Syllabus

Credits: 6

Schedule: 24.02.2020 - 01.04.2020

Teacher in charge (valid 01.08.2018-31.07.2020): 

Kushagra Bhatnagar, Sammy Toyoki (II)

Eric Arnould (IV)

Contact information for the course (applies in this implementation): 

Eric Arnould eric.arnould@aalto.fi

Teaching Period (valid 01.08.2018-31.07.2020): 

II 2018–19 (autumn) Töölö campus and IV 2018–19 (spring) Otaniemi campus
II 2019–20 (autumn) and IV 2019–20 (spring) Otaniemi campus
Twice per year
Aalto-course

Learning Outcomes (valid 01.08.2018-31.07.2020): 

In completing this course, the student will learn about the key concepts, theories, and frameworks of consumer culture theory and interpretive consumer research. The student will learn how to apply these concepts, theories, and frameworks in critically examining and analyzing consumers, consumerism and consumer society. Students will also apply taught knowledge in conducting actual consumer / market research.

Content (valid 01.08.2018-31.07.2020): 

The course describes key theories from the fields of consumer research, sociology, social theory, cultural studies, material culture and cultural anthropology.

Details on the course content (applies in this implementation): 

On
completion of this course, students will be familiar with the key concepts,
theories, and frameworks of consumer culture theory and interpretive consumer
research. Students will learn how to apply these concepts, theories, and
frameworks in critically examining and analyzing consumers, consumerism and
consumer society. 

Assessment Methods and Criteria (valid 01.08.2018-31.07.2020): 

1. Active attendance in lectures
2. Compulsory course assignments (100%)

Elaboration of the evaluation criteria and methods, and acquainting students with the evaluation (applies in this implementation): 

2.  PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS  

We expect students to attend all
lectures, to engage in group fieldwork, to participate actively in class
discussions, to read all assigned readings prior to the corresponding class
period, to complete all written assignments on time, and to be present for the
poster session, which occurs on the last day of class.

Group-work:
You will be part of a group (to be assigned by the research assistant). Each
group will carry out four tasks – submit reflection papers, present an article,
present the findings from your fieldwork in poster format, and submit a final
research report.

3.  ASSESSMENT AND GRADING  

We
will assess student performance according to the following: 

1.     Attendance (more than 2 absences will result in a grade reduction)

a.     This is a normal expectation in the
workplace. University is also a workplace

2.     Individual Participation and
Attendance (20%).

3.     Take Home Exam (40%)

4.     Final group research project report
(40%)

a.     Most work in the business world is
group work; teams tend to be diverse in composition. Learning to work in a team
is an important business skill.

Workload (valid 01.08.2018-31.07.2020): 

6 credits, 160 hours
1. Lectures (24 h) 
2. Assignments and independent learning

Study Material (valid 01.08.2018-31.07.2020): 

A collection of articles from the current scholarly literature assigned by the lecturer

Details on the course materials (applies in this implementation): 

6.  COURSE MATERIALS  

Please obtain a copy of the book
from Amazon or equivalent. (OBS! The editors do not earn income from this
book!)

2018, Consumer Culture Theory, Eric Arnould and Craig J. Thompson, ed. London
and New York: Sage Publications.

Readings are drawn from this text as
well as from articles..

PDF files of assigned readings will
be posted to the course website.

Substitutes for Courses (valid 01.08.2018-31.07.2020): 

Replaces the course 23E28000 Advanced consumer behavior

Course Homepage (valid 01.08.2018-31.07.2020): 

https://mycourses.aalto.fi/course/search.php?search=23E28000

Prerequisites (valid 01.08.2018-31.07.2020): 

23C581 Consumer Behavior or an equivalent Consumer Research course

Grading Scale (valid 01.08.2018-31.07.2020): 

0-5

Registration for Courses (valid 01.08.2018-31.07.2020): 

Registration via WedOodi. Check registration time in WebOodi.

NOTE: Mention your group of priority upon registration.

Further Information (valid 01.08.2018-31.07.2020): 

The number of students admitted to the course is restricted to 60. Priority is given to (1) Aalto students studying in MSc Program of Marketing, (2) Aalto students studying in MSc Program of Global Management with focus area in Marketing, (3) CEMS-students, (4) Aalto students studying in MSc Program of Strategy, (5) Aalto students studying a MSc Minor in Consumer Research.

Priority is also given to students who haven’t completed the course (or registered for the course) before.

NOTE: Students are required to write own group of priority to further information field of course registration!

