Material and cultural consumption in Cuba: new reference groups in the new millennium

Abstract

Reference groups serve as markers for citizen-consumers to determine tastes and preferences about work and material and cultural consumption. These groups have evolved slowly in socialist Cuba, mostly during the post-Soviet era. This paper examines the symbolism, roles, and meanings of three such groups: the Cuban Diaspora, Cuban Gen-Yers or Millennials (survivors), and entrepreneurs. A combination of these groups is changing values about a new consumption taking hold across the island and offers insight into material and cultural consumption.

Keywords:

• reference groups
• cultural consumption
• material consumption
• Cubans
• Cuban-Americans

Acknowledgments

The author dedicates the paper to the memory of Larry Ford, who encouraged young cultural geographers to probe all corners of the discipline.

Notes

1. The English-language translation of the introduction to the focus groups—read out loud in Spanish—is as follows: “Thank you for joining me. The aim of this encounter is to learn about how your generation gets information about brands as well as consumer goods and services. Please do not give me your last name, just your age and first name. If you wish, you may use a different first name. These conversations will be audio recorded, transcribed into Spanish, and then into English. I will destroy the audio files when I have completed the transcription. I promise to grant you full anonymity. Your participation implies that you are older than 18 but younger than 25. I am a university professor. No one is paying me to do this research. In exchange for your time here today, I will provide you with a small honorarium of $2 CUC. When you introduce yourself, please give me only your first name, age, and county in which you reside. Do you have any questions?”

2. Cubans have become somewhat more cautious in recent years when speaking to Americans, I have found, in part due to the arrest of the US citizen and US AID subcontractor Allan Gross who is being held in a Cuban prison for spying on behalf of the US Government.

3. A CUC is a convertible currency unit that is worth about US$.87. It is used as the “hard currency” unit for purchasing all nonpeso priced items. Usually, things that are imported or that are produced for tourism are sold in CUCs. Cubans, however, are paid in Cuban pesos. The 24:1 ratio is used to assess value with the US dollar and CUCs.

4. The largest source of hard currency is remittances, reaching over $2 billion annually. Despite the trade embargo, this amount surpasses net revenues from tourism. See Morales and Scarpaci (2012, Chapter 7). You can read or listen to the following interview with the author on National Public Radio which explains this phenomenon at http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2014/06/24/324898879/with-cash-and-fat-fryers-americans-feed-cubas-growing-free-market.

5. Cubans' fondness of labeling and what can be called “personal branding” is evident in the names they give their children, such as this one. Seniors tend to have very traditional names (Antonio, Francisco, and Maria), baby boomers indicate the influence of the USA (Frank, Johny, Tony, and Nancy), and many Gen-Xers show both a Soviet influence (Boris, Ivan, Natacha, and Vladimir) and madeup names derived from brands or acronyms. For example, the name Usnavy comes from the US Navy; Myslady(s) is derived from My Lady; and Usmail stems from the US mail. Other madeup names—with seemingly little connection to existing words—include Misleidy, Yoleysi, Yulaikis, Yusimi, Reyner, Deandy, and Duniel. See Marrero (2004).

6. Fidel Castro met the Orishas in 1999 in what proved to be a seminal event. The lead vocalist of the band described the incident this way in an interview in 2008. Q: “We heard you taught Fidel Castro about rap? Answer (Orisha lead singer). It was funny. We played at a big party in Cuba. Next thing, [Fidel Castro] called because he wanted to know what we did. We explained to him about Cuban rap and our message. He thought it was curious and he asked us: “How many are you?”. We told him “three.” And he said “Just three of you make that much noise? Of course! And he said to us: “Like me when I made the Revolution.” We ended our talk [with Fidel] was really pleased, it was a nice meeting. (my translation: Source: El Correo (http://www.elcorreo.com/vizcaya/20080920/rioja/tuvimos-explicarle-fidel-castro-20080920.html), Accessed August 25, 2011.