'Forget me not': the researcher's position in interpretive consumer research

The central idea of the workshop was to facilitate a debate on interpretive research from a critical point of view. Interpretive research concentrates on socio-cultural, experiential, symbolic and ideological aspects of consumption and generates different, highly fragmented approaches presenting multi-faceted features in continual evolution. (i.e., relativist, post-positivist, poststructuralist, humanistic, naturalistic, postmodern, etc.). More recently, this proliferation has found a home in the now well-known academic brand, Consumer Culture Theory (CCT) (Arnould and Thompson, 2005). The recognition of belonging to a common field of research has helped to organise the lines of study concerned with a cultural view of consumption (consumer identity projects, the cultures of the marketplace; the social and historical influences on consumption; the ideologies and strategies to interpret consumers in markets influenced by the mass media) around main thematic areas, while also legitimising these various approaches within Consumer Research.