What are the most likely consumer market segments for robots? Which consumer characteristics would be important to determine these market segments? What types of roles do you envision robots playing for these consumers?

CHAPTER Buying. Having and Being Antroduction to Consumer Behavior 49 Would you CB AS I SEE IT Craig Thompson, University of Wisconsin Madison present a desired self-image to and do so with a critical-reflexive others, the socially conscious knowledge of the specific conditions shopper, the sophisticated culinary being challenged. My colleagues omnivore, the frugal down to earth and I have consistently found that consumer). Research that have These resistant consumer choices conducted with various colleagues and practices are collective rather over the last 15 years suggests individual in nature. In other words. that neither of these dominant consumers become socially linked to explanations tell the full story about particular consumption communities the motivations and meaning that are mobilized by their opposition that underlie practices of political to some dominant structural consumerism. influence and act upon a shared My conceptualization of political understanding for ideology of the consumerism builds upon the works ethical and cultural implications of of the historian and social theorist their resistant consumer practices. Michel de Certeau, who analyzed the For example, Gokcen Coskuner micro politics of everyday actions Baili and I conducted a study of That is, practices through which community Supported agriculture an individuals attempt to change the alterative market system whereby social conditions that organize consumers buy a share in a local and constrain their everyday farm which typically costs between actions. To illustrate the concept $300 to $600) and in return, they ould you rather spend your time of structural constraints, consider receive a weekly box of produce that sipping a latte in a small dimly the vast number of Americans who they acquire at a centralized drop light bohemian coffee shop or a embark on a daily commute from of site or in some cases, the farm bright, shiny Starbucks? Would you their suburbanhomes to their tself. In this exchange relationship. rather drive a fuel-efficient Prius ora place of work, a commute which the CSA farmer's planting decision powerful, four-wheel drive gas guzzling consumes time, money (fuel costs. and the success for failure of the SUV? Would you rather buy your automobile depreciation) and often crops determine what goes in the groceries at a Walmart superstore that generates frustration as one weekly basket as well as the volume stocked to the ceiling with nationally negotiates traffic delays and the of goods provided. Hence, consumers advertised brands, or at a Whole like. And many Americans would love are foregoing their conventional ability Foods with a meticulously arranged to forego this costly and stressful to choose what they buy and CSA'S produce display and an enticing routine but they have few practical "buy a share pricing model makes selection of niche-oriented organic alternatives owing to a lack of difficult to accurately determine brands, or at a farmers market or CSA convenient public transportation or just what they are paying for any Community Supported Agriculture) housing costs which make living in particular item in their basket. Why program where you can form a direct the distant Suburbs more affordable de consumers enter into such an face-to-face relationship with the than center city neighborhoods which unconventional market relationship? person producing your food? would be closer to their workplaces.in many cases, CSA consumers first From a conventional consumer While consumers can choose become sensitied to the often behavior perspective, these different alternative modes of transportation reported health risks associated with scenarios are no different from the such as biking to work, a network of processed foods and the pesticides myriad other choices that consumers structural relations push consumers used in conventional agriculture. make on a daily basis. Accordingly. to accept as a default choice the Thus, CSA offered these concerned they can be explained as the outcome standard practice of commuting and consumers a means to incorporate of a given consumer's evaluation of to bear its associated costs. fresh, organic produce into their the respective attributes offered by Political consumerism refers diets. Importantly, many of these cach alternative. Another prominent to situations where consumers consumers were also responding to line of explanation would suggest that seek to consciously resist these the evangelizing recommendations these choices are a form of identity structural constraints through of friends and neighbors who were signaling through which consumers alternative consumption practices already members of a CSA. Once 50 SECTION 1 Foundations of Consumer Behavior consumers commit to a CSA program, they gradually become socialized into the shared ideological values, beliefs. and ideas of the CSA community through their interactions with farmers, other CSA consumers, participation in farm events (eg.. tours, watermelon tasting events, apple picking) and last but not least, the newsletters that many CSA farms include in their weekly baskets. Over time, these consumers come to understand their participation in a CSA as a means to gain some degree of autonomy from the structural influences exerted by large agri-business firms and the array of consumer packaged goods they promote A very different ideological expression of the politics of consumption is offered by an analysis of avid Hummer owners that conducted with Marius Luedicke and Markus Giesler. Prior to our study, Hummer owners had largely been stereotyped as ardent status-seekers who were oblivious to the socially irresponsible nature of their oversized version of conspicuous consumption. In contrast, we discovered that devout Hummer owners had constructed a collective identity in which they were proponents and defenders of liberty, Upon further investigation, we found that their understanding of freedom and its symbolic linkage to a mass produced SUV was grounded in the ideology of American exceptionalism. This ideology portrays the United States as a proverbial City on the Hill that stands as beacon of freedom and liberty to the world. American exceptionalism further venerates the ideal of rugged individualism and promotes a belief that the United States, as a divinely blessed land, enjoys a boundless frontier of natural resources. For Hummer owners, their environmental critics were not only an affront to these hallowed values but were even akin to communists and socialists, in posing a threat to the sacrosanct American way of life. Paradoxically, the cultural backlash against the Hummer galvanized these owners' belief that driving a Hummer was a principled act of resistance against un American tree huggers" who sought to impose tyrannical constraints on their rugged Individualist lifestyles and their capacity to experience the American frontier through their off-roading endeavors. Although the Hummer's cultural moment has passed, my colleagues and I believe that this underlying ideology of American exceptionalism can help to explain phenomena such as the high rate of climate change denial among political conservatives and even more extreme versions of politicized fossil fuel consumption, such as the automotive subculture known as "rolling coal." [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Rolling coal) For example, Chipotle's award winning animated short film-The Scarecrow https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=IUtnas5SCSE- incorporates critiques of corporate farming that have been central to the ideology of community supported agriculture and other variations of the local food movement. Similarly, Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty reiterates feminist criticisms of the so-called beauty industry in the course of promoting its line of cosmetic and skin care products. One school of thought deems marketers appropriation of resistant consumer ideologies and marketing strategies to be an inherently hypocritical and exploitative action that misleads consumers, as in so-called greenwashing campaigns. Others counter that such campaigns can contribute to positive social change by building broader social awareness of the problems and concerns being represented