Journal of Marketing Management
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Producing beauty ‘the hard way’: involuntary
prosumption in a stigmatising context
Ana Raquel Coelho Rocha, Roberta Dias Campos, Letícia Moreira Casotti &
Thaysa Costa do Nascimento
To cite this article: Ana Raquel Coelho Rocha, Roberta Dias Campos, Letícia Moreira Casotti &
Thaysa Costa do Nascimento (2020) Producing beauty ‘the hard way’: involuntary prosumption
in a stigmatising context, Journal of Marketing Management, 36:13-14, 1223-1251, DOI:
10.1080/0267257X.2020.1795430
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/0267257X.2020.1795430
Published online: 27 Jul 2020.
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JOURNAL OF MARKETING MANAGEMENT
2020, VOL. 36, NOS. 13–14, 1223–1251
https://doi.org/10.1080/0267257X.2020.1795430
Producing beauty ‘the hard way’: involuntary prosumption in
a stigmatising context
Ana Raquel Coelho Rocha a, Roberta Dias Campos
and Thaysa Costa do Nascimento b
b
, Letícia Moreira Casotti
b
a
Department of Administration, UFF – Fluminense Federal University, Niterói, Brazil; bCOPPEADUFRJ, Marketing and International Business, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
ABSTRACT
ARTICLE HISTORY
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 pro­
sumers, even at times against their will, learning ‘the hard way’ how
to produce. Our theoretical contribution lies in delineating involun­
tary prosumption in a context marked by stigma, social invisibility,
and market constraints.
Received 14 September 2019
Accepted 8 June 2020
KEYWORDS
Prosumption; racism; social
invisibility; hair; Black
women
Introduction
In 2020, Hair Love won the Oscar for best animated short film. The film shows a little Black
girl applying a great deal of love to tame her voluminous curls. The girl and her father are
preparing to bring the mother home from hospital after undergoing cancer treatment.
The desperate father, feeling helpless when faced with styling the girl’s hair, suggests the
use of a red bonnet to hide the reality of her just-out-of-bed look. Refusing to use the
bonnet, the girl chooses to face an army of products and tools to reach the desired result.
This story reflects the reality of many young prosumers, who learn, with the help of
tutorials, how to style their hair without professional help. Prosumers are consumers who
present a hybrid profile, choosing to combine productive or do-it-yourself (DIY) activities
to create products or solutions that could be obtained through the market (Ritzer, 2014;
Toffler, 1980). However, the girl in Hair Love is somewhat different from prosumers as they
are normally depicted in consumer behaviour literature. She does not face this apparently
difficult task out of a hedonic voluntary urge. She does it because of simple necessity. She
is haunted by the red bonnet revealing that her hair cannot go out untamed.
For some time, consumers have acted as prosumers – participating in the production of
products or services they wish to obtain – whether motivated by issues of identity or by
the desire to engage in such activities as a hobby or leisure alternative (Campbell, 2005;
CONTACT Ana Raquel Coelho Rocha
anaraquelrocha@id.uff.br
Valonguinho, Centro, Niterói - RJ - Brazil CEP: 24220 140
© 2020 Westburn Publishers Ltd.
Rua Mário Santos Braga, s/n, 8. andar, Campus do
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A. R. C. ROCHA ET AL.
Toffler, 1980). Their active engagement with self-service consumption and DIY kits are
typical of their participation in prosumption activities (Ritzer, 2014; Wolf & McQuitty,
2011). Literature, however, has focused on prosumption as a voluntary act whereby
consumers choose to actively engage in production projects out of motivations that
include resistance, critique, creation, entrepreneurship, passion and identity projects
(Dolbec & Fischer, 2015; Guercini & Cova, 2018; Kjeldgaard et al., 2017; Martin &
Schouten, 2014; Scaraboto & Fischer, 2013; Shah & Tripsas, 2007).
On another note, a few studies have posited that consumers are required to engage in
productive practices because of social or material constraints, stigma or social invisibility
(Cordeiro & Campos, 2015; Kravets & Sandikci, 2014), having no other choice than to
produce. Black women live within a context of stigma and social invisibility in Brazil
(Barbosa, 2004; Rocha & Casotti, 2018). The market that should strive to respond to
their demands is in fact limited, forcing consumers to develop skills to care for their
own bodies and beauty. But what are the grounds on which Black women become
prosumers?
Brazilian Black women comprise the country’s largest population subgroup (Instituto
Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística, 2019), and Brazil’s beauty care market has shown
promise, despite ongoing economic recession (Associação Brasileira da Indústria de
Higiene Pessoal, Perfumaria e Cosméticos, 2019). Brazil has been forged as a hierarchical
society in which Black people continue to be socially positioned at the bottom level (Da
Matta, 1986; Ribeiro, 1995). Nonetheless, Brazilians have lived under a myth of racial
democracy, which, combined with particularities of the veiled, structural and institutional
racism practiced in the country (Da Matta, 1986; Schucman, 2014), has impacted many
spheres of social life. In Brazil, like in other societies, whiteness is perceived as a positive
attribute and a source of privilege (Crenshaw et al., 1995). In terms of body aesthetics,
Brazilians tend to revere Eurocentric appearance, and African ethnicity is socially stigma­
tised (Freyre, 2002; Goffman, 1963) even though it is physically visible in much of the
population. Black Brazilian women have been socially urged to consume products that
bring them closer to the idealised appearance, and they lack access to non-Eurocentric
market offers (Rocha & Casotti, 2018). Hence, they constitute a form of prosumer that is
summoned to produce, regardless of their will or skills.
