Culture and the youngest. Insights for the future of cultural consumption from an Italian sample
Downloads
Additional Files
Published
Issue
Section
License
All the papers are published under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.13138/2039-2362/2519Abstract
The paper explores the cultural consumption of teenagers, seen as consumers not yet independent from an economic point of view, but already independent in the choice and tastes. Our results apply to a sample of about 350 students living in the Cuneo province, in North-West of Italy, through a cluster analysis approach. Young consumers can be segmented into four homogeneous groups according to the level of consumption in five cultural sectors (music, cinema, museum, performing art, books) and the degree of direct engagement in cultural practices. There are significant differences in their cultural consumptions, family and individual cultural capital, school results and sports engagement. The cultural expenditure is differentiated accordingly. The existence of different cultural consumption clusters highlights the need, both for policy-makers and cultural industries, to better understand the next generation of adults, thus suggesting the importance to start a proper data collection at the national level.
In questo articolo vengono presentati i risultati di una prima indagine volta ad analizzare la partecipazione culturale degli adolescenti in Italia, in quanto consumatori non ancora indipendenti dal punto di vista economico, ma già indipendenti nelle scelte di consumo. Le riflessioni sono tracciate esplorando i dati di un’indagine su circa 350 studenti residenti a Cuneo, nel Nord-Ovest d’Italia. Attraverso una analisi cluster, sono stati individuati quattro gruppi indagati attraverso cinque settori culturali (ascolto di musica, visite al cinema, ai musei, alle arti performative e lettura di libri) e lo svolgimento diretto di pratiche culturali, alcune caratteristiche socio-demografiche, la spesa in prodotti culturali e l’utilizzo di dispositivi digitali. L’esistenza di diversi cluster di consumo culturale evidenzia la necessità, sia per i decisori politici che per le industrie culturali, di comprendere meglio quella che sarà la prossima generazione di adulti, suggerendo l’importanza di prevedere una mirata raccolta di dati a livello nazionale.
References
Bourdieu P. (1984), Distinction: A social critique of the judgement of taste, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Bourdieu P. (1986), The forms of capital, in Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education, edited by J.J. Richardson, New York: Greenwood Press, pp. 241-258.
Campbell C. (1987), The romantic ethic and the spirit of modern consumerism, Oxford, UK: B. Blackwell.
Dolnicar S. (2003), Using cluster analysis for market segmentation – typical misconceptions, established methodological weaknesses and some recommendations for improvement, «Australasian Journal of Market Research», 11, n. 2, pp. 5-12.
Dolnicar S., Kaiser S., Lazarevski K., Leisch F. (2012), Biclustering: Overcoming data dimensionality problems in market segmentation, «Journal of Travel Research», 51, n. 1, pp. 41-49.
European Commission (2016), EU Youth Report, Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.
European Commission (2018a), Flash Eurobarometer on European Youth, Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.
European Commission (2018b), A New European Agenda for Culture, Brussels, 22.5.2018, 267, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:52018DC0267&from=EN, 20.03.2021.
European Union (2018), Council conclusions on the Work Plan for Culture 2019-2022, «Official Journal of the European Union», C 460, pp. 12-25.
Holbrook M.B., Weiss M.J., Habich J. (2002), Disentangling Effacement, Omnivore, and Distinction Effects on the Consumption of Cultural Activities: An Illustration, «Marketing Letters», 13, n. 4, pp. 345-357.
IFPI (2019), IFPI Global Music Report 2019, London: IFPI.
ISTAT (2019), Cultura e tempo libero, Rome: ISTAT.
Katz-Gerro T., Sullivan O. (2010), Voracious Cultural Consumption: The intertwining of gender and social status, «Time & Society», 19, n. 2, pp. 193-219.
KEA (2006), The economy of Culture in Europe, Brussels: Directorate-General for Education and Culture.
Kraaykamp G., Nieuwbeerta P. (2000), Parental Background and Lifestyle Differentiation: Social, Political and Cultural Intergenerational Transmission in Five Former Socialist Societies, «Social Science Research», 29, n. 1, pp. 92-122.
Kraaykamp G., van Eijck K., Ultee W., van Rees K. (2007), Status and Media Use in the Netherlands: Do Partners Affect Media Tastes?, «Poetics», 35, n. 2-3, pp. 132-151.
Kraaykamp G., van Eijck K. (2010), The intergenerational reproduction of cultural capital: a threefold perspective, «Social Forces», 89, n. 1, pp. 209-231.
Krause A.E., North A.C., Hewitt L.Y. (2015), Music-listening in everyday life: Devices and choice, «Psychology of Music», 43, n. 2, pp. 155-170.
