Communication and discourse-centred traditions

 

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Course Overview

In critical marketing and consumer research, discourse-centered tradition has a long history starting from the pioneering works of Eric Arnould, Russel Belk, Eileen Fischer, Elizabeth Hirschman, Morris Holbrook, Douglas Holt, Sidney Levy, John Sherry, Barbara Stern and Craig Thompson. Treated as a crossbreed between methodological and theoretical approaches, analysis of discourse has been productively used in explaining a variety of marketing and consumer culture phenomena from branding, market inclusions and exclusions to consumer subjectivity formation.

The course introduces participants to communication- and critical discourse-centered theoretical traditions in marketing and consumer research, explores different approaches and examines their fields of application.

This course specifically focuses on the foundational work of Mary Douglas, Jean Baudrillard, Michel Foucault, Mikhail Bakhtin, Roland Barthes, Niklas Luhmann, Reinhart Koselleck, and Terry Eagleton, among others, and tracks how they have been translated into the marketing and consumer research arenas.

Beyond the focus on theoretical foundations, participants will be encouraged to develop their academic skills by exploring how to apply discourse-centered theories into their own ongoing doctoral projects.

 

Course Objectives

• to gain an understanding of key theoretical approaches to language and discourse in social sciences and how they are translated into marketing and consumer research arenas

• to reflect on the differences between the different theories and their traditions

• to develop critical and analytical skills

• to enhance academic skills in applying the relevant theories to own research projects

 

Teaching Approach and Evaluation

The teaching format will be blended, incorporating both in-person and online modules. Modules will consist of a mix of lectures, seminars, discussions of the assigned readings and/or discussion questions. Special slots will be dedicated to discussions of participants’ research projects.

Class participation (20% of final evaluation).

For each session, participants are expected to read the assigned readings and actively participate in class discussions.

In addition, students will be required to prepare one 10-minutes presentation that explains how the literature covered in a specific session could be used for their own doctoral research.

Final essay (80% of final evaluation).

Participants will be required to write a final individual paper (5000 words max. plus references; AI tools not permitted in write-up). The paper should focus on presenting their PhD project or one of the papers from a cumulative dissertation and explicitly connect to the theoretical approach covered in the course and incorporate specific references to one or more texts from the course literature.

 

Course Modules

The course consists of six thematic modules and five dedicated slots for presentation of participants’ research projects.

Day	Modality	Instructor	Module	Description
May 11, 9:30-12:30	USI campus	Søren Askegaard	Discourses and structuralism	Theoretical foundations: Mary Douglas, Thorstein Veblen   Application to critical consumer research: Symbolic and cultural approaches to consumer behaviour
13:30-14:00	USI campus		Participants’ presentations
May 12, 9:30-12:30	USI campus	Søren Askegaard	Discourses and (bio)power	Theoretical foundations: Michel Foucault   Application to critical consumer research: (Bio)politics in marketing and consumer research
13:30-14:00	USI campus		Participants’ presentations
May 13, 9:30-12:30	USI campus	Søren Askegaard	Discourses and semiotics	Theoretical foundations: Jean Baudrillard   Application to critical consumer research: Semiotics of consumption
13:30-14:00	USI campus		Participants’ presentations
May 18, 9:30-12:30	Online	Luca M. Visconti	Discourses and dialogues	Theoretical foundations: Roland Barthes   Application to critical consumer research: Consumption as a dialogical in-betweenness between companies (intention) and markets (interpretation)
13:30-14:00	Online		Participants’ presentations
May 19, 9:30-12:30	Online	Thomas Derek Robinson	Discourses and systems	Theoretical foundations: Niklas Luhmann, Reinhart Koselleck Application to critical consumer research: Temporality and technology in markets and consumption
13:30-14:00	Online		Participants’ presentations
May 20, 9:30-12:30	Online	Ksenia Silchenko	Discourses and ideology	Theoretical foundations: Terry Eagleton, Michel Foucault   Application to critical consumer research: Ideology in and of marketing and consumption
13:30-14:00	Online		Essay Q&A and Conclusions

 

Readings

Module 1. Discourses and structuralism

Core readings

Veblen, T. (1899) The Theory of the Leisure Class, Macmillan (excerpts)

Douglas, M. & B. Isherwood (2021 [1978]). The World of Goods, chapters 3 & 4, London: Routledge, 37-66.

Douglas, Mary (1972). Deciphering a meal. Daedalus, 101 (1), 61-81.

McCracken, G. (1988) Culture and Consumption, Indiana University Press (excerpts)

Additional readings

Fitchett, J., & Caruana, R. (2015). Exploring the role of discourse in marketing and consumer research. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 14(1), 1-12.

Levy, S. J. (1981). Interpreting consumer mythology: a structural approach to consumer behavior. Journal of marketing, 45(3), 49-61.

Holbrook, M. B., & Hirschman, E. C. (1982). The experiential aspects of consumption: Consumer fantasies, feelings, and fun. Journal of consumer research, 9(2), 132-140.

 

Module 2. Discourses and (bio)power

Core readings

Dreyfus, H. & Rabinow, P. (1982). From the Repressive Hypothesis to Biopower , in H. Dreyfus & P. Rabinow: Michel Foucault. Beyond Structuralism and Hermeneutics, University of Chicago Press, 208-226

Turner, B.S. (1996). The Body & Society, 2nd edition. Sage Publications, 1-36.