This research has two main purposes: to outline an involuntary form of prosumption in
the context of racism, market constraints and social stigma and to investigate the forma­
tion of a prosumer in such conditions. In our investigation of beauty products and service
consumption among Black women in Brazil, we interviewed 15 women with different
economic backgrounds and hairstyles. We also recorded media information related to
Black consumers, visited stores specialised in hair care products and consulted official
reports about the topic.
As an emerging economy, Brazil offers a fertile research landscape for fresh and
renewed conceptual and theoretical perspectives (Kravets & Sandikci, 2014; Thompson
et al., 2013), both to prosumption literature and to the debate on race in the marketplace.
This paper contributes to the literature by delineating the involuntary prosumer who is
drawn into production even if such activity is not planned or desired. Involuntary
prosumers are self-trained in informal private spheres and develop a complex set of skills
that manifest in the emic expression a ‘good hand’.
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1225
This study is organised in six parts. First, we review the prosumption literature,
discussing the underlying vision of prosumption as a voluntary consumption act as well
as the recent perspective that considers prosumption to be a compulsory movement.
Next, we discuss the question of racism in Brazil, followed by an overview of Black beauty
care. The fourth section presents methodological procedures, and in the findings, we
outline the involuntary prosumption’s background and formation. Finally, we discuss
theoretical and managerial contributions and provide suggestions for future research.
Prosumption definitions
The production function of consumer appears in the literature through the concept of
prosumer, a term coined by Alvin Toffler (1980). Toffler noted that consumers were
returning to pre-industrialisation practices, a time when they were fully responsible for
making what they consumed. Following the advent of the Industrial Revolution, produc­
tion activities were gradually taken over by specialists within the production sphere.
Individuals ceased to be producers and became consumers, with competence gaps
appearing between the two groups (Ritzer, 2014). For Toffler, the prosumer movement
was a return to production initiatives by consumers themselves, who sought to reclaim
some activities that could have been handled by the market.
Toffler’s definition is a pervasive point of departure for studies on the topic. But the
term has evolved and has been taken as a synonym for different things, such as the work
of a consumer within a company (Ritzer & Jurgenson, 2010; Ritzer & Miles, 2019) and cocreation or even DIY activities. In general terms, prosumption may be defined as
a productive activity performed by consumers which could be delivered by the market.
So, consumers are prosuming when they serve themselves in a McDonald’s (Ritzer & Miles,
2019), co-create with Nike for the next sports shoe (Cova, 2008), produce or fix their own
furniture (Watson & Shove, 2008), produce their own beer (Kjeldgaard et al., 2017; Maciel
& Wallendorf, 2017), adapt minimotos for adult use (Martin & Schouten, 2014) or craft their
own set of products to deal with certain daily-life problems (Campbell, 2005). They are
prosumers when they do something themselves instead of paying for it to be done for
them.
Studies exploring the role of consumer as protagonist have followed different direc­
tions in the literature on marketing and consumer behaviour (Fracalanzza &
Campos, 2019). A stream of research has investigated the consumer’s perspective with
regard to the prosumption phenomenon, describing the nature of a consumer whose
production activity has been conceptualised as DIY (Moisio et al., 2013; Watson & Shove,
2008; Wolf & McQuitty, 2011), craft consumption (Campbell, 2005) and creative consump­
tion (Cova, 2008). Such production endeavours have also been depicted as entrepreneur­
ial activity (Cordeiro & Campos, 2015; Shah & Tripsas, 2007) which may eventually
contribute to the emergence of consumer-driven markets (Kjeldgaard et al., 2017;
Martin & Schouten, 2014). Another stream of research has focused on the impacts of
prosumption on companies (Cochoy, 2015; Gronroos, 2011; Lusch & Vargo, 2015; Prahalad
& Ramaswamy, 2004; Ritzer, 2014), which may consider this type of consumer as a cocreating partner (Black & Veloutsou, 2017; Cova & Dalli, 2009) or as a performer of selfservice activities (Bateson, 1985; Ritzer, 2014) whose work can help them improve innova­
tion and increase financial revenues.
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A. R. C. ROCHA ET AL.