Lòpez Sintas J., Garcia Àlvarez E. (2002), Omnivores Show up Again: The Segmentation of Cultural Consumers in Spanish Social Space, «European Sociological Review», 18, n. 3, pp. 353-368.
Mohr J., DiMaggio P. (1995), The intergenerational transmission of cultural capital, «Research in Social Stratification and Mobility», n. 4, pp. 169-200.
Mooi E., Sarstedt M. (2011), A concise guide to market research: The process, data, and methods using IBM SPSS Statistics, Heidelberg: Springer.
Nagel I. (2010), Cultural participation between the ages of 14 and 24: intergenerational transmission or cultural mobility?, «European Sociological Review», 26, n. 5, pp. 541-556.
Nielsen Company (2012), Music discovery still dominated by radio, says Nielsen Music 360 report, https://www.nielsen.com/ca/en/press-releases/2012/music-discovery-still-dominated-by-radio-says-nielsen-music-360/, 20.03.2021.
Nill A., Geipel A. (2010), Sharing and owning of musical works: Copyright protection from a societal perspective, «Journal of Macromarketing», n. 30, pp. 33-49.
Octobre S. (2009), Pratiques culturelles chez les jeunes et institutions de transmission: un choc de cultures?, «Culture prospective», 1, n. 1, pp. 1-8.
Octobre S., Berthomier N. (2011), L’enfance des loisirs: Éléments de synthèse, «Culture études», 6, n. 6, pp. 1-12.
Peterson R.A. (1992), Understanding Audience Segmentation: From Elite and Mass to Omnivore and Univore, «Poetics», n. 21, pp. 243-258.
Peterson R.A. (1997), The Rise and Fall of Highbrow Snobbery as a Status Marker, «Poetics», n. 25, pp. 75-92.
Peterson R.A., Simkus A. (1992), How Musical Tastes Mark Occupational Status Groups, in Cultivating Differences: Symbolic Boundaries and the Making of Inequality, edited by M. Lamont, M. Fournier, Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, pp. 152-186.
Peterson R.A., Kern R.M. (1996), Changing highbrow taste: from snob to omnivore, «American Sociological Review», n. 61, pp. 900-907.
Santagata W. (2009), White Paper on Creativity in Italy. Towards an Italian model of development, Milan: Università Bocconi Editore.
Siongers J. (2007), Qui se ressemble, s’assemble? About the (dis)similarities in cultural tastes between adolescents, parents and peers, Paper Presented at the 8th European Sociology Conference, Dublin.
Smith E. (2012), Forget CDs. Teens are tuning in to YouTube. Nielsen survey says more youngsters listen to music via video-sharing site, while some adults still groove to cassettes, «The Wall Street Journal», p. B3.
Šramová B. (2017), Children’s Consumer Behavior, in Consumer Behavior – Practice Oriented Perspectives, edited by S. Sabah, IntechOpen, 2, pp. 91-109.
Sullivan O., Katz-Gerro T. (2007), The Omnivore Thesis Revisited: Voracious Cultural Consumers, «European Sociological Review», 23, n. 2, pp. 123-137.
Tepper S.J., Hargittai E. (2009), Pathways to music exploration in a digital age, «Poetics», n. 37, pp. 227-249.
ter Bogt T.F.M., Delsing M., van Zalk M., Christenson P.G., Meeus W.H.J. (2011), Intergenerational continuity of taste: parental and adolescent music preferences, «Social Forces», 90, n. 1, pp. 297-319.
van Eijck K. (1997), The impact of family background and educational attainment on cultural consumption: a sibling analysis, «Poetics», 25, n. 4, pp. 195-224.
van Eijck K. (1999), Socialization, Education, and Lifestyle: How Social Mobility Increases the Cultural Heterogeneity of Status Groups, «Poetics», 26, n. 5-6, pp. 309-28.
van Eijck K. (2001), Social Differentiation in Musical Taste Patterns, «Social Forces», n. 79, pp. 1163-1184.
van Hek M., Kraaykamp G. (2015), How do parents affect cultural participation of their children? Testing hypotheses on the importance of parental example and active parental guidance, «Poetics», n. 52, pp. 124-138.
Warde A., Martens L., Olsen W. (1999), Consumption and the Problem of Variety: Culture Omnivorousness, Social Distinction and Dining Out, «Sociology», n. 33, pp. 105-127.
Willekens M., Lievens J. (2014), Family (and) culture: The effect of cultural capital within the family on the cultural participation of adolescents, «Poetics», n. 42, pp. 98-113.
