A Deep Look Into Taste Culture

What Is Taste Culture?

‘Taste culture’ is the major ideologies that are ‘culturally valued’ by the dominant social groups in society.

Here the dominant culture makes discriminating judgments on what is classified as good or bad.

Taste Culture: Personal or Socially Driven?

Taste is definitely affected by the social world.

The social world plays a key role in classifying whether the general taste is desirable or undersirable.

The social world is also responsible for dictating the trends in taste culture as it shapes the views and preferences of the masses in regards to what they invest in and view as desirable.

What we choose to like or dislike, is ultimately influenced by class, race, and gender.

Gender taste is definitely relevant. From the moment we are born we are bombarded with what our gender likes and dislikes. A little girl is given a pink blanket, where a little boy is given a blue one. The expectation is that young girls should enjoy Barbie dolls and pretty things, whereas boys should enjoy trucks and blue-colored toys. Of course, this doesn’t mean that every little boy and girl will grow up to fit these gender taste expectations, but a vast majority still do.

The class taste would be what society deems us to like or dislike based on our social status.

The way to research taste would be through the observation of groups and their tastes.

The main question lies in how they formed them, and how they feel they have been influenced by the dominant groups around them.

It is important to also observe the media and how it ultimately changes due to the shifts in the taste of dominant groups.

Shopping & Identity

Shopping and consumption are increasingly constitutive of identity.

A person may choose to shop at a more expensive store and spend thousands of dollars on a jacket purely because they want to ‘appear’ as if they have a certain identity. If that jacket was seen on a famous actress, then wearing that same jacket should give you the identity that you are wealthy or important. Whereas, some individuals are fine with shopping in mainstream retail stores that produce clothing that matches their identity and fit their budgets.

Most of us dress in a way that we feel comfortable, however, personally, I am definitely a consumer who tries to keep up with what society deems as ‘fashionable’.

Shopping: A Leisure Activity?

Generally, society can identify with both passive and active consumerism. We are active consumers as we have the ability to choose whether to shop in this store or the next. We have the ability to source out the best deals and avoid the ‘rip-offs’.

We are also passive consumers as we are always influenced by the trends that society deems as ‘good taste’.

We fall into the trap of sales, where we purchase products that we don’t really need, but we want because it may be classified as ‘cool’.

Personally, I find that shopping can be classified as a leisurely activity otherwise known as ‘retail therapy’ depending on the circumstances.

I can really enjoy shopping if I have the time and I know what I am looking for.

However, I can find shopping to be stressful as a society is bombarded with sales from the moment you step into the store. From that point onwards you are confronted with 50 different soft drink and pasta options.

Do you want 5 for the price of 4?

Why spend $10 on a chicken, when you can spend $9.88?

Do you want to use the express checkout?

Shopping is no longer a leisure experience.

About The Author

Noor is a second-year business student at Tredu. She is passionate about marketing and content creation. She recently launched her YouTube channel specializing in holistic healing.