Memes as Shortcut to Consumer Culture: A Methodological Approach to Covert Collective Ideologies
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Elisa Priori de Deus
Roberta Dias Campos
Ana Raquel Rocha
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.
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Deus, E. P. de, Campos, R. D., & Rocha, A. R. (2022). Memes as Shortcut to Consumer Culture: A Methodological Approach to Covert Collective Ideologies. Journal of Contemporary Administration, 26(4), e210005. https://doi.org/10.1590/1982-7849rac2022210005.en
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Methodological Articles
Since mid-February of 2023, the authors retain the copyright relating to their article and grant the journal RAC, from ANPAD, the right of first publication, with the work simultaneously licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0), as stated in the article’s PDF document. This license provides that the article published can be shared (allows you to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format) and adapted (allows you to remix, transform, and create from the material for any purpose, even commercial) by anyone.
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References
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Anapol, A. (2020, August 06). Documenting a ‘viral’ pandemic: Why memes are the most apt way to communicate about Covid-19. PanMeMic. Retrieved from https://panmemic.hypotheses.org/737
Arnould, E. J., & Thompson, C. J. (2005). Consumer culture theory (CCT): Twenty years of research. Journal of Consumer Research, 31(4), 868-882. https://doi.org/10.1086/426626
Askegaard, S. (2010). Experience economy in the making: Hedonism, play and coolhunting in automotive song lyrics. Consumption, Markets and Culture, 13(4), 351-371. https://doi.org/10.1080/10253866.2010.502411
Blackmore, S. (2000). The power of memes. Scientific American, 283(4), 52-61. https://doi.org/10.1038/scientificamerican1000-64
Borgerson, J., & Miller, D. (2016). Scalable sociality and “How the world changed social media”: Conversation with Daniel Miller. Consumption Markets & Culture, 19(6), 520-533. https://doi.org/10.1080/10253866.2015.1120980
Börzsei, L. K. (2013). Makes a meme instead: A concise history of internet memes. New Media Studies Magazine, 7(March).
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101.https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Brownlie, D., Hewer, P., & Horne, S. (2005). Culinary tourism: An exploratory reading of contemporary representations of cooking. Consumption Markets & Culture, 8(1), 7-26. https://doi.org/10.1080/10253860500068937
Brownlie, D., & Hewer, P. (2007). Prime beef cuts: Culinary images for thinking ‘men’. Consumption, Markets and Culture, 10(3), 229-250. https://doi.org/10.1080/10253860701365371
Campos, R. D. (2009). Be beautiful on the TV screen: Patterns of beauty and imagery in cultural television texts. Proceedings of Encontro Nacional da Associação Nacional de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa em Administração, 33, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Cova, B., & Cova, V. (2009). Faces of the new consumer: A genesis of consumer governmentality. Recherche et Applications en Marketing (English Edition), 24(3), 81-99. https://doi.org/10.1177/205157070902400304
Davison, P. (2009). The language of internet memes. In M. Mandiberg (Ed.), The social media reader (pp. 120-134). New York: NYU Press.
Dawkins, R. (1976). The selfish gene. New York: Oxford University Press.
