Conceptualising consumption in imagination: relationships and movements between imaginative forms and the marketplace

Jenkins, Rebecca and Molesworth, Michael (2018) Conceptualising consumption in imagination: relationships and movements between imaginative forms and the marketplace. Marketing Theory, 1-21. (doi:10.1177/1470593117740753).

Record type: Article

Abstract

In this paper we extend theory relating to the imagination and markets by reviewing explicit and implicit work in marketing, consumer research and sociology, drawing on a broader literature that provides a more comprehensive characterisation of imagining. We map consumption in the imagination in order to better define the concept and to differentiate forms of imagining according to a number of characteristics that are identified in the literature. These are: (1) temporal location; (2) range of emotions; (3) degree of elaboration; (4) level of abstraction (5) purpose; and (6) prompts. We also consider the role of consumption in terms of its level of presence and absence in the imagination. We then present a trajectory of consumption in the imagination that seeks to account for the relationships and movements between forms of imagining and the marketplace, noting the importance of the imagination in terms of implications for macro-level market structures and individual consumption practice.

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Conceptualising consumption in imagination (final) - Accepted Manuscript

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