A year (or two, or five) of deconsumption – a personal story

Deconsumption is a relatively new trend sweeping through the consumerist world, but it is as old as time. For those who did not grow up in a capitalist, consumption-driven society, it is simply a regular way of life.

So what is deconsumption? Here is a detailed scientific definition: “Deconsumption is manifested as voluntary abandonment of behaviours aimed at satisfying the desires created by marketers in favour of conscious, rational and ethical choices to meet one’s needs. This consumer trend essentially involves voluntary discontinuation of egocentric consumption behaviour that may result both from the motivation of an egocentric individual focused on the good and from concern for the welfare of social groups, future generations and the natural environment, or may ensue from purely altruistic motivation.


We don’t need five pairs of jeans, ten dresses, or five pairs of shoes, and we don’t need to buy books. My sins are simple: I promise not to buy anything then I walk into a shop, see a top I like and I buy it. The same applies to books as I love traditional book shops and I always hope I will curve out more time for reading than is possible. Almost a year ago, I started a deconsumption trial with a promise not to buy any new clothes, shoes, or books for a year. I almost succeeded. My intentions are much more selfish than being altruistic or caring about the natural environment, I just want to save money!

I decided to continue for another year. One year was not enough to use up my stored goods — tonnes of t-shirts, blouses, jackets, and shoes. I feel like it will take me another two to three years to wear down most of my clothing that hasn’t even been touched in the past year. I simply have too much.


The same applies to the books I’ve been purchasing with the intention of reading them “later.” Of course, that “later” has never come, so now I have piles of books gathering dust, unlikely to be read anytime soon.

So, here’s another promise to myself: one more year of no purchases of clothing, shoes, or books. I’ll check back in September 2025.

Wish me luck!

#deconsumption

Best Global Brands 2023 – What makes McDonald’s still so successful?

Interbrand has published its 2023 Global Brand ranking. As expected, Interbrand’s 2023 Best Global Brands ranking lists Apple as the most valuable brand at $502.68 billion, followed by Microsoft at $316.66 billion and Amazon at $276.93 billion.

McDonald’s ranked number 11 following 5 point increase. Established in 1995 in Des Plaines, Illinois, USA, the brand is present in 118 countries.

What makes McDonald’s so successful? Several key factors contribute to the international success of the brand:

  1. Consistency and Standardization: McDonald’s offers a consistent menu and quality worldwide, ensuring customers know what to expect regardless of location.
  2. Brand Recognition: The golden arches and Ronald McDonald are universally recognized symbols, contributing to strong brand recognition and trust.
  3. Adaptation to Local Tastes: McDonald’s adapts its menu to cater to local tastes and cultural preferences, which helps it appeal to a broader audience. McFalafel in Egypt, Teriyaki McBurger with pork in Japan!
  4. Operational Efficiency: Their highly efficient supply chain and franchising model reduce costs and improve service speed and quality.
  5. Marketing and Innovation: Effective marketing strategies and constant menu innovations keep the brand relevant and appealing.

When have You visited McDonald’s last?

Marketing in multicultural marketplaces

Multicultural marketing is marketing to consumers and/or markets who are, in some way, multicultural. This type of marketing includes ethnic marketing, cross-cultural marketing, monocultural and omnicultural marketing. For example, an online fashion retailer selling fashion to consumers in the UK and Germany is going to do some type of multicultural marketing.

Below are some examples of marketing in multicultural marketplaces.

Image 1 and Image 2: Metropolitan online advertisements representing cultural targeting based on ethnicity.

Image 1: London Metropolitan Police online advert (2023) targeting people from a range of ethnic groups.
Image 2: London Metropolitan Police online advertisement targeting people based on their ethnicity.
Post office leaflet – Luton (UK) branch.

Cultural targeting in a multicultural market – Luton (UK) branch of Primark.

OmanAir in-flight magazine advertisement: cultural fit in marketing. The model fits the culture of the target market.

What is culture and does it matter?

Have you ever wondered why people who move to other countries still eat the same foods as in their home countries,  and celebrate their national holidays? Or why Egyptians build their homes differently from the Germans? Or why Tokyo is super clean but London isn’t?