However, a common basic thread in the literature is the understanding of prosumption
as a voluntary activity, often driven by the pursuit of leisure and pleasure and stimulated
by a desire to build one’s identity projects. From this perspective, consumers are creative,
critical entities who compete with, resist and reinvent the market. For instance, Cova
(2008) establishes three directions taken by consumer production initiatives, through
which they can: i) deviate from the use suggested by the market through a surge of silent
expropriation; ii) dodge what the market proposes through the creation of alternative
areas of resistance; or even iii) return to the market, reinventing ways of doing and
deploying alternative solutions that compete with those proposed by the industry
(Martin & Schouten, 2014). These reflections are supported by consumer culture theory
(Arnould & Thompson, 2005), which holds that consumers – when perceived as agents –
use market resources as raw materials for the construction of identity projects (Campbell,
2005).
We argue that prosumption may also be present in situations where consumers are not
driven by pure agency, and the need to comply with social structures may also be coupled
with productive activities. Therefore, we revise the literature by presenting prosumption
as a voluntary act and then contrast it with research that illustrates that prosumption can
be driven by social constraints, such as stigma or social class definitions.
Prosumption as a voluntary consumption activity
Most studies on prosumption tend to see it as a voluntary or hedonic practice. In this
sense, studies show creative movements that occur when consumers proactively engage
in productive activities (Fracalanzza & Campos, 2019). Such a form of prosumption tends
to consider a high degree of consumer involvement (Wolf & McQuitty, 2011) whereby
consumers take control of much of the production process (Campbell, 2005). There are
different approaches within the idea of prosumption as a voluntary activity. First, pro­
sumption has been seen as an individual movement, guided by consumer’s creativity
(Cova, 2008) and resulting from identity projects and lifestyle options (Moisio et al., 2013;
Wolf & McQuitty, 2011). These activities have been portrayed for instance, as DIY (Wolf &
McQuitty, 2011) or craft consumption (Campbell, 2005).
DIY is a consumption activity where individuals use raw materials and other compo­
nents in order to produce, transform or reconstruct material goods, including those
related to nature, such as landscaping or gardening. When consumers engage in such
practices, they select available tools and materials and execute the work process in order
to complete the DIY project. For this reason, consumers become project planner, builder
and evaluator (Wolf & McQuitty, 2011).
Campbell (2005) proposes the concept of craft consumption, reflecting consumer’s
creative efforts to take mass market goods as raw materials and transform them into new
and personalised products tailored to personal preferences. This concept differs from DIY
as it involves essentially symbolic crafting efforts, such as specific product arrangements
based on taste, creative flair or individual expression (Arsel & Bean, 2013). Craft consump­
tion is a mode of individual self-expression in which the consumer seeks to participate
(Campbell, 2005). In the same vein, Cova and Cova (2012) describe the creative consumer,
who produces meaning and engages in dialogue with brands, working alongside com­
panies to contribute and co-create value. However, the authors also approach the notion
JOURNAL OF MARKETING MANAGEMENT
1227
critically, claiming that consumer’s creative function is the output of a governmentality
process (Foucault, 1978) produced out of marketing discourse.
Other studies have explored the transformation of such voluntary or hedonic prosump­
tion practices into entrepreneurial activity, especially in the digital environment. Starting
out as a passion, prosumption turns into an entrepreneurial endeavour due to the
prestige that consumers derive from it within their social group (Mardon et al., 2018).
Such passionate engagement, coupled with resources and a certain level of skill, places
these consumers in an expert position within their tribe. This results in what Guercini and
Cova (2018) call unconventional entrepreneurship: members of a tribe seeking to balance
emotional ties with commercial activities, acting as cultural intermediaries and achieving
a new status in the consumer-producer relationship.
Finally, within this stream, prosumption has also been investigated from a collective
perspective, as it transforms from identity projects activities to the collective and coordi­
nated actions of consumers acting on market (re)configurations. Consumers can act to
change market dynamics, either through formally organising activities (Kjeldgaard et al.,
2017), influencing institutional logics (Dolbec & Fischer, 2015; Scaraboto & Fischer, 2013)
or performing entrepreneurial activities (Martin & Schouten, 2014). Such collective move­
ments show how consumers can connect in order to share ideas that generate changes in
existing market structures (Morais et al., 2018), creating a form of resistance.
Such studies follow an important thread of consumer resistance or critique to current
market offers or hegemonic ideologies, depicting forms of consumer creation that, while
challenging limits imposed by naturalised norms, still maintain social legitimacy
(Thompson & Üstüner, 2015). They also highlight forms of resistance to market ideologies,
normally related to globalisation and neoliberalism, through consumer actions in partner­
ship with local producers (Thompson & Coskuner-Balli, 2007). Even if some of these papers
are not positioned as investigations of prosumption, they describe consumer activities
that involve a fair amount of work which consumers actively share or deliver to the market
as an act of resistance. These studies also deliver a renewed account of production by
consumers, as they explain how such initiatives are based on social, cultural, political and
ideological factors within a broader market-system with varied actors and interests.
