9 research outputs found
Guest, Friend, or Colleague? Unpacking Relationship Norms in Collaborative Workplaces
In this chapter, we study how collaborative workspaces influence work in the sharing economy. We compare two types of shared workspaces, coworking and cohoming, and ask how much âco-â is happening within them. Using ethnographic data, we develop a typology of co- activities within collaborative workplaces and expand on the nature of the activities in each space. We discuss the modes of exchange and the relationships emerging within both collaborative workplaces and show how the structures and norms of cohoming and coworking influence these relationships. Collaborative workplaces are increasingly popular; it is critical to understand how they impact work practices, productivity, and well-being. This chapter advances our conceptualization of workspaces within the sharing economy
Understanding the flexible consumer lifestyle
A new generation of consumers is emerging, with individuals embracing precarity in nearly all aspects in their lives. These flexible consumers eschew ownership and daily routines in favour of nomadism and constantly renewed experiences. Laetitia Mimoun and Fleura Bardhi explore how these people manage the challenges associated with serial transitions, and what it means in terms of market opportunities
Food prosumption technologies : A symbiotic lens for a degrowth transition
Prosumption is gaining momentum among the critical accounts of sustainable consumption that have thus far enriched the marketing discourse. Attention to prosumption is increasing whilst the degrowth movement is emerging to tackle the contradictions inherent in growth-driven, technology-fueled, and capitalist modes of sustainable production and consumption. In response to dominant critical voices that portray technology as counter to degrowth living, we propose an alternative symbiotic lens with which to reconsider the relations between technology, prosumption, and degrowth living, and assess how a degrowth transition in the context of food can be carried out at the intersection of humanânatureâtechnology. We contribute to the critical debates on prosumption in marketing by analyzing the potentials and limits of technology-enabled food prosumption for a degrowth transition through the degrowth principles of conviviality and appropriateness. Finally, we consider the sociopolitical challenges involved in mobilizing such technologies to achieve symbiosis and propose a future research agenda.©2023 Sage Publications. The article is protected by copyright and reuse is restricted to non-commercial and no derivative uses. Users may also download and save a local copy of an article accessed in an institutional repository for the user's personal reference.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed
Reconsidération de la liminalité au sein de la recherche sur les consommateurs : Consommation et poursuite des modes de vie liquides
La liminalitĂ© est classiquement dĂ©finie comme un Ă©tat de transition entre et entre-deux positions sociales. Ce concept fondamental dans la recherche en marketing est utilisĂ© pour explorer les transitions de vie des consommateurs, les rituels de consommation, et les expĂ©riences de marchĂ© extraordinaires. Cette thĂšse Ă©value la thĂ©orisation de la liminalitĂ©, identifie des hypothĂšses insuffisantes dans son traitement actuel et propose des outils conceptuels pour avancer sa thĂ©orisation Ă lâĂšre de la modernitĂ© liquide en Ă©tudiant deux modes de vie contemporains qui marient contingence, incertitude et ambiguĂŻtĂ©. Le premier essai est un article conceptuel qui rĂ©examine le traitement de la liminalitĂ© dans la recherche sur le comportement du consommateur. Contestant lâhypothĂšse dâunidimensionnalitĂ©, deux formes distinctes, la liminalitĂ© transformationnelle et la liminoĂŻditĂ©, sont identifiĂ©es. A l'inverse du traitement laudatif usuel, les dangers de la liminalitĂ©, lorsquâelle fait partie dâune transition dĂ©pourvue de sens, sont soulignĂ©es. Cet essai contribue Ă la littĂ©rature en rĂ©solvant des ambiguĂŻtĂ©s dĂ©finitionnelles, en soulignant les limites du concept et en indiquant des directions de future recherche. Le deuxiĂšme essai Ă©tudie le mode de vie flexible, dĂ©fini comme la tendance Ă embrasser Ă dessein lâinstabilitĂ©, le changement et lâadaptabilitĂ© dans lâensemble de sa vie via la prĂ©caritĂ© professionnelle. En mĂȘlant entretiens longs, techniques projectives et observations participantes, cet essai interroge la façon dont les diverses et frĂ©quentes transitions qui caractĂ©risent le mode de vie flexible sont gĂ©rĂ©es par les consommateurs. SâĂ©cartant de la littĂ©rature existante, cet essai contribue Ă la recherche sur la liminalitĂ© des consommateurs en illustrant que la liminalitĂ© permanente est insoutenable pour les individus, qui ont besoin dâĂȘtre libĂ©rĂ©s de la pression Ă©crasante de sa poursuite. De plus, le capital de flexibilitĂ© est identifiĂ© comme ce qui leur permet dâaccomplir avec succĂšs ce mode de vie et ainsi de crĂ©er une Ă©chappatoire Ă la structure sociale qui, sinon, les contraindrait Ă des positions dominĂ©es. Le troisiĂšme essai Ă©tudie le parcours liminal des consommateurs qui traversent des transitions interculturelles rĂ©pĂ©tĂ©es. Des entretiens en autodriving et longs explorent la mobilitĂ© ouverte, un type de mobilitĂ© internationale caractĂ©risĂ©e par une forte incertitude quant Ă la durĂ©e du sĂ©jour Ă lâĂ©tranger et Ă la prochaine destination. Le