Victoria L. Rodner | University of Edinburgh (original) (raw)

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Papers by Victoria L. Rodner

Journal of Marketing Management

Annals of Tourism Research, 2023

Phantasmagorical contexts, wherein the ineffable and the quasi-mystical emerge through encounters... more Phantasmagorical contexts, wherein the ineffable and the quasi-mystical emerge through encounters with the material, the mediated, the sensual and the affectual, have received considerable attention in tourism research, bringing into view absent presences. However, their fluid, evanescent, transcendental, and often uncomfortable atmospheres make them an easy target for exoticism. Reflexivity has been widely highlighted as a way to avoid exoticising, colonial approaches to knowledge production. Despite the recent focus on reflexivity and calls for deeper reflexivity, there has been little attention on how reflexivity can be achieved. This paper draws on the Kyoto School and their philosophy of 'nothingness' to develop different epistemic groundings for more messy, embodied and situated tourism research. A selfless epistemology is illustrated through a process of learning, unlearning and re-emerging to see with 'doubleeyes.'

Consumption Markets & Culture

Annals of Tourism Research

Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal

Purpose Once the domain of theologians, sociologists and (religion) anthropologists, we have seen... more Purpose Once the domain of theologians, sociologists and (religion) anthropologists, we have seen more recently how consumer researchers have enriched the study of spirituality and religion. Researching the sacred can be fraught with challenges, in and out of the field. Russell Belk, Samuelson Appau and Diego Rinallo address key questions, issues and conceptualisations in the scholarship on sacred consumption, contemplating the past and mapping future research avenues. A reading list is also included for those interested in joining the authors in this collective discovery of the sacred. Design/methodology/approach Contributors answered the following four questions: How has the study of sacred consumption evolved since you started researching the field? What would be the critical methodological issues that researchers need to consider when approaching the “sacred”? What are some of the key authors that have influenced your thinking? What do you think will be the key questions that re...

Routledge eBooks, Nov 22, 2022

Marketing Theory

During a roundtable discussion at the 2022 GENMAC Conference, a group of researchers specializing... more During a roundtable discussion at the 2022 GENMAC Conference, a group of researchers specializing in religiosity and spiritual consumption, using examples from their own fieldwork, reflected on how (i) researchers’ subject positioning—including their gender and sexuality—shape fieldwork in multifaceted manners; (ii) investigations of religious/spiritual fields would benefit from a heightened sensitivity to issues of gender and sexuality; and (iii) greater sensitivity to aspects of religion and/or spirituality can help gender and sexuality scholars better understand consumers and markets. Based on the above, in this commentary paper, we call for intersectional reflexivity, attention to vulnerability and discomfort during fieldwork, and critical sensitivity to the religious “context of context” during theorization. Furthermore, we argue that specific spiritual/religious imaginaries can foster new research approaches that can contribute to more nuanced fieldwork and theorization in mar...

Marketing Theory

Studies on affect and affective atmospheres have been a topic of increasing interest in marketing... more Studies on affect and affective atmospheres have been a topic of increasing interest in marketing, particularly in the management of consumption and retail spaces where service providers attempt to orchestrate a prescribed, collective affective response in consumers. This paper draws on the work of Sara Ahmed and Margaret Wetherell to bring the subject back to the fore, providing a more fine-grained theorisation of how individuals land in such atmospheres. We articulate surfacing and sticking as key dimensions of landing, highlighting the heterogeneity of our landing, whereby affect is individually felt through bodily reactions due to how our personal affective history intersects with the socio-political context. Using a poetic affective attunement method, we capture intensely affective atmospheres, namely spirit-permeated religious settings in Brazil; demonstrating how landing results in different orientations or disorientations through which often elided emotional experiences come...

Journal of Services Marketing, 2021

Purpose To better understand the uptake of cosmetic procedures in the wake of Instagram, this stu... more Purpose To better understand the uptake of cosmetic procedures in the wake of Instagram, this study aims to unravel how the aesthetic labour of influencers acts as the packaging of the cosmetic servicescape. In doing so, the authors contribute to theorising of aesthetic and emotional labour within the services marketing literature, fleshing out the bodywork of influential others not as employees but endorsers, who act like the “walking billboards” (Zeithaml and Bitner, 2003) for the cosmetic service industry. Design/methodology/approach This study adopts a dual qualitative approach to data collection, coupling netnographic material from Instagram posts with 16 in-depth interviews with female Instagram users who have undergone or hope to undergo cosmetic surgery. Using mediated discourse analysis, the authors weave their visual and discursive data together for a richer account of the commoditisation of cosmetic surgery. Findings Adopting a postfeminist neoliberal lens, where women ar...

