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The Cultural Construction of Risk Understandings through Illness Narratives

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  • Nancy Wong
  • Tracey King

Abstract

A study of breast cancer screening and treatment decisions suggests that risk understandings are influenced by the dominant illness narrative of restitution within Anglo-Western cultures. Restitution stories reflect the cultural values of personal responsibility and control in combating disease and returning to a life of normalcy. In the context of breast cancer, individuals seek restitution by following the dictums of biomedicine, which promotes early detection as prevention, aggressive treatment as cure, and reconstructive surgery as concealment. Our findings suggest that these risk understandings contribute to the consumption of health-care interventions that exceeds medical guidelines in this country. (c) 2008 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc..

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  • Nancy Wong & Tracey King, 2008. "The Cultural Construction of Risk Understandings through Illness Narratives," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 34(5), pages 579-594, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jconrs:v:34:y:2008:i:5:p:579-594
    DOI: 10.1086/520078
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    Cited by:

    1. Prigge, Jana-Kristin & Dietz, Beatrix & Homburg, Christian & Hoyer, Wayne D. & Burton, Jennifer L., 2015. "Patient empowerment: A cross-disease exploration of antecedents and consequences," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 375-386.
    2. Cheryl Nakata & Elif Izberk-Bilgin & Lisa Sharp & Jelena Spanjol & Anna Shaojie Cui & Stephanie Y. Crawford & Yazhen Xiao, 2019. "Chronic illness medication compliance: a liminal and contextual consumer journey," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 47(2), pages 192-215, March.
    3. Lez Trujillo Torres & Benét DeBerry-Spence, 2019. "Consumer valorization strategies in traumatic extraordinary experiences," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 516-531, May.
    4. Beudaert, Anthony & Özçağlar-Toulouse, Nil & Türe, Meltem, 2016. "Becoming sensory disabled: Exploring self-transformation through rites of passage," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 57-64.
    5. Fedorenko, Ivan & Berthon, Pierre & Edelman, Linda, 2023. "Top secret: Integrating 20 years of research on secrecy," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    6. Granek, Leeat & Fergus, Karen, 2012. "Resistance, agency, and liminality in women's accounts of symptom appraisal and help-seeking upon discovery of a breast irregularity," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(10), pages 1753-1761.
    7. Barg, Frances K. & Grier, Sonya A., 2008. "Enhancing breast cancer communications: A cultural models approach," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 335-342.

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