of rituals, we entered into the articulations with semiotics, in the constitution of an anthroposemiotic approach, consisting of ethnographic research and semiotic analysis of brands that enabled the understanding of consumption in its rituals of search, purchase, possession, storage and disposal: reuse, recycling and resignification. In addition to learning about the characteristics of constant adaptation of consumption rituals, repetition, constancy, but also innovations, they are consolidated as peculiar, in addition to expressing values, wants and aspirations that streamline interpersonal and social relationships.