Consumption Matters: Consumer Culture and Identity - Nike Case Study

”The power of association, with someone who’s famous or even infamous, is far more potent than we even realize.”

(Starsuckers, as cited in Turnbull, 2012)

Introduction

We are now living in a consumer culture in which materials we possess and consume are in relation to our individual social class, perceptions and satisfaction. The purchase of a consumer product or service has become such an inevitable aspect of life that we may not be consciously aware of (McDonald & Wearing, 2013, p. 6). Therefore, different perspectives of consumption and the consumer culture have arisen. While some people are under an adverse impression that consumption makes people feel detached, passive and unimaginative, others hold a belief that consumption enables people to be active, engaging members of specific community groups. This essay will critically analyse these both viewpoints through an illustration of Nike shoes under the theory of Marxism together with the theory of the reflexive project of the self.

Analysis

1. Nike

Nike is an American multinational company specializing in supplying athletic shoes and apparel, sports equipment, accessories and other services. Founded as Blue Ribbon Sports in 1964, the corporation took its name Nike in 1978. In 1980, the company constituted 50% in the athletic shoes’ sales market in the United States, and its popularity rocketed by the mid-1980s with the introduction of the Air Jordan. In 2014, the brand name alone was valued at $19 billion, gaining its reputation as the most valuable brand among sports businesses (Wiki, 2017). The growing popularity of this footwear brand is a direct result of its wise marketing strategies. In today’s settings, public figures enjoy high profiles, charismatic qualities, and glamorous images in the eyes of the public thanks to the rising exposure of the audience from multi-media platforms such as satellite, cable TVs and other online social networks (Giles, McCracken as cited in Choi, Lee, and Kim, 2005, p. 85). Especially, celebrities with worldwide recognition and popularity are believed have the ability to reach out of their primary national and cultural barriers to a global audience in marketing communications (Erdogan, Kaikati as cited in Choi, Lee and Kim, 2005, p. 85). Therefore, Nike has not failed to make use of this wise application.The company has paid top public figures in many fields to endorse their products over years. Nike's first professional athlete endorser was Romanian tennis player Ilie Năstase. During its progressive development over years, Nike has also sponsored many other successful athletes, namely Carl Lewis, Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Sebastian Coe. Remarkably, the signing of Nike with a famous basketball player Michael Jordan in 1984, with his subsequent promotion of the brand over the course of his career, with Spike Lee as Mars Blackmon, marked the milestone as an indication of one of the biggest factors contributing to Nike's publicity and sales in the history (Wiki, 2017). Recently, one of the most influential Korean Pop artists, G-Dragon - BIGBANG’s leader (Figure 1), has become the latest celebrity to endorse Nike’s Air Max Day 2017 campaign: Kiss My Airs along with actress Ruby Rose and soccer star Neymar Jr.Therefore, it is not a total surprise that shortly after being introduced , Nike Air VaporMax shoes were sold out through Nike’s South Korean online store in less than a minute (Koreaboo, 2017).

Figure 1: G-Dragon collaborates with Nike for its newest line of product – Nike Air VaporMax

2. Consumer culture involved

It was not until the mid-nineteenth century that scholars began to inquire into consumption and its culture. Karl Marx was the first scholar in record to analyse consumer culture (McDonald, M. & Wearing, S. 2013, p. 21). Consumer culture can be defined as the culture of consumption which consists of the relationship people having with consuming materials and services. To be more specific, in Chengbing’s (2011, p. 294) work, it is discussed that “the consumer behaviour is not just a matter of pure consumption. Consumption becomes part of a way of life, which is itself a way for people to express their personalities. Consumer culture allows people to construct a way of life that promotes self-display to gain satisfaction from their consumer behaviour”. As a matter of fact, Sassatelli’s (2007, p. 4) work discusses, advertising and other aspects of commercialization of goods have constructed meanings around products to make them ‘consumable’. Literally, the act of individuals physically buying Nike shoes is closely related to the consumption of the culture surrounding that item.With its phenomenal catchphrase “Just Do It”, Nike has successfully captured the attention of a huge audience and attracted them to purchase.A demonstration of the theory of Marxism would view this consumption unfavorable.

3. The theory of Marxism’s negative view of consumption

The theory of Marxism considers consumption as negative since it argues that alienation and “commodity fetishism” are the results of the consumer culture. Consumer culture alienates us as it has the ability to disconnect us from social relationship, leading us to place importance and invest our emotions in consumer products instead. Besides, to integrate that belief, commodity fetishism accentuates the notion that there is an evident shift of our energies from “proper” topics to motionless objects (Sternberg, 2017). This alienated culture that consumption generates reflects clearly in the purchase of Nike shoes. Customers can go to any lengths to achieve pairs of Nike shoes by dedicating their time and money, which may possibly result in their lack of awareness of their surroundings and other social, political affairs. Once they successfully purchase Nike shoes, they will be absorbed in the artificial world generated around that product. And when Nike releases another new line of product, it is likely that they will undergo that vicious cycle. This consumer culture can inevitably lead to a breakdown of conventional social structures and give way to the estrangement of individuals from themselves, others and the society (Sternberg, 2017). In fact, it is hard to surrender the temptation of buying Nike products due to its irresistible catchphrase "To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world." as the legendary Nike co-founder, Bill Bowerman once said, "If you have a body, you are an athlete." (Nike, 2017).

