From Dystopian Fiction to Engagement : Building Institutional Belonging through the Experience of the Unacceptable

Since the seminal work of Holbrook and Hirschman (1982), consumption has no longer been understood as a purely utilitarian transaction, but as a subjective experience shaped by symbolic, emotional, and temporal dimensions. While experiential marketing literature has extensively examined the role of past memories and present immersion (Carù & Cova, 2015), the future as a temporal lever of engagement remains relatively underexplored. This research examines how projection into a dystopian future may strengthen present engagement through the concept of the « unacceptable scenario », introduced by Berger (1964) and later developed by Plassard (2002). Based on the premise that « the future is the reason for being of the present », this prospective approach uses undesirable futures to influence present-day behaviors and collective action. Applied to the higher education sector, this study investigates how immersive devices can transform student induction into a powerful collective experience. This research addresses the following question : How can the « unacceptable scenario », by projecting students into a dystopian future, contribute to strengthening their responsible engagement and their sense of belonging toward the institution ? This exploratory research is based on the analysis of an immersive pedagogical device implemented during the 2025 induction day at IAE Corse (University of Corsica). More than 200 students worked in multidisciplinary groups on dystopian scenarios related to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) issues, such as marine pollution, AI ethics, and water scarcity. The device relied on immersive artifacts (fictional TV reports, press articles, and infographics) designed to imitate authentic documents and reinforce immersion. The experience culminated in a collective commitment to sustainability. The qualitative corpus (comprising participant observations, student verbatims, and final group productions) reveals three key findings : First, confrontation with dystopia generates strong emotional and cognitive reactions, fostering creativity and risk-taking. Second, interactions with local non-profit organizations anchored the experience in social reality. Third, the shared immersive experience appeared to significantly strengthen the sense of institutional belonging, transforming a standard orientation day into a foundational moment of the student journey. Theoretically, this research contributes to the field of experience by introducing dystopian projection as a temporal dimension of engagement. It also proposes an original articulation between experiential approaches and experiential learning (Kolb, 1984), showing how immersive pedagogical devices transform students from passive recipients into co-creators of responsible collective experiences.