Culture, Consumption and Symbolization in the Brazilian Shopping Goods Market:
The Case of Havaianas Sandals
Autoria: Francisco Giovanni David Vieira, André Torres Urdan
Abstract
This paper discusses the symbolic production that is created by companies when they offer
their products to the market. It has an interdisciplinary approach, with its theoretical
background lying mainly in marketing and anthropology, and its discussion being based on a
case that is used to illustrate the subject of the paper. The case is analyzed by means of
document research, secondary data analysis and observation in field, and is about how
Havaianas sandals, which for decades had been a typical product of working-class and lowincome consumers, suddenly became a desired product in the Brazilian market and a symbol
of beauty and glamour outside Brazil, especially in some European countries. Final remarks
concerning limitations of the study, and theoretical and managerial implications are also
provided.
I. Introduction
Discussion about culture and consumption, especially from an interdisciplinary point of view,
has been demonstrated to be a reliable way to advance our understanding about consumer
behavior and marketing phenomena in contemporary society (COSTA, 1995; ZINKHAN,
1999; BURTON, 2002; CRAIG; DOUGLAS, 2006). This approach, however, has received
little attention from, and has even been neglected by, Brazilian scholars of marketing. Some
good exceptions that can be found in the field of marketing, however, are studies carried out
in recent years by D´Angelo (2003), Castilhos, Rossi and Cavedon (2005) Marçal, Mello and
Fonsêca (2006), and Ayrosa, Sauerbronn and Barros (2007).
However, despite the fact that these studies have the merit of analyzing culture and
consumption, they do not pay specific attention to the symbolization processes associated to
cultural production. This subject, which in a certain way leads us to the idea of post-modern
society (MILLER, 1998; BROWN, 2005; FARIA, 2006), represents a considerable challenge
to market research (HIRSCHMAN; HOLBROOK, 1992; DURGEE, 2004; ARNOULD;
THOMPSON, 2005).
This background of culture, consumption and symbolization seems to be paradoxically
simple. Everywhere that there are people living and consuming, there are, consequently,
processes of cultural production and reproduction surrounding their acts and the objects or
goods that they use or consume (SAHLINS, 1978; APPADURAI, 1986; MAUSS, 1990;
McCRACKEN, 1991; DOUGLAS; ISHERWOOD, 1996). But how comprehensive is our
knowledge within the area of marketing about the capacity of companies to produce symbols
and transform them into cultural elements embedded in the social lives of people, particularly
the social lives of the consumers, through acts consumption?
Putting the above considerations into perspective, it can be seen that despite scholars having
increasingly dedicated attention to understanding consumer behavior (SOLOMON, 2006;
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LIMEIRA, 2008), the issues of symbolic production by companies surrounding the market,
especially in emerging countries, have remained seldom visited and explored (BARBOSA;
CAMPBELL, 2006), and even misunderstood (McCRACKEN, 2005). Under these
circumstances, important phenomena can be overlooked, and research will therefore fail to
contribute to the development of the discipline in a comprehensive manner.
This paper, therefore, tries to rise to this challenge and make a contribution by discussing the
symbolic production that is created by companies when they offer their products to the
market. To this end, the paper is organized as follows: after the presentation of the research
question and the aim of the study, as detailed in this section, a theoretical background is
provided, covering the areas of consumption, culture, symbolization and marketing, as well as
product mix and the Brazilian market for shopping goods. This is followed by the
methodology section, and the main findings of the study are then presented, through a
description of market events and a case study of Havaianas Sandals, in order to illustrate the
subject matter of the paper and to demonstrate the production of a symbol of beauty and
desire in the Brazilian market. Final remarks concerning limitations of the study, and
theoretical and managerial implications are provided at the end.
II. Theoretical Background
This section is divided into three parts and establishes the theoretical reference for the
analysis of the data. The first part brings together, in an interdisciplinary manner, the two
areas of marketing and anthropology to look at the subjects of culture, consumption and
symbolization. The second part identifies key concepts in marketing literature, which form the
basis of our understanding of companies’ product mixes and offer ways of managing product
lines. The third part provides an insight into the Brazilian shopping goods market.
