TY  - CHAP
AB  - Abstract Purpose: Cool, a subjective, socially constructed concept has interested several researchers investigating its nature and successful marketing applications. However, the authors note a lack of studies investigating its perceptions in non-Western cultural contexts. The aims of this study are to investigate the meanings of cool in Tunisia, a North-African, Arab-Muslim emerging country.
Methodology: The authors conducted qualitative research through focus groups with Tunisian consumers. The authors used lexical, thematic, and semiotic analyses to investigate cool meanings.
Findings: Findings show that the term “Cool” in Tunisia is mostly related to lexical synonyms and meanings of lightness and flexibility, fun and amusement, humor, and trendiness rather than originality, divergence, creativity, and uniqueness long argued to be the significations of cool in Western literature, despite their minor presence in our results.
Originality/Value: Results show further evidence that the concept is culturally laden and that the socio-cultural characteristics of Tunisia altered its meanings established in the West, mostly associated to its origins and emergence.
VL  - 20
SN  - 978-1-78754-285-3, 978-1-78754-286-0/0885-2111
DO  - 10.1108/S0885-211120190000020009
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1108/S0885-211120190000020009
AU  - Zouaoui Hela
AU  - Smaoui Fatma
ED  - Domen Bajde
ED  - Dannie Kjeldgaard
ED  - Russell W. Belk
PY  - 2019
Y1  - 2019/01/01
TI  - Story of Cool: Journey from the West to Emerging Arab Countries
T2  - Consumer Culture Theory
T3  - Research in Consumer Behavior
PB  - Emerald Publishing Limited
SP  - 73
EP  - 84
Y2  - 2024/04/19
ER  -