A ritual "is a set of multiple, symbolic behaviors that occurs in a fixed sequence and is repeated periodically" (Solomon, p. 533). For me, the first thought that comes to mind when thinking about rituals is exotic tribes and very religious people. Usually in a dark area, lit by a lot of candles and people in costumes chanting. However, consumers engage in rituals daily and these rituals tend to shape some of our consumption activities.
One example is one's "daily 'mental health' trip to Starbucks" (Solomon, p. 533). For me, my ritual is my nighttime skincare routine. This is known as grooming rituals. This ritual allows me to wind down from my crazy and busy days. Grooming rituals "cleanse us of impurities" (Solomon, p. 533). My nighttime skincare routine allows me to physically and mentally wash away all the stressful stuff from that day.
I didn't really realize this was a ritual until reading more into this subject. These rituals tend to "reaffirm the value their culture places on personal beauty and the quest for eternal youth" (Solomon, p. 536). I don't feel that I enjoy or perform my nighttime skincare routine because my culture places a high value on beauty. I do it for myself as a way to relax and cleanse myself from a long day. If I'm unable to do this ritual one night I feel different and my skin isn't the same.
The brands I use are also very important to my ritual. Without these products my ritual just wouldn't be the same. I'm very loyal to the products I use. However, I do like to try new things but I always compare them to my current products and don't change them unless they are amazing and better than my other ones.
So these rituals really influence my consumption activities and contribute to who I am :)
A subculture is defined as "a group whose members share beliefs and common experiences that set them apart from others" (Solomon, p. 484). A subculture can include ones age or place of residence. One subculture that immediately comes to my mind is the residences of Isla Vista, California in Santa Barbara County and students of University of California at Santa Barbara and Santa Barbara City College. This area is hard to understand if you have never been and experienced it to its fullest.
I have never fully lived here but I've spend days and weeks here at a time staying at friends houses and got pretty familiar with the subculture that Isla Vista offers. From all of the people I've met here, they all have the same beliefs, party and have fun. I always joke and can't understand how anyone can graduate from UCSB. School seems to be the last thing on their minds, and it's kind of contagious.
Everyone seems to share the same attitude of having as much fun as possible, and just being carefree. It's almost impossible not to when you live on DP-ocean side. Del Playa is a street filled with off-campus student housing, where students (or their parents) are willing to pay $800-$1200 on rent per month to live in a house with 8 other people and share a bedroom with 2 others. But it's worth it if you are living on Del Playa, and your backyard is literally the Pacific Ocean. However, most backyards are fenced in or have a porch cause there are some pretty steep cliffs that people have fallen off and have gotten seriously injured.
Here is a few of my friends backyard and view:
The views are gorgeous, and you can see the dangerous cliffs I was talking about! This city and more specifically the street Del Playa sets this group apart and anyone who has lived here. It's hard to fully understand the culture of Isla Vista until you truly got to live it. But everyone who lives here all have a bond and experiences that set them apart. A few of these include: Halloween, snappa, Floatopia, Freebirds, burning coaches, songs written about them, and skunks.
Floatopia is a time everyone brings out their floaty devices and heads to the beach and floats in the ocean. Way different than the floats we do out here. However, police intervention has slowed down this tradition by shutting down the beaches that weekend. Yet students still take to the streets.
Del playa is also famous for their Halloween. Wikipedia says "the first large, street-filled Halloween in Isla Vista actually occurred in 1962" and "by the early 1980s, word of mouth spread and students from schools all over California began to converge on Isla Vista for Halloween" it now claims about 40,000 people come out for Halloween here.
Next, burning coaches also seem to be apart of this subculture. I've seen is numerous times. I assume it's because the coaches are so trashed after the students four years there isn't really anything else you can do with them.
This flyer was posted at UCSB.
Anyways, Freebirds is a popular burrito place and skunks are everywhere in Isla Vista, you are considered lucky if you have never had an encounter. I think this area is a perfect example of a subculture that I have experienced.
