A Consumer Culture Theory Approach to Analyzing Beauty Culture in Iran

Atefeh Yazdanparast

Abstract

Consumption is a historically shaped mode of socio-cultural practice that emerges within the structures and ideological imperatives of dynamic market place. Consumer culture theory (CCT; Arnould and Thompson 2005) is fundamentally concerned with the cultural meanings, socio-historic influences, and social dynamics that shape consumer experiences and identities in the context of everyday life. In CCT–;s research program, consumers are conceived of as interpretive agents whose meaning-created activities range from those that tacitly embrace the dominant representations of consumer identity and lifestyle ideals portrayed in advertising and mass media to those that consciously deviate from these ideological instructions. CCT focuses on how marketing communication and fashion industry systematically predispose consumers toward certain kinds of identity projects (e.g., Zhao and Belk 2008a, b).