Velocity and Vertigo: Gender Trends in Consumer Research: In Conversation with Fernando Desouches, Linda Ong, and Linda Scott

In this panel conversation, industry leaders examine trends related to gender, such as those shaped by generational differences, technologies, and the urgent consequences of the pandemic. Indeed, millennial and Generation Z consumers display greater acceptance of various expressions of gender and family than older generations. These more racially and ethnically diverse digital natives, who were looking hopefully ahead to the opportunities of a growing economy, are now among the most vulnerable to the uncertain future amid the fallout of a global pandemic (e.g., Pew Research Social and Demographic Trends: https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/essay/on-the-cusp-of-adulthood-and-facing-an-uncertain-future-what-we-know-about-gen-z-so-far). The pandemic further highlights the disproportionately negative economic vulnerabilities of women, LGBTQ+ communities, and disenfranchised groups around the world. The panelists discuss the mutually intensifying confluence of these events. Amid the velocity of change, creating a sense of vertigo described by panelists, Mr. Desouches, Ms. Ong, and Dr. Scott find that there is hope for a more sustainable balance that overcomes toxic expressions of genders and allows for more authentic expressions of identities, and they discuss the role of organizations in brands in realizing these possibilities. The panelists additionally point to the ambiguities of digital and social media, including ways in which they have given consumers more control over narratives of consumption in consumer-brand relationships but create the echo chambers that may isolate consumers. The panelists discuss best practices for professionals to responsibly navigate the politics of gender through marketing

Exploring the Intersection of Digital Virtual Consumption and Family Rituals

Since Rook (1985) first described important linkages between rituals and consumer behavior, scholars have examined consumer rituals from the perspectives of the individual consumer, marketers, marketing exchanges, and cultural institutions. New modes of communication and expression (e.g., digital media), and globalization calls for a thorough understanding of the consumption-related ritual topics, and what areas they should explore in the future. In this paper, we systematically review articles in the top marketing and consumer behavior journals to provide an overview of the current composition of ritual scholarship, and of prospective areas for future research. In so doing, we hope to categorize ritual scholarship into broad conceptual domains and evaluate our current understanding of rituals in each, identify gaps in our understanding based on the changing market environment, and suggest areas of inquiry to address these gaps. We examined articles in the top twelve marketing journals identified in the SCImago Journal Rank of all marketing journals, each with an impact factor of at least 2.5. We searched for articles pertaining to consumption rituals in the twelve journals by consulting the three business databases included in the EBSCO database. Of these journals, five included pertinent articles: Journal of Marketing, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Consumer Psychology, and the Journal of Retailing. We determined that the authors’ foci led to an emergent partition of the literature into five domains (albeit with a few overlaps). The research team engaged in close reads and iterative discussion of articles, identifying various themes and research extensions within each domain. The themes are: foundational, macro-level, meso-level, marketplace-level, and micro-level

Consumers\u27 Management of Risk in Daily Life through Digital Virtual Consumption

The term “risky consumption” elicits visions of extreme contexts, such as leaping from a moving airplane at 30,000 feet above ground or using illicit hallucinogenic drugs. However, this study aims to answer the call for understanding risk that is inherent in consumers’risk-laden life events. Specifically, we examine the process by which consumers use digital virtual consumption (DVC) to negotiate tensions related to risk and the implications that this process holds for consumers’ identity narratives. Findings demonstrate how consumers, upon a triggering risk-laden life event, can turn to DVC to both cope with risk, as well as to engage in pleasurable risk. The research extends the theoretical understandings of risk and identity as intertwined with DVC. Managerial and social welfare implications are also offered

Resistance to Gender Stereotyping in Advertising Institutions

This paper uses institutional theory to examine how advertising professionals resist the use of gender stereotypical messages in advertising. Through in-depth interviews, we examine how advertising executives across the U.S., UK, and Turkey conceptualize gendered messages and the strategies used to resist these practices within their institutions

