Consumer Culture Theory Research Papers (original) (raw)

"It is important to establish the “Proto-dynamo” as concept that represents an entirely new paradigm of economic infrastructure. The concept alludes to the “dynamo” which is a machine that uses opposing magnetic forces to efficiently... more

"It is important to establish the “Proto-dynamo” as concept that represents an entirely new paradigm of economic infrastructure. The concept alludes to the “dynamo” which is a machine that uses opposing magnetic forces to efficiently produce/convert energy. The principle behind the dynamo is to use opposing forces within the same machine to get a consolidated output of energy. If the new paradigm of “protodynamism” can be represented by an electrical generator, the old paradigm of Keynesian theory can be represented by a meat grinder in which ten pounds of product goes in one side, and six ounces of tasteless sausage comes out the funnel possibly tainted with formaldehyde or some random pesticide that is unpronounceable. "

International marketing’s commitment to a technical and universalizing approach to solving managerial problems has meant that researchers have adopted an ethnocentric approach to branding. This is becoming problematic as the global... more

International marketing’s commitment to a technical and universalizing
approach to solving managerial problems has meant that
researchers have adopted an ethnocentric approach to branding. This
is becoming problematic as the global marketplace develops. The
authors argue that to meet the theoretical and methodological challenges of global branding, international marketing scholars will need
to revise some key premises and foundations. Branding research in
the future will need to be contextually and historically grounded,
polycentric in orientation, and acutely attuned to the symbolic significance of brands of all types. The authors offer some conceptual foundations for a culturally relative, contextually sensitive approach to
international branding in which the construct of brand mythology is
central.

From Chinese Brand Culture to Global Brands uses a Chinese perspective to examine the capacity of Chinese brand culture to serve as a complement to existing models of brand globalization. Moving away from the trend to study the... more

From Chinese Brand Culture to Global Brands uses a Chinese
perspective to examine the capacity of Chinese brand culture to
serve as a complement to existing models of brand globalization.
Moving away from the trend to study the managerial aspects of
Western brand building in Chinese contexts, we examine how
Chinese branding efforts express significant aspects of their own
brand culture. Our selection of Jay Chou, the 2008 Beijing Olympics
Opening ceremony, and Shanghai Tang, an aspiring global fashion brand with aesthetic roots in Chinese historical culture, as illustrative cases, is fully consistent with this unwritten and unspoken consensus around exploiting Chinese cultural specificity towards the global development of Chinese brands. Although these three cases may seem “under the radar,” we believe that, together, they provide unique insights into the relation between brands and Chinese culture, and offer intriguing possibilities for thinking about global Chinese brands.

With an emphasis on everyday life, this respected text offers a lively and perceptive account of the key theories and ideas which dominate the field of consumption and consumer culture. Engaging case studies describe forms of consumption... more

With an emphasis on everyday life, this respected text offers a lively and perceptive account of the key theories and ideas which dominate the field of consumption and consumer culture. Engaging case studies describe forms of consumption familiar to the student, provide some historical context, and illustrate how a range of theoretical perspectives – from theories of practice, to semiotics, to psychoanalysis – apply. Written by an experienced teacher, the book offers a comprehensive grounding drawing on the literature in sociology, geography, cultural studies, and anthropology. This new revised and expanded edition includes more extended discussion of gender, the senses, sustainability, globalization, and the environment, as well as a brand new chapter on the ethics of consumption.

Avec ces différents chapitres du tome 2, le voyage théorique initié dans le tome 1 se poursuit, portant de nouveaux jeux de bascule entre la pensée des structures agençant ce monde et la réhabilitation des acteurs, actants et sujets... more

Avec ces différents chapitres du tome 2, le voyage théorique initié dans le tome 1 se poursuit, portant de nouveaux jeux de bascule entre la pensée des structures agençant ce monde et la réhabilitation des acteurs, actants et sujets reconnaissance une puissance d'agir sur ce monde.

