Figuring companion-species consumption: A multi-site ethnography of the post-canine Afghan hound (original) (raw)
Related papers
2008
This introduction lays the groundwork for a special issue of the Journal of Business Research devoted to "Animal Companions, Consumption Experiences, and the Marketing of Pets." After some preliminary comments on the relevant background, the editors develop a conceptual schemebased on a typology of consumer valuefor organizing the contributions appearing in the special issue. They explain the assignment of various contributions to various value-related categories in order to account for the structure and meanings of the perspectives that emerge.
Consumption Markets & Culture, 2012
This paper adapts Holt's typology of consumption practices to illuminate consumption practices within the context of British consumers and their household pets. The photo-elicitation technique, autodriving, is used to elicit stories from our participants concerning their cats and dogs. Holt's typology provides a strong foundation for illuminating the consumption practices described in these stories. However, in order to capture the cultural meanings and social dynamics that animate these consumption practices more fully, we propose extending Holt's framework so as to incorporate (1) the agency of the animal; (2) the incidence of literal play; and (3) the moral values underlying consuming as classification. This paper concludes with a discussion on the value of our proposed additions in relation to future cultural studies of human–animal relations and to future cultural studies of consumption in general.
Journal of Business Research, 2008
The analytical themes Bettany and Daly pursue touch upon several topics noteworthy in consumer and marketing research past and presentnamely, relationships between consumers and consumption offerings, between marketers and consumers, between academics and practitioners, and between culture and nature. In discussing each, the present article extends Bettany and Daly's insights, posing challenges at once playful and very serious for consumers, marketers, researchers, and public policy analysts.
Metaphors for Consuming and Consumption Practices in the Context of Pet Ownership PuRPoSE oF ACtIoN
2012
Insufficient attention has been given to moral issues surrounding consumption (Hilton 2004; Miller 2001). Moreover, in spite of the exhaustive empirical coverage of the moral status of animals, both from a philosophical and political perspective and the belief that “consumption is in essence a moral matter” (Wilk 2001, p.246), very little empirical consideration has been given to the moral issues relating to the consumption practices associated with pet ownership (Kwak, Zinkhan and French 2001). In general, studies on morality consider the subject in terms of the rightness or wrongness of an individual’s behavior as guided by a societal code of conduct agreed to by the members of that particular society (Shaw 1991; Wallace and Walker 1970). However, in outlining a sociological view of morality, Caruana’s (2007a, p.295) constructivist perspective suggests a broader, more fluid and subjective interpretation of morality. As this perspective acknowledges the “dialectic relationship betw...
Commentary on exploring the dark side of pet ownership: Status- and control-based pet consumption
Journal of Business Research, 2008
This paper adds another layer of interpretation to the data of Beverland, Farrelly, and Lim (2007). First, I explore the link between Beverland et al. (2007) and the thought of Martin Buber (1923). Then I argue that some respondents see their dogs through the metaphor of human friendship and others through the metaphor of human parenting. I share Beverland et al.'s ethical views that in the highest forms of relationships, people attempt to see the other as they really are. But note an ironynamely, that many of the respondents most committed to individual relationships with their pets anthropomorphize their dogs in ways that work against this kind of honest relationship.
‘Cause I wuv you!’ Pet dog fashion and emotional consumption
2016
Researchers have analysed how pets fuel marketing and consumption and what kind of role emotions play in these areas. Yet there is no research on how commodities are used in negotiating the emotional relationship between humans and pet dogs. This article contributes a new perspective to the discussion on pet consumerism by focusing on the role of emotions. It examines how pet dog commodities define and materialise the ideal emotional bond between the human and the pet dog: how consumption is justified and rationalised by appealing to emotions, how emotions are mobilised in pet markets, and how value is ascribed to the human–pet dog bond through material objects. As a tangible example of affective capitalism, pet dog fashions indicate how the need to establish a relationship between a human and a dog is transformed into material goods and services. I love and treat my puppies as if they were my own children. I have to admit, I may have spoiled them a little too much. But how can I no...
Pet loves, rants, and raves: Commentary on Downey and Ellis's article
Journal of Business Research, 2008
Downey and Ellis's article about the acquisition of cats is timely. Across Western nations, the popularity of pet ownership is steadily increasing. Reasons for the upswing are unclear. A cogent explanation is that increases in divorce, separation and single households, mean that more consumers seek companionship, and/or a sense of family, via pet ownership. Other explanations warrant investigation. Do time-poor parents use pets as substitute socialisation agents for their children? Do consumers use pets to enact multiple identities and/or resolve identify conflicts? Are parents susceptible to pressure from teenagers to buy pets for them as fashion accessories? Another issue looms large.
It's a Dog's Life: Elevating Status from Pet to "Fur Baby" at Yappy Hour
Society & Animals, 2004
Nonhuman animals always have played a significant role in people's lives. Lately, the technological and market economy has anthropomorphized dogs to human-like behavior, particularly to status of family member or child. This qualitative study expands upon the current studies on consumption and animals and society by exploring how human-canine relationships are anthropomorphized at the family excursion to "Yappy Hour" at Fido's Barkery. The type of person who attends Yappy Hour on a weekly basis has a unique and special type of connection with their dog that goes beyond most people's relationships with dogs.
Involvement with Animals as Consumer Experience
Society and Animals 4 (2), 1996
Ambivalence is one of the central themes mnning through the literature focused on human relationships with nonhuman animals. This ambivalence hinges on the dominant dichotomy in our culture which casts animals as either obiects to be used or beings to be interacted with. As objects, animals are killed for sport, eaten as food, bought and sold as consumer goods, and used as equipment in screntific experiments' As individual beings, animals are loved, provided with medical care. interacted with as friends, and incorporated into the home as members of the family.2 To a considerable degree this object/being dichotomy is a key theme running through the articles in this special issue of society and Animals.
International Journal of Consumer Studies, 2013
The marketing discipline is somewhat under-theorized regarding the moral meanings that both shape and are shaped by the everyday consumption practices of consumers. Therefore, using the context of pet ownership, this paper aims to develop a conceptual understanding of the moral aspects of consumption by examining the social construction of morality in consumers' day-to-day lives. Using phenomenological interviews and autodriving techniques, the study identifies a number of underlying polemics, linked to the ontology of animals as pets, strands of which weave through participants' moralizing discourses. The study draws attention to the nuances and contradictory processes within which the moral meanings allied to pet ownership and the pet marketplace are constituted and enacted within consumers' day-to-day lives. The paper concludes with a discussion on the value of adopting a sociological perspective of consumption morality and its implications for future studies of consumption. bs_bs_banner International Journal of Consumer Studies