Transnational Consumer Cultures and Social Milieus

Abstract

Using the emergence of postmodern consumer cultures as an example, the paper presents a socio-aesthetic market segmentation model that allows the identification of transnational consumer cultures (Social Milieus) without losing sight of national or regional peculiarities. The model is based on the Everyday-Life approach which combines the research logic of qualitative methods with the cognitive logic of phenomenological thinking. At the root of this is the conviction that an adequate understanding of the dynamics of consumer attitudes and consumer behaviour is only possible by researching people's subjective everyday reality and the structures of meaning linking them to it. It is argued that the Everyday-Life approach provides market research with an effective instrument, deployable the world over, that considerably enhances the accuracy of target group marketing measures and marketing communications.