Additional readings

Featherstone, M. (2010). Body, image and affect in consumer culture. Body & society, 16(1), 193-221.

Thompson, C. J. (2004). Marketplace mythology and discourses of power. Journal of consumer research, 31(1), 162-180.

Askegaard, S. et al (2014). Moralities of Food and Health Research, Journal of Marketing Management, 30, (17/18), 1800–1832.

Silchenko, K. & Askegaard, S. (2021). Powered by Healthism? Marketing Discourses on Food and Health, European Journal of Marketing, 55 (1), 133-161.

 

Module 3. Discourses and semiotics

Core readings

Baudrillard, J. (1968) Le systéme des objets, Gallimard (excerpts)

Baudrillard, J. (1970) La société de consommation, Gallimard, (excerpts)

Baudrillard, J. (1972) Pour une critique de l’économie politique du signe, Gallimard (excerpts)

Additional readings

Mick, D. G. (1986). Consumer research and semiotics: Exploring the morphology of signs, symbols, and significance. Journal of consumer research, 13(2), 196-213.

Mick, D. G., & Oswald, L. R. (2006). The semiotic paradigm on meaning in the marketplace. In Handbook of qualitative research methods in marketing. Edward Elgar Publishing.

Holt, D. B. (2002). Why do brands cause trouble? A dialectical theory of consumer culture and branding. Journal of consumer research, 29(1), 70-90.

 

Module 4. Discourses and dialogues

Core readings

Barthes, R. (1957), Mythologies, Éditions du Seuil (excerpts). 

Barthes, R. (1967). La mort de l’auteur. In Le bruissement de la langue: essais critiques IV (pp. 61-67). Éditions du Seuil. 

Barthes, R. (1980), La chambre claire, Éditions du Seuil (excerpts). 

Additional readings

Holt, D. B. (2002). Why do brands cause trouble? A dialectical theory of consumer culture and branding. Journal of consumer research, 29(1), 70-90.

Murray, J. B. (2002). The politics of consumption: A re-inquiry on Thompson and Haytko's (1997)“Speaking of Fashion”. Journal of consumer research, 29(3), 427-440. 

Ritson, M., & Elliott, R. (1999). The social uses of advertising: An ethnographic study of adolescent advertising audiences. Journal of Consumer research, 26(3), 260-277. 

Thompson, C. J., & Haytko, D. L. (1997). Speaking of fashion: consumers' uses of fashion discourses and the appropriation of countervailing cultural meanings. Journal of consumer research, 24(1), 15-42. 

Visconti, L. M. (2017). Roland Barthes: the (anti-) structuralist. In Canonical Authors in Consumption Theory (pp. 177-184). Routledge. 

 

Module 5. Discourses and systems

Core readings
Andersen, Niels Åkerstrøm. Discursive Analytical Strategies: Understanding Foucault, Koselleck, Laclau, Luhmann. Policy Press, 2003. (Chapter 2)
Koselleck, Reinhart. "Linguistic change and the history of events." The journal of Modern history 61.4 (1989): 650-666.
Bechmann, Gotthard, and Nico Stehr. "The Legacy of Niklas Luhmann." (2002): 67-75.
Koselleck, Reinhardt (2002): The Practice of conceptual History; Stanford University Press, chapters 2, 5, 6 and 9

Additional readings
Robinson, Thomas Derek, Ela Veresiu, and Ana Babić Rosario. "Consumer timework." Journal of Consumer Research 49.1 (2022): 96-111.
Robinson, Thomas Derek, and Eric Arnould. "Portable technology and multi-domain energy practices." Marketing Theory 20.1 (2020): 3-22.
Mick, David Glen, and Susan Fournier. "Paradoxes of technology: Consumer cognizance, emotions, and coping strategies." Journal of Consumer research 25.2 (1998): 123-143.
Kozinets, Robert V. "Technology/ideology: How ideological fields influence consumers' technology narratives." Journal of consumer research 34.6 (2008): 865-881.
Kozinets, Robert, Anthony Patterson, and Rachel Ashman. "Networks of desire: How technology increases our passion to consume." Journal of consumer research 43.5 (2017): 659-682.
Puntoni, Stefano, et al. "Consumers and artificial intelligence: An experiential perspective." Journal of marketing 85.1 (2021): 131-151.

 

Module 6. Discourses and ideology

Core readings

Foucault, M. (1982). The Subject and Power, in H. Dreyfus & P. Rabinow: Michel Foucault. Beyond Structuralism and Hermeneutics, University of Chicago Press, 208-226

Eagleton, T (2007) Discourse and Ideology, in Ideology. An Introduction, Verso books, 193-220.

Additional readings

Skålen, P, Fougère, M. & Felleson (2008), M. Marketing Discourse. A Critical Perspective, Routledge (excerpts)

Shankar, A., Cherrier, H., & Canniford, R. (2006). Consumer empowerment: a Foucauldian interpretation. European Journal of Marketing, 40(9-10), 1013-1030.

Giesler, M., & Veresiu, E. (2014). Creating the responsible consumer: Moralistic governance regimes and consumer subjectivity. Journal of consumer research, 41(3), 840-857.

Humphreys, A., & Thompson, C. J. (2014). Branding disaster: Reestablishing trust through the ideological containment of systemic risk anxieties. Journal of Consumer Research, 41(4), 877-910.

Heidenstrøm, N. (2024). Green marketing in the fashion industry: a critical analysis of sustainability narratives. Consumption Markets & Culture, 27(5), 488-504.