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Marketing Trends 2012 Doctoral Colloquium

Co-creating Meanings of Sustainability: A Discursive Study of the Fur Trade Industry

Elina Koivisto Aalto !niversity" elina#$oivisto%aalto#fi

ABSTRACT

In this in&uiry I a' studying ho( do 'eanings beco'e institutionali)ed (ithin a field and

further'ore* ho( are these 'eanings +roduction* disse'ination and rece+tion# ,reviouslythis has been loo$ed on the contet of technology ado+tion but u+ until today* no research hasloo$ed it fro' a +ers+ective of consu'er +roducts and brands# To redress this research ga+* I

conduct longitudinal archival (or$ (ithin a controversial fashion industry# This (ill beco'+li'ented by a 'ulti+licity of .sta$eholder/ intervie(s# In so doing* I (ill ado+t a critical

discourse analytic CDA" theoretical fra'e(or$ and 'ethodology to gain understanding ofthe 'ulti+le strategies 'ar$eters engage (ith in co-+roducing ethically legiti'ate brands andho( consu'ers utili)e these brand-related 'eanings in their consu'+tion 0ustification

narratives# Fro' a 'anagerial +ers+ective* 'y thesis (ill she light on the issues of brand

'anage'ent (ithin controversial industries#

KeywordsControversial fashion* discourse analysis* discursive struggle* institutionalentre+reneurshi+* brand 'anage'ent

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!ntroduction

This doctoral research ai's at understanding the discursive activity different sta$eholderssuch as 'ar$eters of fur +roducts as (ell as +ublic relations officers (ithin fur o++osing

123s (ithin a controversial high-fashion industry engage in (hen see$ing to ethically

legiti'ate and de-legiti'ate the co''ercial activities and +roducts involved in thisinstitutional field DiMaggio 4 ,o(ell 56789 Such'ann 566"# ;ith social res+onsibility

beco'ing an increasingly i'+ortant attribute for organi)ations o+erating in controversialindustry fields* the fashion fur 'ar$et offers a rich contet for investigating ho( the notion of

sustainable consu'+tion is nor'atively co-constructed by 'ar$eters and o++osing social'ove'ents ali$e e#g# Tarro( 566

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'ove'ents and 'ar$eters contribute to field-s+ecific as (ell as societal level discourses

through their legiti'ating and de-legiti'ating activity# The ai' and i'+ortance of this

research (ould lie* then* in 'a++ing out and analy)ing in de+th the dyna'ics of discursive'eaning-'a$ing (ithin this +articular industry field* and in doing so* +roducing actionable

+oints for both industry sta$eholders as (ell as +olicy 'a$ers#

Researc# questions

In light of the above the ai' of this research is to investigate the Finnish fur industry and its

discourses* in +articular the +rocesses of their +roduction* disse'ination and rece+tion# Thus*the t(o +ri'ary research interests are a" to build an understanding of change in discoursesover ti'e in relation to broader societal discourses b" to e'+irically uncover and theori)e on

the strategies that are e'+loyed in transfor'ing and shifting the 'eanings aroundconsu'+tion ob0ects# Moreover* this (ill enable 'e to further understand the co-creative

nature of 'eaning-'a$ing (ithin this consu'+tion +heno'enon# Begarding this latter +oint*I (ill be loo$ing at the 0ustificationrationali)ation narratives consu'ers tell in order torationali)e their controversial consu'+tion habits#

Researc# $ro%lem &and R'(s)

Accordingly* a tentative research +roble' could be as follo(s: How are discourses within aninstitutional field crafted, maintained and disseminated over time?

