Cultural pluralism as a consumption behaviour

This study investigates the phenomenon of cultural pluralism, defined as a pattern of consumption acts consisting in the adoption of products or consumption practices from several cultures. Initial findings from a qualitative study suggest that while the initial trial of products or practices from different cultures can result from exposure to cultural influences, personal tendencies or life trajectories, their longer-term appropriation is facilitated by resonance between contextual factors and personal dispositions. A spectrum of cultural pluralism is developed, and three markers identified: cultural purists maintain their own culture(s)’ boundaries, rarely venturing beyond; cultural incrementalists appropriate products from different cultures slowly yet enduringly, when they can blend easily with their own culture; cultural experimentalists try many products or practices for their novelty.