In general, studies that analyse prosumption from a voluntary perspective have done
so based on theoretical lenses that take consumer agency for granted, such as the theory
of practice (Shove & Pantzar, 2005; Watson & Shove, 2008), identity projects (Campbell,
2005; Seregina & Weijo, 2017; Wolf & McQuitty, 2011), actor-network theory (Martin &
Schouten, 2014) and postmodernity (Guercini & Cova, 2018). Thus, thinking about the
phenomenon in spheres where it emerges independent of consumer’s will, as a need to
overcome ideological bias (such as stigma) or material constraints, may reveal opportu­
nities for distinct theoretical lenses to describe less agentic prosumption modes.
In this sense, Kravets and Sandikci (2014) state that the middle class ethos is a strong
ideological background for studies on identity projects and communities (Arnould &
Thompson, 2005), as consumer’s quest for an identity presents an ‘emphasis on creative
autonomy, eclecticism, and stylistic flexibility’ that is ‘bound to the middle-class preoccu­
pation with uniqueness, pragmatism and adaptability’ (Kravets & Sandikci, 2014, p. 127).
Therefore, prosumption literature tends to focus on consumption practices that manifest
such Western middle-class values as consumer creativity (Cova & Dalli, 2009), personal
choice and individuality (Holt & Thompson, 2004; Moisio et al., 2013) and adaptability in
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contexts that revolve around a sense of freedom, pleasure and hedonism (Featherstone,
2007; Kjeldgaard et al., 2017; Maciel & Wallendorf, 2017; Quintão et al., 2017; Shove &
Pantzar, 2005). Nevertheless, emergent cultures offer a context where the middle class
ethos may take different forms, and where social boundaries are less stable and always in
negotiation (Sandikci & Ger, 2010), calling for an investigation of prosumption in spaces
where Western middle-class values of individuality might may be competing with other
structural ideologies.
Involuntary prosumption: when consumers are recruited to produce
Although some studies do not identify as prosumption literature, they explore forms of
consumer production or creation driven by shifts in structural dynamics. In this case,
prosumption is imposed on social actors as a needed competence to conform to
societal rules, as Kravets and Sandikci (2014) illustrate with the case of new middleclass consumers in Turkey, who combine clothes and accessories to engage with a selfmade Western middle-class sensibility that makes fashion an important statement of
social belonging. Their research reveals a coercive aspect to craft consumption
(Campbell, 2005) and bricolage (McQuarrie et al., 2013) whereby as consumers construct
a creative identity project, they are simultaneously able to align with class ideologies
and social prescriptions. As individuals seeking ‘a secure place in a new society by
embracing the shared standard’ (Kravets & Sandikci, 2014, p. 137), newly middle-class
consumers in emerging countries highlight how conforming to projects of selfexpression and creativity are a form of following particular social class sensibilities
and therefore submitting oneself to social structures. In this sense, prosuming is
about creating to conform.
In some cases, individuals do not even feel at ease or interested in producing; they
simply must. This was the case among beauty consumers from favelas in Rio de Janeiro,
who created businesses out of their strong prosumption competences. If, on the one
hand, a few declared a voluntary interest in prosuming, on the other hand, the majority
declared they had been led by circumstances, having seized an opportunity to create
a living out of an available learnt skill (Cordeiro & Campos, 2015). Similarly, Brazilian lowincome housewives engage in sophisticated, troublesome laundry tasks to perform
cleanliness in order to achieve social inclusion through the display of whiteness as
a means of showing dignity (Neves, 2004).
In general, studies that focus on the perspective of forced prosumption tend to analyse
the role of consumers in changing market dynamics. Scaraboto and Fischer (2013)
investigated plus-size consumers under stigma, who act to obtain social legitimacy in
fashion, in a situation where their consumer needs are hardly met by mainstream industry.
However, if the authors come closer to investigating underserved consumers who experi­
ence social stigma, they focused on consumers efforts to alter market institutional logics
and fall short in explaining consumer productive practices to produce fashion looks under
social and material constraints.
Sandikci and Ger (2010) investigate the Islamic veil and the ways consumers enact
a stigmatised practice to transform it into an alternative taste system. The authors are
interested in market change as well, but they also approach private consumption prac­
tices that operate in consumption under stigma. Consumers employ aestheticization and
JOURNAL OF MARKETING MANAGEMENT
1229
personalisation as means to perform and adjust a stigmatised practice to reduce its social
disapproval. Sandikci and Ger (2010) get closer to investigating prosumption practices,
but their context refers to a situation where the practice is under stigma, not the
consumers.
Recent studies have shown that consumers are constrained to create because they
disagree with the mainstream market and, consequently, their forced prosumption
may lead to the creation of market alternatives (Morais et al., 2018; Sandikci & Ger,
2010; Scaraboto & Fischer, 2013). However, these studies overlook prosumption in
a context of social invisibility, operating in private domestic circles. This research
aims to explore the characteristics and formation process of involuntary prosumers,
whose skills are developed within a context of stigma, social invisibility and market
constraints.
In the next section, we revisit the topic of racism, particularly in Brazil, as a central
ideological, cultural and social background condition that leads to forced prosumption in
highly hierarchical societies.