Additional information for the course (applies in this implementation): 

Details on the schedule (applies in this implementation): 

SCHEDULE

 

Session	Topic	Readings
24.2	Introduction, Consumer culture theory overview Brief course overview	Pre reading: Arnould and Thompson, pp. 1-17  INTRODUCTION Recommended: Arnould, E.J., and C.J. Thompson (2005) Journal of Consumer Research
26.2	Course overview: Directions for reflection notes and research project assignments	Reading: Arnould and Thompson, pp. 1-17 INTRODUCTION Recommended: Arnould, E.J., and C.J. Thompson (2005) Journal of Consumer Research
2.3	Consumer identity projects	Arnould and Thompson, pp. 40-84 CHAPTERS 2 & 3
4.3	Consumer identity projects Student presentations (group ppt)	Required: Belk, Russell W. (2013), Extended Self in a Digital World, Journal of Consumer Research, 40 (October), 477-500. Epp, Amber M. & Velagaleti, Sunaina R (2014), ”Outsourcing Parenthood? How Families Manage Care Assemblages Using Paid Commercial Services,” Journal of Consumer Research, 41 (December), 911-935. Further recommended readings: Belk, Russell W. (1988), “Possessions and the Extended Self,” Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 15 (September). Wallendorf, Melanie and Eric. J. Arnould (1988), “’My Favorite Things’: a Cross-cultural Inquiry into Object Attachment, Possessiveness, and Social Linkage,” Journal of Consumer Research, 14 (March), pp. 531-547. Schau, Hope Jensen and Mary C. Gilly (2003), “We Are What We Post? The Presentation of Self in Personal Webspace,” Journal of Consumer Research, 30(4): 385-404.
9.3	Marketplace cultures	Arnould and Thompson, pp. 87-125 CHAPTERS 4 & 5
11.3	Community and marketplace cultures: Student presentations (G)	Required: Schouten, John W., and James H. McAlexander (1995), "Subcultures of Consumption: An Ethnography of the New Bikers." Journal of Consumer Research 22.1: 43-61. Cova, B., Pace, S., & Skålén, P. (2015). Marketing with working consumers: The case of a carmaker and its brand community. Organization, 22(5), 682-701. Goulding, C., Shankar, A., & Elliott, R. (2002). Working weeks, rave weekends: identity fragmentation and the emergence of new communities. Consumption, Markets and Culture, 5(4), 261-284. Further recommended readings:  Muniz, Albert M., and Hope Jensen Schau (2005), “Religiosity in the Abandoned Apple Newton Brand Community,” Journal of Consumer Research, 31 (March), 737–47. Scaraboto, Daiane and Eileen Fischer (2013), "Frustrated Fatshionistas: An Institutional Theory Perspective on Consumer Quests for Greater Choice in Mainstream Markets," Journal of Consumer Research, 39 (6), 1234-57
16.3	Sociohistoric patterning of consumption	Arnould and Thompson, pp. 180-205 and 225-252. CHAPTERS 8 & 9
18.3	Sociohistoric patterning of consumption: Student presentations (G)	Required: Karababa, Eminegül and Guliz Ger, (2011), Early Modern Ottoman Coffeehouse Culture and the Formation of the Consumer Subject, Journal of Consumer Research, 37 (February), 737-760. Bardhi, Fleura and Giana M. Eckhardt (2017), Liquid Consumption, Journal of Consumer Research, 44 (October), 582-597. Further recommended readings: Cayla, Julien and Giana M. Eckhardt (2008), “Asian Brands and the Shaping of a Transnational Imagined Community,” Journal of Consumer Research, 35 (August), 216-230. Crockett, David (2008), "Marketing Blackness: How Advertisers Use Race to Sell Products," Journal of Consumer Culture, 8 (2), 245-68. Warning! Quite difficult: Üstüner, T., and C. J. Thompson. 2015. “Women Skating on the Edge: Marketplace Performances as Ideological Edgework.” Journal of Consumer Research 42 (2): 235–265. Wooten, David B (1995), "One-of-a-Kind in a Full House: Some Consequences of Ethnic and Gender Distinctiveness," Journal of Consumer Psychology, 4 (3), 205-24.
23.3	Mass-mediated marketplace ideologies	Arnould and Thompson, pp.276-317 CHAPTERS 12 & 13
25.3	Mass-mediated marketplace ideologies: Student presentations (G)	Required: O'Guinn, Thomas and Russell W. Belk (1989), "Heaven on Earth: Consumption at Heritage Village, USA," Journal of Consumer Research, 15 (3, September), 227-238. Zwick, Detlev; Samuel K.; Bonsu & Aron. Darmody (2008), Putting Consumers to Work, Journal of Consumer Culture, 8 (July), 163-196. Holt, Douglas B (2004), How Brands Become Icons: The Principles of Cultural Branding, Cambridge: Harvard Business Review. Further recommended readings: Izberk-Bilgin, Elif (2012), “Infidel Brands: Unveiling Alternative Meanings of Global Brands at the Nexus of Globalization, Consumer Culture, and Islamism," Journal of Consumer Research, 39 (4): 663-87. Varman, Rohit and Russel W. Belk (2009), Nationalism and ideology in an anti-consumption movement, Journal of Consumer Research, 36 (4), 686–700.
30.3	Independent group work	Research project work
1.4	Presentation of final research project

 

Description

Registration and further information