Psychosocial Themes in Consumer Grooming Rituals

Ritual behavior is discussed as a mode of conceptualizing and analyzing consumer behavior. With specific focus on personal grooming rituals, thematic stories were collected from a cross section of young adults, using a projective, TAT-type Instrument. Their content Is Interpreted using Eriksonian theories of psychosocial development and ritualization of behavior, to illustrate variations in grooming product symbolisms at different social class levels.