Latasha Randle Consumption and Mass Media Worksheet SOC/105 Version 5

University of Phoenix Material

Consumption and Mass Media Worksheet
Respond to all questions with academic paragraphs of at least 50 words. State your point of view and explain it thoroughly. What is conspicuous consumption? How does conspicuous consumption influence purchasing decisions? Think about a high-priced item that you have bought or would like to buy. To what extent does conspicuous consumption affect your decision? According to the text, conspicuous consumption occurs when someone makes a purchase simply to show others that they can afford the item (Petracca & Sorapure, 2007). This means that the purchase is not made based on needs; rather it is based on the desire to flaunt in front of others. When a person is practicing conspicuous consumption, they often purchase items that are of little use. Conspicuous consumption often influences purchasing decisions as many people have a natural desire to please others. In addition, current advertisements often display useless items in a popular manner. Personally, conspicuous consumption has little affect on my purchase as I live on a very strict budget. There is little room for me to be wasteful in an effort to flaunt for someone else. However, this is not the norm, I see people on a daily basis making purchases they do not need with money they do not have just to look good to someone else. What is conspicuous leisure? Examples of conspicuous leisure are abundant on television. In what ways are leisure activities informed by social and economic class? Provide an example of a popular leisure activity. What assumptions can you make about the participants of the activity? Conspicuous leisure is somewhat similar to conspicuous consumption. Conspicuous leisure is what happens when a person chooses leisure activities based on wealth and social status. The main purpose of conspicuous leisure is that if one participates in certain leisure activities they will achieve a higher status. Leisure activities are informed by wealth and social status as certain activities are considered more popular among the elite. For example, many people assume that those who attend museums and art exhibits are wealthier as those activities are usually more costly. It is also assumed that you must be well educated to understand the exhibits in the art show or museum. A popular leisure activity is watching sports. Many assumptions can be made at sporting events. The first thing to note is that the wealthier people usually have the better seats, suite access, or club level access. In addition, those who are wealthier tend to go to the bar for their drinks versus patronizing the beer man that comes down the aisles selling beer. Define the term globalization. What effect does globalization have on popular culture? Provide an example of how American popular culture has influenced other countries, or how the United States has imported popular culture from other countries. The term globalization can be defined in numerous ways. Globalization often refers to the integration of regions on economic, political, cultural, or social levels. Globalization has an obvious effect on pop culture. In an age of ever increasing technology, information is spread among various cultures with extreme speed. The speed at which information is shared causes others to be impacted by globalization on a regular basis. Through the media, people are being exposed to images of pop culture. These images may cause those who are viewing them to attempt to imitate that image. An example of how the

Latasha Randle Consumption and Mass Media Worksheet SOC/105 Version 5

American culture has influenced other countries is evident in Japan through Hip Hop music. Hip hop is so prevalent in Japan that there are many Japanese people who visit the United States to experience the Hip Hop culture firsthand (Isaka, 2007). A recent study of Japanese Hip Hop, (inspired by American pop culture), shows that the Japanese Hip Hop movement has significant impacts economically, academically, and culturally (Isaka, 2007). The impacts can be seen by the clothes they wear, the cars they drive, and their overall behavior patterns. Choose an advertisement. Analyze the ad for its media message. Answer the following questions based on that ad. Who created the media message? Why? Who is the intended audience? What do you know about the intended audienceage, race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic background, hobbies, profession? What type of lifestyle is presented? Is it realistic? Why or why not? What is the text, written or in another form, of the message? What do you see and hear: written or spoken words, photos, drawings, logos, design, music, sounds, and so on? What is the hidden text? What is unstated or implied in the message? What values are expressed? What groups of people are empowered in this message? What groups are disempowered? How so? What part of the story is not being told? How and where could you get more information about the untold stories? Can these messages affect how you think and feel? Why or why not? Provide examples. Can these messages affect your behavior? Why or why not? Provide examples. Can the messages affect the cultural values in society in general? Why or why not? Provide examples.

The advertisement I choose to analyze is one I am very familiar with as it is and advertisement from H&R Block, the company for which I work. H&R Block has an advertisement that discusses a product called Second Look. The ad displays a family discussing money concerns. They then go into an H&R Block and discover that their original tax return did not claim all of the deductions they are entitled to. The ad goes further to explain that H&R Block can do a second look on your tax return and in 2 out of 3 cases, will find additional money for you. The ad was created by the marketing department with the intent to steer business from the competitors and show the value of our highly trained professionals. The intended audience is taxpayers between the ages of 18-34 with income between $25,000 and $50,000. This is the age group that is most likely to be in need of financial assistance due to growing families and mounding debt. The ad depicts the average mother who wants nothing but the best for their child. The best can be found by allowing our professionals to find you more money to help you provide in these tough economic times. The commercial is very realistic. Many

Latasha Randle Consumption and Mass Media Worksheet SOC/105 Version 5

people wonder if they received the best possible refund and thus the commercial is very relevant. The most evident symbol in the ad is the company logo. It is a simple green block. However, when you speak of money and see something green, it really gets the point across. The more green in the commercial, the more I think about money. There are several hidden messages. Some of them are the fact that we feel that we can get you a better, more accurate return than our competitor. Why else would we offer to double check a return that we did not prepare originally? The other message is that we stand behind our work enough to offer the second look challenge. The main part of the story that is omitted from this ad is the fact that many returns are already correct and even though we find errors in 2 out of 3 returns prepared by others, many of those errors cost the taxpayer instead of saving them money. The other part that is left off is the fact that the second look is free, but amending the return will cost additional money. The person watching the ad can definitely go to the company website for more information and further details for clarity. In todays society, many consumers are already leery when making serious decisions. The second look advertisement only ads to that confusion. Many consumers are now second guessing their preparer for no reason. They are also asking questions about their taxes that they are in no position to truly understand. However, the commercial did its job very well. It plants a seed of doubt in the taxpayers mind that will eventually lead them through our doors just to see if the claim is right.

References:
Isaka, Masanori. 2007. The Japanese Hip Hop Movement: Its Cultural and Economic Impact. Retrieved from http://www.americanpopularculture.com/archive/music/ japanese.htm

Petracca, M., & Sorapure, M. (2007). Common Culture. Reading and Writing About American Popular Culture (5th ed.). Upper Saddle, NJ: Prentice Hall.