This study assumes that individuals' desires for autonomy as well as concessions to conformity in... more This study assumes that individuals' desires for autonomy as well as concessions to conformity inform consumers' attempts to create consumption styles that are different. Our interpretive study investigates into male consumers' pursuit of being different and finds willful ignorance, non non-conformity (provocative conformity, wearing the old and outdated, consuming the ugly), and defamiliarization practices (delocalization, delabeling, contrasting personal practice) of individualization. We introduce the notion of Anderssein-a hybrid but distinct form of identity construction via fashion and lifestyle that we interpret as existentialist.
Contemporary philosophy offers a conceptual framework that extends consumer theory to hitherto ne... more Contemporary philosophy offers a conceptual framework that extends consumer theory to hitherto neglected facets of consumer motivation. Traditional utilitarian and hedonic dimensions are good in explaining (offline) purchase behavior, yet they fall short capturing new online consumption phenomena, and co-creative consumer enterprises. Whereas product and service offers consider consumer motives that emanate from the eros construct, thymotic urges rarely receive attention. While eros drives desires widely recognized as consumer demands, thymos regenerates the hygienic balance of a consumer as a moral, purposeful and creative entity. This article derives implications for online retailing in the light of eros-thymos-based performance motives.
ABSTRACT Die schlanke weiße Frau in der Werbung als soziales Symbol für Schönheit und weibliche E... more ABSTRACT Die schlanke weiße Frau in der Werbung als soziales Symbol für Schönheit und weibliche Eleganz dominiert die Werbelandschaft seit Jahrzehnten (Redmond 2003), ganz besonders natürlich in der Mode- und Schönheitsindustrie. Der Schönheits- und Pflegeproduktmarkt ist ein hart umkämpfter Markt, in dem sehr große Unternehmen wie z. B. der Marktführer L’Oréal, Unilever, Beiersdorf, oder Procter & Gamble um Marktanteile und Marktpositionen ringen und dabei enorme Summen in die mediale Kommunikation investieren. Der Einsatz von Models und ihre Trimmung zu unrealistischen Idealen dienen nicht nur der Aktivierung der Aufmerksamkeit, sondern auch als Beweis für die Wirkung der unterschiedlichsten „Schönmacher“. Auch für die Besetzung der Werbefilme mit den attraktivsten Schauspielerinnen sprechen nicht nur die Effekte eines Celebrity Endorsers, sondern es erhöht zudem die Professionalität einer Marke, wenn sich Weltstars in Sachen Schönheit dieser anvertrauen. In Bezug auf die Wahrnehmung weiblicher Schönheit hat die Werbung einen nicht unerheblichen Anteil daran „…ein absurdes Ideal in Umlauf zu setzen, aufrecht zu erhalten, zu verstärken und zu verzerren“ (Posch 1999). Problematisch daran ist, dass diese Bilder als real wahrgenommen und als Vergleichsmaßstab herangezogen werden. Vor allem Frauen orientieren sich an der medialen Darstellung der Frau und der Weiblichkeit und entwickeln fragwürdige Selbstverständnisse und Verhaltensmuster in Bezug auf ihre Schönheit. „Im heutigen massenmedial verbreiteten Bild der Frau werden jahrtausendealte Vorstellungen von Weiblichkeit ins Gegenteil verkehrt“ (Mühlen-Achs 1990, S. 96f).
... Ad esempio, è possibile fare esperienza del brand «Red Bull» non solo assaggiando la bevanda,... more ... Ad esempio, è possibile fare esperienza del brand «Red Bull» non solo assaggiando la bevanda, te-nendo in mano la lattina od osservando il logo, ma anche ascoltando un'intervista al fondatore della compagnia Red Bull, o partecipando al Page 13. 283 ...
