Special Issue: The Consumption, Politics and Transformation of Community
Journal of Marketing Management, Volume 34, 2018, Issue 7-8

Editorial

The consumption, politics and transformation of community
Mona Moufahim, Victoria Wells & Robin Canniford

Articles

The nomadic consumption community: the recursive role of space in community mobility
Toni Eagar & Patrick L’Espoir Decosta
“This study uses the Boardania community case to illustrate and discuss two issues that arise from mobility in online consumption communities: (i) the processes involved in the management of consumption community as it collectively shifts in space and (ii) the transformation of the community by the new spaces it inhabits. Inspired by nomadism, it explores the relationships among consumption community, the collective movement of people, and current and potential future spaces …” Read More >

Beauty bloggers and YouTubers as a community of practice
Valerie Gannon & Andrea Prothero
“Much consumption-related activity online is outside of what is understood traditionally as community and is via user-generated content (UGC), of which blogs and YouTube channels in particular dominate in the beauty sphere. Community of practice (CoP) theory from social learning and organisation studies offers an alternative way to understand these consumption-based UGC practices. This study combines data from 25 interviews with bloggers and YouTubers and their blog posts and videos …” Read More >

The coming community. The politics of alternative food networks in Southern Italy
Alex Giordano, Vincenzo Luise & Adam Arvidsson
“Sociologists and political scientists suggest that community is increasingly lacking in contemporary life. At the same time, consumer researchers have long suggested that brands and commodities can act as a source of community and ethics. In recent years a number of communitarian productive networks have emerged in sectors like food, software, fashion, design and social enterprise. Such communities of commons-based peer production have transformed the role of consumer communities by making communitarian relations count also in the material production of goods and services. In this paper we examine the ‘neorural’ communitarian networks located in Southern Italy …” Read More >

Lesbians’ assessments of gay advertising in France: not necessarily a case of ‘La Vie en Rose?’
Irena Descubes, Tom McNamara & Douglas Bryson
“The social, political and economic importance of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community is increasingly being recognised by what is routinely referred to as mainstream society. However, surprisingly little is known about the nuances of differing behaviour within this broadly defined subpopulation. In a French context, this study examines lesbians’ responses to advertising that is purportedly targeted at them, including ‘gender neutral-implicit’ and ‘gay-explicit’ advertisements. This research furthers previous work by examining ‘in-group’ and ‘out-group’ lesbians’ reactions to (1) gay male-explicit, (2) gay lesbian-explicit and finally (3) gender neutral-implicit advertisements. Further, this research focuses on specific reactions beyond simply ‘attitude towards advertisement’; precisely, an overall ‘evaluation of advertisement’, the ‘ability to generate curiosity’ about the brand, and the ‘degree of likeability of advertisementʼ are compared …” Read More >

Smartphone crises and adjustments in a virtual P3 community – doing sustainability oriented smartphone consumption
Frithiof Svenson
“Sustainability marketing research on collective consumption practices has often examined on-site actions, leaving aside online activity within brand communities. This study focuses on the online practices of communities to explain on-site sustainable practices. Online communities, which address global sustainability issues in the market, have been considered platforms for ethical consumerism for some time, yet we lack an understanding of how consumer discourse translates into practice. The research adds to the literature on online community practices by grounding it in on-site practices …” Read More > OpenAccess

Commentary

The future of community research: a conversation with Alison Hulme, Alan Bradshaw and Adam Arvidsson
Adam Arvidsson, Alan Bradshaw, Alison Hulme & Robin Canniford

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