Global consumption culture: Global brandsx influence in social practices

To understand the contemporary context in which global brands can be analyzed, we propose the discussion based on global consumption culture and the influence of these brands in social practices. In the global world, identities are related to communities of consumers that are built on symbols related to products, and especially on cosmopolitan lifestyles. Given the centrality of consumption as a social practice, the delimitation of groups through it creates different styles, which are a representation of the identities of a global world.

One who has not a fixed or essential identity (or national, as described in different cultural stereotypes) identifies himself over social mediations in its context - large cities, consumption of global brands, constant relations with foreign countries. The globalization of culture is not its homogeneity, because it involves a variety of standard-setting instruments, that dialogue with the heterogeneity of local symbols, while incorporating global senses to social practices.

Considering the heterogeneity of global culture, the imaginary constructed exceeds national barriers, forming larger and often dissonant panoramas. Appadurai (1996) proposes that the reality of global culture resulted in both production and consumption fetishism, since production is illusion created in an international level and consumption, on the other hand, due to its symbolic nature, is a result of the products´ flows, filled with global and local representations. From this perspective, modern mediascapes mean people can be cosmopolitan without leaving their country and still enjoy extensive exposure to global brands.

The globalization of human symbolic exchanges, such as communication processes, has gained a prominent role in contemporary society (RITZER, 1993). In this context there are challenges to integrate diverse cultures and identities, especially when symbolic exchange, as proposed by brands, is essential to build experiences of cosmopolitan lifestyles.