Gothic entrenpreneurs: a study of the subcultural commodification process.

This chapter: The ‘new dominant logic of marketing’ switches the view of firms as the principal economic producers and value creators to one in which customers are actually engaged in the value creation and marketing process (Normann and Ramirez, 1993; Vargo and Lusch, 2004; Wikstrom, 1996). This chapter examines how subcultures play an important part in enabling consumers to act proactively and productively in the market as entrepreneurs. This book: Marketing and consumer research has traditionally conceptualized consumers as individuals- who exercise choice in the marketplace as individuals not as a class or a group. However an important new perspective is now emerging that rejects the individualistic view and focuses on the reality that human life is essentially social, and that who we are is an inherently social phenomenon. It is the tribus, the many little groups we belong to, that are fundamental to our experience of life. Tribal Marketing shows that it is not individual consumption of products that defines our lives but rather that this activity actually facilitates meaningful social relationships. The social 'links' (social relationships) are more important than the things (brands etc.)The aim of this book is therefore to offer a systematic overview of the area that has been defined as "cultures of consumption"- consumption microcultures, brand cultures, brand tribes, and brand communities. It is though these that students of marketing and marketing practitioners can begin to genuinely understand the real drivers of consumer behaviour. It will be essential to everyone who needs to understand the new paradigm in consumer research, brand management and communications management. * The first comprehensive text to capture the diversity of research in the area and offer an authoritative and easily digestible overview.*Challenges accepted marketing theory such as segmentation and sets the benchmark for contemporary thinking on topical issues.* Internationally renowned team of editors and contributors.