Nikhilesh Dholakia
Biographic Data
| ID | 640734 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Nikhilesh Dholakia |
| GIVEN NAMES | Nikhilesh |
| FAMILY NAME | Dholakia |
| SIGNATURE | DHOLAKIA N |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Rhode Island |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-9745-752X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 16 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 47 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 15 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1983 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Digital Labour in Global Marketscapes
While globalized digital labour has been happening for many decades, there is a steady ongoing shift to digital labour being performed for free by consumers worldwide, in multiple ways, that enhance the bottom lines of mega-tech companies that own social media platforms and artificial intelligence (AI) platforms. Without the benefits of capturing the uncompensated digital labour of billions of global consumers, the big tech companies would be in …
Diversity, Technology and Development: New Opportunities for the Global South
The Global North, at least parts of it, is on the path to squelch diversity and inclusion. While these efforts will not succeed in the longer run, nonetheless, very favourable conditions have emerged for the Global South to support and promote linguistic–cultural diversity. Such efforts would help the people and institutions in the Global South and make the enterprises from that part of the world more competitive globally. This perspective articl…
The miasma of misinformation: A social analysis of media, markets, and manipulation
The miasma of misinformation has become globally pervasive, infecting millions of people with false beliefs and conspiracies. This conceptual study examines the role of media in the creation, sustenance, and propagation of misinformation, by looking into the economic structuring of media industries. Traditionally, media relied on the dual product model that rendered their function of informing the public a secondary concern, as their profitabilit…
Action Research: A Review and Proposal for Application in Marketing Inquiry
Action research has a very limited track record in marketing. We take an applied and practical approach and begin with a review of action research as a method, then turn to a more focused review of action research in marketing contexts, discussing the plausible constraints and advantages. Based on these reviews, we offer a conceptual framework and several application areas for marketing action research. We summarize case study examples from three…
From consumer to construer: Travels in human subjectivity
A key component of how human beings organize their lives is how they perceive and make sense of what it means to be human, that is, their subjectivity. Human subjectivity has taken on different dominant forms across history, the consumer being one of the most dominant contemporary forms. Based on current and potential trends, we argue, with a deliberate tone of optimism about transformative potential of the human condition, that if the contempora…
Mobile media: From Legato to Staccato, Isochronal Consumptionscapes
Mobile devices in the form of smartphones are transforming the temporality of consumption experiences, from languid and legato forms to isochronal and staccato forms. New communication technologies accelerate as well as alter mobile consumptionscapes. Rather than attempting to capture the elusive here-and-now essence of such fast-changing scenes, this essay invokes three historical episodes of technology and mobility – the transistor radio, the W…
Outsider's insights: (Mis)understanding A. Fuat Fırat on consumption, markets and culture
Fuat Fırat has for a long time maintained a radical, outside and critical voice within marketing and consumption theory. He was one of the editors of the landmark book Radical and Philosophical Theory in Marketing, published in 1987, which sought to develop alternative modes of theorizing and conceptualizing both marketing practice and the consuming subject. The continuation of that wider project eventually lead to the foundation of Consumption M…
Finanzkapital in the twenty-first century
Purpose Drawing inspiration from the 1910 book Finanzkapital by Rudolf Hilferding, this paper seeks to explore the nature of financial capital in the early twenty-first century from a political-economic and culture theory perspective. It aims to offer suggestions for transcending the crises-prone contemporary economic systems. Design/methodology/approach The paper reconceptualises the notions of Finanzkapital in the contemporary context, drawing …
The making of the consumer
Consumption is widely regarded as one of the most important phenomena in contemporary society, but, till now, there has been very little analysis of how consumption patterns evolve, transform and proliferate. This revealing book provides an incisive treatment of consumption on a global scale from a cultural, philosophical and business perspective. Beginning with an analysis of how a dominant form of consumption pattern took hold in modern, capita…
Exploring the cultural contradictions of medical tourism
The globalization of medical services provides a useful tapestry to explore what Appadurai called the “complexity of the current global economy.” This study, employing a netnographic‐inspired exploration of internet‐based discussion forums along with other evidence, probes the cultural contradictions of medical tourism. Medical tourism offers the promise of affordable medical services in world‐class vacation destinations; yet this marriage of exo…
Global business beyond modernity
