National market communities

Bicycle use and civil society in France and the United States, 1867–1910

Bibliographic Data

ID7732877
AuthorsThomas Burr (Illinois State University), Thomas C Burr (Illinois State University, corresponding author)
Year2012
Volume15
Issue1
Pages63-85
Publication date2012-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueConsumption Markets & Culture (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1025-3866 • E-ISSN: 1477-223X
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/10253866.2011.637747
OpenAlexW2015752250
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited49

Ethnographic studies within consumer culture theory examine the cultural and personal aspects of consumer communities, often focusing on brands. While fascinating, such studies often ignore market-oriented communities spanning national states. To address these gaps, the author introduces the concept of "national market community." Using comparative–historical methods, I examine how bicycle consumers organized national, market-oriented communities in France and the USA around 1880. These communities consisted of social networks and voluntary associations on multiple geographic scales, and publications that integrated consumers into an imagined national community. State institutions and market characteristics shaped these social structures. Communities provided consumers a mix of public, quasi-public, and private goods and services that improved product use. As the markets changed over time, national communities changed with them. When the two markets diverged, communities continued to support leisure use of bicycles, but abandoned utilitarian use. This concept offers opportunities for further comparative, historical, and ethnographic research

Business · Ethnography · Geography · National park · Political science · Product (mathematics · Public relations · Sociology · State (computer science · Culinary Culture and Tourism · Fashion and Cultural Textiles · Wine Industry and Tourism · Marketing

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