Although the new middle classes in emerging markets are a matter of significant interest for marketing scholars and managers, there is little systematic research on their values and preoccupations. This article focuses on the new middle... more

Although the new middle classes in emerging markets are a matter of significant interest for marketing scholars and managers, there is little systematic research on their values and preoccupations. This article focuses on the new middle class consumers to identify the new, shared socio-ideological sensibilities informed by the recent neoliberal reforms in emerging markets, and examines how these sensibilities are actualized in consumption. Through an ethnographic study of fashion consumption in Turkey, the authors explicate three salient new middle class sensibilities, which implicate the mastery of ordinary in pursuit of connections with people, institutions, and contexts. These sensibilities crystallize into a particular mode of consumption– formulaic creativity, which addresses consumers’ desire to align with the middle and helps them reconcile the disjuncture between the promises of neoliberalism and the realities of living in unstable societies.

In order to understand the connection between development, marketing and transformative consumer research (TCR), with its attendant interest in promoting human well-being, this article begins by charting the links between US... more

In order to understand the connection between development, marketing and transformative consumer research (TCR), with its attendant interest in promoting human well-being, this article begins by charting the links between US ‘exceptionalism’, ‘Manifest Destiny’ and modernisation theory, demonstrating the confluence of US perspectives and experiences in articulations and understandings of the contributions of marketing practice and consumer research to society. Our narrative subsequently engages with the rise of social marketing (1960s-) and finally TCR (2006-). We move beyond calls for an appreciation of paradigm plurality to encourage TCR scholars to adopt a multiple paradigmatic approach as part of a three-pronged strategy that encompasses an initial ‘provisional moral agnosticism’. As part of this stance, we argue that scholars should value the insights provided by multiple paradigms, turning each paradigmatic lens sequentially on to the issue of the relationship between marketin...

What is the sovereign consumer that occupies such a central role in organizational discourse whose satisfaction has become an organizational imperative? Our research draws from extended fieldwork in the world of commercial ethnography.... more

What is the sovereign consumer that occupies such a central role in organizational discourse whose satisfaction has become an organizational imperative? Our research draws from extended fieldwork in the world of commercial ethnography. Our analysis shows how ethnography is implicated in the organizational
fetishization of consumers, that is, how in the process of understanding and managing markets, a quasimagical
fascination with amalgams of consumer voices, images, and artefacts comes about.

Der Aufsatz untersucht den Beitrag massenmedial verbreiteter Lesestoffe zur Herausbildung einer Konsumgesellschaft in Deutschland im 20. Jahrhundert. Dabei liegt der Fokus auf der Frage, wie derartige Medien dazu beitrugen, dass sich... more

Der Aufsatz untersucht den Beitrag massenmedial verbreiteter Lesestoffe zur Herausbildung einer Konsumgesellschaft in Deutschland im 20. Jahrhundert. Dabei liegt der Fokus auf der Frage, wie derartige Medien dazu beitrugen, dass sich unter den Käufern und Nutzern (v.a. Lesern) Wünsche und Verhaltensweisen ausbildeten, die moderne Konsumenten charakterisieren.

RESUME : L’objet de notre travail est d’explorer la notion de pratiques de consommation marginales à travers le cas de la lithothérapie. Cette pratique, qui s’entoure d’une aura teintée de médecine, de spiritualité, d’ésotérisme et qui... more

RESUME : L’objet de notre travail est d’explorer la notion de pratiques de consommation marginales à travers le cas de la lithothérapie. Cette pratique, qui s’entoure d’une aura teintée de médecine, de spiritualité, d’ésotérisme et qui contient également des éléments de collection et de rituels doit être observée comme un nouveau marché dont
l’ampleur est pour le moment non quantifiable. Notre recherche, exploratoire, considère la
spiritualité comme une tendance de consommation. Cette recherche présente donc un
premier travail axé sur la revue de la littérature, la méthodologie exploratoire mise en oeuvre
(la netnographie et l’entretien d’experts) ainsi que les principaux résultats obtenus sur le terrain. Enfin, les premiers éléments de discussion soulèvent les projets de construction
identitaire des consommateurs via les significations symboliques associées aux produits proposés sur le marché de la spiritualité.

