Communicating identity: how the symbolic meaning of goods creates different market types
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In: Review of Social Economy, Vol. 82, No. 1, 2024, p. 76-97.
Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Communicating identity
T2 - how the symbolic meaning of goods creates different market types
AU - Dalla Chiesa, Carolina
AU - Dekker, Erwin
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
KW - Sociology
KW - symbolic meaning of goods
KW - quality signals
KW - market segmentation
KW - judgment devices
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85122248361&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/9e8d01f3-8625-3178-a3a2-730d306b890d/
U2 - 10.1080/00346764.2021.2019822
DO - 10.1080/00346764.2021.2019822
M3 - Journal articles
VL - 82
SP - 76
EP - 97
JO - Review of Social Economy
JF - Review of Social Economy
SN - 0034-6764
IS - 1
ER -