Communicating identity
How the symbolic meaning of goods creates different market types
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9256380 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Carolina Dalla Chiesa (0000-0003-0452-6045, Erasmus University Rotterdam, corresponding author), Erwin Dekker (0000-0002-2316-2403, Erasmus University Rotterdam) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 82 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 76-97 |
| Publication date | 2024-01-02 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Review of Social Economy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0034-6764 • E-ISSN: 1470-1162 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/00346764.2021.2019822 |
| OpenAlex | W4221030896 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 50 |
This paper argues that the different symbolic meanings of goods give rise to three institutionally different market types. We start from the realization that consumption has symbolic meaning, which individuals use to communicate and construct their identity to their social networks. We argue that firm behavior (including size, pricing and marketing strategies) must be congruent with the symbolic meaning of goods. We distinguish between two stylized meanings of goods, status and taste, which we derive from the socio-anthropological literature on consumption. We argue that these different meanings, articulated by consumers to communicate their identity, give rise to three ideal-typical market types. We present the institutional differences between these market types as well as the implications for firm behavior and demonstrate how firm behavior and marketing strategies differs significantly from markets in which the symbolic meaning of goods is relatively unimportant. We use the recent transformation of the beer market by the craft-beer producers, to illustrate our theory
Aesthetics · Business · Construct (python library) · Consumption (sociology) · Craft · Economics · Identity (music) · Meaning (existential) · Social science · Sociology · Stylized fact · The Symbolic · Computer Science · Fermentation and Sensory Analysis · Marketing · Organic Food and Agriculture · Psychology · Wine Industry and Tourism
Consumption and Commodities
Anthropology and Economy
Identity Economics
Valuing the Unique
What Are Institutions?
Incentives and Prosocial Behavior
Brands as symbolic resources for the construction of identity
On the New Theory of Consumer Behavior
Signaling in Retrospect and the Informational Structure of Markets
Silver Signals
The cultural biography of things
Handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education
The four ‘worlds’ of contemporary industry
The Social Life of Things
Social network markets
Craft and the Creative Economy
De Gustibus Non Est Disputandum
The Search for Uniqueness and Valuation of Scarcity
The Unmanageable Consumer
Exemplary Goods
The embourgeoisement of beer
Material Culture and the Living Room
Information and Consumer Behavior
You Are What You Eat
Why the Microbrewery Movement? Organizational Dynamics of Resource Partitioning in the U.S. Brewing Industry
The practice of everyday life
Veblen, Bourdieu, and Conspicuous Consumption
Becoming a Fan
Untapped
The Role of Products as Social Stimuli
Subtle Signals of Inconspicuous Consumption
Sourcing newness
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2026 (3) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |