Close knit: using consumption communities to overcome loneliness

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to highlight the role of consumption communities as a self-help support group to ameliorate loneliness. The authors suggest that the self-help element of consumption communities has been overlooked because of a focus on communities pursuing hegemonic masculinity. Instead, the authors focus on a female-led and – dominated consumption community. Design/methodology/approach A longitudinal ethnography was undertaken with the aim of understanding consumer behaviour in a “hyper-feminine” environment. Participant observation, depth interviews and netnography were carried out over five years within the Knitting community, focussing on an Irish Stitch ‘n’ Bitch group. Findings A dimension of consumption communities has been overlooked in the extant literature; this female-led and -dominated community functions as a self-help support group used as a “treatment” for loneliness. It also demonstrates all the characteristics of a support group. Research limitations/implications This study offers a framework with which new studies of community consumption can be examined or existing studies can be re-examined, through rather than cases of loneliness and self-help support groups. Practical implications Marketers have an opportunity to build supportive consumption communities that provide a safe space for support where commerce and brand-building can also occur. Groups aimed at ameliorating loneliness may wish to consider integration of the consumption community model. Originality/value Calls have been made for a reconceptualisation of consumption communities as current typologies seem inadequate. This paper responds with a critical examination through the lens of the self-help support group, while also taking steps towards resolving the gender imbalance in the consumption community literature. The paper explores loneliness, a previously underexamined motivator for consumption community membership.

Rise of ‘Lonely’ Consumers in the Post-COVID-19 Era: A Synthesised Review on Psychological, Commercial and Social Implications

“…Literature in this regard has shown that consumers develop meaningful relationships with the brands, consumption communities, service providers and in-store salespersons that buffer interpersonal insecurity and compensate consumers’ fundamental need for belongingness [ 1 , 57 , 59 ]. For example, Snyder and Newman [ 57 ] showed that consumers treat brand communities as a viable avenue for social connections.…”

“…For example, Snyder and Newman [ 57 ] showed that consumers treat brand communities as a viable avenue for social connections. The traditional communities, which are geographically-bound, are in decline in the fragmented modern society, whereas the brand communities are fast-growing on social media, which create social relatedness and ease loneliness [ 1 ]. In an offline setting, Smith, Rippé and Dubinsky [ 4 ] and Rippé, Smith and Dubinsky [ 5 ] investigated how the lonely consumers ‘befriend’ the in-store salespersons to cope with perceived deficiencies of social relationships.…”

“…This is due to the fact that socio-demographic factors were examined from diverse perspectives in a piecemeal manner, which is difficult to draw conclusive findings. For example, Mittal and Silvera [ 3 ] held gender as a predictor of material versus experiential consumptions, whereas O Sullivan and Richardson [ 1 ] examined the effect of feminism in consumption communities to cope with loneliness. Lim and Kim [ 59 ] found that lonely older consumers are motivated to shop from multiple channels, while other studies suggested that adolescences also utilise both online and offline shopping to seek social inclusion.…”

“…Loneliness is a pervasive problem in modern societies [ 1 ]. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, we have witnessed an emerging trend of individualised lifestyles, by choice or by circumstance, due to changing socio-demographics such as decreased household size, delayed marriages and longer life span coupled with increased relocation tendency (e.g., education and career requirements) [ 2 , 3 ].…”

“… Extended self; Attachment to nonhuman; Gender; Product selection; Experiential and material products Commercial implications Mourey, Olson and Yoon [ 30 ] Consumers attach to anthropomorphic products as an alternative to interpersonal interactions to gain social assurance. Anthropomorphism; Attachment to nonhuman; Prosocial behaviour; Product selection; Social assurance Psychological implications O Sullivan and Richardson [ 1 ] Consumption communities function as a self-help group which provides ‘treatment’ for loneliness. Community; Gender Social implications Orth, Cornwell, Ohlhoff and Naber [ 68 ] Consumers’ loneliness and anthropomorphism tendency moderate their responses to brand visual, leading to brand liking Brand; Anthropomorphism; Persuasion Commercial implications Pieters [ 34 ] Loneliness contributes to materialism, and materialism reinforces consumers’ loneliness to a weaker extent depending on the subtypes of materialism.…”