Change and Innovation in the Funeral Industry

Beard, Virginia R; Burger, William C.

doi:10.1177/0030222815612605

Cited by 36 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 16 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Gibbs et al., 2015). Beard and Burger (2017) conducted a meta-analysis of U.S. studies inventorizing types of motives for changes in the industry: business-related versus consumer-related. While providing rich data for background understanding, the overview articles did not systematically review nor did the studies empirically examine the impact of body disposal ceremonies in direct association with adjustment to the loss of a close person.…”

Section: Review Of Scientific Studies Of Funeral Practices and Griefmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cremation and Grief: Are Ways of Commemorating the Dead Related to Adjustment Over Time?

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Funeral services are known to serve multiple functions for bereaved persons. There is also a common, intuitively reasonable assumption of positive associations between engaging in funeral activities and adjustment to bereavement. We examined whether restricting ceremonial cremation arrangements to a minimum has a negative association with grief over time. Bereaved persons in the United Kingdom completed questionnaires 2 to 5 months postloss and again a year later ( N = 233 with complete data; dropout = 11.4%). Neither type nor elaborateness of the cremation service, nor satisfaction with arrangements (typically high), emerged as significantly related to grief; no major subgroup differences (e.g., according to income level) were found. Results suggested that it does not matter to grief whether a more minimalistic or elaborate funeral ceremony was observed. We concluded that the funeral industry represented in this investigation is offering bereaved people the range of choices regarding cremation arrangements to meet their needs. Limits to generalizability are discussed.

show abstract

Section: Review Of Scientific Studies Of Funeral Practices and Griefmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cremation and Grief: Are Ways of Commemorating the Dead Related to Adjustment Over Time?

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Consumer preferences within the death care industry are constantly evolving (Beard & Burger, 2017; Kopp & Kemp, 2007). Consumer behavior involves searching for, purchasing, using, and evaluating products or services (Schiffman, O’Cass, Paladino, D’Alessandro, & Bednall, 2011).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Memorialization Practices Are Changing: An Industry Perspective on Improving Service Outcomes for the Bereaved

2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Although considerable research efforts have focused on bereavement outcomes following loss, there are few studies which address the role of memorialization, particularly as it relates to formal service provision. Currently the funeral, cemetery, and crematorium industries are observing a steady decline in traditional and formal memorialization practices. This study aims to identify current memorialization practices and emerging trends, highlight key priorities for improving service outcomes for the bereaved, and understand the implications of changing consumer preferences for service provision. The study’s qualitative research design incorporates two phases, a scoping literature review followed by in-depth interviews with eight service providers from the funeral, cemetery, and crematorium industries. A key finding is that the trend toward contemporary and informal memorialization practices blurs the lines between the role of consumers and service providers. There is a clear opportunity for service providers to engage in community education as a means of building supportive relationships with and improving service outcomes for the bereaved.

show abstract

“…Notwithstanding this upward ‘creep’ in market monopoly which we explore later, and despite some diversification of funeral rituals and body disposal (Beard and Burger, 2017), funeral economies in the West exhibit a relatively stable character. This differs according to religious practice, commercial autonomy and municipal legislation (Walter, 2005).…”

Section: Present or ‘Absent’? Conceptualising The State Within The (Uk) Funeral Industrymentioning

confidence: 93%

The State of the UK funeral industry

Fletcher

McGowan

2020

Critical Social Policy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The UK funeral industry is a frequently overlooked sector within critical policy discussions of State practice and welfare provision. In this article, we propose three ‘ideal types’ for making sense of State-Industry interactions: Explicit State Provision; Public-Private Legislation; and Corporate Capital. Situating these ideal types against the backdrop of austerity, we highlight three respective examples from the industry to evidence different roles performed by Funeral Directors (FDs), including: negotiations with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP); HM Coroner contract tendering; and larger scale processes of capital accumulation through the industry’s biggest provider, Dignity plc. Our analysis reveals that the funeral industry represents a nebulous political and moral economy whose local practices differ markedly, evidencing critical insights into the workings, both present and ‘absent’, of the neoliberal State.

show abstract

Change and Innovation in the Funeral Industry

Cited by 36 publications

References 16 publications

Cremation and Grief: Are Ways of Commemorating the Dead Related to Adjustment Over Time?

Cremation and Grief: Are Ways of Commemorating the Dead Related to Adjustment Over Time?

Memorialization Practices Are Changing: An Industry Perspective on Improving Service Outcomes for the Bereaved

The State of the UK funeral industry

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About