I can read you like a book! Novel thoughts on consumer behaviour

Purpose – To show how consumer researchers can learn from novels and analogous works of fiction. Design/methodology/approach – Close reading of two recent novels, The Savage Girl by Alex Shakar and Jennifer Government by Max Barry. Findings – The paper shows how works of fiction can be used as a intellectual resource by the consumer research community. It argues that fiction refreshed the parts that other research methods cannot reach. Research limitations/implications – Much depends on the caliber of the novels. Not every work of art is a work of genius. The article contends that consumer researchers need to move beyond singing the praises of fiction and, in pursuit of new paths to thick description, seek instead to novelise our findings. Or narrate them better at least. Practical implications – Marketing practitioners might learn more from reading novels than the academic marketing literature. Originality/value – There is nothing particularly original in the paper. It reiterates what several scholars have said already. The message is sufficiently important to warrant constant repetition, however.