CoP: Dissertation Tutorial 2

I sent through my primary research analysis and my introduction draft to Richard. He said I should submit the primary research as it shows analytical and critical understanding of my research. To improve I need to apply this to theory and add quotes.

• Introduction
• look over the whole essay
• explaining each chapter
• and who your discussing
• Each chapter
• mini intros and conclusions
• few sentences
• refer to the chapter
• Naomi Klein
• brand culture
• Consumerism
• loads of brands
• lots of symbols
• people to use these to identity
• Practical side- idea/plan - thought

Richard said I needed to complete the chapter for consumerism for our next tutorial. He explained the essay structure and how it should be laid out with chapters and introductions etc. By the next tutorial I need to have a clear idea and plan for the practical element as well as have put some thought into what i'm doing.

CoP: Dyslexic Meeting 3

We went through the chapter I had written for consumerism and made some vocal alterations.

I also discussed how what I had written for the introduction wasn't appropriate for this but could be used later on. Therefore she provided me with the template given for past dissertations to help me understand what would be included in the introduction.

CoP: Academic Convention Lecture

• introduction
• academic conventions
• institutional framework
• structure and standardise 
• aspire to academic honesty 
• surface approach
• concentration on learning outcomes
• passive acceptance of ideas
• little attempt to understand
• just doing it to get marks
• deep approach
• independent engagement
• critical and thoughtful
• relate ideas to own experience
• relates evidence to conclusions 
• examines logic of arguments
• formal way of writing
• certain tone and style expected
• specialist vocab
• own opinions based on evidence and analysis
• aim for precision
• make every word count
• avoid repeating the same words
• avoid slang and abbreviations
• avoid conversational tone and vague terms
• introduction
• about 400-500 words
• explaining what's going to be talked about
• paraphrase 
• small quotes woven into text
• large quotes that are picked apart after
• harvard referencing
• author (date) title, place, publisher 
• 'quote' (surname, year, page)
• 'quote' (smith in miles, 2013, p.7) <- if there referencing someone
• alphabeticised by surnames
• separated intro types
• pictures need to be referenced 
• conclusion

CoP: Primary Research - Ikea Visit

This is a visual analysis of a trip to Ikea which critiques it's store psychology, physicality, and brand.

CoP: Essay Chapter 2 Draft

‘Mass culture and globalization resulted in an evolution of the marketplace into a wondrous array of subtle formats.’ (Manvelli, J. 2006, P.6) It is the digital and technology revolution that has drastically altered the marketplace today. It is now not only a marketplace but has evolved into an area of experience and lifestyle, changing the motion of shopping along with it. This change in basic consumer activity and behaviour has generated a social and cultural complexity where retail is now becoming leisure. It is either substituted all together or incorporated into the service to encourage purchasing. Through this advancement it is clear that the psych of the consumer is based upon ‘desire, longing and daydreaming’ (Manvelli, J. 2006, P.6). There is now a ‘personal immersion’ (Manvelli, J. 2006, P.6) taking place and people are self-indulgent in their desires. The retail sector has acted upon this creating complex environments which stimulate this psych to provoke emotional responses. The distinction between buying and living has been merged and consumers are now expecting retailers to engage and entertain them by customer experience and service. Shopping is now a destination, a retreat, an escape and the act of purchasing resembles a ritual.

In relation to marketing the idea of home to the consumer the retailer’s use the term ‘lifestyle’ to not only sell goods but also to promise a way of living, and they do this through using a brand’s identity. Many brands have tried to expand their product range to include lifestyle but there is an overall brand that champs lifestyle goods, Ikea. It has conquered lifestyle through cheap prices and clean design identifying its products and image as part of wider ethos to offer a stylish, affordable way of living to the masses. They built a brand and therefore built a loyal customer base.

Ikea and its big blue and yellow warehouse store is a recognised icon around the world. It has created an engaging and empathetic brand personality offering a better life at home for the many. Its brand is a distinct, undiluted Swedish identity no matter what market, bringing comfort and familiarity to anyone in whatever country they may be. The ‘guerrilla architecture’ (Manvelli, J. 2006, P.8) provides an industrial chic base in which to manipulate the space to alter the retail format and offer the appropriate products and services to meet the customer’s constant changing needs, without compromising on brand identity or promise. This creates a brand position in which they can market to many different cultures and offer ‘service economy’ (Manvelli, J. 2006, P.11)

CoP: Essay Introduction Draft

How does Ikea sell the idea of home to the masses?

