 |
|
 |
|
 |
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
Modern Consumption and the Self
Do you understand yourself as "American?" Is "American" a large part of your identity, of who you think you are? Or do you understand yourself through other things—maybe your family, your religion? Or do you understand yourself primarily through the things you prefer to buy--that you like this kind of music, or this or that band, or prefer your clothes from a certain store? Perhaps you're a vegetarian, or buy organic foods? Perhaps you're a sports fan, and buy products that identify you with the sports you like? Some scholars argue that consumption has become the primary way we understand ourselves--that literally, "we are what we buy."
It's possible—a possibility this exercise will explore—that this tendency is eroding our sense of citizenship. New technologies—the internet, direct mail, TV copying services like Tivo or ReplayTV—allow us to spend less and less time looking at things other people like, and more time doing things people like ourselves like. If we are increasingly able to form communities based on our exact preferences and tastes, will we lose the ability to co-exist as a larger nation? For an example of what the future might look like if we were only defined by our consumer choice, read this excerpt from Neal Stephenson's cyberpunk science fiction novel Snow Crash.
Stephenson imagines a world where the United States of America has largely vanished, replaced by "burbclaves" and "franchulates" each of which offers citizenship for a fee. All functions of the government--highway construction, defense, police, mail delivery—have been privatized, made into commercial operations. An ethic of intense competition prevails.
This exercise examines the recent phenomenon of preference tracking software. You will be asked to participate in several websites which seek to track your buying preferences. We will be investigating three websites which track personal information and try to predict consumer behavior
The first web site is sponsored by an Arlington, Virginia, company called Claritas. Claritas takes information about consumer preference and compiles it into lifestyle "clusters." The company then cross-references the lifestyle information by zip code. Click on this link. In the new window that appears, enter your zip code in the box, choose "prizm," and see if it accurately describes your home.
Companies like Claritas claim that people tend to live near people like themselves, and that they can predict what you watch, eat, wear and think by getting your zip code. Check the list of other communities similar to your zip code. Are they familiar? They also argue that the better their information, the more people will tend to "cluster" with like-minded people. Using this sort of preference tracking would insure that eventually, you would only get mail for things you really needed or wanted—no junk mail. The supermarket would only carry things you like, the local stores would only carry clothes or music you liked. Would such communities undermine the idea of national citizenship?
Claritas depends heavily on the zip code for its categories.
Zip codes were invented in 1964, by the US Post Office.
They were intended to make mail delivery easier and more efficient, especially
since the arrival of computers in the late 50s and early 60s had drastically
increased the amount of business mail. Many people objected to the zip code
and saw it as a government intrusion and a loss of individualism. But by the
1980s, thanks to the tendency to "cluster," zip codes had emerged
as a stylish marker of identity, as seen in the extremely popular television
show of the time, Beverly Hills 90210.
Indeed, there have been many instances in the last ten years of communities trying to change their zip code, since so much—besides consumer choice, insurance rates, mortgage rates and home prices are also pegged to zip codes—depends on zip codes.
In 1983, the Post Office introduced ZipPlus4, which allows a single number to describe an office or apartment building, or a few blocks of a neighborhood. ZipPlus4 will allow marketers to focus their efforts much more tightly and precisely.
Some people initially attacked the zip code as a sign of an all powerful and intrusive government. But ironically, the private sector has used zip codes to find out far more about us than the government ever can. Knowing your zip code, marketers also know much about what you eat, drink, watch, wear, and believe. Is it possible that zip code preference tracking will move us towards something like Stephenson's "Burbclaves?"