Moreover, the beliefs and values of the Frankfurt School - founded in 1923 as the institute for Social Research - implement the theory of Marxism in the insightful comprehension of consumption. The Frankfurt School’s viewpoint regards the consumer culture as bringing about the introduction of a “homogeneous mass culture, which threatens individuality and creativity” (Featherstone, 2007, p. 15). Indeed, the branding efforts of firms through their marketing activities are supposed to dominantly make an influential impact on consumers’ desires and actions when buying products (Holt, 2002). As a consequence, due to the high exposure to the advertisement of celebrities wearing Nike shoes, consumers seem to purchase the product with a view to gaining a particular social status that they wish. To be more specific, public figures with Nike shoes display a high-class status, visibly imprinting an impression on people’s mind that Nike shoes symbolize up-to-date, modern fashion. In doing so, others who do not follow the trend may get a sense of being detached outsiders of that trendy, fashionable culture. In fact, public figures do not always directly create a specific effect on people in terms of buying a product but overall a celebrity-endorsed product can exert a more profound impact on consumers’ decision when purchasing than a non-celebrity-endorsed product (Ahmed, Seedani, Ahuja and Paryani, 2015, p. 12). The uniform act of consumers possessing Nike shoes to experience a sense of belonging to a specific class testifies to the Frankfurt School’s perspective as the consumer culture discourages people from expressing their own individuality and undermines their ability to be creative. In contrary to the Marxism’s negative approach, the reflexive project of the self’s viewpoint indicates a more constructive dedication of the consumer culture to every individual.

Figure 2: Michael Jordan – one of the most memorable public figures endorsed Nike

4. The reflexive project of the self’s positive theory of consumption

The reflexive project of the self’s theory regards consumption and the consumer culture more positive. According to Giddens and Beck(as cited in Sternberg, 2017), engaging in the consumer culture is an activity that we consciously and consistently participate in rather than a form of restricted social control. Though we cannot possibly avoid our engagement in the consumer culture, we use the act of consumption creatively in ways that enable us to both stand out and fit in a specific community (Sternberg, 2017). The consumption of Nike shoes clearly illustrates this notion. Nike has introduced various lines of shoes with a range of selection varied from sizes, styles, and colours so every individual can pick according to their personal preference the one that exhibits their distinctive characteristics perfectly. For example, Air (Figure 3), one of Nike's best-known and most popular lines, has available running, walking, and training shoes. Therefore, Nike Air has a variety of shoes for potential buyers to select such as the Air Force, Air Monarch training shoe, Air Pegasus running shoe and Air Avenue walking shoe (Ebay, 2016).

Figure 3: Different kinds of Nike’s Air to choose from

Besides, another line of Nike, Nike Zoom shoes are used mostly for running purposes. This product includes the Zoom cushioning technology, which is similar to that of Nike Air but specially designed to be lighter in weight (Ebay, 2016).

It can be drawn from the two examples of Nike shoes’ lines that individuals can purchase the product that makes them feel most comfortable and assists them in building their individuality. In accordance with the theory of the reflexive project of the self which emphasizes the act of consumption as an expressive way of displaying self-identity to encourage individuals to gain a sense of belonging to their desired communities in the society, the liberal and modern perspective discusses about the potential image that consumers can be characterised in a community. It is stated that the consumer culture lays the foundation for diverse subcultures in society through which individuals can be surrounded by others who have similar interests and opinions. Through the process of purchasing materials and services, individuals are able to prove themselves as self-constructing members who take the initiative to develop their own sets of beliefs and behaviours.The consumption of Nike shoes is the protagonist of this notion. Nike has a huge engaged audience on its social media platforms namely Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Therefore, consumers are easily accessible to engage in communication with other individuals who buy Nike shoes thanks to the rising popularity of these networks. Through their participation in online communities that Nike creates, they are considered a part of the subculture that they feel a sense of belonging to.

Conclusion

Overall, this essay has critically made an analysis of both viewpoints of consumption through a demonstrative example of Nike shoes under the theory of Marxism along with the theory of the reflexive project of the self. Undoubtedly, consumers who choose to buy Nike shoes together with Nike’s celebrity endorsement strategic marketing play an important role in the notable success of this brand. All in all, this essay’s author believes consumption neither totally derives people of their individual self-identity and their creativity nor absolutely offers more character-building benefits than drawbacks to individuals. Careful preparation and calculation before considering the possession of a product would be best for consumers to exploit their experience to the maximum in this consumer culture.