Symbolic Production, Culture and Consumption
Culture has been the object of many debates and disputes in the social sciences. Since the very
beginning, social scientists, particularly anthropologists and sociologists, have defined and
understood culture from different perspectives (GEERTZ, 1973). In this paper, we define
culture as follows:
“…a collective compound of mental representations with which people link
the material to the immaterial – the economic and social structures,
techniques and laws – and the norms to symbolic life – the representations,
ideologies and ideas that form a group of faiths, values and symbols that
influence the existence and the social behavior of the individuals” (CUCHE,
1999, p. 10).
In this definition, culture is a collective process of learning that supplies referential
orientations to individuals, giving meaning to their actions and the world that surrounds them,
particularly through the decoding of words, expressions, gestures and silences, etc. In addition
to this, culture orders, classifies and joins individuals into a social group, influencing the way
each individual defends their interests, their convictions and the collective objectives of the
social group. The human species does not simply survive; it has the capacity to break
limitations, to innovate, diversify and, ultimately, to create culture, which means that,
according to Geertz (1973), our lives are the results of our readings, interpretations and,
consequently, constructions.
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Within a social structure, culture is completely filled with symbols and symbolic phenomena
(THOMPSON, 2001). Addressing this concept is important to emphasize that symbols are not
only created by shape, but also by representations that have particular meanings
(CSIKSZENTMIHALYI; ROCHBERG-HALTON, 2002). From this perspective, it can be
seen that symbols and symbolic production can be both material and immaterial.
Bearing in mind that consumer goods are an important medium of our culture
(McCRACKEN, 2005), it can be seen that they also represent symbols within the social
structure, including in the market place. They are entities in which we keep our private and
public meanings, using them to construct our domestic and public worlds (McCRACKEN,
2005). Even more remarkable is the assumption made by Appadurai (1986), who said that
commodities, goods or products, it does not matter how we refer to them, are the stuff of
material culture in our society.
The process of offering products to the market is related to values and beliefs, and patterns of
interaction and social behavior, as well as to tangible dimensions, such as the material aspects
and artifacts of the consumer’s daily life. This not only puts symbolic production at the center
of the offering of goods by companies (McCRACKEN 1991), but also reveals the role played
by culture in the making of that offer, as well as in the consumer’s behavior (ROCHA;
BARROS, 2006). This shows that things and products have different dimensions in daily life
and are full of meanings for consumers (APPADURAI, 1986), which implies that symbolic
contexts are created through the use of goods (SAHLINS, 1978).
In this paper, it is very important to state that products can have many faces and can express
different meanings (CSIKSZENTMIHALYI; ROCHBERG-HALTON, 2002; BARBOSA;
CAMPELL, 2006), but what gives rise to this understanding is that they are social
constructions, which fit into a system. According to McCracken (1986) there is a production
system of cultural meaning, with the meaning being embedded in culture. In order to extend
this concept to marketing and to the theory of consumer behavior, Durgee (2004) stated that
there is a co-creation of consumption meanings by consumers and companies, which involve
product design, positioning, advertising, and dimensions of the product mix, as well as other
aspects. Therefore, this reinforces the initial question of this paper mentioned above.
Product Mix
Product mix, also called product portfolio, is one of the most important aspects in marketing.
It plays a central role in the product decisions of any company, which are, in turn, key
decisions in the marketing management process (URDAN; URDAN, 2006). Scholars and
practitioners have pointed out that a considerable part of the marketing management process
is related to finding out what customers want, and product mix can be understood as being the
other side of the coin, that is, the response from producers or suppliers (MERCER, 1992).
According to Kotler (1991, p. 432), a product mix “is the set of all product lines and items
that a particular seller offers for sale to buyers”. Kotler (1991, p. 436) carries on to define a
product line as being “a group of products that are closely related because they perform a
similar function, are sold to the same customer groups, are marketed through the same
channels, or make up a particular price range”. In this way, a specific product line can consist
of several products or even sub-lines, and each product line or sub-line, can also contain many
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specific items related directly to the products, or indirectly to the sub-lines (PRIDE; FERREL,
1993).