Society, 2016

Discourse is important to society as it encapsulates who we are and how we think and, through hab... more Discourse is important to society as it encapsulates who we are and how we think and, through habitualized practice, justifies the way we do things. Over time and through practice, socially constructed discourses become fact-like, thereby ensuring their continuity and relevancy for society. Once habitualized, practices may appear fixed and constant, unless of course, there is a change in discourse. Here I examine one such case where a shift in the overarching discourse has had a very palpable effect on society, namely Venezuelan society. Cases such as Venezuela’s reveals very vividly how a shift in discourse affects organizational practice and, naturally, society as a whole. My research explores how the late President Hugo Chávez used language and rhetoric to alter previously habitualized practices and redirect discourse towards ideals of Populism and Inclusionism. By focusing on the visual arts, I show how the introduction of a Populist discourse derailed the organizational practices of Venezuela’s museums and government funded art projects, and also how this new discourse painted a very different image of Venezuela for audiences both at home and abroad.

Journal of Macromarketing, 2015

Gustavo Art critic / curator Venezuela Bianca Art critic Venezuela Elisabeth Dealer Venezuela Leo... more Gustavo Art critic / curator Venezuela Bianca Art critic Venezuela Elisabeth Dealer Venezuela Leopoldo Dealer / public curator Venezuela Paloma Museum professional / art restorer Venezuela Nelson Artist / art restorer Venezuela Carmelo Artist / art restorer Venezuela Tamara Private curator Venezuela Jacobo Artist Venezuela Armando Curator / critic / historian Venezuela Amelia Dealer Venezuela Roberto Artist Venezuela Amapola Dealer / gallerista Venezuela Fermin Art educator /public curator Venezuela Linda Dealer Venezuela Rocio Private curator Venezuela Nicolas Dealer / founder and manager of art fair Elicited Text (Venezuelan participant) Mafalda Artist manager Paris (Venezuelan participant)

Symbolic Interaction, 2015

Arts Marketing: An International Journal, 2013

Symbolic Interaction, 2015

Arts Marketing: An International Journal, 2014

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of the field of visual arts ma... more Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of the field of visual arts marketing in the development of wider branding theory and practice. Drawing on examples from visual artists and the art mechanism that connects them, the paper reveals how artists and art professionals foster various types of capital (social, cultural, symbolic) as a way of developing a brand name, ensuring longevity in the field, and gaining financial value on the market. Design/methodology/approach – As a conceptual paper, the authors draw on a range of published works as well as examples from the world of visual arts in order to provide fresh theoretical insight into how branding in the arts may be applied to other industries. Findings – The key findings are the importance of the consideration of the development and nurturing of social and cultural capital in developing brand identity. Additionally, visual art brands are required to be innovative and dynamic, and lessons learned regardi...

Politics and art have throughout history, intersected in diverse and complex ways. Ideologies and... more Politics and art have throughout history, intersected in diverse and complex ways. Ideologies and political systems have used the arts to create a certain image and, depending on the form of government this has varied from clear-cut state propaganda, to patronage, to more indirect arms-length funding procedures. Therefore, artists working within the macro-level socio-political context cannot help but be influenced, inspired and sometimes restricted by these policies and political influences. This article examines the contemporary art markets of two emerging, Socialist economies to investigate the relationship between state pol-itics and the contemporary visual arts market. We argue that the respective governments and art worlds are trying to construct a brand narrative for their nations, but that these discourses are often at cross-purposes. In doing so, we illustrate that it is impos-sible to separate a consideration of the artwork from the macro-level context in which it is produc...

