It is Christmas time! Christmas party and songs are alluring me. Bangor University is celebrating Christmas in many ways: the main reception the university welcomes everyone with a huge “International Christmas Tree” decorated with plastic litter collected from beach, YoYo application of Bangor Eat – Drink unit has announced multiple offers, and different clubs and societies are running Christmas based events.

Christmas means a lot to people – isn’t it?. For me, Christmas means “Sharing”. It will vary for different people based on the cues that they have observed during their life time. The ways in which Christmas celebrated is also different in different countries (To check them).

First thing that pop’s up related to Christmas is Santa Claus, we also know how Santa Claus look like. However, we don’t know who really gave the meaning and life to Santa Claus. Thomas Nast is the one who drew the picture of Santa Claus and it was then published by Harper’s Weekly in between 1863 and 1886 (Belk, 1987). Until now, we use the illustration of Thomas Nast’s Santa Claus. Similarly, the concept of Rein-deer for Christmas was introduced to people through a poem written by Clement Moore (Belk, 1987). This has infused a new association with Christmas; rein-deer made of dried sticks, rein-deer toys, and rein-deer key chains galore the markets.

We are bound to do something for Christmas, either we buy or receive some gift. Why do we buy or why do we receive?. It is all because of a term called “Culture”. 

Kardes (2011) defines Culture as the patterns of meaning acquired by members of society expressed in knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, morals, customs, and habits. As an individual, we acquire habits mostly through the culture. Food we consume, dress we wear, our daily life, and our interaction with society depends upon the culture you grow with (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2010).  The rationale behind following the culture is to show that you belong to society, community or a group (Maslow, 1943). Consequently, we behave according to the norms set by the culture (Fishbein, 1979).

Moreover, culture has influenced our consumption in significant ways. Coca Cola being a renowned brand across the globe uses culture cues at its best to get closer to the consumer. The advert for the year 2016 has used the same context for different countries. However, the people, jingles, and language are different. The advertisement used models, language and jingles to suit the cultural context of the country. The purpose in modifying them is to make the advertisement more appealing to different segment across the globe.

Culture is dynamic in nature (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2010). Companies who wants to be at the top needs to study culture often and play with their messages accordingly to gain market share.

Merry Christmas!

Reference:

1. Belk, R. (1987). A Child’s Christmas in America: Santa Claus as Deity, Consumption as Religion. The Journal of American Culture, [online] 10(1), pp.87-100. Available at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1542-734X.1987.1001_87.x/full [Accessed 8 Dec. 2017].Moore, C. (1983).
2. A Visit from St. Nicholas by Clement Clarke Moore. [online] Poetry Foundation. Available at: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43171/a-visit-from-st-nicholas [Accessed 8 Dec. 2017]
3. Maslow, A. (1943). A theory of human motivation.. psycnet.apa.org.
4. Fishbein, M. (1979). A theory of reasoned action: Some applications and implications. Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, 27, 65-116.
5. Schiffman, L. and Kanuk, L. (2010). Consumer Behavior, Global Edition. 10th ed. Pearson.