The face of racism in Brazil
Critical race theory presents a theoretical perspective to reveal the systemic racism that
affects Black people’s lives (Crenshaw et al., 1995). Crenshaw et al. (1995) take slavery as
a departure point to explain how ‘historical forms of [White] domination have evolved to
reproduce [Black] subordination in the present’ (p. 277). Slavery is a system where social
distinctions stressed the differences between Black and White people; Black people were
devoid of rights, and the notion of whiteness was consolidated as a valued attribute and
source of privilege. By relating race, property and law, the authors pinpoint whiteness as
a source of power, public reputation, right of exclusion and racial subjugation, even after
the elimination of formal racial stratification.
Brazil was forged as a hierarchical society reproducing Portuguese social structure (Da
Matta, 1986). Brazilian society is marked by miscegenation and, like in other social
contexts, operates under the idea of White supremacy (Dos Santos & Silva, 2018; Da
Matta, 1986). DaMatta describes ‘Brazilian racism style’:
Brazil is not a dual country where one operates only with a logic of inside or outside; right or
wrong; man or woman (. . .). In the case of our society, the difficulty seems to be precisely
applying this dualism of an exclusive character [. . .]. Between Black and White [. . .], we have an
infinite and varied set of intermediate categories. (Da Matta, 1986, p. 40)
Brazilian racism is related to the ‘mark’ of miscegenation on the individual (Da Matta,
1986; Nogueira, 2007). Phenotype may ‘define’ a Brazilian as a Black, White or mixed-race
person, or this individual can self-proclaim from a varied set of intermediate racial
categories. Brazilians live under the myth of racial democracy, which denies social hier­
archy and discriminatory values and contributes to the concealment of social injustice and
intermediate classification criteria that operate in everyday life (Dos Santos & Silva, 2018;
Da Matta, 1986). Brazilian society is a hierarchical system where White natives and Blacks
obey a racial hierarchy, and Blacks are positioned at the bottom (Dos Santos & Silva, 2018).
Racism in Brazil reveals a perverse aspect because this depiction of harmonious social
relations weakens Black people’s fight against the poverty and inequality that has been
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A. R. C. ROCHA ET AL.
socially imposed on them since slavery (Guimarães, 2004; Ribeiro, 1995). This kind of
racism created the illusion that Black people could benefit from upward social mobility if
they followed certain rules of conduct, which included an aesthetic presentation similar to
that of White people. Since colonial times, African individuals were organised, as slaves, in
different labour streams based on their proximity to Eurocentric body features, and this
organisation has influenced the role of Black individuals in Brazil up to the present day, as
they are more likely to be found in manual, uneducated and less valued professional and
social positions (Freyre, 2002; Souza, 2010; Tella, 2006). Recent discussions have openly
explored racism in Brazil, pointing out that the guise of social acceptance surrounding the
discussion on race has been used to discriminate against Black people, keeping them
‘where they belong’ (Da Matta, 1986, p. 46).
The fight against racial inequality has not had much space in Brazilian history, but
struggle movements have always been present through the years (P. Domingues, 2007;
Ribeiro, 1995). Social networks gave more visibility to the movements, maximising alli­
ances and solidarity in order to reveal and denounce structural racism (Guimarães, 2004).
The market is always a visible element in regards to racial inequality in Brazil (Rocha &
Casotti, 2018). White people have always been in charge of hiring the labour force
responsible for the development and innovation of products offered on the market.
Although Ribeiro (1995) refers to members of Brazil’s Black population as passive
cultural agents, he highlights that despite the structure imposed by European colonisa­
tion, Black people were able to preserve their African cultural heritage in their values,
religion, food and music. This heritage seems to provide creativity to recent movements
and initiatives, such as the movement promoting the transition to natural afro hair and
different aesthetic possibilities for hairstyles.
Black beauty care consumers and marketplaces
Black people account for more than half of Brazil’s population (Instituto Brasileiro de
Geografia e Estatística, 2019). Official data indicate that the income of this group is lower
than that of other groups, possibly due to educational levels and positions in corporate
hierarchies (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística, 2019). These data, however, fail
to consider the effects of the racist practices to which Black people remain subjected
(Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística, 2019), hobbling them in social terms,
particularly in terms of their potential for personal fulfilment and accomplishment
(Crocker et al., 1998).
Even when Black people belong to higher income strata, they are not granted visibility
as consumers. In some product categories they are still largely neglected, something
commonly associated with financially hobbled consumption (de Martins, 2015). In this
sense, consumption is one of the social spheres in which racism is present (Rocha &
Casotti, 2018). Rocha and Casotti (2018) shed light on the perspectives of Black female
consumers with regard to the effects of certain marketing initiatives. The authors sought
support from the literature of demarketing (Kotler & Levy, 1971) to show that a group of
consumers have their demands discouraged by the marketplace, despite being eager to
consume. There is a dominant structural pattern in Brazil which perpetuates the margin­
alised status of Black women, especially due to their natural traits.