In the contemporary visual art market, for art to be valuable, it must be deemed authentic. In th... more In the contemporary visual art market, for art to be valuable, it must be deemed authentic. In this chapter, we deconstruct the space within which the authentication of art takes place to understand the structural underpinnings of value and its ideological foundations. Through a three-part model, we demonstrate how authenticity in the art market, as a socially constructed concept, relies on the interpretation of cultural brokers who demonstrate recognition of the artist's vision in the work by placing it within an art context and thus legitimising it as culturally valuable. In our spatial analysis, we illustrate the complexity of visual art products and their valuation, demonstrating how authenticity operates through multiple dimensions. Ultimately, we demonstrate that authenticity is an autopoietic market practice which serves to further monopolise power.

Journal of Marketing Management

Annals of Tourism Research, 2023

Consumption Markets & Culture

Annals of Tourism Research

Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal

Routledge eBooks, Nov 22, 2022

Marketing Theory

Journal of Services Marketing, 2021

Society, 2016

Journal of Macromarketing, 2015

Symbolic Interaction, 2015

Arts Marketing: An International Journal, 2013

Symbolic Interaction, 2015

Arts Marketing: An International Journal, 2014

Focusing on the branding practices of Pentecostal mega-churches in Brazil and in particular the U... more Focusing on the branding practices of Pentecostal mega-churches in Brazil and in particular the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, we show how through copycat branding, these religious organizations make themselves more culturally, historically and spiritually relevant to the public, ensuring their sustainability in the market, and at the same time utilize oppositional branding strategies to vilify their direct competition. Through these glocalization practices, as well as gaining a position in the market, we observe how Pentecostal churches actively shape the consumer and spiritual identity of their adherents and concurrently de-traditionalize prevailing belief systems. Our paper therefore contributes to marketing and consumer culture theory, in that we reveal how branding strategies help legitimize organizations in the non-profit sector, embedding them in the field, shaping consumer identity by demonstrating moral authority and at the same time derailing previously 'taken-for-granted' belief systems, all in the pursuit of attaining and maintaining a competitive advantage in the market.

This study of the art market in Venezuela illustrates that radical changes to the macro-environme... more This study of the art market in Venezuela illustrates that radical changes to the macro-environment can result in significant restructuring of organisational fields. Analysis of data from the field illustrated that national level art markets are aligned to global institutional fields in terms of the conferring of value and that stripping national level organizations within the art world of their symbolic capital, signals their institutional death at a global level. In order to retain a place within the global art world, new private sector art organisations have been established or extended in remit to act as ‘institutional placeholders’ in an attempt to mimic value creation and recognition practices. The findings therefore contribute to the development of institutional theory by introducing the notion of ‘institutional placeholder’ where the aim is to retain existing mechanisms in the face of change, rather than to instigate change.

This paper uses the context of the art market to examine the notion of ‘authenticity.’ By explori... more This paper uses the context of the art market to examine the notion of ‘authenticity.’ By exploring three artworld cases of varying degrees of inauthenticity due to their ambiguous or controversial nature as original 'works of art,’ we show how authenticity serves as a mechanism to control what is allowed to be considered valuable art and elucidate some of the underlying moral values we use to structure our markets. As a socially constructed concept, we find that authenticity in the art market relies on the interpretation of cultural brokers, the positioning by legitimizing institutions within an art context, and a recognition of the artist’s vision throughout the work. By examining the inauthentic and fake in the art market, we highlight the blurred boundaries within which market systems operate. Authenticity is thus found to operate through multiple dimensions relying on the fluid nature of value which is constantly in flux both geographically and temporally, thus dependent on the macro-context.

"This paper examines the dynamics between State politics and the contemporary visual arts market ... more "This paper examines the dynamics between State politics and the contemporary visual arts market using Venezuela and China as our case studies. We explore how local art markets operate in Socialist regimes and how an overt political involvement may hinder the workings of an innately capitalist mechanism and consequently brand a nation on the global cultural field.
Although little attention has been paid to wider macro-level pressures that may impact upon artists’ careers, we notice how these tensions drive the local art scene in the wrong direction vis à vis the global market, evidence which will be of particular use for fellow marketing scholars, arts practitioners and policy makers.
Data collection was carried out in Venezuela and China, as well as other important cultural hubs, with a total of 48 semi-structured qualitative interviews with respondents, including artists, dealers, critics, curators, foundations, and government bodies.
Working within the macro-level socio-political context, artists cannot help but to be influenced, inspired and sometimes restricted by local policies. Both the government and local art system try to construct a brand narrative for their nation. However, when tainted by Socialist ideals, government branding discourses appear to be at odds with the global art market.
"