Debert, G. G. (2000). O significado da velhice na sociedade brasileira. Acta Paulista de Enfermagem, 13(Spe1), 147-158. Retrieved from https://acta-ape.org/en/article/o-significado-da-velhice-na-sociedade-brasileira/
Faria, M. D., & Casotti, L. M. (2014). Representações e estereótipos das pessoas com deficiência como consumidoras: O drama dos personagens com deficiência em telenovelas brasileiras. Organizações & Sociedade, 21(70), 387-404. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1984-92302014000300003
Freeman, L., & Bell, S. (2013). Women’s magazines as facilitators of Christmas rituals. Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 16(3), 336-354. https://doi.org/10.1108/13522751311326134
Gannon, V., & Prothero, A. (2016). Beauty blogger selfies as authenticating practices. European Journal of Marketing, 50(9/10), 1858-1878. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJM-07-2015-0510
Goia, M. R., Lima, M. B., & Barros, L. S. G. (2018). The deviation game: Can deviation from standard beauty become appealing? An age perspective. Revista Brasileira de Marketing, 17(4), 459-471. https://doi.org/10.5585/remark.v17i4.3754
Goldenberg, M. (2011). Corpo, envelhecimento e felicidade na cultura brasileira. Contemporânea (Título não-corrente), 9(2), 77-85. Retrieved from https://www.e-publicacoes.uerj.br/index.php/contemporanea/article/view/2143
GShow. (2020, August 06). Famosos resumem a quarentena e o ano de 2020 com montagem de fotos em desafio de memes na web. Gshow. Retrieved from https://gshow.globo.com/Famosos/noticia/famosos-resumem-a-quarentena-e-o-ano-de-2020-com-montagem-de-fotos-em-desafio-de-memes-na-internet.ghtml
Hirschman, E. C. (1988). The ideology of consumption: A structural-syntactical analysis of “Dallas” and “Dynasty”. Journal of Consumer Research, 15(3), 344-359. https://doi.org/10.1086/209171
Hirschman, E. C. (2000). Consumers’ use of intertextuality and archetypes. Advances in Consumer Research, 27, 57-63. Retrieved from https://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/8359/volumes/v27/NA-27
Hirschman, E. C., & Stern, B. B. (1994). Women as commodities: Prostitution as depicted in the blue angel, pretty baby, and pretty woman. Advances in Consumer Research, 21, 576-581. Retrieved from https://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/5985/volumes/v21/NA-21
Hirschman, E. C., Scott, L., & Wells, W. B. (1998). A model of product discourse: Linking consumer practice to cultural texts. Journal of Advertising, 27(1), 33-50. https://doi.org/10.1080/00913367.1998.10673541
Holbrook, M. B. (2008). Music meanings in movies: The case of the crime-plus-jazz genre. Consumption Markets & Culture, 11(4), 307-327. https://doi.org/10.1080/10253860802391326
Holt, D. B. (2003). What becomes an icon most?. Harvard Business Review, 81(3), 43-49. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2003/03/what-becomes-an-icon-most
Humphreys, A. (2010). Semiotic structure and the legitimation of consumption practices: The case of casino gambling. Journal of Consumer Research, 37(3), 490-510. https://doi.org/10.1086/652464
Humphreys, A., & Latour, K. A. (2013). Framing the game: Assessing the impact of cultural representations on consumer perceptions of legitimacy. Journal of Consumer Research, 40(4), 773-795. https://doi.org/10.1086/672358
Lanier, C. D., Jr., Rader, C. S., & Fowler, A. R., III. (2013). Anthropomorphism, marketing relationships, and consumption worth in the Toy Story trilogy. Journal of Marketing Management, 29(1-2), 26-47. https://doi.org/10.1080/0267257X.2013.769020
Lanka, E., Topakas, A., & Patterson, M. (2020). Becoming a leader: Catalysts and barriers to leader identity construction. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 29(3), 377-390. https://doi.org/10.1080/1359432X.2019.1706488
Lee, M. M., Carpenter, B., & Meyers, L. S. (2007). Representations of older adults in television advertisements. Journal of Aging Studies, 21(1), 23-30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaging.2006.04.001
Luedicke, M. K., Thompson, C. J., & Giesler, M. (2010). Consumer identity work as moral protagonism: How myth and ideology animate a brand-mediated moral conflict. Journal of Consumer Research, 36(6), 1016-1032. https://doi.org/10.1086/644761
Malhotra, N. K., Hall, J., Shaw, M., & Oppenheim, P. P. (2008). Essentials of marketing research: An applied orientation (2 ed.). Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson Education Australia.
McDonald, T., & Dan, L. (2020). “Pulling the sheep’s wool”: The labor of online thrift in a Chinese factory. Journal of Consumer Culture. https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540520955206
Miller, D. (2020, April 24). Memes – the moral police of the internet in the time of Covid-19. Anthrocovid. Retrieved from https://anthrocovid.com/2020/04/24/memes-the-moral-police-of-the-internet-in-the-time-of-covid-19/
Miller, D., Costa, E., Haynes, N., McDonald, T., Nicolescu, R., Sinanan, J., Spyer, J., Venkatraman, S., & Wang, X. (2020). How the world changed social media. London: UCL Press.
Miller, D., Costa, E., Haynes, N., McDonald, T., Nicolescu, R., Sinanan, J., Spyer, J., Venkatraman, S., & Wang, X. (2019). Como o mundo mudou as mídias sociais. London: UCL Press.