assistance with data collection. Martina Bauer is PhD Candidate at the University of Innsbruck, U... more assistance with data collection. Martina Bauer is PhD Candidate at the University of Innsbruck, Universitätsstraße 15, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria, Phone: +43 (0) 512-507 7208, Fax: +43 (0) 512-507 2842, E-Mail: martina.bauer@ uibk.ac.at. Sylvia von Wallpach is Assistant Professor at the University of Innsbruck, Universitätsstraße 15, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria, Phone: +43 (0) 512-507 7204, Fax: +43 (0) 512-507 2842, E-Mail: sylvia.von-wallpach@ uibk.ac.at. Andrea Hemetsberger is Associate Professor at the University of Innsbruck, Universitätsstraße 15, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria, Phone: +43 (0) 512507 7213, Fax: +43 (0) 512507 2842, E-Mail: andrea. hemetsberger@uibk.ac.at. ,My Little Luxury‘ A Consumer-Centred, Experiential view
... group Innsbruck University Universitätsstraße 15 6020 Innsbruck Austria, EUROPE phone: 0043 (... more ... group Innsbruck University Universitätsstraße 15 6020 Innsbruck Austria, EUROPE phone: 0043 (0)512 507 7213 Fax: 0043 (0)512 507 2842 e-mail: andrea.hemetsberger@uibk.ac ... Sun Microsystems, to name some of the most prominent corporations, have released the Mozilla ...
The COVID-19 crisis has resulted in physical distancing regulations, disrupting traditional pract... more The COVID-19 crisis has resulted in physical distancing regulations, disrupting traditional practices of establishing and maintaining social relationships. We draw attention to digital nomadism as a mature case of navigating sociality in uncertainty to investigate how the linking value of materiality establishes social proximity without geographic contiguity through physical, virtual, and imagined practices. Using Miller’s (1987) theory of materiality and triangulating data collected from in-depth interviews and netnography, this study details the material constitution of co-presence with others in physical distance. We propose that consumers oscillate between work—instrumental practices of signaling and curating—and play—emotional practices of belonging and indulging—to experience social linking across different spatial and temporal frameworks.
Faced with major changes in life due to role transitions, consumers not only reconstruct their id... more Faced with major changes in life due to role transitions, consumers not only reconstruct their identities, but also change consumption patterns and brand preferences. Especially in liminality, tensions between social compliance and individuality seeking become visible. Existing literature analyses role transitions retrospectively, when consumers have incorporated new role identities already into the new self-concept, and adopted new consumption patterns. The study presented here investigates how consumer-brand relationships are changing in liminal phases of transition. The study specifically focuses on consumers' transition from student to professional life, according identity changes and how they resonate with brands. The findings reveal that individuals support role identity change through the acquisition of brands that are perceived as prototypical for the new role, but also maintain valued brand relationships to ensure stability. Identification with the new versus the old role is strongly related to consumers' adoption of new brands or rather maintenance of existing brand relationships. Both old and new brand relationships support the separation from an old and the incorporation of a new role. Liminal brands help coping with role ambiguities and dual roles, while also providing excitement in anticipation of the future role.
ABSTRACT This study inquires how consumers’ experiences of luxury relate to consumers’ selves. Th... more ABSTRACT This study inquires how consumers’ experiences of luxury relate to consumers’ selves. The objective is to broaden our contemporary understanding of luxury experiences by departing from the traditional view of conspicuous luxury consumption as a marker of social class. Consumer diaries provide fundamental insights into the complex nature of luxury experiences as moments of luxury, which are an integral part of consumers’ everyday lives. Luxury experiences are inextricably linked with states and processes of self that revolve around multifaceted experiences of having (materialistic self), doing (liberating, oscillating, integrating, and relating self), being (harmony), and becoming (achievement-oriented and self-transformational). Our findings relate to and extend current self theory and fundamentally change our understanding of luxury from its groundings in status consumption towards a transient and abstract concept.
