Unveiling the ritualistic debutante balls consumption

Abstract

This study sought to identify the assumptions that make the debutante’s ball, a consumption that is full of meanings that drives large economic figures and its consumer research lacks knowledge. For that, a qualitative and exploratory research was applied, and the data collection was done through semi-structured interviews and, afterwards, content analysis was performed for the data interpretation. The study made possible to identify that the debutante’s ball in contemporary times has as main motivation the ostentation of the family’s purchasing power of the birthday girl, and seeks no longer a marriage for the debutante, but to increase her networks of contacts.