Research in consumer culture focuses on the role of fans in creating social spaces or fandoms in contrast with larger society where new cultural meanings and values are socially negotiated. Drawing on media and cultural studies, this... more

Research in consumer culture focuses on the role of fans in creating social spaces or fandoms in contrast with larger society where new cultural meanings and values are socially negotiated. Drawing on media and cultural studies, this article describes fandoms as a process rooted in the larger phenomenon of fanaticism and its interaction with the current society. The article posits the study of fanaticism as a fruitful lens for a deeper understanding of the role of consumption and brands in today’s consumer societies.

Overview Market segmentation is foundational to marketing: as scholars and managers contend, its concept "is built into the fabric of marketing" (Gibson 2001, 21). Segmentation is the process through which a company's actual and prospect... more

Overview Market segmentation is foundational to marketing: as scholars and managers contend, its concept "is built into the fabric of marketing" (Gibson 2001, 21). Segmentation is the process through which a company's actual and prospect customers are split into subgroups (i.e. segments), each of them showing similar consumption behaviors that differ across subgroups (Peter and Donnelly 2008). Differentiation (i.e. the process leading to variations of a company's offer) and targeting (i.e. the decision of which segments to serve by means of differentiated offers; Pride and Ferrell 2004) are meaningful only when customers have heterogeneous preferences, that is, only when a market is segmentable. Subdividing and profiling market segments help identify the customers to serve, the most effective way to satisfy their specific needs/desires, the competitors to face, the resources requested to compete in each segment, and the main stakeholders to involve in order to reinforce a company's market legitimacy (Cucurean-Zapan 2014; Lambin 1998). In simpler terms, market segmentation helps perform a company's market-orientation. While segmentation is still central to today's marketing, the profound transformations as much as the rising opportunities of contemporary markets and societies ask for a profound revision of segmentation theory and practice (Arnould and Cayla 2015; Gibson 2001; Kannisto 2016). Answering to this call, the chapter's aims are twofold. First, we approach segmentation historically, in order to unveil which were, and somehow still are, its often-implicit grounding premises. We show that most of these premises sway when confronted to extant cultural, economic, and technological environments, and invite for revision. The first part of the chapter (§ 18.2) thus provides readers with a longitudinal understanding of market segmentation and with evidences motivating the requested revision. Second, by focusing on contemporary trajectories of revision, we approach segmentation epistemologically, that is, we contrast two opposite perspectives on the needed revisions of market segmentation (§ 18.1). On the one hand, the marketing science perspective combines big data-driven consumer knowledge (cf. chapter 26 by Zwick and Dholakia) and the power of new technologies (especially, of artificial intelligence) to reinvigorate and transform segmentation (Mandelli 2018). Within this perspective, segmentation-as-science goes micro-basically, at a one-to-one level-and (hyper)targeting (Hoffmann, Inderst, and Ottaviani 2013) results into personalization, interpretable as the radicalization of mass-customization (Flavin and Heller 2019). On the other hand, hailing from the cultural marketing perspective (Peñaloza, Toulouse, and Visconti 2012), segmentation evolves into a set of decisions that marketers co-construct with customers. In line with this dialogical posture, targeting then requires conversational abilities (Jarratt and Fayed 2012) not only to reach, but also to engage target customers.

I argue that CCT can play a powerful role in contributing novel strategic insights to solve important social problems. But this contribution is dormant, held back by CCT's axiomatic research model. So I propose an alternative tradition... more

I argue that CCT can play a powerful role in contributing novel strategic insights to solve important social problems. But this contribution is dormant, held back by CCT's axiomatic research model. So I propose an alternative tradition within CCT, what I call Consumer Culture Strategy, to unlock this potential.