All product mixes have, to some extent, breadth, length, depth and consistency (MERCER,
1992; PRIDE; FERREL, 1993; URDAN; URDAN, 2006). In order to clarify these terms, we
can follow Kotler’s (1991) suggestions that: (a) breadth refers to how many different product
lines a company carries; (b) length refers to the total number of items, or sub-lines, in the
product mix and, in turn, average length is obtained by dividing the total length by the
number of lines; (c) depth refers to how many variants are offered for each product in the line
or sub-lines, and average depth is obtained by dividing the total number of possibilities, in
terms of size, color or weight, etc, within the group of variants by the number of products, or
items, in the line or sub-lines; and (d) consistency refers to how closely related the various
product lines are in end use, production requirements, distribution channels or in some other
way.
These concepts are, in fact, dimensions on which the product mix can be balanced in terms of
production scale, costs, logistics, distribution channels, market share, sales opportunities, and
profitability, among other aspects (MERCER, 1992). However, it is important to emphasize
that in addition to being aspects of marketing management, they are also directly related to the
ability that companies have to produce symbols and create meanings (McCRACKEN,
2005).
The Brazilian Shopping-Goods Market
Pride and Ferrel (1993) suggest that shopping goods are goods that the customer, in the
process of selection and purchase, characteristically compares on such bases as suitability,
quality, price, and style. The Brazilian shopping-goods market has experienced huge growth
in recent years.
Until the 1940s, the Brazilian economy was based essentially on agricultural activity, with the
beginnings of its industrial sector not occurring until the 1950s. At this time, the process of
domestic products replacing imported products began. Thus, as well as maintaining
agricultural productivity, Brazil started to produce some of the manufactured goods that were
available in its internal market. The priorities were the automobile and naval construction
industries (RICHERS, 1994).
In spite of this, there was great pressure for the supply of shopping goods, mainly because of
the restrictions in the postwar period – Brazil had only achieved a rudimentary level of
industrialization and was not able to produce shopping goods on a large scale (SORJ, 2000;
VOLPI, 2007). At that time, Brazil had less than 80 million inhabitants and a growth rate of
2.9% a year, with 60% of its population being economically occupied in agricultural activity.
According to Richers (1994), there were two "Brasis": an urban one and the rural one.
Since then, Brazil has undergone many changes, and is a different country now. It currently
has 189 million inhabitants, and around 85% of its population lives in urban areas. The
Brazilian Gross Domestic Product (GDP) reached US$1.5 trillion last year (IBGE, 2008), and
the number of active consumers in its economy (people who have a monthly income of at
least US$300) quadrupled from 13.5 to 60 million (LIMA, 2007).
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This transformation has created a large Brazilian market for shopping goods. Nowadays,
Brazil’s own industrial sector has the capacity to offer most products to the internal market on
a large scale, even in the face of competing products manufactured abroad, especially those
made in China.
It is clear that Brazil continues to be a country of enormous differences and contrasts in many
economic, social, cultural and even geographic aspects. Nevertheless, it is useful to quote
some statistics to show the size of the Brazilian market for shopping goods: in 2007, total
income increased 6.4%, family consumption 5.9% and sales in the retail sector 9.9%
(RANDS, 2008). Moreover, and of particular interest to this paper, within this latest economic
and retail expansion, the sandals sector showed a market growth of 10.7% (GAIER, 2008).
III. Method
A combination of methods was used to carry out the study (CRESWELL, 2002), namely:
event history analysis, secondary data analysis and observation in field (BAKER, 2003). The
empirical context of the study was the Brazilian market, with São Paulo Alpargatas S.A., the
company that manufactures Havaianas Sandals, being observed. Specifically, information was
gathered from merchandising tools, point of purchase materials, advertising, newspapers and
websites, all concerning the marketing actions related to the process of offering Havaianas
Sandals to the market.
Additionally, the three major weekly Brazilian magazines, Veja, Época and Isto É, were
researched. The reason for choosing the three magazines mentioned above had been related to
their national extension in terms of sale outlets, wide audience, as well as they cover a large
number of different subjects and, therefore, do not communicate to any target in terms of
gender or age, specifically. This was particularly important in order to see the symbology
used in communications for different targets, as well as important in light of the depth of the
product line of Havaianas Sandals for the different targets that they have in the market.
