Article Abstract:
During the past 40 years, four popular U.S. comic books have emphasized themes of extreme wealth: Archie, The Fox and the Crow, Uncle Scrooge, and Richie Rich. Collectively, these comics have provided potential models of the acquisition and use of wealth as well as models for human relationships between haves and have-nots. Whether such comic book treatments shape or merely reflect American material values during this period, they necessarily inform our understanding of the significance we attach to consuming and consuming ability in our evaluations of our own worth and that of others. These themes are analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively to determine the nature of such models and messages. Content analyses reveal primarily socially desirable but ambivalent treatments of such themes. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Article Abstract:
The impact of women's changing work roles on household expenditures by married couples is analyzed for 1972 - 1973 and 1984 utilizing data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey (CEX). One-earner households with non-working wife (NWW) are compared at the same level of after-tax income to dual-earner households in which the wife works part time (PWW) and to those with wives working full time (FWW). The analysis indicates that expenditure shares are fairly consistent among types of households over time of wife's work status and income levels and that income is the most important determinant of expenditures. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Article Abstract:
Results of a longitudinal study of ads from Hong Kong, the People's Republic of China (PRC) and Taiwan depict distinctive consumer cultures. PRC ads emphasize utilitarian appeals, promise a better life, and focus on states of being as a consumption theme. Hong Kong ads stress hedonistic values, promise easier and American lifestyles, and focus on doing. Taiwan ads fall between these two extremes, but are converging toward Hong Kong ads in consumption appeals over time. PRC ads, presumably anchored by remnants of an anti-materialistic political ideology, seem to chart a different trend. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic: