A talk of interest to the COR community…

The Institute for Money, Technology & Financial Inclusion (IMTFI) and

the Department of Anthropology present:

Orchestrating Consumer Sacrifice in the Marketplace

With Tonya Bradford, UCI Paul Merage School of Business

Tuesday, March 14, 2017

3:30 – 5:00 p.m.

Social and Behavioral Sciences Gateway, room 3323

Scholars find sacrifice to be inherent in consumer behavior. Consumer research tends to depict sacrifice as a trade-off of monetary resources for offerings and related benefits accrued through such acquisitions. However, some scholars acknowledge that beyond monetary resources, a broader range of resources (e.g., time, effort, energy) may reflect sacrifices individuals employ as consumers. The sacrifice of resources is central to consumption, however more attention is required to theorize what it is and how it is orchestrated by marketers to more fully understand and further examine consumer behavior. In an ethnographic study of living organ donors, we theorize sacrifice as a multidimensional resource employed by consumers, and articulate how sacrifice, as a complex, is orchestrated by market participants. The speakers find evidence of five complementary categories of sacrifice: self-sacrifice which reflects investment of the physical body; substitute sacrifice which encompasses possessions, money, or time; symbolic sacrifice which reflects the mental release of thoughts, feelings, or possessions;  behavioral sacrifice which includes alterations to a pattern of preferred actions; and perspectival sacrifice which reflects changes in attitudes. And, they articulate how the marketplace strives to orchestrate varying combinations of sacrifice in support of consumption. They conclude identifying additional research opportunities.

Professor Bradford studies consumer rituals. Through publication and teaching, she creates and disseminates knowledge to the theory and practice of marketing with students at the undergraduate and graduate levels. She obtained degrees from Northwestern University including a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology, an MBA and PhD in Marketing from the Kellogg School of Management.

For more information, please contact IMTFI, imtfi@uci.edu or 949-824-2284

http://www.socsci.uci.edu/newsevents/events/2017/2017-03-14-bradford.php