Abstract

Business has been thought of as a machine, operated with the goal of accumulating material wealth. Automated business operations improve efficiency, but at the cost of employee and consumer engagement. An alternative metaphor considers business as a cultural system dedicated to the management of meaning and identity, manifested in ritual practices involving commercial goods and services. This metaphor of business as ritual has its origin in an ancient religious tradition personified by Hermes, the Greek god of commerce, and symbolized by his staff, the caduceus. This model of ritualized commerce can be applied in the context of present-day business through the model of rites of passage developed by Arnold Van Gennep and Victor Turner. The application of this model of ritual commerce is illustrated in the context of a qualitative study of women’s experiences of shaving. However, effective design of commercial rituals requires cultural authenticity, and will be based upon thick interpretations of particular settings crafted by human beings rather than through automated systems of machine learning.