Imagining Place-Based Community Through Consumption? An Autoethnography

This working paper describes the first phase of research that explores the potential of consumer experiences in servicescapes to construct postmodern community that is grounded in place. This stage adopted an autoethnographic methodology to examine the subjective, emotional and imaginative aspects of the community experience, through the author’s consumption experiences within her new neighbourhood. Analysis shows that value experiences within servicescapes can facilitate integration into local social networks and enhance identification with, and attachment to place. Cumulatively these experiences also shape imagined identity in a process that relies on significant cross-referencing between individual and collective identification.

Citation:

Michelle Hall (2011) ,"Imagining Place-Based Community Through Consumption? An Autoethnography", in E - European Advances in Consumer Research Volume 9, eds. Alan Bradshaw, Chris Hackley, and Pauline Maclaran, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 604-605.