JOURNAL OF MARKETING MANAGEMENT
1231
Black Brazilians remain a stigmatised consumer group (Goffman, 1963; Tella, 2006).
They may be subjected by society, to inappropriate public sanctions and discrimination
during consumption (Bennett et al., 2014; Crockett et al., 2003). To some extent, the
stigma to which they are subjected, along with veiled racism, reinforce their social
invisibility.
The literature indicates that the concept of social invisibility encompasses terms such
as non-acknowledgement, exclusion, insignificance, and inequality, among others (de
Tomás S. P., 2009). In Brazil, historical events offer circumstantial evidence for the way in
which this social invisibility took hold. P. J. Domingues (2002) recalls that the early
twentieth century’s ‘whitening’ policy for Black Brazilians was supported by the autho­
rities in their encouragement of, for example, White immigration, which would have
furthered the ‘disappearance’ of the Black population, among other outcomes. It was
expected that interracial breeding between Blacks and Whites would necessarily lead to
the gradual but permanent ‘lightening’ of the population, with no thought even given to
the possibility that miscegenation might instead lead to its ‘darkening’ (P. J. Domingues,
2002, p. 568). However, historical records also disclose Black movements seeking to
reverse this situation of ‘invisibility’, which strengthened or lessened depending on the
times (P. J. Domingues, 2002).
Specifically, in terms of the potential to the beauty care market, the toiletries, perfume
and cosmetic industry reported revenues of some USD 30 billion in 2018, despite an
economic recession (Associação Brasileira da Indústria de Higiene Pessoal, Perfumaria
e Cosméticos, 2019). One of the factors highlighted as a driving force behind the sector’s
development is the expanding presence of Brazilian women in the job market (Associação
Brasileira da Indústria de Higiene Pessoal, Perfumaria e Cosméticos, 2019). Women
account for a majority of the Brazilian population, and within this group the largest
proportion is Black or mixed-race (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística, 2019). It
is also worth noting that Brazilian society imposes heavy demands on women in terms of
their appearance, regardless of their life stages (Casotti et al., 2008).
Brazilian Black women have been seeking greater representation in many spheres of
social life, including consumption (Marcha do Orgulho Crespo ocupa Centro de Vitória,
2017). This phenomenon may not be analysed without considering some recent changes
that have somewhat contributed to the new positioning of Black female consumers in the
marketplace: i) A handful of Black actresses have found an increased presence on stage
and screen (Medeiros, 2016); ii) Black individuals have achieved notable social positions
(Andrade, 2017); iii) some women’s beauty and African features have been showcased
(Sant’Anna, 2017); and iv) younger generations are increasingly encouraged to be proud
of their African ancestors (‘Sete livros’, 2016). As suggested by Elias (1987/1994), changes
in self-perception go hand in hand with social changes. Although these transformations
have fostered a better understanding of the context in which these women live and how
that context is changing, they still seem disproportionate to Black women’s representa­
tion within the Brazilian population (Gross, 2014).
The analysis of Black women and their hair care routines focuses on the effect of their
participation in consumer production experience. Contrary to much of what the literature
suggests (Campbell, 2005; Cova & Dalli, 2009; Wolf & McQuitty, 2011), Black women seem
to engage in productive activities due to a combination of significant social constraints
and limited market offerings. This research is therefore related to a group of studies which
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A. R. C. ROCHA ET AL.
identified the prosumption phenomenon as an involuntary movement (Kravets &
Sandikci, 2014; Morais et al., 2018) guided by external forces such as ideological beliefs
and market dynamics. Research investigates elements found in the formation process of
the involuntary prosumer, whose skills are developed within a context of stigma, social
invisibility and market constraints.
Methodology
This research explored different aspects of Brazilian Black consumers’ experiences, with
a focus on the individual standpoint. Given scant previous research on involuntary forms
of prosumption, we opted for a qualitative and exploratory approach to benefit from
a more open and emic-based perspective (Miles et al., 2013).
Fifteen in-depth interviews were conducted with women between the ages of 28 and
57 years old who self-identified as Black. The sample was collected through convenience
sampling. Some interviewees knew about the research and asked to participate. Their
household incomes and jobs (Table 1) suggest that they belonged to different social and
economic strata, thus representing different segments of Brazilian society. This diversity
among respondents helped guarantee a proper understanding of the role of racial stigma
on prosumption. Signs of prosumption appeared in the narrative of the group as a whole,
mitigating social class bias effect.
Additionally, we interviewed respondents with a variety of hairstyles (Table 1).
Although the styles display different hair textures, all interviewees had a natural kinky
hair texture. These different hair solutions also offer a more comprehensive overview of
hair care consumption and associated dilemmas. A semi-structured guide was used for
interviews, based on previous research on beauty care products consumption practices
Table 1. Interviewees’ profiles.
