While authenticity pervades everyday consumption in museums, restaurants, theme parks, gift shops, and heritage attractions, among other commercial milieus, academic work on the concept of authenticity remains vague both in terms of its definition and its marketing relevance. In this study, we unpack the concept of authenticity in a Civil War battlefield and we provide insight as to its theoretical relevance for consumption. Our findings elucidate the distinction between authenticity as a product feature and authenticity as an experience. We show that consumer perceptions of a site's authenticity are articulated in five distinct ways: object related, factual, locational, personage, and contextual. We also point out the contribution of each notion of perceived authenticity in sparking consumer imagination and connecting them with the Civil War narrative. We suggest avenues that marketing managers can use to stage authenticity in a commercial environments at both substantive communicative levels. Our study reveals consumers as active agents who participate in the marketplace construction of authenticity in multiple ways. It is also shown that authenticity partakes in the construction of a national imaginary as a negotiated, collective act. We also provide insight as to the distinction between ''authentic'' and ''inauthentic'' commercial sites and the way in which even fictitious sites can be perceived as authentic.
Human trafficking, as defined here, is moving human beings across borders for the purpose of enslaving them. Human trafficking may be in the sex trade, forced labor or service, extraction of body parts, or other forms of exploited labor or debt bondage. The market is believed to be extensive, with its own distribution channels, pricing systems, and other market functions. The purposes of this article are to present an understanding of cross-border human trafficking as a marketing system, to explicate the societal effects of that system, and to show how the extent of cross-border trafficking may be estimated, using as an example several countries where it is believed to be a substantial problem. Additionally, we seek to show that cross-border human trafficking may be a much more serious problem than what is visible to governments.
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