Title: The culture code : an ingenious way to understand why people around the world buy and live as they do /
Authors: Rapaille, Clotaire.
Publisher: Broadway Books,
Year: 2006
Subjects: Social perception; Cognition and culture.; National characteristics.; Consumer behavior Psychological aspects.
Abstract: DNA makes a creature human, but what makes him an American? Is there a "culture code" that programs us to become German, or Japanese, or French? Dr. Clotaire Rapaille believes there is such a code, a silent system of archetypes that we unconsciously acquire as we grow up within our culture. The codes vary around the world and invisibly shape how we behave in our personal lives, as consumers, and as nations. Dr. Rapaille used his ability to break the "culture code" to help Chrysler build the PT Cruiser--the most successful American car launch in recent memory. He used it to help Nestlé introduce coffee to the tea culture of Japan, and to explain why George W. Bush is on code for the U.S. presidency and John Kerry was on code for the French presidency. And now, in The Culture Code, he uses it to reveal what makes Americans American, and what makes us different from the world around us. Dr. Rapaille decodes fundamental archetypes ranging from sex to money to health to America itself.
Contents: The birth of a notion -- The growing pains of an adolescent culture : the codes for love, seduction, and sex -- Living on the axis : the codes for beauty and fat -- First comes survival : the codes for health and youth -- Moving beyond the biological scheme : the codes for home and dinner -- Working for a living : the codes for work and money -- Learning to live with it : the codes for quality and perfection -- More is more : the codes for food and alcohol -- Just put that alibi on my gold card : the codes for shopping and luxury -- Who do these upstarts think they are? : the codes for America in other cultures -- Parting of the Red Sea optional : the code for the American presidency -- Never growing up, never giving up : the code for America.