Moreover, in order to search reports, news and complementary information about the
Havaianas Sandals, we accessed the database of the Exame magazine, which is the main
Brazilian magazine of business. The research was accomplished during the period of time
involved between July of 2007 and June of 2008. The study therefore had a transversal, as
well as descriptive, design (COOPER; SCHINDLER, 2003).
IV. Major Findings
This section presents the main results of the study. It has been divided into three
complementary parts in order to show a case of symbolic production in the Brazilian
shopping-goods market in a clear manner: (i) a brief of history of Havaianas Sandals, (ii) their
product-mix, and (iii) the symbolic and cultural aspects exploited in the market by Havaianas
Sandals.
A Brief History of Havaianas Sandals
Havaianas Sandals had become the most important and most visible product of the São Paulo
Alpargatas company (BLECHER, 2006; HORVATH, 2007). They were launched into the
market in 1962 and their target market was Brazilian middle-income consumers (SILVA,
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2000). Their first slogan aimed at this emerging market was “the simplest answer to the
necessity of protecting the feet” (GARCIA, 2007).
However, contrary to the initial intention, during their first years in the market, Havaianas
Sandals became a typical working-class and low-income consumer product (HIRATA, 2006).
They had only one model and five options of color, a low price and, most importantly, a large
distribution in small and neighborhood markets. They therefore very quickly acquired a
meaning of poverty (BLECHER, 2006). At the same time, the social interactions surrounding
the sandals co-created the meaning of simplicity; but, in fact, this had already been connected
to the symbol of poverty.
Additionally, during the period when Brazil was a dictatorship (1964-1985), Havaianas
Sandals were used as a kind of tool for popular hygienic education in government campaigns,
particularly in the 1970s. There was a notion that poor people had a lower probability of
becoming sick if they used the sandals. This fact only served to increase the symbolic
production and cultural reproduction already created through the use of Havaianas Sandals
until then.
In the early 1990s, the manufacturing company of Havaianas Sandals started to face
competition from other companies that had begun to offer new options of sandals to the
market. These companies’ prices were even lower than those of Havaianas. Ironically, despite
Havaianas having almost 90% of the market share at the time, they were not very profitable
(URDAN; URDAN, 2006).
In response to this situation, São Paulo Alpargatas completely changed the marketing strategy
of Havaianas Sandals. In 1994, the sandals underwent a process of brand revitalization, with
new models, styles and colors (Figure 1), as well as a new concept, new prices and new points
of purchase (BLECHER, 2006; HIRATA, 2006; GARCIA, 2007). The adopted strategy
redefined the target market of the sandals. However, the main change that occurred was
related to the symbolic aspects surrounding the sandals, in terms of market segmentation,
communication and positioning.
Figure 1 – Models and styles of Havaianas Sandals
Since then, the sandals have been produced and offered to the market in a different way, in
terms of design, positioning and advertising, using symbols of Brazilian culture like, for
instance, tropical colors. Material and behavioral elements from beach culture and other forms
of leisure, entertainment and amusement have also been used, all of them producing symbols
of sensuality and beauty. Complementarily, some Brazilian indigenous themes, as well as
exotic and oriental colors and themes, were also used.
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Nowadays, Havaianas Sandals are still the best-selling brand in their category. They are also
exported to 80 countries around the world, and their main markets are Australia, the United
States, France, England, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Greece, Poland,
Monaco, Japan, Thailand, Argentina, Colombia, Bolivia and Venezuela, among others. To
summarize, Havaianas Sandals managed to overcome an adverse situation in the Brazilian
internal market and became the first successful Brazilian brand in the global market.
Havaianas Sandals Product-Mix
For this analysis, only the product mix of Havaianas Sandals was considered, not the entire
product mix of São Paulo Alpargatas, the producing company of the sandals, which also has
other products and brands. In this way, the classic dimensions of product mixes, such as
breadth, length and depth, are applied just to the mix of Havaianas Sandals (Table 1). This
approach provides a more comprehensive view of the mix and offers us an insight into
product design, product concept, and positioning, which are related to the symbolic
constructions surrounding Havaianas Sandals (DURGEE, 2004; McCRACKEN, 2005).
