Comments for Emerging Consumer Cultures Group

Comment on In the name of love by Liam Thomson

Liam Thomson — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 12:27:45 +0000

Another practice of love is purchasing gifts, beyond birthdays and Christmas and therefore someone in love vs someone single will be purchasing gifts more frequently and often outside of their usual category of products.

For example a single guy may purchase CDs and Video Games and when in love may then begin purchasing products from Lush and other more female focused products. The reverse may be true of girls.

Either way they are now potentially spending less of their disposable income on themselves.

Comment on In the name of love by Becky

Becky — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:21:36 +0000

So perhaps a cynic would term it the practice of ‘conflict avoidance/management’. Or perhaps there are different motivations at different stages of the relationship?

Comment on In the name of love by lizzienixon

lizzienixon — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 10:09:52 +0000

It’s the little things isn’t it? As you say, not the full-blown shouting on rooftops (jumping on sofas) myth of romantic love but resolving the tensions inevitable as two people seek to build a life, and create an identity (and express it) as two individuals, together. I wonder though how much of these compromise practices are less about putting the other’s needs ahead of one’s own, and more about anything for an easy life! Or does that reveal something a bit sad about my own relationship…?

Comment on Reflecting on the Margins of Marketing seminar by rscullion

rscullion — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 07:21:26 +0000

I don’t consider myself a ‘marketing’ radical – more a radical who just happens to find himself surrounded by marketing & consumption stuff

Comment on Reflecting on the Margins of Marketing seminar by Kevin Moloney

Kevin Moloney — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 11:43:27 +0000

I read with interest even though I’m not into marketing (directly). PR is marginalised also, I believe, in the following ways. It is knocked as a subject worthy of sustained reserach scrutiny by academic snobbery from the old UK unversities. They want the u/g numbers and nothing else. Snobbery in these places means that no PR academics were on the RAE panels. To my knowledge, only one research application has been won by a PR themed proposal. Another reason is that when research universities think of PR, they think propaganda, and say to themselves ‘We’ve done that in politics and communications during the Cold War – end of story’. They are blind to the new impacts on markets, new media, voluntary sectors, public spheres brought on by PR propaganda.

But there is some stirring in the PR bushes. I hear that a group called Radical PR and based on Stirling is doing something similar to you marketing radicals.

Kevin M.

Comment on Reflecting on the Margins of Marketing seminar by lizzie

lizzie — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:25:45 +0000

For me, as a newbie PhD student, the day was useful and enjoyable in several respects. On an intellectual level, it was great to hear the application, connections and debate about and between theories, as well as having access to Mark’s encyclopaedic memory of relevant literature! It’s always good to hear bright people speak animatedly about their projects and latest thinking, however nebulous. My thinking particularly resonated with Daragh’s notion of ‘marginalising marketing’ in consumer research (which Mike and Richard have picked up on too) which serves to open up and enrich the field in my view (and ties in with my interest in voluntary simplicity of course). It was also a boost to hear that others active in consumer research have not necessarily come from ‘marketing’ backgrounds – I studied Communication previously and somewhere along the line developed a snobbery about marketing and advertising – and hence also question their ‘belongingness’ in the discipline.

So cheers, and lets have another one next year!

Comment on Reflecting on the Margins of Marketing seminar by richard

richard — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 09:26:20 +0000

I’m a little less sanguine than Mike in terms of how lucky we are to be amateurs, although I personally no longer buy into the notion of career for me – others do and may well get frustrated after a little time in the amateur league. And, maybe the realization that we carry little weight, are read by ‘the few’ and ‘get nowhere’….might change our view?

But back to the seminar that served to kick-start our research group – what an enjoyable day…Wary though I am of most bands of people (as Daragh referred to, that tension between knowingly being an individual and yet part of some group) I found myself feeling ‘at home’, comfortable, relaxed …and this was a day at work remember!!!

I agree with two of Mike’s overall points, the continuous questioning of the notion of truth and – what I would say is a problem for marketing and consumer research – the unspoken assumption that we are born consumers rather than humans….and all that is missed as a result. The other point that emerged for me, reflecting on the day, was the often peripheral position of marketing & consumption – the conversation was largely about life first, and only then the place for and role of consumption. Of course this probably reflects the constitution of the group – middle class academic types who have never (or rarely) had to work on a factory floor to scrape an existence.

My final reflection is about the format of the day- I was already rather ‘off’ conferences …now I think it will take one hell of a great location to get me back to one!!