ch 7-8

In chapter seven, the author discussed the relationship between advertising image and customer culture. Through the message of advertising, consumers receive different perceptions about brands and products. Because in consumerism, people are under the physical and mental exhaustion, the consuming of commodities can offer therapeutic function to enhance self-fulfillment or personal improvement. Usually the advertising explicitly or implicitly convey the image of better live, health lifestyle, better appearance, self improvement that create consumer relationship to brands and establish the brand or product is necessary to daily life. In addition, the advertising also attaches personal emotion and cultural affection to connote specific meaning for consumer like belonging, prestige, style. For instance, in modern society people will buy certain brands to show their prestige or in upper class like Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Prada.

In addition, the author also discussed viral marketing. Advertisers employed marketing techniques to disseminate their brand awareness through consumer’s social network or to sell their products by word of mouth. The product information communicated by word of mouth also has an added layer of credibility. For example, when we decide to take a trip, we search information on the travel blog to get some personal travel experience or we will ask our friend or family members to get some recommendation on our tourism decision making. With the development of computer technology, the online discussion forum or online communities will create new forms of distributing advertising message to target niche consumers. In today consumer society full of commercial and advertising information I am wondering would the viral marketing be more effective than traditional marketing like TV, newspaper, or radio.

In eighth chapter, the author discussed the postmodernism and the relationship with popular culture. Sturken and Cartwright stated that “the postmodern is characterized by the questioning of the supposed universality of structural knowledge as well as skepticism the modern belief in the universality of progress” (p312). In postmodernism, we rethink the traditional paradigm and there is no absolutely truth in postmodernism’s world. Postmodernism remake or rework mass and popular culture as an approach to reflex to our real life activity. Sturken and Cartwright also declared that “postmodern style redefined the notion of authorship and the relationship of production, distribution and consumption that has been enabled by changing technologies and new cultural practices” (p334). Rework or remark became a style of postmodernism to create art and I wonder if the ides of originality in art and the value of true are no longer important for postmodern artist.

In addition, the author also described the growing of digital technologies and virtual experience, postmodern space emphases on the “non-space” like Second Life. Second Life, which is an online world and simulated space, can create virtual identities for user and provide the function of virtual society, economics, and community similar to real world. The avatar represents actual body in real world to engage in the social interaction and activities in online space. How do we think about the impact of virtual reality in social structure of the real world through psychological, and other types of interactions?