KALIPSO KARANTINOU, Manchester Business School, UK
Michaela, Danae and Artemis live in Kifissia, a
prosperous suburb in northern Athens with lovely
apartment houses and villas, and elegant designer
shops, within 30 minutes’ drive of the centre of Athens
and the upmarket shopping district of Kolonaki.
Michaela, at nearly two years old, already has very
strong views about some aspects of consumption,
particularly her clothing, which is chosen for her by her
mother, Danae. She wears little T-shirts with trousers or
dungarees for playtime in the morning; and dresses
when going out to social gatherings and events. Michaela
has already developed a sense for colour coordination
and she has strong preferences with regard to her
clothes (there are some clothes she refuses to wear and
others that she cannot wait to put on). Sometimes in
the mornings she checks her appearance in the mirror,
looking closely at what she is wearing; she is also really
delighted when someone compliments her on her outfits.
As Michaela has got older she has been increasingly
involved in choosing what to wear each day. Michaela is
especially picky about her shoes and will not let anyone
else choose which pair she wears. Each morning she
stands in front of the cupboard where all her shoes
are stored and picks out a pair herself; each time she
chooses those that match her clothes. She particularly
loves a pair of shoes that are identical to a pair her
mother Danae owns; Michaela feels very proud each
time they wear their matching shoes.
Michaela loves going to the park every day with her
grandmother, Artemis – playing on the rides and in the
sand. She has a favourite hat that she puts on to go to
the park, a round pink and white one, which her father
bought for her. Usually she ends the day completely
worn out – and yet always surprises everyone by how
much she revives after a good night’s sleep and at seven
o’clock every morning is always raring to go again –
starting with breakfast of warm milk, followed at around
nine o’clock by fruit (pears, bananas and strawberries
are her favourite), orange juice and a piece of her
favourite baby biscuit. She has her main meal around
one o’clock, then a substantial snack (yogurt or baby
porridge) at five o’clock and her milk at bedtime.
Michaela has already developed some strong
preferences about food. There are some things that she
just loves (fish, meat, brown bread, fresh salads, cooked
vegetables, lentils, parmesan cheese, olive oil, baby
porridge, yogurt) – and some things she is much less
keen on (beans, eggs). Michaela has started to develop a
real taste for Greek delicacies, and her grandmother’s
home-made moussaka, pastichio, oven lasagne (pasta
with lots of different types of cheese, mushrooms and
fresh cream) and pasticciada (spaghetti with red sauce
and beef), are now some of her favourite dishes.
However, she still has not developed a taste for feta
cheese – and continues to pull a horrible face when she
finds herself eating some by mistake. Michaela has a
strong preference for certain brands or varieties of food,
e.g. bananas and milk. She seems able to spot subtle
differences in taste between the varieties, which makes
her love one type and refuse to eat the others. Even
though other members of the family cannot discern any
difference, when shopping they choose these products
according to her preferences.
Danae, a first-time mother in her late twenties,
is a member of generation X. She worked hard after
Michaela’s birth to get fit again. Before Michaela was
born she had read a lot about new babies, and after
Michaela’s arrival she continued to check with her
paediatrician, the Mother and Baby book which she had
come to rely on, her friends who were themselves young
mothers, and her own mother, Artemis. She was very
careful with Michaela’s diet, as well as her own – and
tried to make sure Michaela did not eat chocolates
and sweet things. She had watched her own diet very
carefully while she was pregnant. When she was
expecting Michaela Danae had eaten fish twice a week
and red meat regularly; drunk a litre of milk every day;
and always eaten lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. She
had avoided soft cheeses (because of fears of listeria);
undercooked eggs; raw or undercooked meat (because
of fears of salmonella) and some processed foods such
as pâté, salami and proscuitto (which had always been
one of her favourites). She had abstained from alcohol,
cut down on coffee (allowing herself only one cup a day,
which had at first been difficult to accept); cut out tea
(because it prevented the absorption of iron) as well as
biscuits and cakes; and had avoided parsley, raspberry
tea and mango since they all seemed to be associated
case study 11
Scenes from the lives of Athenian mothers
and daughters
482
CASE STUDY 1 1
with miscarriage. She had continued to watch her diet
carefully, especially in the first year whilst she was still
breastfeeding Michaela. She didn’t reintroduce alcohol
into her diet until Michaela was fully weaned, and still
only allows herself one cup of coffee a day. Danae and
her husband also reduced to a minimum their own
consumption of soft drinks, chips, toffees, cakes and
chocolate. They both thought this was necessary to set
Michaela a good example.