It is because of culture. Culture is the way do things, the way we solve problems, the way we relate to other people and the way we relate to nature and the world around us. Culture is the way we dress, what we eat, the beliefs we hold. Culture is the language we speak, the movies we watch and the books we read.

In the broadest sense of the word, culture is everything that surrounds us (material culture), and the invisible internal drivers of human behaviour (immaterial culture) such as beliefs or opinions.

As early as 1871, Tylor defined culture as  “that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as  society.” (cited in White, 1959).

In the English language alone, there are over 160 definitions of the concept. For example, the Cambridge online dictionary defines culture in the following way: “the way of lifeespecially the general customs and beliefs, of a particular group of people at a particular time; […] the attitudesbehaviouropinions, etc. of a particular group of people within society.”

Other descriptions include: “culture consist of n social signals correlated with m different responses” (White, 1959).

But one of my favourite descriptions of culture is one given by a famous culture researcher, Geert Hofstede: Culture is “the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another.” (Hofstede, 1991)

The differences between cultures are like difference between two (or more) computer operating systems. Have you ever tried to transition from PC to Macintosh? On the surface, the two operating systems are virtually the same, and yet people struggle to switch from one to the other. It is very similar with culture – we find it easier to operate in a system (language, clothing, food, values, religious beliefs) already familiar to us.

How do you know how different any two or more cultures are? There are many indices that classify cultures on selected characteristics. Foe example, the very well-known Hosftede’s framework of cultural dimensions allows to compare cultures on those specific cultural dimensions. There is GLOBE, and a more recent ‘Three cultures World’ approach that groups cultures into similar and dissimilar cultures. Another approach is the Country Similarity Index that “attempts to quantify how similar countries are to each other relative to other countries. The index is a statistically-based way to measure this. It weighs equally five major aspects of countries: their demographics, culture, politics, infrastructure, and geography”.

Ok, yes, we all have culture, but does is matter?

As human beings, in the biological sense, we are all the same, we share the same human characteristics.  But at a cultural level, we do differ in the way we live our lives and solve the universal problems. Culture is so strongly embedded in who we are, it is like breathing, we only realise we have our own culture when we are faced with another way of life (for example, when we move abroad and experience culture shock). There is plenty of evidence to show that culture does matter, and that it influences our behaviour (for example: https://openresearch.lsbu.ac.uk/item/9145w ) . For example, if religion is part of our culture, it influences the type of religious holidays we celebrate.

Have you ever been to Japan? Have you noticed how clean it is, for example in Tokyo? Have you ever visited London in the UK? It looks nothing like Tokyo, and is not very clean either. What makes Tokyo so clean and London so dirty? Yes, I would say it is ‘culture’. Because culture is the way we treat our external environment, and how we interact with other people.

Can we change culture?

Yes, and no. Culture is passed down over generations through six channels: families, schools, the media, religious institutions, leadership, and the law. Culture is also shaped by climate and natural environment because it affects how we live (for example, how we build houses to protect ourselves from the cold). History also influences culture. Cultural change is possible and there are a range of approaches that can be used to change culture. However, it is a very slow and difficult process. This is why immigrants who move to other cultures find it so difficult to shed their own cultures, especially when host and home cultures are very different (low cultural fit).

Sources:

Cambridge Online Dictionary: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/culture  

Czarnecka, B., Baxter, K., Basil, D., Guzman, F., & O’Neail, C. (2022). The effectiveness of gendered wording in health promotion leaflet – exploratory experiment in four English-speaking countries: the UK, USA, Ireland and Canada.  Available from here: https://openresearch.lsbu.ac.uk/item/9145w

Hofstede, G. (1991). Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind. London: McGraw-Hill.

White, L. A. (1959). The concept of culture. American anthropologist, 61(2), 227-251.

What is the best country to pursue a PhD?

Very often I participate in formal and informal discussions about the quality of doctoral training (in social sciences) in different countries. Many prospective applicants ask where they should pursue doctoral training and which system guarantees the most rigorous scientific research training.

