Producing and consuming celebrity identity myths: unpacking the classed identities of Cheryl Cole

1 Cheryl has since changed her name to Cheryl Fernandez-Versini after marrying Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini in July 2014.

and Katie Price

Abstract

We investigate the ways in which celebrity identity myths are created, shaped, interpreted and utilised by media, celebrities and consumers. Two working-class female celebrities, Cheryl Cole and Katie Price, provide our focus, and we draw on an analysis of articles in the popular press, celebrity autobiographies and qualitative data collected with 16- to 18-year-olds. We find that class-infused celebrity identity myths (‘celebrity chav’) are constructed in terms of glamour, allure and charisma but also vulgarity, repulsion and ordinariness. Young consumers interpret these myths based on judgements of taste, morality, connection and worthiness and utilise them in order to support the identity goals of distinction, affirmation, belonging and enhancement.

Keywords:

• celebrity
• identity
• myths
• chav
• social class
• youth

Acknowledgements

This work was part of a larger project on youth, identity and consumption supported by an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) studentship. We would like to thank the many young consumers who participated in this study.

Additional information

Funding

This work was part of a larger project on youth, identity and consumption supported by an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) studentship. We would like to thank the many young consumers who participated in this study.

Notes on contributors

Hayley L. Cocker

Hayley Cocker is a lecturer in marketing at Lancaster University Management School. Her research focuses on young consumers, identity and consumption and she is currently working on a project on young people’s alcohol consumption. Her research has been presented at the Association for Consumer Research and Consumer Culture Theory conferences and has been published in the Journal of Marketing Management.

Emma N. Banister

Emma Banister is a senior lecturer in consumer research at Manchester Business School. Her research is mainly focused around the issues of identity and consumption. Key current projects relate to young adults’ alcohol consumption and new mothers’ identity transitions. Her research has been published in Advances in Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing Management, European Journal of Marketing, Journal of Business Research and Sociology of Health and Illness.

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Maria G. Piacentini

Maria Piacentini is a professor of consumer research at Lancaster University Management School. Her research focuses on consumer vulnerability, and she is concerned with the strategies employed by consumers in difficult consumption contexts and situations. She has published her work in a number of academic journals, including Journal of Marketing Management, Journal of Business Research, Sociology of Health and Illness, Journal of Consumer Behaviour and Advances in Consumer Research.

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