A Research Agenda for (Gender) Troubled Times: Striving for a Better Tomorrow

As we gathered on Zoom to begin this editorial, a typical COVID-19 experience unfolded. Working from our living rooms, kitchens, or closets (Eileen) we checked in as to how each of us was coping, knowing that we were navigating multiple responsibilities and uncertainties. Having assured ourselves that we were all “fine, really, okay,” we proceeded to get down to work, only to have Linda’s kids start vying for her attention because—of course—she’s not just trying to write an editorial, she’s also overseeing the online learning they are supposed to be doing. If we needed it, our shared experience was living proof of how the pandemic has impacted all of our—inevitably gendered—lives. All of us are trying to share our spaces with family members who are attempting to accomplish things in homes that were not designed for the purposes for which they are being tasked. And one of us is trying to do her work at the same time she’s overseeing the care, feeding, and education of two kids. Little did we imagine when we crafted our call for articles for this special issue the profound disjuncture between “the before times” and our current surreal circumstances. The once taken-for-granted institutions in society—work, school, family, government—have been significantly disrupted due to the pandemic. More than ever, due to both the pandemic and the heightened salience of systemic racism, the problematic facets of existing institutions are now exposed. And the resulting inequities are stark. While research published in this issue was not born out of the context of multiple tumultuous global events, including COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter social justice movement, we recognize the unique opportunity we have in this editorial to speak to the current moment

Exploring Patient-Provider Relationships in Preference-Based Health Care Choices

Patient-physician relationship models previously identified in research do not always capture the full range of consumers’ experiences as they engage in difficult, preference-based decisions. Examining the context of individuals seeking infertility treatment, we identify a new Peripheral Model of patient-physician relationship, whereby the physician’s role is perceived as rather inconsequential

The Roles of Extraordinary Beliefs in Consumption Rituals

People often ascribe to extraordinary beliefs (EBs), or those that laws of science cannot explain, or those that may even contradict science. Both the foundational literature in anthropology and recent work in consumer behavior affirm the assumption that rituals—structured, repeated, symbolic, and expressive activities—might be one context where extraordinary beliefs shape consumer experiences. To date, however, little understanding exists regarding the types of EBs that emerge in consumption-ritual contexts, and how they influence ritual participation. We examine over 30 years of articles in top-tier journals to address two questions: (1) Which EBs emerge as salient to consumer rituals? (2) How do EBs shape consumer ritual participation? In doing so, we illuminate the role of 15 EBs organized by four key functions. We reveal important gaps in understanding the interplay between EBs and consumer rituals and offer future research recommendations to address these gaps

Feminist academic organizations: Challenging sexism through collective mobilizing across research, support, and advocacy

This paper examines the establishment of a feminist academic organization, GENMAC (Gender, Markets, and Consumers; genmac.co), serving gender scholars in business schools and related fields. In so doing, it builds on the emerging literature of feminist academic organizations, as situated within feminist organizational studies (FOS). Through a feminist case study and by assessing the reflections of GENMAC\u27s board members, we tell the story of the emergence of GENMAC and detail the tensions the organization encountered as it formally established itself as a feminist organization within the confines of a business school setting, a patriarchal system, and a neoliberal university paradigm. We build on the FOS literature by considering how our organization counters cultures of heightened individualism and builds collective action to challenge sexism through the nexus of research, support, and advocacy pillars of our organization. We demonstrate how, through these actions, our organization challenges hierarchies of knowledge, prioritizes the care and support needed for the day-to-day survival of gender scholars in business schools, and spotlights and challenges structural inequalities and injustices in the academy

Ban the Word Feminist? Control and Subversion of Stigma in Social Movements and Consumer Culture

Stigmas of feminists have long been used as methods to control discourses and undermine social movements. This study examines and compares two online conversations evoking various tenets of feminism, one a socio-political event and the other a brand-related conversation to examine access to and legitimization of feminist discourses. [to cite]