Business Commons^™

Being Critical In Marketing Studies: The Imperative Of Macro Perspectives, Nikhilesh Dholakia

College of Business Faculty Publications

In this article, I argue that an elevated macro-level perspective is imperative for conducting critical studies in the fields of marketing and consumer research. There are epistemic barriers to operating in this manner, and I offer several suggestions for overcoming these barriers. Finally, I review the research spaces for critical studies of marketing in various global settings and conclude that United Kingdom and Nordic Europe have the best epistemic climate, and this region needs to take leadership in promoting greater range of macro and critical studies of marketing in the rest of the world.

India’S Emerging Retail Systems: Coexistence Of Tradition And Modernity, Nikhilesh Dholakia, Ruby Roy Dholakia, Atish Chattopadhyay

College of Business Faculty Publications

India’s retailing sector is expected to remain in a transition spiral for the foreseeable future. Because of India’s unique context—in terms of history, regulation, institutions, demographics, geography, and traditions—available theories of retail evolution have limited applicability to the retail situation in India. Drawing from the literature, as well as from empirical research and practical experiences of over a decade, this article presents a conceptual frame for understanding the retail sector of India and the likely future trajectory of this sector.

Finanzkapital And Consumers: How Financialization Shaped Twentieth Century Marketing, Nikhilesh Dholakia

College of Business Faculty Publications

Purpose – By tracing the history of the links of financialization to consumer behaviors and marketer actions in the twentieth century, this paper aims to show that consumer market phenomena are often shaped by the imperatives of finance.

Design/methodology/approach – The paper employs selective historical overviews, mainly focusing on the USA, of four tranches of the past century: the run up to the Great Depression; from post-Depression to the Second World War; the post-Second World War Bretton Woods system and its collapse in the 1970s; and the increasingly risk-charged last three post-Bretton Woods decades of the twentieth century.

Findings – …

Borderless Bits: Electronic Globalization And Its Social Consequences, Nikhilesh Dholakia

College of Business Faculty Publications

Globalization of services with the aid of electronic technologies - popularly called outsourcing or offshoring - has been accelerating. In this paper, the factors that drive electronic globalization - as distinct from factors that drive the general process of globalization - are discussed briefly. A simple model of a 2-firm USA-India dyad engaged in outsourcing relationships is presented to outline the economic basis for electronic globalization. By introducing wider political and cultural forces, progressively more complex views of the electronic globalization phenomenon are presented. Finally, the interplays of the economic, political, and cultural forces are explored to arrive at a …

The Epistemic Consumption Object And Postsocial Consumption: Expanding Consumer‐Object Theory In Consumer Research, Detlev Zwick, Nikhilesh Dholakia

College of Business Faculty Publications

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‐action” vis‐à‐vis consumers through the continuous addition or subtraction of properties. The epistemic consumption object is materially elusive and this lack of ontological stability turns the object into a continuous knowledge project for consumers. Via this ongoing cycle of revelation and discovery, consumers …

Bringing The Market To Life: Screen Aesthetics And The Epistemic Consumption Object, Detlev Zwick, Nikhilesh Dholakia

College of Business Faculty Publications

This article argues that the new ‘visuality’ (Schroeder, 2002) of the Internet transforms the stock market into an epistemic consumption object. The aesthetics of the screen turn the market into an interactive and response-present surface representation. On the computer screen, the market becomes an object of constant movement and variation, changing direction and altering appearance at any time. Following Knorr Cetina (1997, 2002b) we argue that the visual logic of the screen ‘opens up’ the market ontologically. The ontological liquidity of the market-on-screen simulates the indefiniteness of other life forms. We suggest that the continuing fascination with online investing is …

Observations On Observation In India's Dynamic Urban Markets, Nikhilesh Dholakia, Piyush Kumar Sinha

College of Business Faculty Publications

Urban India is witnessing a rapid revolution in its commercial retail spaces. These transforming commercial landscapes constitute a rich arena for qualitative research using, among others, observational methods. In this paper, we present observations about the changing urban retail scene of India. We provide emergent themes that we have already found in observations so far, and also reflect on the challenges of carrying out such observations in the Indian context.

