IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/custns/v12y2025i1d10.1007_s40547-025-00154-9.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Can You See Me Now? Toward a Theory of Sensory Flamboyance and Subtlety in Consumption

Author

Listed:
  • Tanuka Ghoshal

    (Zicklin School of Business, Baruch College, City University of New York)

  • Russell W. Belk

    (York University Distinguished Research Professor and the Kraft Foods Canada Chair in Marketing, Schulich School of Business, York University)

Abstract

This article proposes that taste distinctions with respect to sensory intensity – specifically, preferences for sensory flamboyance versus subtlety (e.g., bright versus dull colors) – may be structured sociologically, even more than by individual dispositions. Based on an ethnographic study of women in India, we propose an emergent theory to account for how members of different social classes develop and refine their sensory preferences. Low cultural capital consumers gravitate toward sensory flamboyance, while high cultural capital consumers gravitate toward the subtle. The flamboyance seen among lower class consumers may be grounded largely in an ethic of standing out in order to be “societally visible.” Meanwhile, the subtlety seen among upper classes may be grounded more in a learned proclivity toward more nuanced fitting in, now reinforced by habitus and deployed as a marker of elite status.

Suggested Citation

  • Tanuka Ghoshal & Russell W. Belk, 2025. "Can You See Me Now? Toward a Theory of Sensory Flamboyance and Subtlety in Consumption," Customer Needs and Solutions, Springer;Institute for Sustainable Innovation and Growth (iSIG), vol. 12(1), pages 1-21, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:custns:v:12:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s40547-025-00154-9
    DOI: 10.1007/s40547-025-00154-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s40547-025-00154-9
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s40547-025-00154-9?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:custns:v:12:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s40547-025-00154-9. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.