The Nationalist Beauty Ideal

Sammanfattning: Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore how drawing upon nationalism and regionalism in the marketing of brands may lead to unintended consequences in greater society. This purpose has been reached by studying the Nationalist and Scandinavian discourses used in the marketing of eleven Scandinavian beauty brands. Theoretical Background: The first chapter of the theoretical background elaborates upon marketing communication and the theory of Corporate Visual Identity to create an understanding of marketing as a practice, and its impact on consumers identity. The second chapter develops a deeper understanding of Country of Origin, an effect used to positively affect consumer perceptions. The third chapter addresses how elements used to create a Corporate Visual Identity can be used to highlight a Country of Origin by the theory of Cultural Heritage Process. Lastly, the fourth chapter presents the study’s critical perspective by introducing the theories of Banal Nationalism and regional identity. Method & Research Design: The study is qualitative and takes a social constructivist ontological position. Following this position the study takes a critical approach, following the Critical Discourse Analysis Framework created by Fairclough. The methodological framework consists of the three steps text, discursive practice and social practice. Thus, the study’s analysis is conducted following these three steps. Empirical material: The study’s empirical material consists of posts, texts and logotypes retrieved from the eleven Scandinavian beauty brands' official Instagram-accounts and websites. This empirical material is referred to as texts, which is the term used in Fairclough’s methodology. Conclusions: The study led to the following conclusions. Firstly, the brands draw upon Scandinavian and Nationalist discourses to raise desire among consumers with the intended purpose of generating higher profits. Secondly, whilst the strategy is successful as regionalism and nationalism brings people together and creates a sense of identity. Hence, it is an idle way of reaching the core objective of marketing communication, to impact and influence through the process of relationship building. However, as brand’s adopt this marketing strategy in the Scandinavian region, the countries and its people are portrayed in a narrow and one-dimensional manner. This narrow portrayal has the protentional to pave the way for more aggressive forms of nationalism.