Product-Line Length
Table 1 – Product-Mix Breadth and Product-Line Length of Havaianas Sandals
Sub-line
Havaianas Baby
Havaianas Beach
Havaianas Boys
Havaianas Brasil
Havaianas Casual
Havaianas Flash
Havaianas Girls
Havaianas High
Havaianas Ipê
Havaianas Joy
Havaianas Kids
Havaianas Printed
Havaianas Slim
Havaianas Surf
Havaianas Top
Havaianas Traditional
Havaianas Trail
Havaianas Wave
Product-Mix Breadth
Product Line – Havaianas Sandals
Variants
Top, Brasil, Pets, Estampas
Beach
Monsters, Rock, Surf
Brasil
Casual
Tiresse, Style, Style Etnics, Hit
Apple, Flowers, Fairy, Fun, Luck Bug, Top Metalic
Animals, Light, Look, Metalic
Normal Ipê, Younglet
Joy
Brazil, Pets, Top, Younglets
Poplar, Camouflaged, Check, Floral
Slim, Animals, Basic, Season, Stripes
Surf
Top, Top Metalic
Traditional
Trail
Wave
Colors (n)
18
4
10
7
4
23
22
17
6
4
4
17
28
5
30
5
4
6
Source: Sandálias Havaianas (2007)
The Havaianas Sandals mix has one major product line, the sandal itself (Table 1). Therefore,
its breadth is 1. São Paulo Alpargatas also offer a line of socks, closely related to the sandals,
which is sometimes considered as being a kind of sub-line of the mix. However, their
proximity is just based on the space that exists between toes that allows the simultaneous use
of the socks with the sandals, and on the idea that the sock is a kind of complement to the
sandals, particularly for the teenage female market.
The Havaianas Sandals mix has a length of 18 (Table 1), and as the mix has only one line, its
average length is also 18. The length of the mix shows products that have been aimed at all
markets, taking into considering demographic variables such as, for example, gender, age and
social class. Nevertheless, despite the company offering products to adult men and women, as
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well as to babies, it can be seen that the company pays special attention to the female and
young markets.
The Havaianas Sandals mix has a total depth of 46 and an average depth about 5 (Table 1).
Since each variant within a sub-line has different colors, the color formulation related to the
variants within the sub-lines has leaded us to the average depth, which indicates that there is
considerable product variety and formulation in the Havaianas Sandals mix. When taking into
consideration the fact that there are eight sub-lines within the product-line length that have
only one variant, the average depth is even more expressive (PRIDE; FERREL, 1993).
The product mix dimensions mentioned above, as Mercer (1992) points out, provide the basis
for defining the company’s strategy. Havaianas Sandals have clearly been using them to
confirm the strategy adopted in the nineties, as sub-lines have been launched into the market
at different times and the current mix has undergone frequent changes and the inclusion of
new models, especially involving different colors and prints (BLECHER, 2006; HIRATA,
2006).
This fact reveals that in order to acquire a strong reputation within its field, Havaianas
Sandals have not only been adding new product sub-lines, but have also been lengthening
each product sub-line by adding more variants, and thereby deepening its product mix. An
important aspect of this is that by adding a variation to an existing sub-line, not only can
additional sales be created (and market positions be reached), but also new symbols.
Therefore, there is symbolic production by means of new variations. The joint ventures with
H. Stern jewelry and Swarowski crystals, both for launching a limited variation of the sandals,
were a clear way of illustrating that production.
Symbolic and Cultural Aspects Explored in the Market Positioning of Havaianas Sandals
The change in the marketing strategy of Havaianas Sandals, as mentioned before, was based
on a process of marketing mix management (URDAN; URDAN, 2006). Marketing
management actions related to market segmentation, product concept, product mix,
positioning, product value and communication, among other things, enable us to verify both
the use and relevance of that process to the process of reaching a new position in the sandal
market. Nevertheless, it is clearly possible to observe that Havaianas Sandals have also been
seeking to produce symbols for the consumers. These symbols are based on cultural
attributes.