Heutzutage steht eine Vielzahl von konventionellen und virtuellen Methoden zur Verfügung, die für... more Heutzutage steht eine Vielzahl von konventionellen und virtuellen Methoden zur Verfügung, die für eine optimale Kundenorientierung im Innovationsprozess sorgen sollen. Kunden werden beobachtet, befragt oder zu Workshops eingeladen und aufgefordert aktiv an der Innovationsentwicklung teilzunehmen. Je nach Frage- und Aufgabenstellung kommen dabei die unterschiedlichsten Werkzeuge zum Einsatz, wie zum Beispiel Lead User Workshops, Brainstorming, Conjoint Analyse oder User-Design. Zielt ein Unternehmen auf die Gewinnung neuer Ideen ab, bieten sich andere Methoden und Vorgehensweisen an als etwa zur Ermittlung von Kundenpräferenzen oder Verbesserungsvorschlägen. Wiederum andere Werkzeuge kommen zum Einsatz, wenn es darum geht die Kundenakzeptanz oder Zahlungsbereitschaft für eine Innovation in Erfahrung zu bringen.
Recent theorizations on the social construction of markets (Benkler 2006; Penaloza and Venkatesh ... more Recent theorizations on the social construction of markets (Benkler 2006; Penaloza and Venkatesh 2006), the democratization of economy (Arvidsson 2008;2010), entrepreneurial consumer communities (Hemetsberger 2007), consumers as creative crowds and marketers (Kozinets, Hemetsberger and Schau 2008; Kozinets, deValck, Wojnicki and Wilner 2010), sharing (Belk 2010), and value creation through social practices of communities (Schau, Muniz and Arnould 2009) mark an important shift towards a more democratic understanding of economy, markets, and organizations.
Consumer devotion and brand love have recently attracted rising interest in consumer research. Du... more Consumer devotion and brand love have recently attracted rising interest in consumer research. Due to their high emotional attachment, brand devotees love and adore their brands and even fervently defend them against all odds. Yet, some of these relationships break down. This article addresses the question why strong emotional bonds with brands are weakened, and how consumers experience the process of emotional detachment and relationship termination. Phenomenological interviews with brand devotees revealed that-similar to personal relationships-personal transformation and physical and psychological injuries are two main categories of reasons for brand love to vanish.
This study assumes that individuals' desires for autonomy as well as concessions to conformity in... more This study assumes that individuals' desires for autonomy as well as concessions to conformity inform consumers' attempts to create consumption styles that are different. Our interpretive study investigates into male consumers' pursuit of being different and finds willful ignorance, non non-conformity (provocative conformity, wearing the old and outdated, consuming the ugly), and defamiliarization practices (delocalization, delabeling, contrasting personal practice) of individualization. We introduce the notion of Anderssein-a hybrid but distinct form of identity construction via fashion and lifestyle that we interpret as existentialist.
Contemporary philosophy offers a conceptual framework that extends consumer theory to hitherto ne... more Contemporary philosophy offers a conceptual framework that extends consumer theory to hitherto neglected facets of consumer motivation. Traditional utilitarian and hedonic dimensions are good in explaining (offline) purchase behavior, yet they fall short capturing new online consumption phenomena, and co-creative consumer enterprises. Whereas product and service offers consider consumer motives that emanate from the eros construct, thymotic urges rarely receive attention. While eros drives desires widely recognized as consumer demands, thymos regenerates the hygienic balance of a consumer as a moral, purposeful and creative entity. This article derives implications for online retailing in the light of eros-thymos-based performance motives.
