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The Body as Image - an Analysis of the Postmodern Characteristics of Tattoos in Contemporary Society

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The Body as Image - an Analysis of the Postmodern Characteristics of Tattoos in Contemporary Society
Synopsis, Marketing and Culture

The body as image - An analysis of the postmodern characteristics of tattoos in contemporary society

Introduction

In recent years few terms have been so widely discuss as ”postmodernism” in order to define its basic principals. Despite a lack of consensus, most authorities agree that postmodernism represents some kind of reaction to, or departure from, modernism and modernity (Brown 1993). The consumer of the modern society is distinguished by being self-reflexive and rational while the characteristics of the irrational postmodern consumer are hyperreality, fragmentation, reversals of production and consumption, decentring of the subject, paradoxical juxtapositions, and loss of commitment (Firat et al, 1995). The ability and willingness to represent different self-images in fragmented moments liberates the consumer from conformity to a single image, to seeking continuity and consistency among roles played throughout life. This self-referential identity of the postmodern consumer, and the general hostility towards generalization together with the rejection of the idea that human social experience has fundamental “real” bases are possibly the main defining differences between modernism and postmodernism (Firat et al, 1995). Despite the seemingly transformation in consumer behaviour modern marketing theory (e.g. Kotler, Porter, Ansoff etc.) of costumer segmentation and categorizing customers is still widely accepted and used by companies in the western society.

In the following I will through an analysis of the phenomena, tattoos, try to identify some of the characteristics of the postmodern consumer in order to establish an underlying basis of whether the change in consumer behaviour should be considered important to a change or re-writing of modern marketing theory.

Tattoos in contemporary society
One of the most drastic and highly debated types of consumption within the field of bodily consumption, is tattoos.



References: Brown, Stephen (1993), “Postmodern Marketing?”, European Journal of Marketing, vol. 27, no. 4, 19-34 Firat, Fuat A, Dholakia, Nikhilesh, Ventakesh, Alladi (1995) “Marketing in a postmodern world”, European Journal of Marketing, Vol McCracken, Grant (1986), “Culture and consumption: A theoretical account of the structure and movement of the cultural meaning of consumer goods,” Journal of Consumer Research, 13 (1986), 71-84. Høiris, Ole (1993) Pierre Bourdieu og antropologi, Jordens Folk nr 2 Holt, Douglas (1998) ”Does Cultural Capital Structure American Consumption?”, The Journal of Consumer Research, vol Murray, Jeff B. (2002), The Politics of Consumption: A Re-inquiry of Thompson and Haytko’s “Speaking of Fashion”. Journal of Consumer Research 29 (3): 427-440. Baudrillard, J., “The ecstasy of communication”, in Foster, H. (Ed.), The Anti-aesthetic: Essays on Postmodern Culture, Bay Press, Port Townsend, WA, 1983, pp Czepiel, J.A., Competitive Marketing Strategy, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1992. Kotler, Philip (2006), Marketing Management, 12th edition, Prentice Hall Hutt, Michael D Kjeldgaard, Dannie (2009), “The Meaning of Style? Style Reflexivity Among Danish High School Youth”, Journal of Consumer Behaviour, vol. 8 Bengtsson A., Östberg J, and D DeMello, Margo. 2000. Bodies of inscription: A cultural history of the modern tattoo community. Elliott, Richard (2004), Making Up People: Consumption as a Symbolic Vocabulary for the Construction of Identity, in K. Ekström & H. Brembeck, eds. Elusive Consumption, Oxford: Berg, 129-143. Mick, David G. James E. Burroughs, Patrick Hetzel & Mary Yoko Brannen (2004), “Pursuing the Meaning of Meaning in the Commercial World: An International Review of Marketing and Consumer Research Founded on Semiotics”, Semiotica, 152 – 1/4, 1-74. Adapted from Brown (1993) Appendix 2

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