1st Edition
Sexuality in Marketing and Consumption Queer Theory, Feminist Research, and Intersectionality
This volume provides an in-depth examination of the role of sexuality in consumers’ life course and in the marketing of products and services.
Leading scholars in the field define the most up-to-date picture of theories of sexuality in marketing and consumer research, mapping the topic through diverse theoretical lenses, addressing queer and feminist research, and putting sexuality and consumption in context. The book brings together leading international marketing scholars to build on the growing interest in theories of sexuality, queer theory, and intersectionality, which are gaining more interest among institutions and researchers interested in equality and diversity. While this book builds on existing expertise in consumer culture scholarship, it is the first time a marketing book focuses on sexuality, adding value to the existing repertoire in gender and feminist literature. Chapters are organised into three key sections: part 1 maps the marketing and consumer research field, discussing how sexuality can be studied through different lenses; part 2 focuses on queer and feminist theorising, drawing on LGBTQIA+ theory, queer theory and theories of intersectionality to analyse how overlapping social categories interact to influence consumer behaviour, identity and experiences in the marketplace; and part 3 explores the personal and social aspects of sexuality, offering a broad overview of issues of gender and sexuality, digitalisation, and the sexual body.
This text will be of direct interest to scholars and researchers within the fields of marketing, consumer research, sociology and media studies. The aim of this book is to help scholars and students to develop a broader understanding about the interplay between sexuality, society and the market.
1: Introduction to Sexuality in Marketing and Consumption
Athanasia Daskalopoulou, Daniela Pirani and Jacob Ostberg
Part 1: Uncovering the Field: Lenses for the Study of Sexuality
2: Mapping Religion, Spirituality and Sexuality in Consumer Research
Jannsen Santana and Diego Rinallo
3: Consumer Sexual Well-Being, Gender, and Health
Katherine C. Sredl, Kate Pounders, and Mycah L. Harrold
4: The Tapestry of Sex, Gender, and Sexuality in Marketing and Consumer Research: From “Sex Sells” to Queer Theory
Susan Dobscha, Seth Ketron, and Abigail Nappier Cherup
Part 2: Queer and Feminist Theorising of Sexuality and the Marketplace
5: Queering Intersectionality and Sexuality Studies
Elena Elkanova and Laurel Steinfield
6: The Queer Necropolitics of the Bisexual Inappropriate/d Other: The Lively Abandonments of LGBTQ+ Theory
Shona Bettany and David Rowe
7: The LOOP Framework: Mapping the Marketplace Landscape of Relationships between Brands and Queerness
Rohan Venkatraman, Mario Campana and Jenna Drenten
8: Conceptualising the Algorithmic Queerness in Digital Marketing Space
Shuyu Lelio Yang and Marta Blázquez
Part 3: Consumption and Sexuality in Context
9: Being vs. Getting a Brazilian: Colonial Imaginaries of Sexuality
Maria Carolina Zanette and Daiane Scaraboto
10: Midlife, Liminal Identities, and Consumption: A Sociology of Sexuality Perspective on ‘And Just Like That’
Katherine C. Sredl, Marie-Agnès Parmentier, Linda Tuncay Zayer and Catherine A. Coleman
11: The Female Gaze: Consuming Sexualised Male Bodies in Chinese Consumer Culture
Yuzheng Li, Lauren Gurrieri, Bernardo Figueiredo and Haiqing Yu
12: The Institution of Heterosexuality: Connecting Women's Sexualized Inequality from Pornography to Online Dating Platforms
Laura McVey and Meagan Tyler
13: Love in a Digital Age: The Technological Mediation of Intimate and Sexual Relationships
Alexandra S. Rome and Aliette Lambert
14: Myself Included? The Politics of Epistemic Exclusion and Excluding Better
Jack Coffin
Biography
Athanasia Daskalopoulou is Senior Lecturer in Marketing at the University of Liverpool.
Daniela Pirani is Senior Lecturer in Marketing at the University of Liverpool.
Jacob Ostberg is Professor of Marketing at Stockholm Business School, Stockholm University.
"A focused consideration of phenomena related to sexuality in marketing and consumption is long overdue. This fine edited volume is an excellent step in an important direction, covering an impressive array of timely and timeless topics. They say “sex sells” and - whether that assertion is fact or fiction - this is a book we should all buy into!"
Eileen Fischer, Professor of Marketing & Tanenbuam Chair of Entrepreneurship and Family Enterprise, Schulich School of Business, York University, Canada
"This edited volume is a welcome addition to our understanding of how consumers interact with each other and engage with markets and the world. The accomplished editors have brought together an exceptional set of leading scholars who engage with the nuances of human sexuality in consumer lives and markets. This is a critical and timely topic deserving of far more attention. This volume sets the stage for deep engagement with critical questions, offering myriad avenues for research, policy and marketing action."
Linda Price, Professor and Dick and Maggie Scarlett Chair of Business Administration, University of Wyoming, USA
"Sexuality in Marketing and Consumption does much more than explore the question whether sex sells (spoiler alert: it does, sometimes). This robust collection casts off prudish shackles, opening buttons, zippers, and minds into sexuality as action, identities/orientations, realities, and representations by consumers and firms. This text is essential reading for classes and for researchers concerned with gender in academia, industry and government."
Lisa Peñaloza, Professor of Marketing, KEDGE Business School, France