Name
Pseudonym
Amanda
Ana Paula
Age
38
38
Claudia
Flávia
57
50
Cândida
51
Occupation
Public Servant
Dance and French
Teacher
Journalist
Fashion Design
Consultant
Maid
Heloísa
Magda
31
45
Singer and Producer
Accounting Manager
Margarida
Mara
28
37
College
College
Not Informed
5,770
Marilda
51
Clerk
Communications
Manager
College Professor
PhD
NI
Maria
Melinda
42
61
Coach
Elderly Caregiver
College
College
690
230
Maitê
Silvia
Wanessa
36
21
33
Receptionist
Clerk
Clerk
Education
College
College
College
College
High School
(Incomplete)
College
Master
High School
High School
High School
(Incomplete)
Monthly Household Income
US$
Hairstyle
1,150
Braids
800
Straightened
4,600
2,000
Relaxed
Dreadlocks
230
Relaxed
4,850
7,000
920
420
580
Relaxed
Curly
extension
Relaxed
Natural
Curly
extension
Straightened
Curly
extension
Natural
Natural
Natural
JOURNAL OF MARKETING MANAGEMENT
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conducted in Brazil (Casotti et al., 2008; Shecaira, 2014). We interviewed on consump­
tion lifestyle, following Thompson and Tambyah (1999). Interviews began with open
questions about each participant and their hair to enable us to map out how these
women viewed their race in relation to their hair experiences. Lasting around an hour
on average, interviews were recorded and then transcribed, resulting in 320 pages for
analysis.
Other data sources were also used to analyse the phenomenon. Visits were paid to
stores specialising in hair care products at locations such as the popular Mercadão de
Madureira market and stores in downtown Rio de Janeiro, chosen for their popularity and
ease of access. Additionally, Internet searches helped researchers become more familiar
with the brands and products mentioned by the respondents.
Since 2015, the researchers also have collected media covering a variety of issues
related to Black consumers, particularly those related to anti-racism expressions, Black and
female empowerment, expressions of appreciation for Afro-Brazilian cultures and blogs
by Black women. Official reports were also consulted (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia
e Estatística, 2014, 2019) to bring the context surrounding Black female consumers into
perspective. Data made possible to identify public discourses and follow trends related to
the behaviour and accomplishments of Black people and helped us develop a general
outline of the context and build the in-depth interview guide.
We selected data that were relevant and in consonance with the research question.
Data were analysed using open coding, which consists of phenomena identification,
during which concepts and categories are attached to data after a careful examination
process (Corbin & Strauss, 2008). Key themes emerged, some connected with existing
literature and some were new. After splitting the process into distinct parts, establishing
comparisons and searching for similarities and differences in the collected data, as
proposed by Corbin and Strauss (2008), analytical categories were built. The authors
were involved in continuous interaction, inspired by hermeneutic techniques
(Thompson, 1997). The final codification led to the generation of abstract themes which
were categorised in order to represent the phenomenon as a whole.
Findings
Involuntary prosumption emerges in our data as a result of social stigma and constraints
associated with an underdeveloped market offering, as shown in Figure 1. Therefore,
results are presented in two categories: prosumption background and involuntary
prosumption formation. The prosumption background category presents the social
background for prosumption, outlining tensions related to the cultural (re)signification
of frizzy hair and the market, and describing barriers that consumers still have to face in
finding appropriate offers for their needs. The second category shows the involuntary
prosumption per se. We describe consumers who have been pushed towards prosump­
tion, developing skills as an alternative to cope with environmental constraints.
Moreover, we discuss the main characteristics of a form of prosumption developed
‘the hard way’.
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Figure 1. Involuntary prosumption formation.
Prosumption background
Hair at the centre of consumption tensions
One of the consequences of a racist and hierarchical society based on the presumed
superiority of ‘whiteness’ is the fact that Black people have grown to perceive their
ethnicity as a ‘defect’ (Gonçalves, 2006). In terms of hair, straight tresses are ‘beautiful’
and referred to as ‘good hair’, while tight curls are commonly seen as ugly, ‘bad hair’
(Malachias, 2007; Rocha et al., 2016). The respondents frequently used terms and expres­
sions such as ‘difficult’, ‘problem’ and ‘hair that needs work’ when talking about their hair.
A good example is Heloísa (31 years old): ‘I also have very difficult hair, frizzy, really frizzy
hair where the curls were not so loose.’ The respondents describe many events during
their lives when they have had to deal with negative public assessments of their hair.
Hair has gained political connotations, becoming a means to claim social visibility and
respect (Marcha do Orgulho Crespo ocupa Centro de Vitória, 2017), expositing the
problematic condition of frizzy hair in Brazil while claiming for social acceptance. The
respondents mentioned a recent upsurge in changes to aesthetic preferences, with the
possibility that frizzy hair may be considered attractive under certain circumstances.
