Nil Özçağlar-Toulouse

Barriers to downward carbon emission: Exploring sustainable consumption in the face of the glass floor

Abstract The present study explores the constraining forces to reducing greenhouse-gas emissions (GHG) via alternative and/or reduced consumption. The analysis of introspection, netnography, ethnographic work, and 18 interviews demonstrates that needs are not innate human requirements and that consumers are not free and autonomous agents able to incorporate reduce or alternative consumption within their lifestyles. Specifically, our analysis shows the existence of barriers to downward carbon emission. These barriers, which we combined under the concept of the glass floor, represent sociocultural standards preventing our informants from achieving their goal of reducing their carbon footprint. Our findings are presented around two main themes: the social construction of needs and the social imaginary.

Bien-être et well-being dans la consommation : une analyse comparative

Cet article propose une synthèse critique comparant les recherches francophones sur le bien-être du consommateur (BEC) et les travaux portant sur le well-being anglo-saxon issus de la Transformative Consumer Research (TCR). Après l’identification du positionnement et des thématiques propres à chacune des deux perspectives, nous questionnons l’ancrage culturel relatif à chaque approche. Au terme de cette synthèse, nous discutons les résultats de notre analyse et proposons des perspectives et voies de recherches futures.

What Do We Really Need? Questioning Consumption Through Sufficiency

This article introduces the concept of sufficiency, its specific dual nature (voluntary and obligatory), and its collective implications to the literature on sustainability. Sufficiency implies a reorganization of consumption priorities and is introduced by a discussion of consumerism and the dominant social paradigm. Long interviews with sufficient people show the complexity of the construct, which creates semantic oppositions around the notion of having (everything vs. nothing and not nothing vs. not everything). After a semiotic analysis of people’s interpretation of sufficiency, we propose a reflection about the use of macromarketing tools to better enhance and enact sufficiency in a collective way.

Bien-être and well-being in consumer research: A comparative analysis

This article provides a critical overview in which French-language research on consumer bien-être (BEC) is compared to English-language studies of well-being as part of Transformative Consumer Research (TCR). We begin by identifying the specific positions adopted and themes addressed by the researchers, before exploring the cultural roots of each approach. We conclude with a discussion of our findings and suggested research perspectives and avenues for the future.

New RAM initiatives for 2015

The journal Recherche et Applications en Marketing (RAM) will soon be celebrating its 30th anniversary. To coincide with this occasion, we are introducing a number of new features, stemming from our close collaboration with SAGE, to further modernize the functioning of our journal. First, articles accepted will now be available on an electronic platform (Online First) even before their allocation to a forthcoming issue and their appearance in print. The Online First function offers distinct advantages for researchers in that it enables them to become rapidly aware of the latest research and reduces the time between the acceptance of an article and its publication. The articles published by RAM will thus reach their readership faster and generate greater exposure. The wish to disseminate the papers published by RAM more widely prompted us to incorporate the SAGE Premier package, which includes more than 600 international journals in various disciplines, two-thirds of which are found in Journal Citation Reports® (Thomson Reuters, 2012). RAM is now available in more than 6,500 libraries around the world. Online downloads continue to rise not only in francophone countries but also in the Englishspeaking world. Gratifying though this is, we can do even better with your help! As readers, please don’t forget to sign up for e-mail alerts (http://rme.sagepub.com/cgi/alerts). And as authors, we need your participation in communication campaigns to promote your work (emails, social networks, etc.) and in the writing of press releases that will be published both in the AFM blog (https://afmmarketingblog. wordpress.com/about/) and in the Sage blog (http:// connection.sagepub.com/insight/). Published articles will also be given greater visibility through special ‘virtual issues’, comprising digital compilations of articles published in RAM during the preceding three years around a common theme. The first of these will be available in May 2015, on the occasion of the AFM and EMAC conferences. 2015 will also be marked by the shift to SAGETrack electronic submission. This tool generated by ScholarOneTM technology enables authors at any time to track the status of their articles in the editorial process, contact the editor, etc. This major step forward for the editorial management of the journal will facilitate closer relations with reviewers and authors. The shift to SAGETrack, with its very practical consequences, is part and parcel of our determination that RAM benefits from the highest global standards. The final undertaking in 2015 will be concerned with strengthening our safeguards in terms of the ethical irreproachability of our publications. This initiative comes within the ongoing discussions instituted by the AFM under the leadership of Hubert Gatignon. RAM has recently joined COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics). Founded in 1997, this international association aims to define ethical standards for scientific publications. It addresses issues of plagiarism, fraudulent data, breach of confidentiality, etc. Being a member of COPE sends a strong signal to the academic community on our uncompromising stance with regard to maintaining the highest ethical standards and takNew RAM initiatives for 2015

Negotiating Identity Reconstruction through Consumption: An Analysis of the Experiences of Consumers with Acquired Sensory Impairments

Abstract Purpose This paper aims at revealing the process of identity reconstruction for individuals who have acquired sensory disabilities, as well as the contribution of consumption to this process. Methodology/approach The data was collected through both interviews conducted in France and autobiographical accounts. Findings When disability occurs, individuals go through a rite of passage that shapes their identity reconstruction process. Two forms of liminality appear: acute and sustained liminality. These phases can foster or hamper individuals’ identity reconstruction. Research limitations/implications The mechanisms leading from one stage of the identity reconstruction process to another should be deepened through further research. Practical/social implications Given the fluctuating behaviors of consumers with disabilities, especially in view of their identity reconstruction process, this research encourages retailers and public policy actors not to consider them as a homogeneous consumer segment. Originality/value While scholars dealing with consumers with disabilities have mainly focused on the accessibility of the marketplace, this research disentangles their identity issues.

Considering the Human Properties of the Non-Humans: An Analysis of Pragmatogony in Dispossession Stories

Abstract Purpose Based on Latour’s view that humans and non-humans swap properties, this paper explores whether objects embody similar properties as human beings and whether these properties per se orient dispossession practices. Methodology/approach This study adopts Latour’s pragmatogonies as a theoretical perspective to explore the complex interplay between humans and non-humans in the context of dispossession. Thirty-two in-depth interviews focus on the object itself (its characteristics, qualities, and capacities in association with its endo and exo relations) to understand how objects act on dispossession. Findings The results depict objects as consisting of various material elements and possessing symmetrical properties as humans to facilitate, hinder, and channel dispossession. Objects emerge as having genealogies, undergoing physical changes, adapting to misfortunes, and having citizenship duties. Research Limitations/implications Our analyses reveal a complex network of people and things; all acting in the course of dispossession. We call for further research on object–subject networks/assemblages as dynamic and co-productive. We suggest that research focus should be on what objects might become or how they connect and evolve as they deteriorate, shift, and renew in interaction with their environment. Originality/value of paper Our study challenges the dichotomy between material objects and human beings. We underline that objects are not ephemeral and transient but they are moving and circulating as they deteriorate, transform, enact new roles, and construct evolving identities.