parcours liminal des consommateurs les expose Ă un risque de dĂ©racinement et de perte de soi qui doivent ĂȘtre compensĂ©s par une consommation solide, ancrant le rĂ©cit identitaire des consommateurs dans des expĂ©riences de consommation cristallisĂ©es, des objets matĂ©riels et des marques symboliques.Consumer liminality is a vital concept in marketing research, usually defined as a transitional state of betwixt and between social positions. It enlightens life transitions, extraordinary experiences, and consumption rituals. This dissertation assesses the conceptualization of consumer liminality and advances its theorization in liquid modernity by exploring contemporary consumer lifestyles which embrace contingency, uncertainty, and ambiguity. The first essay conceptually reexamines the treatment of liminality in consumer research. I identify two distinct forms, transformational liminality and liminoidity, thus challenging the unidimensionality assumption. Countering its celebratory treatment, I highlight the dangers of liminality when it is part of a meaningless transition. This essay contributes to the literature by resolving definitional ambiguities, outlining the conceptâs scope, and delineating research directions. The second essay explores the flexible consumer lifestyle, defined as purposefully embracing instability, change, and adaptability in every aspect of life through professional precariousness. Using a combination of long interviews, projective techniques, and participant observation, I question how the frequent life transitions which characterize the flexible lifestyle and could be conceptualized as an experience of permanent liminality, are handled by consumers. Departing from prior literature, this essay contributes to consumer research on liminality by illustrating that permanent liminality is unsustainable for individuals, who need a release from the overwhelming pressures of its pursuit. Further, I identify flexibility capital as what enables consumers to perform successfully this lifestyle and thus, create an escape from the social structure which otherwise compels them to dominated precarious positions. The third essay studies the liminal consumer journeys of consumers who experience repeated cross-cultural transitions. I combine autodriving and long interviews to explore open-ended mobility, a type of international mobility characterized by a high uncertainty regarding the duration of the stay abroad and the next destination. This essay contributes by emphasizing liminal dangers. I identify that liminal consumer journeys put consumers at risk of rootlessness and self-loss and must be compensated by solidifying consumption, which anchors consumersâ identity narratives in crystallized consumption experiences, material objects, and symbolic brands
Recommended from our members
Authenticating brand activism: negotiating the boundaries of free speech to make a change
Activist brands commonly engage in controversies to redefine which opinions and ideas are acceptable to express publicly. We conceptualize this practice as free speech boundary work. How can activist brands negotiate the boundaries of free speech to authenticate their activist positioning? By conducting a comparative case study of 18 activist brands, we identify three controversial strategiesâcreating monstrous hybrids, challenging the establishment, and demonstrating exemplarityâeach of them challenging the boundaries of free speech through a distinct mechanism. The results show that whether these strategies authenticate brandsâ activism depends on their ability to communicate brandsâ moral competency, defined in terms of moral sensitivity, moral vision, and moral integration. This study contributes to the literature on brand activism by proposing an integrative framework that articulates the mechanisms underlying the reformative power of controversial brand activism. Second, we contribute to the literature on brand activism authentication by introducing a competencyâoriented view that reveals the heterogeneous and multidimensional nature of activism authenticity and expands our conception of the spectrum of moral territories with which activist brands can engage
Digital nomadism as temporal privilege
That time is a valuable commodity in our contemporary society preoccupied with productivity and the speed afforded by digital technologies is well established in the marketing literature. Two streams of literature have emerged: one associating status with lack of time and busyness and the other linking status to the ability to enjoy slowness. How consumersâ perceptions of time unfold beyond a fast-slow binary, however, is not well understood. In this chapter, we draw from an interpretive exploration of digital nomadism as a liquid lifestyle enabled by the digital marketplace and introduce the notion of temporal privilege as a marker of status based on a perception of time abundance and time sovereignty. We demonstrate that temporal privilege is achieved through (1) rejection of productivity orientations and (2) projection of temporal control. We thus highlight an emergent way to signal status that revolves neither around slowness nor busyness, but around the ability to circumvent binary temporal rhythms to gain an abundance of free time. This is perceived as a form of temporal privilege. We contribute to the ongoing debate on time as status by introducing temporal status as a new form of distinction in the context of liquidity and digitalization