Bige Saatcioglu

Participatory Action Research

The goal of improving consumer welfare can subtly or dramatically shape the research process, the methods used, and the theories developed. This article introduces the participatory action research paradigm, which is based upon the goal of helping people and employs methodologies that are different from traditional consumer research. Exemplars of action research are analyzed to reveal applications for researchers who want to engage in transformative consumer research. The obstacles and opportunities for doing action research are examined.

The Philosophy and Methods of Deliberative Democracy: Implications for Public Policy and Marketing

Urgent social problems increasingly arise at the intersection of the interests of business leaders, policy makers, and consumers. The authors argue that deliberative democracy offers a fruitful approach for understanding marketings impact on society by revealing the complex and often conflicting network of interests among stakeholders. Deliberative methods hold promise for easing constraints on civic engagement and increasing consumer empowerment. The authors explore the historical and philosophical underpinnings of deliberative democracy. Specifically, they evaluate popular methods and applications of deliberative democracy and examine the implications for public policy and marketing.

Poverty and Intersectionality: A Multidimensional Look into the Lives of the Impoverished

Subsistence consumers are disadvantaged and marginalized on many levels, including financial deprivation, poor health, lack of access to resources, and social stigmatization. The disadvantages experienced by subsistence consumers are interconnected and co-constitutive; being disadvantaged in one domain often intersects with other disadvantages, contributing to an overall vulnerability within the market system. Drawing from the intersectionality paradigm, the authors examine an overlooked low-income community that shares elements of subsistence contexts. The findings reveal multiple ways in which a trailer park community residents experience and manage intertwined disadvantages. Several overlapping identity categories (i.e., socio-economic status, health status, and type of housing) vis-à-vis structural and relational dynamics are fleshed out. Implications for research on subsistence marketplaces and the usefulness of the intersectionality approach for macromarketing research are discussed.

A Critical Spatial Approach to Marketplace Exclusion and Inclusion

The authors apply insights from critical spatial theory to explore how space can be reimagined to be more inclusive. The meaning of spaces includes (1) objective physical space, (2) subjective imagined space, and (3) lived space used by consumers. The authors discuss several cases in which different social actors (i.e., consumers, marketers, businesses, and policy makers) exert various forms of agency to achieve power and control in the social space and maximize different goals. They also highlight how critical spatial theories can be extended by marketing researchers. Businesses sometimes have more diverse interests than merely profit maximization and can consider a wider array of other stakeholders’ interests to ensure the long-term survival of the firm. Finally, the authors examine implications for public policy. They point out the usefulness of a critical spatial perspective in such areas as affordable housing, inclusive and democratic retail space development, spatial segregation, and suburban sprawl.

An intersectionality framework for transformative services research

The authors introduce the theory of intersectionality which refers to the interactivity of social identities such as race, class, and gender in shaping individuals’ experiences. Intersectionality is explored using cases and examples from healthcare services, which involve high contact encounters with consumers who may possess multiple disadvantages (e.g. low income, illness, immigrant status) and therefore make for interesting contexts for intersectional analyses. Intersectionality is proposed as a framework that can shed light on the experiences of consumers who belong to multiple disadvantaged social groups, such as being black and low income, immigrant, and in poor health. Detailed guidelines for conducting intersectionality-driven services research are provided, which take into account the interconnected nature of multiple disadvantages. The authors emphasize that intersectionality offers a holistic look at the co-created nature of services and it can be instrumental in designing tailored and fair services to improve consumer and societal well-being.

Poverty in consumer culture: towards a transformative social representation

Abstract In this article, we consider the representations of poverty within consumer culture. We focus on four main themes – social exclusion, vulnerability, pleasure and contentment – that capture some of the associations that contemporary understandings have made with poverty. For each theme, we consider the portrayals of poverty from the perspective of key agents (such as marketers, media, politicians) and then relate this to more emic representations of poverty by drawing on a range of contemporary poverty alleviating projects from around the world. We conclude with a set of guidelines for relevant stakeholders to bear in mind when elaborating their representations of poverty. These guidelines may act as a platform to transform marginalising representations of poverty into more empowering representations.

Understanding Subsistence Marketplaces: Exploring the Contributions of Participatory Action Research

This chapter presents an overview of participatory action research and explores how this approach can inform the study of subsistence marketplaces. The diverse historical roots of action research are traced from Kurt Lewins research on workplace democracy and Paulo Freires conceptual ideas forged from working with low-literate peasants. We illustrate the potential of action research approaches by exploring in detail a more contemporary form of action research, participatory rural appraisal, and we show the usefulness of this approach to understanding consumer well-being in resource-poor areas. Special emphasis is given to the discussion of the methodology of this popular form of action research and its various applications.

Exploring spatial vulnerability: inequality and agency formulations in social space

Abstract The authors derive from critical urban geography and consumer research on vulnerability to investigate the ways in which vulnerability within social space is shaped and negotiated. Multiple power dynamics and ideological tension around the production and consumption of social space are explored through diverse examples within the contexts of spaces of consumption, public space as shared good and digital space. The authors offer a conceptualisation of spatial vulnerability and a framework to understand, critique and transform socio-spatial disadvantages. The spatial perspective offered in this article illuminates the ways in which marketplace vulnerability can be institutionalised and become pervasive through and within spaces of everyday life. Yet, the creative and radical potential of social space in managing spatial disadvantages is also explored along with theoretical, managerial, public policy and practical implications.

Transforming Poverty-Related Policy with Intersectionality

Despite progress toward poverty alleviation, policy making still lags in thinking about how individuals experience poverty as overlapping sources of disadvantage. Using the lens of intersectionality, this article identifies the gaps that arise from a conventional focus on isolated facets of poverty. Insights generated from an analysis of extant scholarship are used to develop a road map to help policy makers develop programs that address the complex experience of poverty and promote transformative solutions.

Towards a Macromarketing and Consumer Culture Theory Intersection: Participatory and Deliberative Methodologies

This article provides a discussion on the use of an alternative paradigm towards a cross-fertilization of CCT and macromarketing. Researchers at the intersection of CCT and macromarketing can benefit from both research traditions’ relative strength: the deep sociocultural focus of CCT and the structural lens of Macromarketing. To facilitate this dialogue, the authors propose an innovative and inclusive approach to research design and data collection. More specifically, the action research paradigm that is driven by an agenda for an egalitarian participation into the social sphere, a multidimensional wellbeing, and a reflexive social change is introduced. The discussion on an action research-driven research design and methodology also builds upon the key insights of Macromarketing and CCT traditions and offers a detailed framework for researchers who wish to bring an alternative and fresh look into a CCT/Macromarketing alliance.