Here is my take on the subject based on my own personal experiences (as a PhD student in the UK), and as a Director of Postgraduate Research Students (also in the UK).

I chose three countries and compared the PhD programs based on a number of factors. Why these three countries? UK and USA because these two countries are often perceived as competitors, I am familiar with UK system, and Poland because of the recent changes to doctoral training.

I chose the best university in each country: University of Warsaw in Poland, University of Oxford in the UK, and Harvard University in the USA. The below comparison is based on the information about PhD programs available on the websites of those universities, and on some of my personal experiences with PhD programs (UK). I am also comparing the quality of PhD programs in social sciences only.

FactorUSAUKPoland
How long does it take?5 -6 years3 years4 years
Compulsory training/modules in research methods ?yesnoYes
Compulsory foreign language trainingNoNoYes
Core subject exam/s?YesNoYes
PhD scholarshipYesOnly for selected candidates, otherwise self-fundedYes

Phd in United Kingdom

PhD programs in the UK officially last 3 years (full-time). There is also an option to study part-time. There is no compulsory taught element – this means doctoral students do not need to attend any classes and submit any coursework or pass exams. Many universities offer optional training but no-one will force you to attend it. the UK also offers general researcher training but it focuses on only very general skills such as literature review, presentation skills and conference presentations.

PhD in the United States

The United States of America is one of the most popular study destinations for doctoral (PhD) studies among international students in social sciences. PhD programs in the USA last 5 years and can only be taken full-time. Students need to attend classes, submit coursework and pass exams.

PhD in Poland

Doctoral students in Poland can study full-time or part-time in Doctoral Schools (Szkoły Doktorskie). Students have to attend compulsory classes and pass exams in selected subjects specific to their area of study. Students also must attend and pass exams (or submit coursework) in research methods.

The verdict

If you want to become a very well-rounded scientist and a specialist in your field, head to the USA, or Poland (if you speak the language or if the university offers English-language option).

If you want to focus only on your very narrow topic- head to the UK.

How NOT to promote vaccines to Covid-19 vaccine-hesitant Poles in Britain

I am a Pole in Britain and I live in Luton, one of the most deprived areas in the UK. My neighbours are diverse and also include Poles who resist vaccinations. This is weird in itself and probably would make a very interesting study because all my friends and family in Poland are getting vaccinated like crazy (mostly working-class so very similar demographics to the majority of Polish people living in Luton).

But here in the UK, things are a little bit different, especially when it comes to Poles in Luton. Vaccine take-up amongst this group is low. I do not have any official numbers to prove it so please take this post with a healthy dose of skepticism, it is just what I hear and see on social media forums, and when I talk to my Polish friends, and hairdresser, builder, cleaner. A few weeks ago, I was targeted by an online advert on Facebook – an ad targeted specifically at Poles, available on the London Borough of Hounslow Facebook profile. Ad can be found here in the Facebook Ad Library.

You can watch it here: https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/?id=461639755159948

and a screenshot of it the ad below:

The advert is an official NHS advert providing information about the Covid-19 vaccination in the Polish language.

So how do you NOT advertise vaccines to skeptical, vaccine-hesitant Poles in the UK?

Here are my pointers:

  1. Do not make it look like the endorser is reading from a dictated script and runs out of breath
  2. Do not make it that long (but if you solve point 1 above, the length should not be such a big issue)
  3. Do not make it look forced and ‘fake’, the endorser looks like she is struggling to read out the script.
  4. Do not use an endorser who looks insecure and a bit timid.

Other than that, they did pretty well. Targeted ads, the endorser is an assistant nurse, a Pole, and the advert is in the target group’s language.

More could have been done to make the ad look more realistic and ‘relaxed’, less script reading and more of a casual conversation would work better. But time was probably an issue here, so all in all – not the worst result.

Why does it matter to communicate with audiences at the right time and place? A case study of New Zealand Border Compliance Social Marketing programme.

