La Bella Figura: The role of a cultural philosophy on Italian consumerism

Abstract

The La Bella Figura concept extends to many Italian cultural dimensions including physical appearance, perception of self, and behaviours. La Bella Figura plays an essential role in shaping Italian consumer behaviour and consumerism. The current study sought to understand how women living in Italy conceptualize La Bella Figura and how it affects their day‐to‐day lives, attitudes, and consumption behaviours. This research extracted concepts from Consumer Culture Theory to construct a qualitative codebook and structure thematic data analyses. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 30 women aged 18–50 years living in Florence, Italy. Participants were recruited through study flyers, social media, and snowball sampling. Open and axial coding were facilitated by HyperRESEARCH 4.0.1 software to generate key themes. Data were collected and analyzed by trained researchers living in Florence, Italy, who utilized grounded theory techniques to identify emergent themes. Results indicated various components of La Bella Figura contributed to consumer behaviour, namely its influence on identity (i.e., appearance, confidence), lifestyle goals (i.e., health, consumerism), and social norms (i.e., perceptions of others, media). Findings offer practical recommendations for marketers and retailers to appeal to the Italian market through effective and informed mediums.

Cross-border reproductive healthcare attitudes and behaviours among women living in Florence, Italy

“…As part of a larger women’s health study [ 35 , 36 ], researchers conducted 30 English-language interviews with reproductive-aged women (18–50 years) living in or near Florence, Italy, who were proficient in conversational English and had a history of seeking healthcare services in Italy. The interviews were held between May and June 2018 in Florence, Italy.…”

Preparedness of Young People for a Sustainable Lifestyle: Awareness and Willingness

“…This has contributed to a wave of actions from governing bodies [5], applied researchers [6], social movement groups and communities [7][8][9] to emphasise the need for more proenvironmental behaviour and conscious consumerism [10,11] including the idealistic zero-waste movements [12]. Of course, this environmentally friendly lifestyle is also associated with personal development, see for example the Italian concept of La Bella Figura [13] or different styles of vegetarianism to veganism [14].…”