Role of Cultural Milieu in Cultural Change: Mediating Factor in Points of Contact

The elaborated account of metacontingency provides a process account relevant to the psychological and sociological levels of analysis as well as their interrelations with macrobehaviors associated with consumer practices. This chapter provides an overview of the elaborated account of metacontingency with the primary focus on ways this perspective offers points of entry to alter contextual factors influencing cultural practices. The concepts of metacontingency and macrocontingency are emphasized as foundational concepts in the behavior scientific analysis of the interaction between organizational practices producing products and behaviors of their consumers. Moreover, the role of cultural milieu as a mediating factor in this interaction is highlighted. The discussion of cultural phenomena also acknowledges the behaviors of verbally sophisticated consumers interacting with the many aggregate products of cultural entities as well as the verbal contexts within which members of organized groups operate.