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Neri, M. (2020). Onde estão os idosos? Conhecimento contra o COVID-19. Retrieved from https://cps.fgv.br/covidage
Perissé, C., & Marli, M. (2019, March 19). Idosos indicam caminhos para uma melhor idade. Agência de Notícias. Retrieved from https://agenciadenoticias.ibge.gov.br/agencia-noticias/2012-agencia-de-noticias/noticias/24036-idosos-indicam-caminhos-para-uma-melhor-idade#:~:text=O%20Brasil%20tem%20mais%20de,divulgada%20em%202018%20pelo%20IBGE
Ramos, R. C., Tayt-Son, D. B. C., & Rocha, A. R. C. (2020). A volta da marmita: Ressignificação do consumo à luz da teoria da prática. Proceedings of the Encontro Nacional da Associação Nacional de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa em Administração, 44, Online.
Reis, D., Jr. (2013). Objetos do baú: Ficha telefônica. Retrieved from https://www.propagandashistoricas.com.br/2013/06/objetos-do-bau-ficha-telefonica.html
Rodrigues, L. R., & Soares, G. A. (2006). Velho, idoso e terceira idade na sociedade contemporânea. Revista Ágora, (4). Retrieved from https://periodicos.ufes.br/agora/article/view/1901
Rosenthal, B., Cardoso, F., & Abdalla, C. (2021). (Mis)representations of older consumers in advertising: Stigma and inadequacy in ageing societies. Journal of Marketing Management, 37(5-6), 569-593. https://doi.org/10.1080/0267257X.2020.1850511
Saldaña, J. (2009). The coding manual for qualitative researchers. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Suarez, M., Motta, P. C., & Barros, C. (2009). Consumo e castigo: Um retrato das relações de consumo no seriado A Diarista. In A. Rocha & J. F. Silva (Orgs.), Consumo na base da pirâmide: Estudos Brasileiros. Rio de Janeiro: Mauad X.
Tadajewski, M., & Hamilton, K. (2014). Waste, art, and social change: Transformative consumer research outside of the academy?. Journal of Macromarketing, 34(1), 80-86. https://doi.org/10.1177/0276146713509631
Thompson, C. J. (2004). Marketplace mythology and discourses of power. Journal of Consumer Research, 31(1), 162-180. https://doi.org/10.1086/383432
Abreu, R. G., & Casotti, L. M. (2020). Viagens que transformam a condição existencial: Narrativas e representações em filmes protagonizados por idosos. Revista Brasileira de Pesquisa em Turismo, 14(3), 14-31. https://doi.org/10.7784/rbtur.v14i3.1833
AdoroCinema (2020). Os Muppets. Retrieved from http://www.adorocinema.com/series/serie-782/
Anapol, A. (2020, August 06). Documenting a ‘viral’ pandemic: Why memes are the most apt way to communicate about Covid-19. PanMeMic. Retrieved from https://panmemic.hypotheses.org/737
Arnould, E. J., & Thompson, C. J. (2005). Consumer culture theory (CCT): Twenty years of research. Journal of Consumer Research, 31(4), 868-882. https://doi.org/10.1086/426626
Askegaard, S. (2010). Experience economy in the making: Hedonism, play and coolhunting in automotive song lyrics. Consumption, Markets and Culture, 13(4), 351-371. https://doi.org/10.1080/10253866.2010.502411
Blackmore, S. (2000). The power of memes. Scientific American, 283(4), 52-61. https://doi.org/10.1038/scientificamerican1000-64
Borgerson, J., & Miller, D. (2016). Scalable sociality and “How the world changed social media”: Conversation with Daniel Miller. Consumption Markets & Culture, 19(6), 520-533. https://doi.org/10.1080/10253866.2015.1120980
Börzsei, L. K. (2013). Makes a meme instead: A concise history of internet memes. New Media Studies Magazine, 7(March).