The aspects exploited in the positioning of the sandals are presented in Table 2. The intensity
of the usage of the sandal attributes in their positioning process within the market referred to
the number of times the attributes were referred to in advertising campaigns, at points of
purchase, and in magazines or websites. The scale was as follows: (i) very intense: ten or
more references, (ii) quite intense: up to eight references, (iii) reasonably intense: up to six
references and (iv) not very intense: up to four references.
Table 2 – Sandal aspects used in the positioning of Havaianas Sandals within the market
Exploited Aspect
What the Sandals are
Sandal Attributes
(symbology)
Comfortable
Colored, Modern
Delicate, Innovative
Use Intensity
Very intense
Quite intense
Reasonably intense
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What the Sandals provide
How you will be when using
the Sandals
What you can do using the Sandals
Anatomical, Legitimate, Perfect,
Suitable
Design, Shape,
Different combinations
Adherence, Durability, Fluidness,
Lightness, Quality, Safety, Stability
“Fashionable”
Beautiful, Sophisticated
Casual, Cool, Elegant, Feminine,
Free, Happy, Rash, Venturous
Luxurious, Romantic, Vain
Be fashionable, Go out,
Go to the beach
Beauty tricks, Go shopping, “Put
the block down”, Ride the surf,
Upgrade your look
Be funny, Please, Work
Not very intense
Quite intense
Not very intense
Very intense
Quite intense
Reasonably intense
Not very intense
Quite intense
Reasonably intense
Not very intense
Source: Documentary and field research, 2007-2008.
The set of aspects exploited by Havaianas Sandals shows a clear intention to develop a
relationship with the market by means of the symbolization surrounding the sandals
themselves, as well as through what the consumer can achieve by using them. In the cultural
construction, the putting together of an object and its symbols (BHAT; REDDY, 1998), these
aspects are specifically concerned with what the sandals are, what they provide for
consumers, and how consumers will be and what they can do when using the sandals.
Although the first and second aspects (Table 2) have some physical and tangible features
linked directly to the attributes, they still strongly incorporate symbols that have been
conveyed to consumers. For example, in Table 2 we can see that there is a more intense use of
the possible interpretations (GEERTZ, 1973) and representations (APPADURAI, 1986)
relating to modern social life than to physical features.
On the other hand, the third and fourth exploited aspects do not have any tangible features.
They consist entirely of symbols, especially the third aspect, which has the most intense
symbology of the four (Table 2). With regard to this aspect, it is very interesting to note the
suggestion that the ability for someone to be something is directly related to his or her use of
the sandals. In other words, using the sandals can even define or express a type of identity or a
sense of humor (FRIEDMAN, 1994; CSIKSZETMIHALYI; ROCHBERG-HALTON, 2002).
According to McCracken (2005), this is representative of a typical situation in which
consumer goods can help us to display new meanings or to change meanings through their use
or innovation, respectively.
The fourth aspect is also remarkable for one particular simple reason, which has a central role
in the process of symbolic production: the creation of the ideas of consumer actions and of the
social life of the goods (APPADURAI, 1986). It shows the way that Havaianas Sandals have
been using different symbols to represent, and to suggest, collective actions among people,
especially actions related to outdoor environments, such as going shopping, going walking
and going to the beach. At the same time, it reinforces the consumption of the sandals as a
symbolic act that individuals develop socially and collectively (APPADURAI, 1986;
WATTANASUWAN, 2005; McCRACKEN, 2007).
With regard to the aspects of how you will be and what you can do when using Havaianas
Sandals, it is important to emphasize that there are clear elements of Brazilian culture
9
embedded in the symbology used in positioning the sandals. These elements are related to the
tropical environment of outdoors activities, and have been exploited through the valorization
of sensuality and beauty, concepts that are very important social constructions in Brazilian
society (DaMATTA, 1998; ROCHA, 2003; LEITÃO; LIMA; MACHADO, 2006;
ALMEIDA, 2007).
