Understanding the Changing Role of Possessions in Global Mobility
We examine the behaviors of contemporary global nomads, recognized in recent sociology of globalization but neglected in consumer research. We find that they exhibit weak object attachment, and we investigate how and why. We find that the experience of liquidity that comes with elite forms of global mobility lessens the identity role of possessions. Instead, global nomads use practices to periodically reterritorialize themselves in varying locales. Objects are valued primarily for their use value. In outlining how possessions lose identity value in a world of global mobility, we contribute to a theory of materiality in consumer behavior that looks beyond conventional representations of materialism.
Citation:
Fleura Bardhi, Giana Eckhardt, and Eric Arnould (2011) ,"Understanding the Changing Role of Possessions in Global Mobility", in E - European Advances in Consumer Research Volume 9, eds. Alan Bradshaw, Chris Hackley, and Pauline Maclaran, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 46-47.
Authors
Fleura Bardhi, Northeastern University, USA
Giana Eckhardt, Suffolk University, USA
Eric Arnould, University of Wyoming, USA
Volume
E - European Advances in Consumer Research Volume 9 | 2011
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