Purpose This paper sets out to provide global business managers and researchers with perspectives, concepts, and some tools to deal with emergent late modern conditions. Design/methodology/approach Analytical discourse is employed to outline the post‐enlightenment rise of modernity and rational economics. The paper critiques the nature of business institutions and practices under modernity, and points to the new conditions of waning and late mode…
The Epistemic Consumption Object and Postsocial Consumption: Expanding Consumer-Object Theory in Consumer Research
We introduce the concept of the epistemic consumption object. Such consumption objects are characterized by two interrelated features. First, epistemic consumption objects reveal themselves progressively through interaction, observation, use, examination, and evaluation. Such layered revelation is accompanied by an increasing rather than a decline of the object's complexity. Second, such objects demonstrate a propensity to change their "face-in-a…
Poetry
Consuming People: From Political Economy to Theatres of Consumption
Consumption is widely regarded as one of the most important phenomena in contemporary society, but, till now, there has been very little analysis of how consumption patterns evolve, transform and proliferate. This revealing book provides an incisive treatment of consumption on a global scale from a cultural, philosophical and business perspective. Beginning with an analysis of how a dominant form of consumption pattern took hold in modern, capita…
Consuming People: From Political Economy to Theatres of Consumption
1. The Consuming Society 2. Consumption Patterns 3. Making of the Consumer 4. Consumption in Modern Society 5. The Social Construction of Consumption Patterns in Modern Society 6. (Post)Modernity and Consumption 7. Postmodern Consumption 8. Global Consumption 9. Consuming People 10. The New Theater of Consumption
From social psychology to political economy: A model of energy use behavior
The Epistemic Consumption Object and Postsocial Consumption: Expanding Consumer-Object Theory in Consumer Research
We introduce the concept of the epistemic consumption object. Such consumption objects are characterized by two interrelated features. First, epistemic consumption objects reveal themselves progressively through interaction, observation, use, examination, and evaluation. Such layered revelation is accompanied by an increasing rather than a decline of the object's complexity. Second, such objects demonstrate a propensity to change their "face-in-a…
Mobile media: From Legato to Staccato, Isochronal Consumptionscapes
Mobile devices in the form of smartphones are transforming the temporality of consumption experiences, from languid and legato forms to isochronal and staccato forms. New communication technologies accelerate as well as alter mobile consumptionscapes. Rather than attempting to capture the elusive here-and-now essence of such fast-changing scenes, this essay invokes three historical episodes of technology and mobility – the transistor radio, the W…
Exploring the cultural contradictions of medical tourism
The globalization of medical services provides a useful tapestry to explore what Appadurai called the “complexity of the current global economy.” This study, employing a netnographic‐inspired exploration of internet‐based discussion forums along with other evidence, probes the cultural contradictions of medical tourism. Medical tourism offers the promise of affordable medical services in world‐class vacation destinations; yet this marriage of exo…
From consumer to construer: Travels in human subjectivity
A key component of how human beings organize their lives is how they perceive and make sense of what it means to be human, that is, their subjectivity. Human subjectivity has taken on different dominant forms across history, the consumer being one of the most dominant contemporary forms. Based on current and potential trends, we argue, with a deliberate tone of optimism about transformative potential of the human condition, that if the contempora…
Poetry
Outsider's insights: (Mis)understanding A. Fuat Fırat on consumption, markets and culture
Fuat Fırat has for a long time maintained a radical, outside and critical voice within marketing and consumption theory. He was one of the editors of the landmark book Radical and Philosophical Theory in Marketing, published in 1987, which sought to develop alternative modes of theorizing and conceptualizing both marketing practice and the consuming subject. The continuation of that wider project eventually lead to the foundation of Consumption M…
From social psychology to political economy: A model of energy use behavior
From social psychology to political economy: A model of energy use behavior
Consuming People: From Political Economy to Theatres of Consumption
1. The Consuming Society 2. Consumption Patterns 3. Making of the Consumer 4. Consumption in Modern Society 5. The Social Construction of Consumption Patterns in Modern Society 6. (Post)Modernity and Consumption 7. Postmodern Consumption 8. Global Consumption 9. Consuming People 10. The New Theater of Consumption
Consuming People: From Political Economy to Theatres of Consumption
Consumption is widely regarded as one of the most important phenomena in contemporary society, but, till now, there has been very little analysis of how consumption patterns evolve, transform and proliferate. This revealing book provides an incisive treatment of consumption on a global scale from a cultural, philosophical and business perspective. Beginning with an analysis of how a dominant form of consumption pattern took hold in modern, capita…
Poetry
Global business beyond modernity
Purpose This paper sets out to provide global business managers and researchers with perspectives, concepts, and some tools to deal with emergent late modern conditions. Design/methodology/approach Analytical discourse is employed to outline the post‐enlightenment rise of modernity and rational economics. The paper critiques the nature of business institutions and practices under modernity, and points to the new conditions of waning and late mode…
