Deviant consumption meets consumption-as-usual: The construction of deviance and normality within consumer research

Koskenniemi, Aino

doi:10.1177/1469540519875997

Cited by 7 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…Articles may also promote some modal shifts (Sandberg, 2021) in consumption behavior ( N = 132) and include some critical reflection on the societal and environmental impact of consumption. However, they exclude reflection on structural and political issues and reinforce the idea that sustainability can be achieved by means of ethical, green, or sustainable consumption (Boström et al, 2017; Koskenniemi, 2021). Third, some articles present countervailing responses ( N = 31) that attempt to reject mainstream consumer culture (Thompson and Coskuner-Balli, 2007).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Between conspicuous and conscious consumption: The sustainability paradox in the intermediary promotional work of an online lifestyle site

Frig

Jaakkola

2023

Journal of Consumer Culture

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This article examines the representation of sustainability on the online lifestyle site Goop as a case study of how promotional media deal with environmental and social concerns. Specifically, the paper presents how promotional intermediaries address or conceal a tension between (1) the promotion of conspicuous consumption and (2) the advocacy of sustainable living. The paper contributes to cultural intermediary scholarship by showing how promotional intermediaries attempt to reconcile this tension, advocating consumerism favorable to them while still enhancing critical cultural citizenship. By presenting sustainable brands and environmental advocates, and different—at times, incommensurable—narratives on the relationship between sustainability and consumption, promotional intermediaries signal that sustainability is important while promoting actions that can be considered to contradict the idea of sustainability, such as excessive consumption. In this way they produce a safe space for brands and consumers but arrive at a sustainability paradox.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Between conspicuous and conscious consumption: The sustainability paradox in the intermediary promotional work of an online lifestyle site

Frig

Jaakkola

2023

Journal of Consumer Culture

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“…Having grown up in a consumer culture and benefiting from rather secure and comfortable economic positions, these individuals “are not interested in joining a subculture or movement,” argues Holt (2014: 211); instead, they consume the myth of sustainability in a ritualistic and conspicuous manner. Yet, as the effectiveness of marginal sustainable lifestyles changes are being contested (Csutora, 2012; Koskenniemi, 2019; Thøgersen and Crompton, 2009) and anti-consumerist discourses consolidating (Humphery, 2019), HCCs are forced to reevaluate their consumption standards and consider practices more directly aimed at decreasing their personal levels of waste and acquisition.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Online giving groups operate outside the dominant market and valorize waste-avoiding and local solidarity practices (Buy Nothing, 2021b) that do not respond to, and to some extent contradict, mainstream consumption logics. The popularity of online freecycling in privileged neighborhoods indicates that HCCs no longer content themselves with purchasing sustainable myths and seek to signify their moral opposition to “consumption-as-usual” (Koskenniemi, 2019) through more radical anti-consumerist acts.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Yet, HCCs’ embeddedness in the dominant production system prevents them from embracing truly sustainable lifestyles and constrains them to performing symbolic acts of consumption (Holt, 2014). Increasingly, however, “responsible” forms of consumption that consist in marginally changing one’s consumption behavior are being criticized for having little effect on the social and environmental problems that motivate them (Csutora, 2012; Koskenniemi, 2019; Thøgersen and Crompton, 2009), while consumption restraint is being presented as the only truly effective solution to sustainability issues (Black, 2010; Jackson, 2008; Kropfeld et al, 2018). For HCCs, restraining their consumption choices means limiting their ability to enjoy and signal their social position (Isenhour, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Practices of thrift among high cultural capital consumers. When economic status gets in the way of ethics

Bargain-Darrigues

2022

Journal of Consumer Culture

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Practices and preferences of high cultural capital consumers are being reconfigured as a consequence of their incorporated ecological and social concerns. Yet, while their status and tastes are primarily influenced by their cultural position, their consumption logics also reflect their economic situation, which tends to be relatively secure and comfortable. As the limits of ethically-labeled substitution strategies are being exposed, high cultural capital consumers are forced to reconsider their living standards. In this context, the spread of online gifting communities in rather well-off and highly-educated neighborhoods suggests that thrift practices are popularizing, while being ethicized, among advantaged individuals. How does thrift fit into these consumers’ lifestyles? To what extent does it contribute to alleviate the tensions between their ethical principles and material standards? Through an analysis of thirty-five semi-structured interviews with participants in online gifting communities, this study finds that the adoption of thrift practices by high cultural capital consumers is indeed largely motivated by anti-consumerist concerns. Yet, the extent to which these consumers incorporate them in their everyday lives is conditioned by their position within the dominant consumption field, itself partially determined by their economic status. While trash-avoiding practices are highly consistent among respondents and align with their declared aversion to material waste, consumption reduction strategies vary by income level and are influenced by conventional logics of consumption. By adapting critically-motivated practices to their existing consumption patterns, these high cultural capital consumers redefine ethical consumption from within the broader field of consumption, not simply opposing it. At the same time, they legitimize its contesting dimension, revealing a dialectical relation between ethical and conventional consumption.

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“…With inspiration from Lee and Ahn (2016), we define non-consumption as the voluntary and intentional avoidance of consumption, either generally or selectively (Iyer and Muncy, 2009). This type of non-consumption manifests itself in rejecting brands or boycotting selected products and services (Koskenniemi, 2019). When rejecting certain products or brands, consumption may be redirected towards greener alternatives, voluntary simplicity and/or the substitution of material products for immaterial ones.…”

Section: Consumption Theory and Nothing – A Conceptual Model And Its mentioning

confidence: 99%

Conspicuous non-consumption in tourism: Non-innovation or the innovation of nothing?

Sørensen

Hjalager

2019

Tourist Studies

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Referring to current phenomena and consumer behaviour in tourism, this article develops the concept of conspicuous non-consumption. It addresses the deliberate avoidance of (over)spending during holidays and states that this behaviour may be just as conspicuous and provide social signals that are just as strong as those connected to the consumption of expensive luxury goods. The conceptual development is based on a combination of the two dichotomies of ‘consumption versus non-consumption’ and ‘conspicuous versus inconspicuous’, resulting in four conceptually distinctive categories of behaviour: conspicuous consumption, conspicuous non-consumption, inconspicuous non-consumption and conspicuous non-consumption. The latter, conspicuous non-consumption, is of special interest in this article, exemplified through personal vignettes. Explorative readings of travel blogs lead to the identification of five themes that characterize conspicuous non-consumption in tourism: ‘identity building’, ‘recycling, upcycling and repurposing’, ‘spiritualizing’, ‘retreating and detoxing’ and ‘slowing down’. Usually, tourism innovation policies are characterized by a ritual growth compulsion, and do not celebrate non-consumption, which is found to be synonymous with non-innovation. This is a paradox for the timely modernizing of tourist services and destinations. Increasingly, there is a need to reorient innovation and to give consideration to how the innovation of ‘nothing’ can also undergo a distinctive progression and even contribute positively to tourism economies. This article highlights the entry points for innovation at the tourism business and destination levels.

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Deviant consumption meets consumption-as-usual: The construction of deviance and normality within consumer research

Cited by 7 publications

References 55 publications

Between conspicuous and conscious consumption: The sustainability paradox in the intermediary promotional work of an online lifestyle site

Between conspicuous and conscious consumption: The sustainability paradox in the intermediary promotional work of an online lifestyle site

Practices of thrift among high cultural capital consumers. When economic status gets in the way of ethics

Conspicuous non-consumption in tourism: Non-innovation or the innovation of nothing?

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