The marketplace management of illegal elixirs: illicit consumption of rhino horn

ABSTRACT

This article examines the consumption of illegally traded rhino horn. We conducted a survey on 608 males in Vietnam, a country that is identified as among the world's largest recipients of illicit rhino horn. We find that supposed health benefits, such as body detoxification and hangover treatment, were the most common reasons for rhino horn usage. Consumers also used rhino horn to display economic wealth, acquire social status, and initiate business and political relationships. We illuminate the shift in the perceived place of rhino horn from functional to symbolic: rhino horn is not only supposed to possess curative properties but through its circulation within social and professional networks is also considered part of the consumers’ search for a sense of “self,” a sense of “us,” and the delineation of the “other.” We discuss implications for strategies that serve to reduce or prevent further loss of the rhinoceros.

KEYWORDS:

• Behavior change
• demand reduction
• rhino horn
• social marketing
• South Africa
• transformative consumer research
• Vietnam
• wildlife trade

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Consumption Markets and Culture editor Professor Jonathan Schroeder for his valuable comments, suggestions, and support during the review process. The authors would also like to thank the two anonymous reviewers and the coordinating editor for their useful comments on earlier drafts of this article. In addition, Dr Elizabeth Bennett's (World Conservation Society) review of the original draft of this article is gracefully appreciated.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

TRAFFIC International in Vietnam provided funding for the survey on which this article is based, for which the authors are grateful.