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101.https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Brownlie, D., Hewer, P., & Horne, S. (2005). Culinary tourism: An exploratory reading of contemporary representations of cooking. Consumption Markets & Culture, 8(1), 7-26. https://doi.org/10.1080/10253860500068937
Brownlie, D., & Hewer, P. (2007). Prime beef cuts: Culinary images for thinking ‘men’. Consumption, Markets and Culture, 10(3), 229-250. https://doi.org/10.1080/10253860701365371
Campos, R. D. (2009). Be beautiful on the TV screen: Patterns of beauty and imagery in cultural television texts. Proceedings of Encontro Nacional da Associação Nacional de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa em Administração, 33, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Cova, B., & Cova, V. (2009). Faces of the new consumer: A genesis of consumer governmentality. Recherche et Applications en Marketing (English Edition), 24(3), 81-99. https://doi.org/10.1177/205157070902400304
Davison, P. (2009). The language of internet memes. In M. Mandiberg (Ed.), The social media reader (pp. 120-134). New York: NYU Press.
Dawkins, R. (1976). The selfish gene. New York: Oxford University Press.
Debert, G. G. (2000). O significado da velhice na sociedade brasileira. Acta Paulista de Enfermagem, 13(Spe1), 147-158. Retrieved from https://acta-ape.org/en/article/o-significado-da-velhice-na-sociedade-brasileira/
Faria, M. D., & Casotti, L. M. (2014). Representações e estereótipos das pessoas com deficiência como consumidoras: O drama dos personagens com deficiência em telenovelas brasileiras. Organizações & Sociedade, 21(70), 387-404. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1984-92302014000300003
Freeman, L., & Bell, S. (2013). Women’s magazines as facilitators of Christmas rituals. Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 16(3), 336-354. https://doi.org/10.1108/13522751311326134
Gannon, V., & Prothero, A. (2016). Beauty blogger selfies as authenticating practices. European Journal of Marketing, 50(9/10), 1858-1878. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJM-07-2015-0510
Goia, M. R., Lima, M. B., & Barros, L. S. G. (2018). The deviation game: Can deviation from standard beauty become appealing? An age perspective. Revista Brasileira de Marketing, 17(4), 459-471. https://doi.org/10.5585/remark.v17i4.3754
Goldenberg, M. (2011). Corpo, envelhecimento e felicidade na cultura brasileira. Contemporânea (Título não-corrente), 9(2), 77-85. Retrieved from https://www.e-publicacoes.uerj.br/index.php/contemporanea/article/view/2143
GShow. (2020, August 06). Famosos resumem a quarentena e o ano de 2020 com montagem de fotos em desafio de memes na web. Gshow. Retrieved from https://gshow.globo.com/Famosos/noticia/famosos-resumem-a-quarentena-e-o-ano-de-2020-com-montagem-de-fotos-em-desafio-de-memes-na-internet.ghtml
Hirschman, E. C. (1988). The ideology of consumption: A structural-syntactical analysis of “Dallas” and “Dynasty”. Journal of Consumer Research, 15(3), 344-359. https://doi.org/10.1086/209171
Hirschman, E. C. (2000). Consumers’ use of intertextuality and archetypes. Advances in Consumer Research, 27, 57-63. Retrieved from https://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/8359/volumes/v27/NA-27
Hirschman, E. C., & Stern, B. B. (1994). Women as commodities: Prostitution as depicted in the blue angel, pretty baby, and pretty woman. Advances in Consumer Research, 21, 576-581. Retrieved from https://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/5985/volumes/v21/NA-21
Hirschman, E. C., Scott, L., & Wells, W. B. (1998). A model of product discourse: Linking consumer practice to cultural texts. Journal of Advertising, 27(1), 33-50. https://doi.org/10.1080/00913367.1998.10673541
Holbrook, M. B. (2008). Music meanings in movies: The case of the crime-plus-jazz genre. Consumption Markets & Culture, 11(4), 307-327. https://doi.org/10.1080/10253860802391326
Holt, D. B. (2003). What becomes an icon most?. Harvard Business Review, 81(3), 43-49. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2003/03/what-becomes-an-icon-most
Humphreys, A. (2010). Semiotic structure and the legitimation of consumption practices: The case of casino gambling. Journal of Consumer Research, 37(3), 490-510. https://doi.org/10.1086/652464
Humphreys, A., & Latour, K. A. (2013). Framing the game: Assessing the impact of cultural representations on consumer perceptions of legitimacy. Journal of Consumer Research, 40(4), 773-795. https://doi.org/10.1086/672358
Lanier, C. D., Jr., Rader, C. S., & Fowler, A. R., III. (2013). Anthropomorphism, marketing relationships, and consumption worth in the Toy Story trilogy. Journal of Marketing Management, 29(1-2), 26-47. https://doi.org/10.1080/0267257X.2013.769020
Lanka, E., Topakas, A., & Patterson, M. (2020). Becoming a leader: Catalysts and barriers to leader identity construction. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 29(3), 377-390. https://doi.org/10.1080/1359432X.2019.1706488
Lee, M. M., Carpenter, B., & Meyers, L. S. (2007). Representations of older adults in television advertisements. Journal of Aging Studies, 21(1), 23-30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaging.2006.04.001
Luedicke, M. K., Thompson, C. J., & Giesler, M. (2010). Consumer identity work as moral protagonism: How myth and ideology animate a brand-mediated moral conflict. Journal of Consumer Research, 36(6), 1016-1032. https://doi.org/10.1086/644761
Malhotra, N. K., Hall, J., Shaw, M., & Oppenheim, P. P. (2008). Essentials of marketing research: An applied orientation (2 ed.). Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson Education Australia.
