Lecture 5: Space and Place

Question 1

What is the Extended Self in relation to commercial spaces?

Answer 1

The Extended Self is the concept that possessions are an extension of one’s identity.

Question 2

Define Singularization in the context of commercial spaces.

Answer 2

Singularization is the process by which objects become unique and personal.

Question 3

What does Appropriation mean in terms of consumer behavior?

Answer 3

Appropriation is how consumers adopt and personalize objects and spaces.

Question 4

What is Place Attachment?

Answer 4

Place attachment refers to the emotional bonds formed with specific commercial locations.

Question 5

Which study highlights emotional connections to restaurants and cafés?

Answer 5

Debenedetti, A., Oppewal, H., & Arsel, Z. (2014)

Question 6

What are the main factors that create Place Attachment?

Answer 6

Familiarity, Security, and Authenticity

Question 7

How does Familiarity contribute to Place Attachment?

Answer 7

Familiarity involves knowing the place/people and social interactions, such as with staff/customers.

Question 8

Describe how Security contributes to Place Attachment.

Answer 8

Security refers to the place being a safe-haven or symbolic shelter.

Question 9

How does Authenticity contribute to Place Attachment?

Answer 9

Authenticity involves a genuine feeling, non-commercialized atmosphere, and irreplaceability.

Question 10

Give an example of how decor can create Homeyness.

Answer 10

Decor such as dim lights can create environmental cues that enhance homeyness.

Question 11

What does ‘Creating Home in Public Spaces’ involve?

Answer 11

It involves transforming spaces into social hubs with personalized setups, arranging spaces for familiarity, and building communities through social interactions.

Question 12

What is the significance of Domestic Practices in consumer culture?

Answer 12

Domestic practices shape consumer culture by influencing activities like DIY, home needs, living styles, decoration, and tidying up.

Question 13

What does Symbolic Classification refer to?

Answer 13

Symbolic Classification, according to Mary Douglas (1971), is the assignment of things to specific places, applied in the home through decoration and organization.

Question 14

Define Symbolic Pollution.

Answer 14

Symbolic Pollution is a transgression that violates symbolic classification/order, meaning things are out of place, which is subjective and can be negotiated.

Question 15

How can consumers cope with Symbolic Pollution?

Answer 15

By negotiating boundaries and managing transgressions; broad classifications allow objects to mix without generating symbolic pollution.

Question 16

What is the difference between Space and Place?

Answer 16

Space is anonymous and empty of meaning, while Place is an ‘appropriated’ space, instilled with meaning and consumed.

Question 17

What are some methods to appropriate space?

Answer 17

Nesting, Marking, and Exploring are methods to appropriate space.

Question 18

Describe Nesting as a way to appropriate space.

Answer 18

Nesting involves arranging physical objects around oneself to create a comfortable ‘bubble’.

Question 19

What is Marking in terms of appropriating space?

Answer 19

Marking is leaving a trace of one’s existence, sometimes through resisting (political ideas), beautifying, or just identifying space as one’s ‘own’.

Question 20

Explain the concept of Exploring in appropriating space.

Answer 20

Exploring involves getting familiar with a space’s boundaries, nooks, and corners.

Question 21

How do consumers transform empty spaces into meaningful places?

Answer 21

By locating, constructing, customizing, inhabiting, tidying, cleaning, nesting, marking, or exploring.

Question 22

What can foster attachment in commercial spaces?

Answer 22

Familiarity, authenticity, and security can foster attachment in commercial spaces.