As I a' trying to 'a+ out the change in this contet and also understand the strategiesunderta$en to influence the'* the belo( research &uestions +artially antici+ate (hat is to

e'erge fro' this study in due course: an account of discursive change (ithin an institutionalfield =ardy and ,hili+s 5666"#

Follo(ing this logic*5# =o( have the discourses (ithin the field of fur-related high-fashion industry changed

over ti'e

@# =o( have different sta$eholders such as 'ar$eters and activists contributed to(ardsthis change

8# =o( have consu'ers ado+ted and a++ro+riated these discourses in their 0ustificationnarratives

Met#od and data collection

This doctoral research (ill involve studying the controversial field of high-fashion fur tradeusing a critical discourse analysis CDA" fra'e(or$# This is an a++roach that focuses on the

role of discourses in constituting and sustaining +o(er relations* and hence* on ho( actorsare both enabled and constrained by discursive +rocesses Fairclough 566@"#

The case sa'+le (ill include individuals fro' the Finnish fur sales sector the o(ner of Saga

fur brand"* activist individuals and grou+s* as (ell as consu'ers of fur +roducts# This (ill add

u+ to a++roi'ately ? intervie(s 8? intervie(s (ith consu'ers and altotogether 8?intervie(s (ith activist grou+s and 'ar$eters# To gain a holistic and dyna'ic gras+ of thefield under study* these intervie( data (ill be e'bedded and analy)ed (ithin a socio-historic

fra'e(or$ that reflects the evolution of broader societal discourses surrounding the issue offur +roduction and consu'+tion (ithin the international high fashion industry# This data (ill

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be ac&uired through syste'atic archival (or$ (ithin the archives of Finnish Fur sales and

largest (o'en 'aga)ines in Finland# This fra'ing (ill aid in identifying the

intertetualinterdiscursive relations bet(een relevant social 'ove'ents* discourses and'ar$eting atte'+ts and sho( ho( such interactions 'ight transfor' the institutional field#

Antici*ated results

Fro' a 'anagerial +oint of vie(* I see$ to understand ho( controversial brands 'ay gainethical legiti'acy by +roviding consu'ers (ith discursive resources for their negotiation of

ethicality# Fro' this vantage +oint* then* 'y research (ill also +roduce i'+lications for'anagerial +ractices of GbrandingH* Gre+utation 'anage'entH and Gstrategic co''unication#

Re+erence list

A0)en* I# and Fishbein* M# 567?"# Understanding attitudes and predicting social behavior* 1e(

ersey: ,rentice-=all#

Anderson* T#;# and Cunningha'* ;#=# 56>@"# The socially conscious consu'er#Journal of

Marketing* Jol# 8* ++# @8-85#

Antil* #=# and ennett* ,#D# 56>6"# Construction and validation of a scale to 'easure socially

res+onsible consu'+tion behavior In =enion* K#=# 4 Kinnear* T#C# Eds#" The conserver societ*

Chicago: A'erican Mar$eting Association* ++# 5-7#

Arnould* E# #* Tho'+son* C# # @??"* GConsu'er Culture Theory CCT": T(enty ears of

BesearchH*Journal of !onsumer "esearch,Jol# 85* March* ++# 77-77@#

Cherrier* =# @??>"* GEthical consu'+tion +ractices: Co-+roduction of self-e+ression

and social recognitionH*Journal of !onsumer #ehavior* Jol# * 1o# * ++# 8@5-88#

DiMaggio* ,## and ,o(ell* ;#;# 5678"# The Iron Cage revisited: Institutional iso'or+his'and collective rationality in organi)ational fields#$merican %ociological "eview* Jol#

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,rothero* A#* McDonagh* ,# and Dobscha* S# @?5?"# Is green the ne( blac$ Beflections on a

green co''odity discourse#Journal of Macromarketing, Jol# 8?@"* ++# 5-56#

Sen* S#* hattacharya* C## @??5"* GDoes Doing 2ood Al(ays Lead to Doing etter Consu'er

Beactions to Cor+orate Social Bes+onsibilityH*Journal of Marketing "esearch* Jol# 87* May* ++#

@@-@"# !onsumer culture and modernit* Ca'bridge* !K: ,olity#

Such'ann* M#C# 566"# Managing legiti'acy: Strategic and institutional a++roaches#$cademof Management "eview* Jol# @?* ++# >55?#

Tarro(* S# 566