This paper contributes to theories of brands as sites of identity work and convergence. It takes as its subject relations of belonging and participation as they shape communal ‘scenes’ out of which spring intimations of spaces of cultural... more

This paper contributes to theories of brands as sites of identity work and convergence. It takes as its subject relations of belonging and participation as they shape communal
‘scenes’ out of which spring intimations of spaces of cultural production as branding ecosystems. To illustrate ways in which this line of thought ignites discourses on branding as a mode of
relational being, we explore the social environment fomented around Warhol’s court, ‘The Factory’, that iconic symbol of the mediated logic of his oeuvre. Drawing on archival accounts of
Factory life, we explore cultural production as illustrative of brands and branding as social technologies exciting the imaginary and its theater of possibility. And to understand how
collective consumption of relations of connectivity nurture conditions suggestive of new branding forms, we consider the existential logic of ‘branding being’, of thinking ‘spaces’ made available through branding as a mode of relational being.

The case study presented here offers a lens through which to study Chinese brand development in the global marketplace, and sheds light on the ways in which brands and culture circulate and construct each other in global brand culture.... more

The case study presented here offers a lens through which to study Chinese brand development in the global marketplace, and sheds light on the ways in which brands and culture circulate and construct each other in global brand culture. Furthermore, we use these insights to argue for the development of Chinese brand culture into a strategic brand resource. This is not a simple matter of drawing upon a shared set of characteristics in all cases; rather Chinese brand culture reveals itself as a subtle and complex resource with a diversity of applications, impacts, and impressions.

While the processes of production and consumption are increasingly interrelated in society, there is a bourgeoning literature on consumers' increased power through the prosumption process and its evolutions and manifestations in various... more

While the processes of production and consumption are increasingly interrelated in society, there is a bourgeoning literature on consumers' increased power through the prosumption process and its evolutions and manifestations in various industries, markets and social contexts. This article challenges the theoretical assumption that all types of 'prosumers' become directly empowered by digital technology or have an equal opportunity to participate in the production process through Web 2.0. By extending Ritzer's reconceptualised idea of prosumption beyond the Global North, our research analysed two specific East Asian cases of fashion consumers whose countries shared rapidly rising economic status and cultural significance yet underwent different sociocultural trajectories. Using focus group interview, we investigated how these consumers interact differentially with the existing social structure, cultural values and other emergent social agents, and the extent to which they are able to exert an influence on the production of immaterial fashion. Contesting the expressivist take of the 'cultural turn' which overemphasises consumers' awareness of and control over symbolic fashion, this article's major theoretical contribution relates to symbolic consumption in the case of fashion – as a unique case blending material, immaterial and symbolic consumption – among young Chinese and Korean consumers geographically located out of the global fashion centres. We explored prosumption's vicissitudes and limits as a theoretical concept, challenging its universality across different cultures, political-economic models and product categories, also demonstrating the multifaceted relationships and dissimilar types of power balances between production/producer and consumption/consumer. The study concluded with the new and differing orders of fashion consumption in Korea and China: the recognition of the overlapping effects of economic, sociocultural, habitual and technological factors which constitute different levels of empowerment and create different types of 'prosumers', including 'elite prosumers' and 'passive prosumers'; and the power reshuffling among fashion producers, emergent social agents and consumers in the digital age.

In this paper, we use ethnographic methods to describe the market making activities of Première Vision, Paris, the leading trade fair in the clothing fabric industry. Through collective action and powerful representational practices,... more

In this paper, we use ethnographic methods to describe the market making activities of Première Vision, Paris, the leading trade fair in the clothing fabric industry. Through collective action and powerful representational practices, Première Vision's exhibitors affirm their style innovation and position themselves as trend setters. Our study extends the emerging literature on market forms and marketing practices by (i) introducing a different lens, based on the ideas of postmodern theorists, through which the nature of representation in industrial markets may be viewed and (ii) addressing the role of self-interested theorists, i.e. marketers who theorize about the market and its functioning in ways that are self-beneficial. Our paper also has implications for trade fair literature, which is mostly concerned with individual exhibitors' value appropriation strategies. The case of Première Vision shows that trade fairs may be considered as collective marketing instruments, thus highlighting the importance of organizers' value creation strategies.

