Browsing by Author "Weijo, Henri, Prof., Aalto University, School of Business, Dept. Marketing, Finland"
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- Unearthing Different Bodies Through Experiential Consumption
School of Business | Doctoral dissertation (article-based)(2023) Padhaiskaya, TatsianaConsumers are becoming increasingly detached from their physical bodies. The accelerated pace of life, the prevalence of a sedentary lifestyle among contemporary knowledge workers, and the prioritization of visual appearance over internal sensations are the major drivers of such detachment. Past consumer research has extensively documented how consumers problematize, control, and enhance the appearance of their bodies. However, recent studies have also emphasized consumers' increasing desire for body re-discovery. This dissertation provides a more in-depth understanding of body-related matters in consumption and sheds light on how marketplace experiences help consumers discover various aspects of their bodies. This dissertation consists of three interrelated essays. The first essay builds on the ethnographic inquiry into ultra-running and showcases how consumers develop enhanced body awareness through using various marketplace resources. Such enhanced consumer body awareness challenges previously stable relationships with brands and preferences for marketplace resources. The second essay builds on the phenomenological inquiry into the lived experience of cold-water swimmers and illuminates the experiential elements of accelerated consumer deceleration. Moreover, it highlights the role of embodied intensity in consumption experiences. The third essay also builds on the ethnographic inquiry into ultra-running and showcases how service providers help consumers discover the entactogenic and empathogenic aspects of their bodies through the orchestration of slow servicescapes. Together, the findings of the three essays provide several theoretical contributions to the literature on consumer embodiment, body rediscovery, and orchestration of consumption experiences.