ABSTRACT Die schlanke weiße Frau in der Werbung als soziales Symbol für Schönheit und weibliche E... more ABSTRACT Die schlanke weiße Frau in der Werbung als soziales Symbol für Schönheit und weibliche Eleganz dominiert die Werbelandschaft seit Jahrzehnten (Redmond 2003), ganz besonders natürlich in der Mode- und Schönheitsindustrie. Der Schönheits- und Pflegeproduktmarkt ist ein hart umkämpfter Markt, in dem sehr große Unternehmen wie z. B. der Marktführer L’Oréal, Unilever, Beiersdorf, oder Procter & Gamble um Marktanteile und Marktpositionen ringen und dabei enorme Summen in die mediale Kommunikation investieren. Der Einsatz von Models und ihre Trimmung zu unrealistischen Idealen dienen nicht nur der Aktivierung der Aufmerksamkeit, sondern auch als Beweis für die Wirkung der unterschiedlichsten „Schönmacher“. Auch für die Besetzung der Werbefilme mit den attraktivsten Schauspielerinnen sprechen nicht nur die Effekte eines Celebrity Endorsers, sondern es erhöht zudem die Professionalität einer Marke, wenn sich Weltstars in Sachen Schönheit dieser anvertrauen. In Bezug auf die Wahrnehmung weiblicher Schönheit hat die Werbung einen nicht unerheblichen Anteil daran „…ein absurdes Ideal in Umlauf zu setzen, aufrecht zu erhalten, zu verstärken und zu verzerren“ (Posch 1999). Problematisch daran ist, dass diese Bilder als real wahrgenommen und als Vergleichsmaßstab herangezogen werden. Vor allem Frauen orientieren sich an der medialen Darstellung der Frau und der Weiblichkeit und entwickeln fragwürdige Selbstverständnisse und Verhaltensmuster in Bezug auf ihre Schönheit. „Im heutigen massenmedial verbreiteten Bild der Frau werden jahrtausendealte Vorstellungen von Weiblichkeit ins Gegenteil verkehrt“ (Mühlen-Achs 1990, S. 96f).
... Ad esempio, è possibile fare esperienza del brand «Red Bull» non solo assaggiando la bevanda,... more ... Ad esempio, è possibile fare esperienza del brand «Red Bull» non solo assaggiando la bevanda, te-nendo in mano la lattina od osservando il logo, ma anche ascoltando un'intervista al fondatore della compagnia Red Bull, o partecipando al Page 13. 283 ...
assistance with data collection. Martina Bauer is PhD Candidate at the University of Innsbruck, U... more assistance with data collection. Martina Bauer is PhD Candidate at the University of Innsbruck, Universitätsstraße 15, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria, Phone: +43 (0) 512-507 7208, Fax: +43 (0) 512-507 2842, E-Mail: martina.bauer@ uibk.ac.at. Sylvia von Wallpach is Assistant Professor at the University of Innsbruck, Universitätsstraße 15, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria, Phone: +43 (0) 512-507 7204, Fax: +43 (0) 512-507 2842, E-Mail: sylvia.von-wallpach@ uibk.ac.at. Andrea Hemetsberger is Associate Professor at the University of Innsbruck, Universitätsstraße 15, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria, Phone: +43 (0) 512507 7213, Fax: +43 (0) 512507 2842, E-Mail: andrea. hemetsberger@uibk.ac.at. ,My Little Luxury‘ A Consumer-Centred, Experiential view
... group Innsbruck University Universitätsstraße 15 6020 Innsbruck Austria, EUROPE phone: 0043 (... more ... group Innsbruck University Universitätsstraße 15 6020 Innsbruck Austria, EUROPE phone: 0043 (0)512 507 7213 Fax: 0043 (0)512 507 2842 e-mail: andrea.hemetsberger@uibk.ac ... Sun Microsystems, to name some of the most prominent corporations, have released the Mozilla ...
The COVID-19 crisis has resulted in physical distancing regulations, disrupting traditional pract... more The COVID-19 crisis has resulted in physical distancing regulations, disrupting traditional practices of establishing and maintaining social relationships. We draw attention to digital nomadism as a mature case of navigating sociality in uncertainty to investigate how the linking value of materiality establishes social proximity without geographic contiguity through physical, virtual, and imagined practices. Using Miller’s (1987) theory of materiality and triangulating data collected from in-depth interviews and netnography, this study details the material constitution of co-presence with others in physical distance. We propose that consumers oscillate between work—instrumental practices of signaling and curating—and play—emotional practices of belonging and indulging—to experience social linking across different spatial and temporal frameworks.