When citizens recycle waste, we consider this an act of responsible ‘green’ citizenship. Today's consumers query the environmental impact of their consumption. Shoppers wonder whether the goods they buy are properly recyclable; others... more

When citizens recycle waste, we consider this an act of responsible ‘green’ citizenship. Today's consumers query the environmental impact of their consumption. Shoppers wonder whether the goods they buy are properly recyclable; others translate their concerns for the environment into a daily practice of separating, storing, collecting and transporting reusable waste. Most European consumer-citizens have incorporated recycling into their daily routine. Today, modern recycling is usually seen as a product of the 1970s, when grass-root movements and environmental policies generated new consumer practices. The assumption is that recycling only gained widespread public support from industry, politics and consumers a few decades ago.

This paper reorients the conceptual architecture of marketing theory. It is proposed that marketing is the dynamic force that economists and sociologists seek to explain the centrality of habit in everyday life. Questioning the arguments... more

This paper reorients the conceptual architecture of marketing theory. It is proposed that marketing is the dynamic force that economists and sociologists seek to explain the centrality of habit in everyday life. Questioning the arguments proffered by these twin disciplines, we submit that these processes of habit formation are not ‘undesigned’ or ‘hidden’, but perfectly visible and articulated by theorists and practitioners alike. These debates are complex. We outline their ‘strategic logic’, tracking the constitutive function of the discourse of habit. We unravel the theorised processes of habit formation as these are emplaced at the subconscious level and conceptualised via the ‘subconscious self’. Theoretically, we account for these power relations by uniting the concepts of biopolitics and anatomo-politics in terms of ‘bio-anatomopolitics’. Marketing, therefore, must be considered a disciplinary vehicle oriented toward habit creation and the destabilisation of inertia.

Readymade garments industry is a major contributor in the national economy for many years. It has proved its immense value in both domestic and especially foreign market. This research is undertaken with a view to find how the internal... more

Readymade garments industry is a major contributor in the national economy for many years. It has proved its immense value in both domestic and especially foreign market. This research is undertaken with a view to find how the internal factors and external factors of business puts impact on garments product manufacturing company Herms Otto International ltd. The purpose of this research is to find how the organization can avoid the negative impacts. For conducting this research qualitative method will be followed. Primary data has collected through survey and secondary data has collected by studying previous works and valid sources like newspaper, journals.
Hermes otto International is the manufacturer and exporter of apparel product.Its a foreign company based in Humburg,Germany. Now a days many foreign apparel company are conducting business in Bangladesh.They are very much involved in exporting Bangladeshi made apparel products in European and american market. Herms otto Internatiomal Ltd mainly exports in European market and has created a sgnificant impact in RMG industry in recent years. The readymade garment industry is the key factor for the economic development of the country . With the limited amount of resource Bangladeshi garments industry has been producing world class clothing which is widely praised and recognized. A major portion of foreign currency generates through this sector. So this research is relevant because the internal and external factors are responsible for the organization in operating business.Every company and organization are affected by the internal and exterrnal facotrs. The researcher faced some limitation while conducting the study like- unavailabilty of confidential information, answer of the respondents were improper, shortage of time and many more.In this reasearch the SOWT and PESTLE findings are ioncluded like-Strength-the core capabilities of the company,Weakness- the limitations of the organization,Opportunities- future opportunities in the market,Threats-the current and potential challenges. The PESTLE analysis has also discussed in this study.
Possible suggestions are-
 Training program for employees will increase strenght of the company.
 Shipment of garments products should not be delayed due to strike and other political crisis.
 Modern technological machinaries can be used .
 Workplace safety must be ensured for increasing productivity of the workers
 Equal participation of man and woman will increase the strentgh of the company.
Key Words-RMG industry, External-Internal factors, SWOT analysis, PESTLE analysis.