Over the last decade, the Venezuelan museum framework has witnessed significant changes to its mo... more Over the last decade, the Venezuelan museum framework has witnessed significant changes to its modus operandi. With the introduction of new cultural policies and the banishing of an established structure of dissemination for the arts, the country’s art institutions appear to have purposefully dislodged themselves from a broader network of legitimation. Due to the administrative centralisation of museums, dismissal of qualified staff, discontinuation of previous curatorial programming, misguided and short-lived new cultural initiatives, and a poor acquisitions policy, Venezuela’s contemporary artists, and the art agents that support them, have had to envision alternative methods of generating value for the work they do without the support of an institutional framework. This paper reveals how the country’s socio-political polarisation has in fact hindered the value-generating mechanism of an art network for both local and international audiences, driving the visual arts deeper into private sector.

This paper compares and contrasts the contemporary art markets of two emerging economies: Venezue... more This paper compares and contrasts the contemporary art markets of two emerging economies: Venezuela and China. Although we may perceive them as poles apart, these two nations share complex socio-political circumstances that currently hinder the development of their respective local art scenes. Our findings reveal that there is the need for these governments to recognize and acknowledge the complexities and diversities inherent to artistic creation, since a thriving art scene must present multiple interpretations and continuously shape and re-shape itself within the global context. The co-creation of a more desirable collective and individual artistic image, the development of a cohesive national art network with sustainable cultural programing as well as the encouragement of a local buying public with wealthy and enthusiastic art collectors, will help place the Venezuelan and Chinese art scenes firmly on the international map, thereby leading these contemporary artists towards global recognition and validation.

Unlike previous conceptualisations of the market, the art machine illustrated in this paper envis... more Unlike previous conceptualisations of the market, the art machine illustrated in this paper envisions an interdependent branding mechanism, each of whose different component parts necessitates the other in the successful and sustainable creation of symbolic and financial value for contemporary art. This paper deconstructs the inner workings of a global art machine, which is currently dominated by American and European art markets and arts marketing literature. Further research may investigate whether or not local art machines in emerging markets mirror this cohesive, interlocking branding mechanism and how local and international taste-making cogs may cooperate in the value-generating process of marketing contemporary art and artists.

This research introduces the term Art Machine as a comprehensive network of players that actively... more This research introduces the term Art Machine as a comprehensive network of players that actively construct not merely the theory behind the works of art, but also the symbolic and financial value of the entire art scene. Artists, dealers, individual patrons, collectors, corporate and private institutions work in unison to promote, diffuse, market and brand the work of contemporary artists in today's global market. By taking a Constructivist approach, this research acknowledges socio-political, historical, cultural and economic factors that help or hinder the development of a healthy Art Machine, using Venezuela as an ethnographic case study of an Art Market in an Emerging Economy.

Contemporary artists, lacking the legitimation that times bestows, must prove the worth of their ... more Contemporary artists, lacking the legitimation that times bestows, must prove the worth of their work within the initial, creative output stage of dissemination. Underpinned by constructivism, this research investigates how contemporary artists create monetary, aesthetic and sociological value for their work by going through the complex mechanisms of the global art machine. Findings at the Venice Biennale (Venezuelan & Thai National Pavilions, June 2009) highlight the importance of an artist’s identity or signature style for branding success. Dealing in culture as a commodity, the art business relies heavily on branding to promote its offering to the public: artists as managers profit in the established markets from the name they have created for them by the “tastemakers” of the art world. Dealers, museums, critics, commercial art fairs and non-commercial art events (such as biennials and triennials) create value, manipulate our taste and act as “gatekeepers” who unlock the doors of acceptance for artists today. This paper takes brand theory to new territories by juxtaposing the dynamic emergent art markets of Venezuela and Thailand, comparing these where useful to the market leaders of Europe and the USA.

A review of Kirsten Forkert's "Artistic Lives - A study of Creativity in two European Cities"