Negotiating managed consumption: young
people, branding and social identification processes
Principal Investigator: Dr Andrew Bengry-Howell,
Psychology,
Mentors: Professor Christine Griffin, Psychology,
Professor Isabelle Szmigin, The
Dr Sarah Riley, Psychology,
Research Assistant:
Dr Yvette Morey,
Psychology,
The corporate branding of
youth culture is well documented, but how young people engage with contemporary
branding and marketing practices has received far less attention. This project
brings together debates in Marketing, Social Geography and research from the
Social Psychology of Consumption to investigate how young people negotiate and
position themselves in relation to branded leisure spaces, and contemporary
forms of ‘experiential’, ‘emotional’ and viral marketing. The study will
consider how young people negotiate commercially constituted spaces that are
designed to offer them the opportunity to be ‘free’ and authentically
‘themselves’. It compares two types of music-related leisure event: Music
festivals and free parties, both of which play a significant role in young
adults’ lives, but have different levels of commercial involvement. Music
festivals are increasingly branded events with substantial levels of commercial
involvement, and relatively managed and regulated forms of consumption on
offer. Free parties, by contrast, involve minimal levels of commercial
involvement and have a history of opposition to a consumerist ethos. The
project investigates the ways in which young adults position themselves and
others in relation to the forms of branding, marketing and consumption on offer
at these different leisure sites.
For more information please
contact:
Dr Andrew Bengry-Howell
Department of Psychology
Claverton Down
BA2 7AY