CONSUMER CULTURE THEORY (AND WE REALLY MEAN THEORETICS): DILEMMAS AND OPPORTUNITIES POSED BY AN ACADEMIC BRANDING STRATEGY

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to clarify and extend theoretical and institutional debates raised in Arnould and Thompson (2005) and subsequent discussions of consumer culture theory (CCT) in scholarly venues. Approximately two years ago, we published a synthesizing essay on the interdisciplinary stream of research that had followed in the 20 year wake of consumer research’s interpretive turn (Sherry, 1991). Our review article pursued three not so hidden agendas. First, we wanted to provide a heuristic framework for mapping out this diverse body of research in terms of recurrent core theoretical concerns. We felt that this framework could be particularly helpful for Ph.D. students, who based on our experience, seemed to struggle with the contextual and topical diversity presented by this research tradition and to loose sight of the proverbial theoretical forest for the manifold particularities of context rich research. Second, we wanted to confront and refute a number of misconceptions that we felt held considerable sway in the broader marketing field, particularly among those not trained in this sphere