Faced with major changes in life due to role transitions, consumers not only reconstruct their id... more Faced with major changes in life due to role transitions, consumers not only reconstruct their identities, but also change consumption patterns and brand preferences. Especially in liminality, tensions between social compliance and individuality seeking become visible. Existing literature analyses role transitions retrospectively, when consumers have incorporated new role identities already into the new self-concept, and adopted new consumption patterns. The study presented here investigates how consumer-brand relationships are changing in liminal phases of transition. The study specifically focuses on consumers' transition from student to professional life, according identity changes and how they resonate with brands. The findings reveal that individuals support role identity change through the acquisition of brands that are perceived as prototypical for the new role, but also maintain valued brand relationships to ensure stability. Identification with the new versus the old role is strongly related to consumers' adoption of new brands or rather maintenance of existing brand relationships. Both old and new brand relationships support the separation from an old and the incorporation of a new role. Liminal brands help coping with role ambiguities and dual roles, while also providing excitement in anticipation of the future role.
ABSTRACT This study inquires how consumers’ experiences of luxury relate to consumers’ selves. Th... more ABSTRACT This study inquires how consumers’ experiences of luxury relate to consumers’ selves. The objective is to broaden our contemporary understanding of luxury experiences by departing from the traditional view of conspicuous luxury consumption as a marker of social class. Consumer diaries provide fundamental insights into the complex nature of luxury experiences as moments of luxury, which are an integral part of consumers’ everyday lives. Luxury experiences are inextricably linked with states and processes of self that revolve around multifaceted experiences of having (materialistic self), doing (liberating, oscillating, integrating, and relating self), being (harmony), and becoming (achievement-oriented and self-transformational). Our findings relate to and extend current self theory and fundamentally change our understanding of luxury from its groundings in status consumption towards a transient and abstract concept.
Heutzutage steht eine Vielzahl von konventionellen und virtuellen Methoden zur Verfügung, die für... more Heutzutage steht eine Vielzahl von konventionellen und virtuellen Methoden zur Verfügung, die für eine optimale Kundenorientierung im Innovationsprozess sorgen sollen. Kunden werden beobachtet, befragt oder zu Workshops eingeladen und aufgefordert aktiv an der Innovationsentwicklung teilzunehmen. Je nach Frage- und Aufgabenstellung kommen dabei die unterschiedlichsten Werkzeuge zum Einsatz, wie zum Beispiel Lead User Workshops, Brainstorming, Conjoint Analyse oder User-Design. Zielt ein Unternehmen auf die Gewinnung neuer Ideen ab, bieten sich andere Methoden und Vorgehensweisen an als etwa zur Ermittlung von Kundenpräferenzen oder Verbesserungsvorschlägen. Wiederum andere Werkzeuge kommen zum Einsatz, wenn es darum geht die Kundenakzeptanz oder Zahlungsbereitschaft für eine Innovation in Erfahrung zu bringen.
Recent theorizations on the social construction of markets (Benkler 2006; Penaloza and Venkatesh ... more Recent theorizations on the social construction of markets (Benkler 2006; Penaloza and Venkatesh 2006), the democratization of economy (Arvidsson 2008;2010), entrepreneurial consumer communities (Hemetsberger 2007), consumers as creative crowds and marketers (Kozinets, Hemetsberger and Schau 2008; Kozinets, deValck, Wojnicki and Wilner 2010), sharing (Belk 2010), and value creation through social practices of communities (Schau, Muniz and Arnould 2009) mark an important shift towards a more democratic understanding of economy, markets, and organizations.
Consumer devotion and brand love have recently attracted rising interest in consumer research. Du... more Consumer devotion and brand love have recently attracted rising interest in consumer research. Due to their high emotional attachment, brand devotees love and adore their brands and even fervently defend them against all odds. Yet, some of these relationships break down. This article addresses the question why strong emotional bonds with brands are weakened, and how consumers experience the process of emotional detachment and relationship termination. Phenomenological interviews with brand devotees revealed that-similar to personal relationships-personal transformation and physical and psychological injuries are two main categories of reasons for brand love to vanish.
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