The term ‘home’ refers to the physical structure in which one lives on a permanent basis however in terms of psychological significance it is an environment that influences are emotions, behaviour and mental state of mind. Alternatively it may be said that home may be perceived to have no physical location at all but refer to the mental or emotional state of comfort. Therefore the term ‘home’ becomes an individual’s perception and is personal to each human being. The importance of this is vital to every person’s identity as it is what forms their behaviour, emotions and mental well being. Their identity ultimately is thus created and revolved around the place of refuge or the physical environment by which they surround themselves with. Home has now been influenced by consumerism and manipulated the mental connotations of what we perceive to be home. Due to the ability to shop around for our identities through product consumption and branding, people now shape there home to form a particular identity they wish to be perceived. Instead of ‘home’ shaping us as an identity we build our identity to create a ‘home’ to what we desire to be seen as by others. Helga Dittmar states "Material possessions provide people with information about other people's identities." (1992, P.205) and it is this in which we judge one another, form opinions on a person and determine their mental state. These material processions reveal a lifestyle choice, which demonstrate a certain way of living reflecting the attitudes, habits and values of a person. This is a prime indicator of a person’s identity as they have generated it to be this way. Consumerism has impacted on the mentality of ‘home’ and what this reflects to others through lifestyle stores. Lifestyle is applied to everything we consume be it what we wear, the furnishings in our home or the food we eat. The preferences we choose when we shop create a way of life. This then forms an image of what we are or how we hope to be perceived. We shop to form our inner self and this is evidenced in what we call ‘home’. However this consumerism creates a conflict between the personal and individual creation of ‘home’ and the globe. This can be seen from Ikea, an international lifestyle store that provides mass-produced furniture across the world. The perception of home is different based on culture. The culture of home is varied depending on where you are based and this is affected by your surroundings both nature and nurture. However Ikea sell the same furniture based on a Swedish interpretation of current, stylish design to a variety of cultures. The idea of ‘home’ is ultimately suppose to be a personalised reflection of an individual and yet mass-produced products that create millions of other people’s identities are forming this reflection of an individual. It could be argued that this is to create a sense of familiarity and belonging in society in which we can process these products collectively as a symbol or sign that we can understand to perceive and judge upon. However how does Ikea create this unity system in which we use daily to represent ourselves, validate one another and manifest a global culture of understanding? The brand as a whole has democratized our living spaces changing furniture once regarded as family assets to fashionable, cheap and disposable. People are buying the idea of Ikea, they buy the brand and it is the brand of many.

(582)

CoP: Dyslexic Meeting 2

I showed the dyslexic tutor my introduction in which she amended slightly and made some suggestions.

Overall she said it had a really good flow and was very well written in which I was pleased. I said I struggled with knowing how to end it wasn't sure about listing off what were there themes I was going to discuss in the essay. She said she did like the end to the introduction as it was but to discuss with Richard in my tutorial wether it needs to be outlined and the methodology mentioned as the past dissertation had to.

I then mentioned that I struggled to begin the consumerism chapter because my research hadn't been on overall consumerism but with a focus so we looked at a few possibilities for this as well as the topic of marketing the idea of home. I had forgot what Richard had said about this chapter so I was unsure how to begin it also.

We found this journal which looked like it could be helpful so after the session I spoke to the library who instructed me to go to Leeds Met library where it is.

I also said I was worried about not having enough primary research but she said the photos I had took where good primary research and to bring this into my dissertation which I hadn't actually thought to do. She suggested I go back to Ikea and spend the day there listening to people to try and grasp things about there identity such as how they think the thing makes them feel or why there purchasing it.

CoP: Quote Anaylsis

Smart, B

(2010)

Consumer Society: Critical Issues and Envriomental Conserquences

London

Sage Publications

p.4 p.140

p.4

'Consumption is a cultural universal, a necessary aspect of human existence, a practice that has constituted a prominent part of social life in all societies throughout human history.'

- become part of society

- way in which we systematically survive 

- production and consumption relationship is complex and varied 

- bring back to this point later in essay when referring to ikeas production of cheap furniture

Dittmar, H

(2008)

Consumer Culture, Identity and Well Being: The Search for the ‘Good Life’ and the ‘Body Perfect’

New York

Psychology Press

p.1

p.1

'consumer culture has a powerful psychological impact'

'Celebrities, fashion models, media stars, even computer games heroes and toys, influence who they aspire to be and what they want to look like.' 

'Having the 'right' things has become vital, not so much because of these material goods themselves but because of hoped for psychological benefits: popularity, identity, happiness.'

- social effect of consumerism

- mentality of identity and over all wellbeing

CoP: Essay Plan

Intro:

- topic of home and the culture of home - personal/individual
- how consumerism has effected and impacted on home
- lifestyle stores
- conflict between the personal and individual and the globe
- define ikea
- how ikea do this in a variety of different ways

Chapter 1:

- social effects of consumerism
- overall look at consumerism
- effects our identity - built up from what we own
- Kalle Lasn - Culture Jam
- Helga Dittmar - Consumer Culture
- Bauman - solid/fluid identity

Chapter 2:

- Marketing the idea of home
- life style stores in general
- ikeas brand positioning
- marketing to cultures
- brand stratgey

Chapter 3:

- Ikea brand
define what ikeas mission is
customer language
culture of swedish design world
ideals of family life
selling identity with the brand

Chapter 4:

Case Study

- the layout of the store - physically
decoding of the interior
lighting/shape and size/out town journey/pace and direction/wayfinding/cafe and warehouse

- how the store makes you feel
self esteem/narrative

- the theory relates to the customer
hyperreality - forget there in a market place/experience rooms/illustion of real life
identity - refer back to consumerism section - gain image of life perceived - use narratives and personas to create a setup of rooms
phsycology - manipulate us to feed our sense of self with the products - fluid/solid identity

- advertising
campaigns decoded
comments on current society

- online presence
community
inspiration
wish and want - build sketchbooks
familylive - assisting the market to buy more of the identity they long for

Conclusion
- evidence of mass produced products is over masked by the narrative of the products
- overall brand and consumer society sell an idea of home to mass audience
- swedish design culture provides a quick fix to identity issues rooted in people
- position themselves to sell solutions to everyday problems but really feed this need for belonging and culture to form a certain identity around your position in society

IKEA: Printed Material

From my trip to Ikea I picked up these printed materials from around the store.

This leaflet breaks down everything they offer the customer in a personal tone talking directly to them.

They also had product information leaflets with a breakdown of the piece and prices as well as a little bio of it on the front.