Search results

1 – 2 of 2
Book part
Publication date: 7 June 2007

Marie-Agnès Parmentier and Eileen Fischer

Prior research on consumer agency has tended to focus on contexts where there are few restrictions on the type or number of people who can consume a desired object, provided they…

Abstract

Prior research on consumer agency has tended to focus on contexts where there are few restrictions on the type or number of people who can consume a desired object, provided they have adequate resources. This study develops theoretical insights into the modes of consumer agency adopted by consumers who desire a commodity that is in scarce supply, and to which access is restricted by powerful agents. Based on interviews and archival data from the fashion modeling industry, and drawing on Bourdieu's praxeology, this paper identifies distinct modes of consumer agency that are manifest in a context characterized by enforced scarcity. Depending in part upon initial human capital endowments, in part upon conditions in the field, and in part upon deliberate choices, models adopt different modes of agency in order to survive, thrive in a highly restricted aesthetic field and ultimately consume the coveted good, which we refer to as the “model life.” This paper thus contributes not only to our understanding of consumer agency in an under-studied type of context, but also to our understanding of the seemingly burgeoning phenomena of the quest for fame, celebrity, and status.

Details

Consumer Culture Theory
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84855-984-4

Abstract

Details

Storytelling-Case Archetype Decoding and Assignment Manual (SCADAM)
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78560-216-0

Access

Year

Content type

Book part (2)
1 – 2 of 2