THE INVESTIGATION IN THE COMPARATIVE LAW PERSPECTIVE OF THE PREVENTIVE MEASURES PROTECTING THE DIPSOMANIAC CONSUMERS Assist. Prof. Özlem Tüzüner (Ph.D.) ABSTRACT Comparative law is cautious against the uncontrolled consumption of... more

THE INVESTIGATION IN THE COMPARATIVE LAW PERSPECTIVE OF THE PREVENTIVE MEASURES PROTECTING
THE DIPSOMANIAC CONSUMERS
Assist. Prof. Özlem Tüzüner (Ph.D.)
ABSTRACT
Comparative law is cautious against the uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages of the dipsomaniac consumer. About the compensation for losses due to the dipsomaniac consumer, the aforementioned alcoholic beverages consumer may not be the only obligor. The consumer who drank over dose alcoholic beverages, the alcoholic drinks provider (business entity) and the workers in such enterprises may be subject to joint and several liability. Indeed, the provider, which serves excessive alcoholic beverage as well as the business manager, the waiters, the bartenders and even the security guards, can be found responsible all together. In Anglo-American jurisdictions, dipsomaniac consumer conflicts are studied under the title of dram shop law. Also in French and Swiss law, there exist measures to protect the dipsomaniac consumer from drinking too much alcoholic beverages. In many of the Swiss cantons, it’s illegal to serve alcohol to the consumer who has approached to become intoxicated. It’s essential to take this subject into consideration in the Turkish Consumer Law.
Keywords: Dipsomaniac consumer, excessive alcoholic beverages service, dram shop law, joint and several liability

This paper takes a poststructuralist perspective on consumer research and discusses the role of personal interviews in cultural analysis. It problematizes the use of the phenomenological interview in cultural consumer research, arguing... more

This paper takes a poststructuralist perspective on consumer research and discusses the role of personal interviews in cultural analysis. It problematizes the use of the phenomenological interview in cultural consumer research, arguing that the underlying research paradigm, existential-phenomenology, is not necessarily adequate for cultural analysis because it focuses attention primarily to the individual and the first-person experience. Such a paradigmatic perspective is problematic because it tends to sustain a view of human agency that is highly individualistic and thus fails to account for the cultural complexity of social action. Overall, the paper contributes to the further development of the poststructuralist approaches to postmodern marketing thought. Poststructuralist ideas and assumptions challenge the central principles of modern marketing and consumer research in many ways and it is the aim of the paper to contribute to a better understanding of the methodological implications that they entail.
Keywords: consumer culture; personal interviews; postmodern marketing; post-structuralism; consumer subjectivity; methodology; discourse

A cultural perspective reveals how branding has opened up to include cultural, sociological, and theoretical inquiry that both complements and complicates economic and managerial analysis of branding. An emphasis on culture forms part of... more

A cultural perspective reveals how branding has opened up to include cultural, sociological, and theoretical inquiry that both complements and complicates economic and managerial analysis of branding. An emphasis on culture forms part of a larger movement within the brand research canon, reinforcing a basic premise that culture and history can provide necessary context to corporate perspectives of branding’s interaction with consumers and society. Brand research from a cultural perspective occupies the theoretical space between strategic concepts of brand identity and consumer interpretations of brand image, shedding light on the gap often seen between the corporate and consumer perspectives. The cultural perspective emphasizes brand heritage, history, and legacy and how these create associations, meaning, and value. Brand culture focuses on how brands share stories, build community, and solve problems. As cultural forms, brands evolve in accordance with changes in the historical, geographical, and social context. From this perspective, cultural, ideological and political environments influence the process of building brands, brand meaning, and brand value. Along these lines, brand culture has been defined as “the cultural codes of brands – history, images, myths, art, and theatre – that influence brand meaning and value in the marketplace.

Digital advertising has catalyzed sea changes in the structure and practice of advertising globally, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. This article suggests that such changes have outstripped the existing ability to... more

Digital advertising has catalyzed sea changes in the structure and practice of advertising globally, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. This article suggests that such changes have outstripped the existing ability to understand and explain these changes adequately. In response, this article seeks to enlarge an understanding of digital advertising, as well as to suggest new ways to understand it. It argues that an integrative social and historical approach provides important new insights into digital advertising. It then uses this approach to explain the production and reproduction of digital advertising as a technology, practice, and institution; to explore the implications of digital advertising for the professional organization and practice of advertising; and to propose key implications of digital advertising for society.

