Providing people with information is considered an important first step in encouraging them to behave sustainably as it influences their consumption beliefs, attitudes and intentions. However, too much information can also complicate these processes and negatively affect behaviour. This is exacerbated when people have accepted the need to live a more sustainable lifestyle and attempt to enact its principles. Drawing on interview data with people committed to sustainability, we identify the contentious role of knowledge in further disrupting sustainable consumption ideals. Here, knowledge is more than just information; it is familiarity and expertise (or lack of it) or how information is acted upon. We find that more knowledge represents a source of dilemma, tension and paralysis. Our data reveal a dark side to people's knowledge, leading to a 'self-inflicted sustainable consumption paradox' in their attempts to lead a sustainable consumption lifestyle. Implications for policy interventions are discussed.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the implications of a greater marketing orientation among arts organisations and its impact on funding through sponsorship.Design/methodology/approachUtilising a qualitative methodology, the study employs case studies for the purpose of formulating tentative and emergent knowledge.FindingsThe case study observations reveal the adoption of a marketing orientation across the sample and most significantly for the purposes of securing and consolidating sponsorship relationships. But contrary to popular academic theory this is managed without significant threat to artistic integrity or adaptation of theatrical productions.Research limitations/implicationsData were derived from a purposive but limited sample. The advantages of a qualitative method in producing rich data is well established, however a longitudinal study would facilitate the understanding of the temporal shifts in arts sponsorships and counter the limits of the cross‐sectional nature of the study.Practical implicationsThe study reveals a managerial capacity for arts organisations to attract sponsorship through customer orientation without the need to compromise its artistic and social goals.Originality/valueA central concern to the increasing significance of business and private funding for the survival of arts organisations is the impact this has on the producers ability to remain faithful to the artistic integrity of their productions. This longstanding academic debate now has predominance in arts marketing management and the issues addressed in this paper serve to address this shift in emphasis.

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Marketing theory on consumer tribes explores how these ephemeral collectives can grow into more formal, organizational systems that become subject to the various demands of the market. But how tribal doctrines endure in communities that are formalizing their market engagement remains under-theorized. To address this, we draw from literature on hybrid organizations and ethnographic data from an art-house cinema tribe that is formalizing its operations into what we conceptualize as a 'consumer-constructed organization' (CCO). We theorize CCOs as dynamic, hybrid organizational forms that balance the doctrines and characteristics of consumer tribes with their role as market actors. In addition to introducing CCOs as a theoretical and empirical point of reference in consumer research literature, we contribute by theorizing the ongoing tensions that unravel as tribal doctrines persevere or dissipate in the face of market demands and organizational formalization.

Adolescents, as a consequence of identification with popular culture, have been described as having homogenous consumption patterns. More recently, however, it has been recognised that 'glocalisation' (global practices reworked to fit local contexts) affords an opportunity for differentiation. This paper considers a recent UK phenomenon, namely that of the US high school prom, and seeks to explore the ways in which this ritual has been adopted or adapted as part of youth culture. The method employed here was mixed methods and included in-depth interviews with those who attended a prom in the last three years as well as a questionnaire distributed amongst high school pupils who were anticipating a high school prom. The findings illustrate that the high school prom in the UK is becoming increasingly integrated into the fabric of youth culture although, depending on the agentic abilities employed by the emerging adults in the sample, there is differing appropriation of this ritual event particularly in relation to attitudes towards and motivations for attending the prom. A typology of prom attendees is posited. This paper contributes to our understanding of this practice in a local context. Key WordsAppropriation, Youth Culture, Rituals, Agency and Glocalisation BiographiesDr Julie Tinson is a Senior Lecturer in Marketing at the University of Stirling where she principally teaches Consumer Behaviour and Marketing Communications. Her research interests include family decision making and consumer socialisation. She has published widely on consumer behaviour in relation to families and children and has recently written a book on how to research with children and adolescents. Consultancy includes work for Associa (NFU), Barclays Bank, Tpoll and Channel 4. Dr Peter Nuttall is a Lecturer in Marketing in the School of Management at the University of Bath. He teaches in the areas of international marketing and marketing communications and is also a visiting associate professor at Malta University. His publications have been focused primarily in the field of adolescent and young consumer behaviour. More specifically his research has explored the consumption and use of popular music as a means of expressing identity and the impact of family structure and peer group affiliation on this consumption behaviour. Consultancy work has centred on consumer market research in the charity and not-for-profit sector.2

The aim of this paper is to explore how the consumption of foreign brands may operate in a local culture (specifically, the consumption of Western luxury fashion brands among Muslim women in Kuwait). Field observations were conducted in Kuwait, and a qualitative questionnaire was administered to 50 Muslim female consumers. Although not a common method for qualitative research, the benefits of using a qualitative questionnaire are highlighted. The findings show that the socio‐cultural dynamics in Kuwait (mainly religion and tradition) may restrict the expression of certain behaviour (such as female sexuality and dating). However, Muslim women make use of Western luxury fashion brands as postmodern brandscapes (fragmented and constantly negotiated use of a symbolic brand to actively construct lifestyle orientations and personal meanings among one's neo‐tribe) to manifest their expressions of sexuality in alternative ways. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was threefold: to develop an understanding of the appropriation of the US High School Prom in the UK and more importantly to generate an insight into the producers and consumers of such an event; to establish if the performance of the prom is hyper-real or if there is an awareness of the authentic or inauthentic elements of this ritual and finally to ascertain local interpretation of authenticity and glocal practice. The method used here was a qualitative approach employing 24 in-depth interviews with young adults (18-20 years) who had attended a prom in the UK in the last three years. The findings illustrated that the role and the social network of the individual was key to engagement with the High School Prom and also indicated a possible symbiosis of the strands of theory associated with authenticity. Diverse localised meanings of the prom performance were also identified. As the school prom is a growth market in the UK businesses should be aware of adolescents' desire for ownership of this event and should tailor their marketing accordingly. Key WordsAdolescence, Authenticity, Qualitative Research, Rituals, Organisation and Practice BiographiesDr Julie Tinson is a Senior Lecturer in Marketing at the University of Stirling where she principally teaches Consumer Behaviour and Marketing Communications. Her research interests include family decision making and consumer socialisation. She has published widely on consumer behaviour in relation to families and children and has recently written a book on how to research with children and adolescents. Consultancy includes work for Associa (NFU), Barclays Bank, Tpoll and Channel 4. Dr Peter Nuttall is a Lecturer in Marketing in the School of Management at the University of Bath. He teaches in the areas of international marketing and marketing communications and is also a visiting associate professor at Malta University. His publications have been focused primarily in the field of adolescent and young consumer behaviour. More specifically his research has explored the consumption and use of popular music as a means of expressing identity and the impact of family structure and peer group affiliation on this consumption behaviour. Consultancy work has centred on consumer market research in the charity and not-for-profit sector. 2