Consumer Socialization: the Role of Hunting and Gun Rituals in Becoming a Man

• Published in: Advances in Consumer Research Vol. 36; p. 634
• Main Authors: Littlefield, Jon, Ozanne, Julie L
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Urbana Association for Consumer Research 01.01.2009
• Subjects: Firearms; Hunting; Masculinity; Men; Socialization; Studies; Subcultures
• ISSN: 0098-9258

Consumer socialization is examined through the use of gun and hunting rituals in the hunting subculture. Through the use of shared stories, rituals, values, and rites of passage surrounding the gun, family members socialize young men for a period spanning two decades. We use Vygotsky's socio-cultural theory to document this socialization process as youths move across the stages of pre-hunter, neophyte, and apprentice, and competent hunters. We find that expression of masculinity is changes based on equipment relationships and hunting motive resulting in 4 categories of hunter: traditionalist, gearhead, experiential, and transcendental.