The Epistemic Consumption Object and Postsocial Consumption: Expanding Consumer-Object Theory in Consumer Research
We introduce the concept of the epistemic consumption object. Such consumption objects are characterized by two interrelated features. First, epistemic consumption objects reveal themselves progressively through interaction, observation, use, examination, and evaluation. Such layered revelation is accompanied by an increasing rather than a decline of the object's complexity. Second, such objects demonstrate a propensity to change their "face-in-a…
The making of the consumer
Consumption is widely regarded as one of the most important phenomena in contemporary society, but, till now, there has been very little analysis of how consumption patterns evolve, transform and proliferate. This revealing book provides an incisive treatment of consumption on a global scale from a cultural, philosophical and business perspective. Beginning with an analysis of how a dominant form of consumption pattern took hold in modern, capita…
Exploring the cultural contradictions of medical tourism
The globalization of medical services provides a useful tapestry to explore what Appadurai called the “complexity of the current global economy.” This study, employing a netnographic‐inspired exploration of internet‐based discussion forums along with other evidence, probes the cultural contradictions of medical tourism. Medical tourism offers the promise of affordable medical services in world‐class vacation destinations; yet this marriage of exo…
Finanzkapital in the twenty-first century
Purpose Drawing inspiration from the 1910 book Finanzkapital by Rudolf Hilferding, this paper seeks to explore the nature of financial capital in the early twenty-first century from a political-economic and culture theory perspective. It aims to offer suggestions for transcending the crises-prone contemporary economic systems. Design/methodology/approach The paper reconceptualises the notions of Finanzkapital in the contemporary context, drawing …
Outsider's insights: (Mis)understanding A. Fuat Fırat on consumption, markets and culture
Fuat Fırat has for a long time maintained a radical, outside and critical voice within marketing and consumption theory. He was one of the editors of the landmark book Radical and Philosophical Theory in Marketing, published in 1987, which sought to develop alternative modes of theorizing and conceptualizing both marketing practice and the consuming subject. The continuation of that wider project eventually lead to the foundation of Consumption M…
Mobile media: From Legato to Staccato, Isochronal Consumptionscapes
Mobile devices in the form of smartphones are transforming the temporality of consumption experiences, from languid and legato forms to isochronal and staccato forms. New communication technologies accelerate as well as alter mobile consumptionscapes. Rather than attempting to capture the elusive here-and-now essence of such fast-changing scenes, this essay invokes three historical episodes of technology and mobility – the transistor radio, the W…
From consumer to construer: Travels in human subjectivity
A key component of how human beings organize their lives is how they perceive and make sense of what it means to be human, that is, their subjectivity. Human subjectivity has taken on different dominant forms across history, the consumer being one of the most dominant contemporary forms. Based on current and potential trends, we argue, with a deliberate tone of optimism about transformative potential of the human condition, that if the contempora…
Action Research: A Review and Proposal for Application in Marketing Inquiry
Action research has a very limited track record in marketing. We take an applied and practical approach and begin with a review of action research as a method, then turn to a more focused review of action research in marketing contexts, discussing the plausible constraints and advantages. Based on these reviews, we offer a conceptual framework and several application areas for marketing action research. We summarize case study examples from three…
The miasma of misinformation: A social analysis of media, markets, and manipulation
The miasma of misinformation has become globally pervasive, infecting millions of people with false beliefs and conspiracies. This conceptual study examines the role of media in the creation, sustenance, and propagation of misinformation, by looking into the economic structuring of media industries. Traditionally, media relied on the dual product model that rendered their function of informing the public a secondary concern, as their profitabilit…
Digital Labour in Global Marketscapes
While globalized digital labour has been happening for many decades, there is a steady ongoing shift to digital labour being performed for free by consumers worldwide, in multiple ways, that enhance the bottom lines of mega-tech companies that own social media platforms and artificial intelligence (AI) platforms. Without the benefits of capturing the uncompensated digital labour of billions of global consumers, the big tech companies would be in …
Diversity, Technology and Development: New Opportunities for the Global South
The Global North, at least parts of it, is on the path to squelch diversity and inclusion. While these efforts will not succeed in the longer run, nonetheless, very favourable conditions have emerged for the Global South to support and promote linguistic–cultural diversity. Such efforts would help the people and institutions in the Global South and make the enterprises from that part of the world more competitive globally. This perspective articl…
Sociology (11 works) · Business (6 works) · Epistemology (6 works) · Political science (6 works) · Computer Science (5 works) · Social science (5 works) · Globalization and Cultural Identity (4 works) · Law (4 works) · Philosophy (4 works) · Art (3 works)