Design, ethics and culture
Integrating cultural factors into product design

A subject as sensitive as culture calls for a discussion of its ethical implications.

Respecting a culture is one thing, but it has to be set against other elements such as safety, freedom, the law...

Another is to use culture to attract the consumer by giving the product an appearance that will arouse cultural sensitivities, but which does not correspond to the product's deeper reality or real expectations. The latter attitude is also possible, if not tempting. Despite the weight given to the quality approach centered on expressed or latent needs, this deviation could become very frequent once cultural factors have been mastered. Let's take a simple example from an area that is culturally sensitive for the French, and which is already well advanced on these issues: agri-food. Appellations touch on the intangible side of the product, but...