McDonald, T., & Dan, L. (2020). “Pulling the sheep’s wool”: The labor of online thrift in a Chinese factory. Journal of Consumer Culture. https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540520955206
Miller, D. (2020, April 24). Memes – the moral police of the internet in the time of Covid-19. Anthrocovid. Retrieved from https://anthrocovid.com/2020/04/24/memes-the-moral-police-of-the-internet-in-the-time-of-covid-19/
Miller, D., Costa, E., Haynes, N., McDonald, T., Nicolescu, R., Sinanan, J., Spyer, J., Venkatraman, S., & Wang, X. (2020). How the world changed social media. London: UCL Press.
Miller, D., Costa, E., Haynes, N., McDonald, T., Nicolescu, R., Sinanan, J., Spyer, J., Venkatraman, S., & Wang, X. (2019). Como o mundo mudou as mídias sociais. London: UCL Press.
Motomura, M. (2018, July 04). Cães apanhados na rua realmente viram sabão? SuperInteressante. Retrieved from https://super.abril.com.br/mundo-estranho/caes-apanhados-na-rua-realmente-viram-sabao/
Neri, M. (2020). Onde estão os idosos? Conhecimento contra o COVID-19. Retrieved from https://cps.fgv.br/covidage
Perissé, C., & Marli, M. (2019, March 19). Idosos indicam caminhos para uma melhor idade. Agência de Notícias. Retrieved from https://agenciadenoticias.ibge.gov.br/agencia-noticias/2012-agencia-de-noticias/noticias/24036-idosos-indicam-caminhos-para-uma-melhor-idade#:~:text=O%20Brasil%20tem%20mais%20de,divulgada%20em%202018%20pelo%20IBGE
Ramos, R. C., Tayt-Son, D. B. C., & Rocha, A. R. C. (2020). A volta da marmita: Ressignificação do consumo à luz da teoria da prática. Proceedings of the Encontro Nacional da Associação Nacional de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa em Administração, 44, Online.
Reis, D., Jr. (2013). Objetos do baú: Ficha telefônica. Retrieved from https://www.propagandashistoricas.com.br/2013/06/objetos-do-bau-ficha-telefonica.html
Rodrigues, L. R., & Soares, G. A. (2006). Velho, idoso e terceira idade na sociedade contemporânea. Revista Ágora, (4). Retrieved from https://periodicos.ufes.br/agora/article/view/1901
Rosenthal, B., Cardoso, F., & Abdalla, C. (2021). (Mis)representations of older consumers in advertising: Stigma and inadequacy in ageing societies. Journal of Marketing Management, 37(5-6), 569-593. https://doi.org/10.1080/0267257X.2020.1850511
Saldaña, J. (2009). The coding manual for qualitative researchers. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Suarez, M., Motta, P. C., & Barros, C. (2009). Consumo e castigo: Um retrato das relações de consumo no seriado A Diarista. In A. Rocha & J. F. Silva (Orgs.), Consumo na base da pirâmide: Estudos Brasileiros. Rio de Janeiro: Mauad X.
Tadajewski, M., & Hamilton, K. (2014). Waste, art, and social change: Transformative consumer research outside of the academy?. Journal of Macromarketing, 34(1), 80-86. https://doi.org/10.1177/0276146713509631
Thompson, C. J. (2004). Marketplace mythology and discourses of power. Journal of Consumer Research, 31(1), 162-180. https://doi.org/10.1086/383432