Rituals

Consumption rituals, according to Dennis Rook, are events that are often planned, repeated over time within a social group or culture, are performative, and are characterized by the intensive and sometimes excessive consumption of goods, services, and experiences. Furthermore, Grant McCracken (1988) notes rituals are important symbolic activities in society because they contribute to the movement of meaning from consumer goods to individuals (e.g., a diamond solitaire ring comes to mean “permanent love” to a consumer because of its embeddedness in the proposal ritual). The most elaborate and visible types of consumption rituals include holidays, rites of passage, and special occasions. Consumption rituals are distinct from other similar types of consumption activities because they occur infrequently, are typically highly symbolic, and are therefore meaningful to participants. For example, while an ordinary family dinner might involve some elements of ritualistic behavior (e.g., saying grace), a holiday dinner will be understood as a ritual because it commemorates an important cultural time, involves gatherings of people not present at “everyday” dinners, features special foods and beverages, and requires the use of special objects (e.g., the holiday china) reserved for such occasions.

The significance of ritualistic consumption within consumer culture is mirrored by the dramatic increase in the number and range of scholars who explore the topic. Russell W. Belk, who is arguably the most influential pioneer in the field of consumer culture research, observes that a key thread pervading most topics of interest in this subfield is the presence and salience of rituals. This entry reviews the definitions of ritualistic consumption, discusses its structural and functional aspects, provides an overview of the main topics of interest to scholars, and highlights emerging research directions in the area.