Consumer Culture Theory 9781787542860, 9781787542853, 9781787542877

Table of contents :
Consumer Culture Theory
Consumer Culture Theory
Content
List of Contributors
List of Figures
List of Tables
Introduction – Consumer Culture Fairy Tales
PART I: OBJECTS AND THEIR DOINGS
Chapter 1: Love and Locks: Consumers Making Pilgrimages and Performing Love Rituals
Conceptual Background
Contextualization
Research Method
Findings
A Singularized Object that Becomes Decommoditized and Unalienable through the Ritual Process
The “Love Bridge” Is a Place of Pilgrimage Where Rituals Occur
Instability and Ambiguity of Symbolic Meanings
The Active Function of Symbolic and Mythological Features
Discussion
References
Chapter 2: The Life and Death of Anthony Barbie: A Consumer Culture Tale of Lovers, Butlers, and Crashers
Introduction
Material Culture and the Social Life of Things Along the Consumption Cycle
Methodology
Findings
Product Usage
Product Disposal
Discussion: Objectification and Personification
Conclusion
References
Chapter 3: “When Your Dog Matches Your Decor”: Object Agency of Living and Non-Living Entities in Home Assemblage
Introduction
Non-Human Agency in Home Assemblage: Theoretical Underpinnings
Methodology
Findings
Distributed Agency in the Human–Animal Relation
Distributed Agency in the Human–Material Object Relation
Distributed Agency in the Animal–Material Object Relation
Discussion: Toward Shared Agency in the Triadic Relation Among Human, Animal, and Material Object
Conclusions
References
Chapter 4: “I’m Only a Guardian of These Objects”: Vintage Traders, Curatorial Consumption and the Meaning(s) of Objects
Introduction
Literature Review
Curation and Consumer Research
The Consumption and Circulation of Old Objects
Re-Contextualizing Curatorial Consumption
Research Setting: Vintage
Methods
Findings and Discussion: Vintage Traders and Curatorial Practices
Acquisition
Preservation
Transference
Conclusion
References
PART II: GLOCALIZATION
Chapter 5: Story of Cool: Journey from the West to Emerging Arab Countries
Introduction
About Cool: Literature and Marketing Practices
Cultural Frame: About Tunisia
Methodology
Findings: How Is Cool Constructed By Tunisians?
Lexical Synonyms of Cool
Meanings of Cool
A Semiotic Square Analysis of Cool among Tunisians
Discussion and Contributions
References
Chapter 6: Ethnic Identification: Capital and Distinction Among Second-Generation British Indians
Introduction
Context
Literature Review
Consumer Acculturation
British Asian Identity-Work
Overview of Key Theoretical Concepts
Methods
Findings
Bollywood Cinema as Prized Cultural Capital
Performing Arts as Institutional Capital
Hysteresis, Gender, and Ethnicity
Discussion
References
Chapter 7: Cognitive Polyphasia, Cultural Legitimacy, and Behavior Change: the Case of the Illicit Alcohol Market in Kenya
Introduction
Study Context
Literature Review
Cognitive Polyphasia
Cognitive Polyphasia and Change
Institutional Theory: Cultural-Cognitive Legitimacy
Methodological Approach
Findings
Illicit Alcohol as a Polluted, Contaminated Product
Curses, Misfortune, and Change
Witchcraft and Sorcery
Discussion
References
Other Internet Sources
PART III: CONSTITUTING MARKETS
Chapter 8: Magic Towns: Creating the Consumer Fetish in Market Research Test Sites
The Consumer as Fetish
Assembling a Test Market
Assembling – Fetishization – Purification
Fetish, Politics, and Strategy
References
Chapter 9: Humanizing Market Relationships: the DIY Extended Family
Marketization
An Institutional Theory Perspective
Context and Methods
Findings: DIY Extended Family
Point of Departure: A Market for Companionship
Moving beyond Transactional Relationships
Sharing Consumption Experiences
Reinforcing Social Bonds through Giving
The DIY Extended Family
Discussion: Entrepreneurial Re-Creation of the Extended Family Using Market Offerings
References
Chapter 10: Patriotism as Creative (Counter-)Conduct of Russian Fashion Designers
Introduction
Theoretical Considerations: Nationalism, Patriotism and Cultural Intermediaries in the Marketplace
Data and Method
Findings
Patriotic Dispositif
Patriotism in the Interpretations of Fashion Designers
Patriotic Fashion
Cosmopolitan Patriotism
Economic Patriotism
Cultural Patriotism
Fashion Localism
Discussion, Conclusion, and Future Directions
References
Chapter 11: Culinary Communication Practices: The Role of Retail Spaces in Producing Field-Specific Cultural Capital
Introduction
Festivals as Bundles of Practices
Retail Spaces and Cultural Capital
The Foodie Consumption Field and Its Field-Specific Capital
Research Methodology and Empirical Context
Context
Fieldwork
Data Analysis Procedures
Findings
Representational Practices
Exchange Practices
Experiential Practices
Discussion and Implications
References
PART IV: QUOTH THE RAVEN
Chapter 12: Duck, It’s a Raven! Writing Stirring Stories with Andersen’s Sinister Shadow
The FIR Tree
Once Upon an MS Dreary
Mournful and Never-Ending Revision
Quoth the Reader, Nevermore
Perversity
Pugnacity
Poetry
Quoth the Writer, Never Bore
From Out That Shadow
References
Index