Johanna F. Gollnhofer

Fair Is Good, but What Is Fair? Negotiations of Distributive Justice in an Emerging Nonmonetary Sharing Model

By means of an ethnographic approach, this research examines perceptions of fairness and consumer behavior in an emerging nonmonetary sharing system. In contrast to market exchanges, which are defined by clear rules and principles of reciprocity, the redistribution of goods in a “sharing” context is in many cases less institutionalized and thus open to contestation. We draw on concepts from institutional theory to map out the interplay of different and partly contradicting fairness perceptions in an emerging nonmonetary sharing system and explain how those are negotiated and synthesized. We explicitly highlight a nonrelational fairness principle, leading to the stabilization of the sharing system under study through processes of “goal sharing” and “hierarchical coupling.” We discuss our findings in terms of their implications on sharing theory and the role of fairness within this literature stream.

Cultural distance and entry modes : implications for global expansion strategy

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to take a strategic perspective on how MNEs in the retail sector decide to enter a new market. Drawing on transaction cost theory, the contingency approach and resource-based theory, the implications of the interplay between global strategy, cultural distance and entry mode strategies are examined by means of an analysis of Carrefour’s global expansion. Design/methodology/approach – To account for the shortcomings of prior research, a hypothesis in the relationship between entry modes and cultural distance is tested empirically using a sample of 44 foreign market entries by Carrefour over the 40 last years. The paper uses a quantitative approach, i.e., logistic regressions. To measure cultural distance, the authors rely on the GLOBE dimensions and the Kogut-Singh Index. Findings – The findings suggest a positive relationship between a resource commitment, entry mode strategy and cultural distance for Carrefour. However, these findings are contrary to the mainstream a...

The Stigma Turbine: A Theoretical Framework for Conceptualizing and Contextualizing Marketplace Stigma

Stigmas, or discredited personal attributes, emanate from social perceptions of physical characteristics, aspects of character, and “tribal” associations (e.g., race; Goffman 1963). Extant research has emphasized the perspective of the stigma target, with some scholars exploring how social institutions shape stigma. Yet the ways stakeholders within the sociocommercial sphere create, perpetuate, or resist stigma remain overlooked. The authors introduce and define marketplace stigma as the labeling, stereotyping, and devaluation by and of commercial stakeholders (consumers, companies and their employees, stockholders, and institutions) and their offerings (products, services, and experiences). The authors offer the Stigma Turbine as a unifying conceptual framework that locates marketplace stigma within the broader sociocultural context and illuminates its relationship to forces that exacerbate or blunt stigma. In unpacking the Stigma Turbine, the authors reveal the critical role that market stakeholders can play in (de)stigmatization, explore implications for marketing practice and public policy, and offer a research agenda to further understanding of marketplace stigma and stakeholder welfare.

The Legitimation of a Sustainable Practice Through Dialectical Adaptation in the Marketplace

Consumers, retailers, and public policy makers all strive to engage in sustainable behavior. However, such actions often conflict with existing regulatory, normative, or cultural-cognitive structures, preventing legitimation on a broad scale. This article shows how activist consumers initially tackle the problem of food waste through a practice—namely, dumpster diving—that is at odds with marketplace structures, leading to the practices marginalization and stigmatization. However, through dialectical adaptation strategies that alter both the practice of dumpster diving and respective marketplace antecedents, the practice of foodsharing emerges, becomes legitimated, and contributes significantly to the primary goal of dumpster diving: the reduction of food waste. The author identifies goal congruency as the underlying mechanism that allows for this process of dialectical adaptation. This study contributes to the literature on sustainable behavior by showing how the process of dialectical adaptation has the potential to resolve trade-offs as experienced by public policy makers, companies, and consumers. Finally, this article examines a case in which consumers and companies resolve a public policy problem without regulatory intervention, by opting out of public policy.

Complementing the Dominant Social Paradigm with Sustainability

The dominant social paradigm (DSP) defines the basic belief structures and practices of marketplace actors and is manifested in existing exchange structures. Sustainability – a so-called megatrend – challenges the DSP by questioning its underlying assumptions, resulting in tensions or conflicts for different marketplace actors. This study examines a specific case of an alternative market arrangement that bridges tensions between the DSP and environmental concerns. Ethnography in the context of retail food waste disposition reveals tensions experienced by several marketplace actors – namely consumers, retail firms and regulators – and investigates an alternative market arrangement that alleviates those tensions by connecting the actors and their practices in a creative new way. We identify complementarity as the underlying mechanism of connection and resolution. Compared to previously identified alternative market arrangements that are either oppositional or parallel to the DSP, complementarity opens another path toward greater environmental sustainability through market-level solutions.

Makeshift Markets and Grassroots Reponsibilization

ABSTRACT Prior research has yielded insights into how market actors generate permanent, institutionalized structures. Investigate the emergence of a temporary marketplace, characterized by flexible socio-material constellations. We draw on ethnographic data collected within a refugee aid initiative, which assembled during the in 2015–2016, and was a response to the failure of institutional structures. We map out a process through which individuals are collectively moved to respond form social networks, and engage in market-making practices. We identify this process as the emergence of a “makeshift” market, and argue that it is a complementary form of institutional work, constituted by a grassroots process of responsibilization. We contribute to the literature on responsibilization and market dynamics by discussing (1) the emergence and decline of temporary and complementary marketplace structures and (2) mapping out a responsibilization process driven by moral outrage at the experiential level.

Creating a Hyper-Place: How Refugee Helpers Create a Place for Their Values

Abstract Purpose Research has shown that activist consumers create places that are imbued with idiosyncratic meanings, conventions, rules, and activities. However, research on why and how such places are created is scant. Methodology/approach This ethnography in the context of voluntary refugee helpers shows why and how a meaningful place is produced. Findings By drawing on spatial theory from human geography, I map out how activist consumers create a hyper-place: embedded in the dynamics of demarcating and linking, voluntary helpers set a place apart from the surrounding space and other places. This place allows for practices that combine materiality, activities, and meanings in new ways in comparison to practices in traditional places. This place allows for the enactment and the conveyance of values that are not accommodated in traditional marketplaces. Originality/value I contribute to literature on activist consumers and the role of place within consumer research.