Did you know that used hiking equipment such as hiking boots could be a biosecurity risk? International travellers to New Zealand often bring items that pose a serious biosecurity risk to the natural environment of New Zealand. Those items include, amongst others, used outdoor and hiking equipment such as hiking boots. The Ministry for Primary Industries (New Zealand) explains why in this short video. The video is just one of the tactics that the MPI used to increase awareness about biosecurity risks and, eventually, change traveller behaviour. The campaign demonstrates why communicating with international travellers matters and highlights the need to do it in a culturally sensitive way.

A team of specialists working at the Department of Communications and Channels, for the NZ Ministry for Primary Industries developed a communication programme to raise awareness about biosecurity risks related to bringing in a range of items into New Zealand. The aim of the Border Compliance Social Marketing programme was to change international tourist behaviour BEFORE they travel to New Zealand. The programme, described in detail in this Journal of Social Marketing article, is “[a]imed at visitors with the highest identified risk” (targeting travellers from India and China, two countries that send large numbers of visitors to NZ); and “uses a range of interventions in the pre-travel, in-journey and upon-arrival stages of travel.” (Sherring, 2019, p.85). Specifically, the programme’s goal is “to protect New Zealand’s horticultural and agricultural industries, as well as its environment by ensuring overseas visitors do not bring in items that may contain harmful pests and diseases.” (Sherring, 2019, p. 85). In simpler words,  MPI intend to convince travellers not to bring items such as food (cooked or uncooked); animals and animal products, plants and plant products, equipment used with animals, plants or water, and items that have been used for outdoor (such as hiking boots) or farming activities to New Zealand.

In order to achieve this goal MPI developed a programme which targeted several groups of tourists at different times and locations:

  • Local communities in New Zealand (Communicating with them via mass and social media) to encourage individuals to advise friends and family overseas to leave prohibited items at home and conform to the majority’s belief that this is important behaviour. Advertising (posters) conveyed the message “Relatives visiting?  Tell them to always declare food and spices on their arrival card”.
  • International travellers during pre-travel, in-journey and on-arrival (details are presented in the table below).
StageTacticsDetails
Pre-travelDigital advertising on popular online travel booking sites (e.g., CTrip in China and Skyscanner in India).   Search engine marketing with key search terms about travel to New Zealand.                   Informing about biosecurity risks at the time of visa application.                   Targeted direct emails (from Immigration New Zealand) sent to visitors two weeks before their visa is due to commence.     Travel and tour companies in India and China receive training guides to ensure travel agents are aware and can inform travellers about the biosecurity requirements.  Online adverts are targeted to searches on New Zealand.       Education is essential at this stage, and MPI assists this with having translated website content and resources (e.g., Chinese language biosecurity website www.nzquarantine.com).     Posters and booklets handed out to visa applicants (for in-person applications); information on Immigration New Zealand’s websites and e-visa application portals (for digital visa applications).   Direct e-mails include links to translated Web content and materials.
In-journeyTranslated leaflets/guides that wrap around the arrival card on all direct flights from China.   In-flight video describing biosecurity and asking passengers to follow the rules.Messaging focuses on explaining what is required upon arrival ( disposing of risk items in specially marked “amnesty bins” and ensuring any risk items are declared to border staff, info about the NZ$400 fine).  
On-arrivalAirport signage and bins, staff to help (including translators), and aids for border staff (such as flash cards).   Translated signs for Chinese and Indian passengers are placed throughout the airport. Public address announcements to remind visitors about biosecurity checks.Signs, bins and collateral state the penalty for non-compliance with the instruction of “declare, dispose or pay the fine”.

The advertisements used in the programme featured a range of images that were culturally appropriate to the target groups. For example, one of the advertisements targeted at visitors from India features the theme of prasad and offerings – a specific religious (Hinduism) practice of offering food and water to a deity during worship (puja). When used at the pre-journey stage, these posters were available in a range of local languages. All communication materials are publicly available on the MPI website.

The case is a useful example of the importance of marketing communications timing and place in a not-for-profit context. For more examples of campaigns targeted at international travellers, have a look at the UNESCO website featuring a number of sustainable tourism campaigns.