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Full-Text Articles in Critical and Cultural Studies

Mobile Technologies And Boundaryless Spaces: Slavish Lifestyles, Seductive Meanderings, Or Creative Empowerment?, Nikhilesh Dholakia, Detlev Zwick Feb 2013

Mobile Technologies And Boundaryless Spaces: Slavish Lifestyles, Seductive Meanderings, Or Creative Empowerment?, Nikhilesh Dholakia, Detlev Zwick

Nikhilesh Dholakia

According to the instrumental theory of technology, mobile technologies - what McLuhan's refers to as electronic prostheses - promise opportunities for greater freedom, creativity, leisure, and productivity by enhancing organic bodily functions. Correspondingly, as (Cavallaro, 2000) would argue, objects such as mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable physiotherapy units, laptops, and portable stereos - to name just a few - seem to impart a sense of solidity to consumers' lives. Just like prostheses, they are inserted into our everyday lives, helping our "inadequate" bodies along in fulfilling practical tasks. Phenomenologically, these kinds of mobile technologies supposedly support the subject's …


Being Critical In Marketing Studies: The Imperative Of Macro Perspectives, Nikhilesh Dholakia Feb 2013

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

Nikhilesh Dholakia

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.


The Epistemic Consumption Object And Postsocial Consumption: Expanding Consumer‐Object Theory In Consumer Research, Detlev Zwick, Nikhilesh Dholakia Feb 2013

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

Nikhilesh Dholakia

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 Feb 2013

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

Nikhilesh Dholakia

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 …