Producing beauty ‘the hard way’: involuntary prosumption in a stigmatising context

ABSTRACT

Traditionally, the literature indicates that consumers have acted as prosumers voluntarily and for hedonic or leisure motivations. Only a few studies contend that consumers engage in prosumption activities forcibly because of social or material constraints. Through 15 in-depth interviews and complementary secondary data, the present research aims to outline an involuntary form of prosumption and investigate its formation. Findings show that consumers are socially and ideologically convoked to become prosumers, even at times against their will, learning ‘the hard way’ how to produce. Our theoretical contribution lies in delineating involuntary prosumption in a context marked by stigma, social invisibility, and market constraints.

KEYWORDS:

• Prosumption
• racism
• social invisibility
• hair
• Black women

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Brazil has witnessed a significant increase in cosmetic products, with lines clearly targeting darker skin tones (e.g. Maybelline, Quem disse Berenice). However, a growing number of influencers are obtaining visibility out of a platform of critique on the actual suitability of such products for Black skin (e.g. Tássio Santos, from the channel ‘Herdeira da Beleza’/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWGGA2TC9ZU)

2. The hot comb is a cheap comb made of iron that was heated and applied to wet hair for straightening. This is a homemade solution for short-term treatment.

3. A pseudonym has also been used for non-participants.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ana Raquel Coelho Rocha

Ana Raquel Coelho Rochais Adjunct Professor at the Fluminense Federal University. She holds PhD and MSc degrees (Pontifical Catholic University in Rio de Janeiro, PUC-Rio), an MBA in Marketing (PUC-Rio), an MBA in Human Resources Management (Getulio Vargas Foundation FGV-RJ), and a BSc degree in Accounting Science from the Rio de Janeiro State University (UERJ). Her professional experience was acquired in major corporations and medium-sized businesses in different segments, such as independent auditing, fashion, education, telecom, among others. Her research interests are focused on the Consumer Behavior area, particularly interpretative studies and qualitative methodology. Her research specialities are related to themes such as race and ethnicity, beauty consumption, leisure consumption, BOP consumption.

Roberta Dias Campos

Roberta Dias Campos holds an MSc degree in Business Administration (COPPEAD/UFRJ), a DEA in Social Sciences (Paris Descartes/Sorbonne), and a dual-degree doctorate in Business Administration (COPPEAD/UFRJ) and Social Sciences (Paris Descartes/Sorbonne). Currently, she is lecturer in branding, consumer behaviour, qualitative research at COPPEAD Business School from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). Researcher at the Center of Studies in Consumption, which has been supported by L’Oréal (since 2004), FIAT and Coca Cola. COPPEAD/UFRJ. She is one of the main organisers of the Culture and Consumption Brazil Meeting (since 2017), which is an event organised through cooperation among several academic institutions, in order to buttress the Culture and Consumption Brazilian community through theoretical and methodological discussions.

Letícia Moreira Casotti

Letícia Moreira Casotti is Associate Professor at Coppead Business School at the Rio de Janeiro Federal University (UFRJ). She has a degree in Economics, MBA from COPPEAD – UFRJ and a PhD in Production Engineering from COPPE – UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro Federal University (UFRJ) (2000). Having headed up the Culture and Consumption line at the National Association for Graduate Studies and Research in Administration (ANPAD) (2010–2013) and the Marketing and Society line (2015), she now coordinates the Consumption Studies Center at COPPEAD-UFRJ, which is supported by L’Oréal Brasil (since 2004), FIAT do Brasil (2012) and Coca Cola (2014). Her research interests are focused on Consumer Culture Theory (CCT) and Transformative Consumer Research (TCR) specially in contexts connected with Beauty, Disability, Race, Gender and Sustainability. She was in charge of organising five biennial COPPEAD International Meetings on Consumer Behavior (2006–2014), backed by partner companies, and with the latest event also supported by CNPq-ARC Assistance in Promoting Scientific Events.

Thaysa Costa do Nascimento

Thaysa Costa do Nascimento is a PhD student in Administration at the COPPEAD Institute, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), with a Bachelor’s Degree in Defense and International Management from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. She is currently a Researcher in the Consumption Studies Center at COPPEAD-UFRJ. She has experience in the Administration field, particularly Marketing, in the following fields: consumption, behaviour, beauty, food consumption, brands, cultural branding, and blogs. Her research topics are related mainly to Culture and Consumption, especially Consumer Culture Theory (CCT) with analyses conducted through qualitative methodology, itineraries method, and nethnography. She is currently working on a research project focused on Internet influencers, particularly make-up blogs.