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Escaping the Gift Economy

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  • Jean-Sébastien Marcoux

Abstract

Researchers have analyzed the dark side of the gift, but they have remained blind to what it implies about the market. Drawing on the experiences of a group of informants who participated in an ethnographical study of house moving in Montreal, Canada, this article provides significant evidence that the unattractiveness of the gift economy can incite people to turn to the market as an escape. It examines how people use the market to free themselves from the straitjacket of social expectations-from the sense of indebtedness and emotional oppression-which constrains them in their reciprocity relations inside the gift economy. The standard views of CCT researchers concerning the valorization of the gift economy are challenged, as well as the axiology that implicitly informs their research. As a result, it is necessary to discuss the inversion of this axiology. (c) 2009 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc..

Suggested Citation

  • Jean-Sébastien Marcoux, 2009. "Escaping the Gift Economy," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 36(4), pages 671-685, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:oup:jconrs:v:36:y:2009:i:4:p:671-685
    DOI: 10.1086/600485
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    Cited by:

    1. Alain Debenedetti & Déborah Philippe & Delphine Dion, 2024. "Balancing exclusivity and inclusivity through the strategic domestication of the luxury retail experience," Post-Print hal-04593576, HAL.
    2. Del Bucchia, Céline & Peñaloza, Lisa, 2016. "“No, I won't eat that!” Parental self-transformation in clashes of role enactment and children's will," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 145-154.
    3. Shaheen, Susan PhD & Chan, Nelson & Gaynor, Theresa, 2016. "Casual Carpooling in the San Francisco Bay Area: Understanding User Characteristics, Behaviors, and Motivations," Institute of Transportation Studies, Research Reports, Working Papers, Proceedings qt4dh2h0rf, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Berkeley.
    4. Fleura Bardhi & Giana M. Eckhardt, 2017. "Liquid Consumption," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 44(3), pages 582-597.
    5. Carolina Rezende Pereira & Suzane Strehlau, 2016. "Social Bond Development Through Continuous Indebtedness," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 39(2), pages 241-259, June.
    6. Jörg Finsterwalder & Alastair G. Tombs, 2021. "Infusing tribal reciprocity into service research: towards an integrated and dynamic view of repayment, retaliation and restorative justice for regenerative service ecosystem wellbeing," Service Business, Springer;Pan-Pacific Business Association, vol. 15(4), pages 563-586, December.
    7. Céline del Bucchia & Liza Penaloza, 2016. "“No, I won't eat that!” Parental self-transformation in clashes of role enactment and children's will," Post-Print hal-01232368, HAL.
    8. Bénédicte de Peyrelongue & Olivier Masclef & Valérie Guillard, 2017. "The Need to Give Gratuitously: A Relevant Concept Anchored in Catholic Social Teaching to Envision the Consumer Behavior," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 145(4), pages 739-755, November.
    9. Troebs, Cord-Christian & Wagner, Tillmann & Heidemann, F., 2018. "Transformative retail services: Elevating loyalty through customer well-being," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 198-206.
    10. Guido, Gianluigi & Pino, Giovanni & Peluso, Alessandro M., 2016. "Assessing individuals' re-gifting motivations," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(12), pages 5956-5963.
    11. Shaheen, Susan A. & Chan, Nelson D. & Gaynor, Teresa, 2016. "Casual carpooling in the San Francisco Bay Area: Understanding user characteristics, behaviors, and motivations," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 165-173.
    12. Ertimur, Burçak & Muñoz, Caroline & Hutton, James G., 2015. "Regifting: A multi-perspective processual overview," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(9), pages 1997-2004.
    13. Francesco Pasimeni, 2020. "The Origin of the Sharing Economy Meets the Legacy of Fractional Ownership," SPRU Working Paper Series 2020-19, SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex Business School.
    14. Bradford, Tonya Williams & Sherry, John F., 2013. "Orchestrating rituals through retailers: An examination of gift registry," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 89(2), pages 158-175.
    15. Ozanne, Lucie K. & Ozanne, Julie L., 2020. "The power of sharing to support consumers through liminality," Australasian marketing journal, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 34-41.
    16. Nguyen, Hieu P. & Munch, James M., 2011. "Romantic gift giving as chore or pleasure: The effects of attachment orientations on gift giving perceptions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 113-118, February.
    17. Pelser, Jan & de Ruyter, Ko & Wetzels, Martin & Grewal, Dhruv & Cox, David & van Beuningen, Jacqueline, 2015. "B2B Channel Partner Programs: Disentangling Indebtedness from Gratitude," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 91(4), pages 660-678.
    18. Bernard Cova & Eric Remy, 2014. "Consumption Seen From the Gift: State of the Art and Prospective [La consommation en clé de don : état des lieux rétrospectif et prospectif]," Post-Print hal-01581986, HAL.
    19. Valérie Guillard & Céline del Bucchia, 2012. ""How About Giving My Things Away Over The Internet? " When Internet Makes It Easier To Give Things Away," Post-Print hal-00909262, HAL.

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