Extending Holt's consuming typology to encompass subject-subject relations in consumption: lessons from pet ownership

Fiona Cheetham, Morven McEachern

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

16 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper adapts Holt's typology of consumption practices to illuminate consumption practices within the context of British consumers and their household pets. The photo-elicitation technique, autodriving, is used to elicit stories from our participants concerning their cats and dogs. Holt's typology provides a strong foundation for illuminating the consumption practices described in these stories. However, in order to capture the cultural meanings and social dynamics that animate these consumption practices more fully, we propose extending Holt's framework so as to incorporate (1) the agency of the animal; (2) the incidence of literal play; and (3) the moral values underlying consuming as classification. This paper concludes with a discussion on the value of our proposed additions in relation to future cultural studies of human–animal relations and to future cultural studies of consumption in general.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)91-115
Number of pages25
JournalConsumption Markets and Culture
Volume16
Issue number1
Early online date18 Jan 2012
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2013
Externally publishedYes

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