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The Center Cannot Hold: Consuming the Utopian Marketplace

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  • Pauline Maclaran
  • Stephen Brown

Abstract

This article draws upon the utopian studies literature to integrate two strands of contemporary consumer research, the study of place and space and the analysis of consumer/marketer relations. Based on a longitudinal study of a festival shopping mall, we provide an emergent theory of how the utopian marketplace is experienced, a theory that hinges around three interlinked conceptual categories: sensing displace, creating playspace, and performing artscape, which are subverted by the center management's maladroit refreshment of the retail offer. The relevance of this theorization for place-based scholarship, together with its implications for researchers of consumer/marketer relations, is also discussed. (c) 2005 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc..

Suggested Citation

  • Pauline Maclaran & Stephen Brown, 2005. "The Center Cannot Hold: Consuming the Utopian Marketplace," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 32(2), pages 311-323, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:oup:jconrs:v:32:y:2005:i:2:p:311-323
    DOI: 10.1086/432240
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    Cited by:

    1. Joy, Annamma & Wang, Jeff Jianfeng & Orazi, Davide C. & Yoon, Seyee & LaTour, Kathryn & Peña, Camilo, 2023. "Co-creating affective atmospheres in retail experience," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 99(2), pages 297-317.
    2. Eric J. Arnould, 2007. "Should Consumer Citizens Escape the Market?," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 611(1), pages 96-111, May.
    3. Teea Palo, 2023. "The Emergence of Concerned Partnerships in the Ethical Marketization of Place: A Narrative Lens," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 184(4), pages 835-854, May.
    4. Katja H Brunk & Markus Giesler & Benjamin J Hartmann & Darren DahlEditor & Craig ThompsonAssociate Editor, 2018. "Creating a Consumable Past: How Memory Making Shapes Marketization," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 44(6), pages 1325-1342.
    5. Podoshen, Jeffrey S. & Andrzejewski, Susan A. & Venkatesh, Vivek & Wallin, Jason, 2015. "New approaches to dark tourism inquiry: A response to Isaac," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 331-334.
    6. Puccinelli, Nancy M. & Goodstein, Ronald C. & Grewal, Dhruv & Price, Robert & Raghubir, Priya & Stewart, David, 2009. "Customer Experience Management in Retailing: Understanding the Buying Process," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 85(1), pages 15-30.
    7. Christou, Prokopis A. & Farmaki, Anna, 2019. "Utopia as a reinforcement of tourist experiences," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 144-147.
    8. Podoshen, Jeffrey S. & Venkatesh, Vivek & Wallin, Jason & Andrzejewski, Susan A. & Jin, Zheng, 2015. "Dystopian dark tourism: An exploratory examination," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 316-328.
    9. Kumar Rakesh Ranjan & Stuart Read, 2016. "Value co-creation: concept and measurement," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 44(3), pages 290-315, May.
    10. Hong, Soonkwan & Vicdan, Handan, 2016. "Re-imagining the utopian: Transformation of a sustainable lifestyle in ecovillages," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 120-136.
    11. Jack Coffin & Andreas Chatzidakis, 2021. "The Möbius strip of market spatiality: mobilizing transdisciplinary dialogues between CCT and the marketing mainstream," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 11(1), pages 40-59, June.
    12. Rosenbaum, Mark S. & Ramirez, Germán Contreras & Camino, Jaime Rivera, 2018. "A dose of nature and shopping: The restorative potential of biophilic lifestyle center designs," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 66-73.
    13. Stuart Read & Stefan Michel & Jan H. Schumann & Kumar Rakesh Ranjan, 2019. "Pricing co-created value: an integrative framework and research agenda," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 9(3), pages 155-183, December.
    14. Kozinets, Robert V., 2021. "Reprint: YouTube utopianism: Social media profanation and the clicktivism of capitalist critique," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 349-365.
    15. Mathilde Pulh & Rémi Mencarelli & Damien Chaney, 2019. "The consequences of the heritage experience in brand museums on the consumer–brand relationship," Post-Print halshs-02142424, HAL.
    16. Damien Chaney & Renaud Lunardo & Rémi Mencarelli, 2018. "Consumption experience: past, present and future," Post-Print hal-01951670, HAL.
    17. Aleksandrina Atanasova, 2021. "Re-examining utopia in contemporary consumption: conceptualization and implications for marketing," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 11(1), pages 23-39, June.
    18. Alain Debenedetti & Damien Chaney, 2024. "From feeling like home to being at home: The negative outcomes of attachment to commercial places," Post-Print hal-04355633, HAL.
    19. Kozinets, Robert V., 2019. "YouTube utopianism: Social media profanation and the clicktivism of capitalist critique," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 65-81.
    20. Vera Hoelscher & Andreas Chatzidakis, 2021. "Ethical Consumption Communities Across Physical and Digital Spaces: An Exploration of Their Complementary and Synergistic Affordances," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 172(2), pages 291-306, August.

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