Another important point is that the symbolic and cultural aspects exploited in the positioning
of the sandals have a direct link with their product mix through the use of words in the
English language. This usage, which we can consider to be strategically defined, had at least
two marketing purposes. The first one was to exploit the Brazilian fascination for almost
everything that comes from abroad (CALDAS, 1997; RICHERS, 2000), thereby attaining an
advantage in the market with sub-lines whose names are in English and can therefore
represent more than a simple object or artifact of the daily life. The second was to build a
bridge to the international market, which was later confirmed by the exportation of the
sandals. This whole process seems to have been based on what McCracken (2005) refers to as
the construction of meanings for consumers.
The production of a premium product with innovative designs, styles and colors, as well as
the creation of sub-lines, which were researched together with international fashion offices
(BLECHER, 2006), was undertaken for the exportation of Havaianas Sandals. At the same
time, in addition to the symbolic production surrounding the sandals, as already described, the
brand concept followed image research carried out with consumers about various aspects of
Brazilian social life, such as music, soccer, carnival and the cultural inheritance of
miscegenation in the formation of the Brazilian people from Indians, Europeans, Africans,
Asians and Orientals (RIBEIRO, 1995).
A program of international public relations and social events was also implemented, which
generated huge visibility in the media, through newspapers, television channels and
magazines, in several countries in different continents. With the exhibition of Havaianas
Sandals with well-known international brands such as Louis Vitton, Prada, Gucci and Chanel,
the program contributed to the transformation of the sandals into an object of glamour and
desire (SALEK, 2003). Nowadays they are present in the editorials of fashion magazines and
have become a fashion accessory, a collector’s item and have even gained an affectionate
nickname: “havies”.
Final Remarks
This study is about culture and consumption, and focuses on describing and understanding an
important phenomenon that occurred primarily in the Brazilian, and secondarily in the
international, markets. It concerns Havaianas Sandals, who redirected their target market by
the creation of social and cultural constructions, through assumed meanings and the symbolic
aspects of the products. This was translated into marketing management actions in terms of
market segmentation, positioning and communication.
The symbolic production surrounding Havaianas Sandals led to the symbol of beauty, and
even glamour, through their use. Nowadays, the image of the sandals is very different from
their original symbolic representation, and they have been used by pop stars, movie stars, top
models, and princesses, among other people of the jet set, who have made, and still do make,
appearances in public using the sandals. Thus, the case study reveals a clear example of a
10
company creating symbolic production through their products and in a cultural way
(BARBOSA; CAMPBELL, 2006; DURGEE, 2004; McCRACKEN, 1991; SAHLINS, 1978).
Theoretical and Managerial Implications
First of all, this study puts into perspective, and reinforces, some axioms of both marketing
management theory and marketing management actions, such as, for instance: (i) the
importance of analyzing the external environment; (ii) the competitive dynamics around the
product life cycle; (iii) the recovery of profitability and increase of market share by
lengthening the lines or sub-lines of the product mix; (iv) the necessity of defining clear
concepts for the products; (v) the possibility of differentiating products by means of
positioning strategies; (vi) the power of association among brands with complementary
products; and (vii) the ability of building an image in the marketplace through communication
techniques and public relations. Secondly, the study contributes to interdisciplinary literature
in the area of marketing knowledge, which is not just important, but also necessary, for the
process of theoretical construction and academic legitimation within the discipline (LAZER;
KELLEY, 1960; WINICK, 1961; ZALTMAN, 1982; ZINKHAN, 1999). Lastly, and most
importantly, the study presents a case of symbolic production that has been created by a
company through the offering of its products to the market. It is therefore assumed that this
case has theoretical implications for the discipline of marketing, which are based on the
processes of symbolization associated to cultural production by companies.
Suggestions for Further Studies
In closing, it is important to emphasize that the phenomenon studied here has many faces and
can be approached from different angles, such as through Semiotics or the Social
Representations Theory. Another worthwhile possibility for study this phenomenon is from
the point of view of Consumer Culture Theory, which could point out critical and relevant
aspects of consumption. The theoretical background could be based on Featherstone (1995),
Bauman (2001), Baudrillard (2005), and Arnould and Thompson (2005), among others. These
different theoretical approaches could bring important contributions to our understanding of
the symbolic production that is created by companies when they offer their products to the
market.
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