Mobility And Markets: Emerging Outlines Of M-Commerce, Ruby Roy Dholakia, Nikhilesh Dholakia

College of Business Faculty Publications

Mobile commerce—or m-commerce—is characterized by the emerging class of location-based commercial services delivered by a variety of handheld terminals such as mobile phones and palmtop devices. At the Conference on Telecommunications and Information Markets (COTIM)-2001, an international conference held in Karlsruhe, Germany, academic researchers and business practitioners shared their experiences and frameworks about m-commerce. Selected papers based on COTIM-2001 presentations are included in this Special Issue. This paper introduces the preconditions that led to the emergence of m-commerce, the main dimensions of m-commerce that distinguish it from e-commerce, and the key arguments from the contributions on m-commerce in this Special …

Consumer Subjectivity In The Age Of Internet: The Radical Concept Of Marketing Control Through Customer Relationship Management, Detlev Zwick, Nikhilesh Dholakia

College of Business Faculty Publications

In this paper, we present a poststructuralist analysis of customer database technology. This approach allows us to regard customer databases as configurations of language that produce new and significant discursive effects. In particular, we focus on the role of databases and related technologies such as customer relationship management (CRM) in the discursive construction of both customers and customer relationships. First, we argue that organizations become the authors of customer identities, using the language of the database to configure customer representation. From this perspective, we can see the radical innovation that the customer database brings to the organizational construction of its …

Cultural Contradictions Of The Anytime, Anywhere Economy: Reframing Communication Technology, Nikhilesh Dholakia, Detlev Zwick

College of Business Faculty Publications

Technology-aided ubiquity and instantaneity have emerged as major goals of most information technology providers and of certain classes of users such as “road warriors”. New mobile technologies promise genie-in-a-bottle type near-magical qualities with anytime, anywhere access to information and services. While the complex science, systems, and economics of such technologies receive considerable attention from industry executives and researchers, the social and cultural aspects of these technologies attract less attention. This paper explores the oft-contradictory promises and pitfalls of anytime, anywhere technologies from a cultural standpoint. It makes suggestions for reinterpreting these technologies for greater human good.

Online Qualitative Research In The Age Of E-Commerce: Data Sources And Approaches, Nikhilesh Dholakia, Dong Zhang

College of Business Faculty Publications

With the boom in E-commerce, practitioners and researchers are increasingly generating marketing and strategic insights by employing the Internet as an effective new tool for conducting well-established forms of qualitative research (TISCHLER 2004). The potential of Internet as a rich data source and an attractive arena for qualitative research in e-commerce settings—in other words cyberspace as a "field," in the ethnographic sense—has not received adequate attention. This paper explores qualitative research prospects in e-commerce arenas.

URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0402299

Disney: Delights And Doubts, Nikhilesh Dholakia, Jonathan Schroeder

College of Business Faculty Publications

Disney and its spectacularly successful theme parks are analyzed through the lens of its consumers. We focus on how Disney manages the consumption experience and discuss Disney strategies from several perspectives. Disney provides a paradigm for contemporary consumption. A framework is presented to understand consumption in Disney and Disneyesque settings. Finally, we offer cautions and critiques regarding such strategies-a guide for the informed consumer.

Privacy And Consumer Agency In The Information Age: Between Prying Profilers And Preening Webcams, Nikhilesh Dholakia, Detlev Zwick

College of Business Faculty Publications

This article is about the ability of the consumer to control his or her destiny in the new electronic marketspace. Two seemingly opposite phenomena – the need for privacy and the desire for exhibitionism and voyeurism – are vying for attention on the media landscape. We believe the simultaneous occurrence of privacy concerns and ultraexhibitionism is not coincidental. Indeed, exhibitionism and voyeurism seem to offer new tools for consumer resistance against the electronic surveillance systems in networked markets and are inextricably linked to consumers’ desire for control over their intimate personal information.

Novos Serviços De Informação E Comunicação: Um Quadro De Referência Estratégico, Nikhilesh Dholakia, Norbert Mundorf, Ruby Roy Dholakia

College of Business Faculty Publications

From the late 1960s onwards, the range of information and communication services available to residential consumers and business users in the technologically advanced nations has been growing. The future of information services will depend on the strategic and structural interactions of firms specializing in content, conduits and components.