"People buy things not only for what they can do, but also for what they mean". As a new Islamic way of consumption is increasingly growing, concerns about understanding the Islamic consumer behavior has arisen. This paper aims to predict... more

"People buy things not only for what they can do, but also for what they mean". As a new Islamic way of consumption is increasingly growing, concerns about understanding the Islamic consumer behavior has arisen. This paper aims to predict the underlying motives behind specific mode of consumption. It mainly approaches the variables affecting the Islamic consumer behavior from a different perspective. By using the theory of the postmodern tribalism (neo-tribalism) as a heuristic tool, this paper attempts to present new insights about the Islamic consumer purchasing behavior by exploring some of his/her psychosocial traits. This paper basically assumes that the contemporary rise of Islamism can be treated as one manifestation of the postmodern globalized condition, turning Islamic groups into postmodern tribes. Although religion and religiosity can have a significant influence on the Islamic consumer behavior, they are not the exclusive factors lying behind it. The Islamic consumer is typically an identity seeker; he feels proud, happy, and pious when he/she buys something referring to Islam. In addition, to his/ her mind, Islamic goods symbolize the sense of belonging and solidarity within an imagined Islamic community.

Prior research stresses the importance of consumer participation in service coproduction. We examine the coproduction of aesthetic services, which are services in which beauty is a critical outcome. Consumers face challenges communicating... more

Prior research stresses the importance of consumer participation in service coproduction. We examine the coproduction of aesthetic services, which are services in which beauty is a critical outcome. Consumers face challenges communicating their aesthetic tastes because of technical constraints that are understood by service providers but that consumers do not fully understand. To fill this gap, consumers do aesthetic work in communities of practice. Service providers also face challenges, as they must coproduce with consumers whose aesthetic tastes are formed amid shifting social standards. In this qualitative study, we highlight aesthetic work as a different type of consumer work that involves developing cultural competence. We identify four types of aesthetic coproduction in which cultural competence is distributed differently within the service dyad: aesthetic codesigning, aesthetic consenting, aesthetic yielding, and aesthetic reigning. We explore the managerial implications that arise as consumers increasingly use online social resources that shape and increase aesthetic expectations. We examine the unintended consequences of aesthetic service coproduction in which providers’ technical and aesthetic expertise is difficult for consumers to understand often leading to disappointing outcomes.

This paper examines how cultural capital shapes the ways Turkish women, both religiously covered and not covered, experience their 'presented self' in social interactions. The analysis draws on in-depth interviews conducted as part of a... more

This paper examines how cultural capital shapes the ways Turkish women, both religiously covered and not covered, experience their 'presented self' in social interactions. The analysis draws on in-depth interviews conducted as part of a larger project on embodiment of class in Turkey, using the parts where the interviewees reflect on the repercussions of different clothing and adornment tastes. It approaches clothing as an embodied practice and uses the conceptual tools Bourdieu offers to analyse the link between women's appearance-driven experiences and wider class-cultural processes. Consistent with its theoretical framework, it examines the experiencing of tastes by analysing women's emotions. The analysis demonstrates that, regardless of the volumes of capital they hold, the majority of the sample presume that the 'dressed body' does have value and enhances or limits opportunities, suggesting the relevance of the term 'capital' to refer to such embodied competence, as Bourdieu did. Moreover, some of the emotional responses are found to be more common among culturally cultivated interviewees of both Islamic-leaning and secular fractions while others only appear among those having limited access to cultural and economic resources. Interview excerpts show that the aesthetic categorisations made by the culturally advantaged, regardless of their religious orientation, are internalised by those who suffer from such hierarchies most, highlighting the role of class culture-driven symbolic violence in maintaining inequalities. The material is then contextualised within the class dynamics in Turkey, where self-fashioning has remained a value-laden domain since the beginning of the country's top-to-bottom modernisation. Focusing on how tastes are lived in the everyday, this paper reveals the subtle processes that manifest and reproduce class 2 privileges and calls for an emphasis on the repercussions of embodying particular tastes, which could enhance our understanding of taste, power and cultural exclusion more directly than interrogations of the correlations between taste and class position.