Moving (Euro American) consumers in mysterious ways with African-American social dance in commercials

Abstract

Dance is an integral part of culture, as is consumption. However, there is a paucity of published research regarding the effect of dance on consumption. In particular, studies on how black social dance in commercials depicts culturally defining racial tensions and stereotypes, and its effect on Euro American consumption are scant. Consequently, qualitative research was employed to survey and interview a small group of Euro American respondents. A Diet Pepsi commercial served as the research text. A consuming value system reinforced the association of the dance with consumption of individual identity as cool; fractured conformity away from the defining macro social structure; and provided for resistive self and community identities. Three contributions result from the research. First, an alternative way of seeking knowledge through dance theory demonstrated dance's value for consumer's lives. Second, Holt's 2004 work was built upon. The dance demonstrated cultural myth recreation in a “macro dance” performed in the “micro dance” of everyday life. Third, ethnographic dance premises were extended and served as the research framework.

Keywords:

• dance theory
• consumer behavior
• cultural consumption
• African-American/black social dance

Acknowledgements

I sincerely appreciate the reviewers’ and the journal editor's constructive comments on this article. And, I thank Jeff Murray.

Notes

Adapted from the discussion with Fuat Firuat and Alladi Venkatesh at the “Heretical Consumer Research Conference,” Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, USA, October 21, 2009.

Sklar (2001) arranged the five premises in the following manner:

See also Antonio Damasio (1999) and Joy and Sherry (2003).

Film studies demonstrated the importance and value of non-written texts such as dance and their contribution to culture (Goellner and Murphy 1995). Undoubtedly gaze theory (Rosen 1986) also informs dance in television advertising.