Page 66 - The Disneyization of Society

Chapter Three

Hybrid consumption

Mini Contents

Why create hybrid consumption environments? 57
Hybrid consumption at the Disney theme parks 59
Precursors of hybrid consumption 61
The diffusion of hybrid consumption 61
Hotels and casinos 62
Theme parks, shopping, and restaurants 64
Hybrid consumption within outlets 67
Hotels 67
Sports stadiums 68
McDonald’s 68
Zoos 70
Museums 72
Airport terminals 73
Cruise ships 73
Other domains of hybrid consumption 74
Conclusion 75

By ‘hybrid consumption’ I mean the general trend whereby the forms of
consumption associated with different institutional spheres become interlocked
with each other and increasingly difficult to distinguish. What we end up with
under hybrid consumption are de-differentiated forms of consumption in which
conventional distinctions between these forms become increasingly blurred to
the point that they almost collapse. By ‘forms of consumption’ I mean such things
as: shopping; visiting a theme park; eating in a restaurant; staying at a hotel;
visiting a museum; going to the cinema; playing and/or watching sports; and
gambling in a casino. With hybrid consumption systems, forms of consumption
are brought together in new and often imaginative ways.

Why Create Hybrid Consumption Environments?

If adjacent attraction and differentiation are the principles that underlie theming,
as outlined in Chapter 2, with hybrid consumption the master principle is getting

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