There had been many things to prepare and buy
before Michaela was born – lots of little Babygros and
outfits, as well as equipment, such as a cot, pram, baby
carrier, baby bath, baby monitor and a buggy that turned
into a car seat (which would be ideal for trips out). As
first-time parents, Danae and her husband did not know
what they would need once the baby arrived, and they
ended up buying far more things than they needed, as
they realized later on. They started by visiting two wellknown large baby stores and getting their catalogues.
It took a number of visits to both stores, while Danae
was still pregnant, to tick off all the items on their
(continuously expanding) shopping list.
One of Danae’s pleasures, after Michaela was born,
was going shopping for a new wardrobe for herself, and
new clothes for Michaela. Even though she had managed
to get back to her pre-pregnancy figure, Danae needed
the reinvigoration and the self-pampering feeling that
new clothes seem to bring. Managing to maintain her
femininity along with her new image as a young mother
was challenging but important to her. She also now
needed two different sets of outfits. As a professional
woman she needed a couple of new trouser suits with
some tops for the office; and as a mother she needed
lots of smart casual clothes which looked appropriate in
the park as well as on the high street. For the first time
in her life she discovered the advantages of in-wash
stain removers to cope with the fruit juice stains which
seemed to be attracted to her clothing whatever she
did . . . and however careful she was.
Artemis is just about to celebrate her 50th birthday
and is a baby boomer. She spends a lot of time with her
granddaughter, Michaela, so she has also had to adjust
her wardrobe to take account of days spent in the park
and at the swimming pool with her. She recently bought
a number of smart casual clothes and flat everyday
shoes; she found this change to her wardrobe quite
reinvigorating. Artemis is an ‘empty nest parent’. She
had missed Danae a lot when her daughter had first
gone off to university abroad, but Artemis had had no
real difficulty in filling her time. She had always been
very active with charity and social work, and with more
time to spare she was able to devote more time to
these activities – she discovered she had a real knack
for management and organization, and enjoyed
running fund-raising and social events in Athens.
Artemis also absolutely loves throwing parties at
home: she enjoys all the preparation that goes into it,
organizing the house for guests, planning the menu and
doing some of the cooking, if not all (depending on the
number of guests each time). She and her husband
frequently organize dinner parties for 4–8 guests but
also quite a few big parties for 30–50 guests every year.
Even now that caring for Michaela takes a lot of her
time, she still enjoys them; they are just a bit more
challenging to organize.
Artemis and her husband belong to a social club
which meets each week. There are numerous social
activities organized by the club every month (guest
lectures, visits to exhibitions, visits to archaeological
sites, etc.). They also love classical music and they
enjoy going to Lyriki Skini (the Opera House), Megaro
Moussikis (the concert hall) and Herodion in the summer
(the ancient open theatre at the centre of Athens,
directly below the Acropolis).
One of the things Artemis missed when Danae went
away was going shopping with her daughter – one of
their treats when they have a chance is to spend time
together shopping. They love the shops in Kolonaki but
they do most of their shopping in Kifissia and in the
centre of Athens, such as in the busy Ermou street.
When it comes to clothes, Artemis prefers to shop at
a couple of stores she really likes, where they know her
and she gets good personalized service. Still, she enjoys
window shopping and does go to different stores for the
odd item or for shoes and accessories.
Artemis does all her food shopping locally, working
from a shopping list, but also responding to what
foodstuffs are seasonal, fresh and available. There is an
excellent market close to where she lives where she can
buy fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as meat and fish.
There is also a big supermarket close to home. They eat
a lot of fish – usually grilled with herbs and served with
salad. Fresh salads and cooked vegetables are always
part of their daily menu.
A significant aspect of shopping activities for Artemis
is gift shopping. Gift-giving is an important ritual in the
Greek society and one that needs a big investment of
time, effort and money. Artemis in principle enjoys
buying gifts but sometimes gets a bit overwhelmed;
there are quite a few gift-giving occasions every year:
gifts are exchanged at Christmas; Easter; and also on
birthdays and name-days (the feast day of a saint whose
name one has). This makes choosing and giving gifts an
all-year round activity and, due to the number of gifts
that need to be bought each time, an activity that needs
to be planned carefully.
SCENES FROM THE LIVES OF ATHENIAN MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS
QUESTIONS
1 Describe and assess the key consumer socialization
factors identified in the case.
2 What intergenerational influences on consumer
behaviour can you identify from this case study?
3 Compare and contrast the different sets of beliefs,
motivations and values associated with baby boomer
and generation X consumers, and their respective
influences on patterns of consumption. Examine
483
similar sets of consumers in your own country –
identify and evaluate similarities and differences
between baby boomer and generation X consumers
in your society with the Greek examples given in the
case.
4 Discuss the rituals and occasions associated with giftgiving in Greece. Compare these gift-giving rituals
and occasions with your own country context.
