[Research Grant] Vulnerable Consumers Seminar Series
Ente: Economic and Social Research Council
Scadenza: 2014-10-31
Paese: GB
Descrizione
The proposed programme of discussions connects with a series of important contemporary concerns that relate to broad issues of individual and societal well-being.
We focus on consumer vulnerability and characterise it as an undesirable state catalysed by a number of human conditions and contexts. Vulnerability is not necessarily experienced as a permanent state and can often be felt in times of transition - job loss, bereavement, ill health, natural disaster, ageing and the identity and lifestyle shift required in becoming a parent. These conditions and characteristics affect how individuals experience, interpret and respond to the marketplace and often how the marketplace responds to them.
For some time now consumer disadvantage and vulnerability has been explored by consumer researchers striving to highlight particular human conditions and positively affect individual well-being. Studies focussing on poverty, homelessness, drug addiction, immigration, illness, ageing, bereavement, and the vulnerability of children as consumers deepen our understanding of the difficulties individuals face in the marketplace. What began as a few notable studies has coalesced into a nascent yet viable research stream, often organised under the banner of Transformative Consumer Research. The impact of this work is considerable yet further research is needed to understand the contradictions and contingencies of consumer vulnerability, particularly with regard to the social consequences of consumption. For example, marketing practice is frequently indicted as a force which reduces consumer well-being and has a negative affect on society at large.
Such insight into individual human behaviour has the potential to enhance quality of life. A less ambitious but nevertheless important aim is to provide consumers with 'a voice.' This is a highly significant aspect of the study of vulnerability within marketing, a discipline which has historically had a managerial focus. Increasingly consumer research emphasises how consumption relates to the rest of human existence, creating legitimacy for macro and non-managerial marketing topics. However, interest in the societal consequences of marketing does not appear to extend the same degree of legitimacy to all consumer populations. Vulnerable consumer groups often remain under-represented in depictions of the marketplace.
A key objective of the series is to raise the profile of research with vulnerable populations of consumers within the marketing discipline by showcasing national and international research excellence. Further, we wish to create inter-disciplinary dialogue which can encourage both methodological best practice and increase research capacity through future collaborations. A third objective is to engage in mutual knowledge exchange with user-groups, practitioners and policy makers throughout the seminar series and beyond.
The originality of this series lies in the international and interdisciplinary nature of t
Settori: Business School
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