Respondents drew attention to the process of resignifying tight curls and to the heigh­
tened appreciation of a more natural appearance: ‘Today Black hair is attractive, rather
than curly and wavy, where all you need to do is just soften it a little, but without getting
rid of that Black look, using appropriate creams’ (Vilma, 44 years old). However, even when
Black hair is described as accepted, it is mandatory that the hair is properly treated to go
public. In their remarks, it was clear that they felt they had to ‘care’ for their hair in order to
make it beautiful. Vilma suggests this characteristic dryness must be handled through
JOURNAL OF MARKETING MANAGEMENT
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treating the shafts, even for consumers like her who are adopting ‘natural Black’ hair
without using chemicals. For her, appropriate products and practices – ‘necessary care’ –
should help her achieve tight curls that are close to the desired standard of beauty.
Hair is an important attribute in the formation of consumer identity (Ndichu &
Upadhyaya, 2019). Interviewees’ responses indicate that frizzy hair has been resignified
by Black consumers. The respondents interviewed in this research talked about the
investments they allocate to this part of their bodies. They believe that it is possible to
showcase the beauty of frizzy hair in many styles, not merely through straightening, which
some perceive as a social imposition. Yet it is necessary to ‘care’ for their hair, which is no
minor task for consumers who feel that they are poorly served by the market. However,
even if Black women acknowledge a movement of acceptance towards the Black aes­
thetic, in their daily lives they are still confronted with material constraints, social stigma
and barriers to producing a form of beauty to support self-esteem and social acceptance.
Consumers on the fringes of the market: companies ‘do not see Black women’
The respondents acknowledged that the market offerings of products and services
designed specifically for frizzy hair have been sparse for many years. For example, when
asked whether the market takes Black women into consideration during product devel­
opment, Margarida (28 years old) replied, ‘No, they do not look [at Black women].’ Her
remarks extended to other related products, such as cosmetics, which she believed also
provided insufficient offerings: ‘I ran around all over the place to find a product that was
good for my oily skin. It was really hard to find, I spent a lot of time looking. Hair and
makeup are lagging behind’ (Margarida, 28 years old).1
Amanda (38 years old) is one of consumers reinforcing the discourse on the shortage of
frizzy hair care products, leading her to seek help from her sister, who lives in the UK, and
asking her to bring ‘loads of products for her’. However, this view does not seem
unanimous, as Margarida (28 years old) acknowledged that while it had been ‘difficult’
in the past to find products designed for the hair of Black consumers, there had been
some progress in market availability: ‘Today, it is easier [to find Black hair products]; there
is more variety than previously. Before, I had only heard of the Seda cream, nothing else.’
Like Margarida, Vilma (44 years old) believes that ‘today there is a very strong range of
products on the market.’ Vilma also stressed that ‘[There are products] at assorted prices,
but a higher price does not mean that the product is better. You can walk into a drugstore,
pay practically nothing for the product and it works a miracle on your hair.’
A few brands were described as positioned for frizzy hair needs, such as Hair Shine and
Seda (Unilever), as well as the local Brazilian brands Beleza Natural and Lola Cosmetics.
Kerastase was mentioned by Claudia (57 years old) as an example of a product developed
for women with straight hair, which she bought when inspired by a Black celebrity. The
respondent describes her experience and disappointment:
Gloria Maria [a well-known television reporter] said that she used Kerastase; I stupidly bought
the product, but when I saw it, I realised that this was not for my hair and it is not for hers
either [as she is Black]. It is just for her extensions. (Claudia, 57 years old)
If it is hard for Black consumers to find appropriate products, there are also hurdles when
seeking service providers to respond to their beauty care demands. More specifically,
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beauty salons specialising in frizzy hair are sometimes located far from consumers’ homes,
and visits often require much effort and difficult commutes. This was confirmed by Heloísa
(31 years old): ‘There is this difficulty of access [to beauty parlours], this difficulty of access
for the [Black] class, actually.’ Flavia (50 years old) travels to another neighbourhood for
the treatment offered by a professional whom she feels is a specialist, and who she calls
the ‘Rio dreads lady’. Their comments described commutes of thirty minutes to an hour
between home and the nearest appropriate beauty parlour, plus the time spent in the
salon. According to the respondents, some treatments take at least four hours to com­
plete, and they may even spend ‘the whole day at the hairdresser’ (Magda, 45 years old).
Informal familiar providers and treatment solutions were frequently described in inter­
views. Amanda (38 years old) said she cares for her hair with ‘two hairdressers who are not
hairdressers, they are students, friends from Benin in Africa.’ Less formal treatments were
also mentioned by the group, such as the use of olive oil and Vaseline to ‘soften’ the hair.
Hair care is permeated with informality among Black women, with practices that could be
performed by professionals sometimes undertaken at home by relatives and acquain­
tances. Such was the case for Margarida (28 years old):
My mother started to do my hair at home when I was about five years old. She used the Amaci
hair straightener. Then I started to have Afro perms with a girl close to my home, in
a backyard beauty salon. (Margarida, 28 years old)
Ana Paula (38 years old) recalled her fear of the hot comb2 used by her cousins at home,
and the consequences of using it without proper preparation: ‘I was scared of the comb
because my cousins straightened each other’s hair; they did not go to the beauty
parlour, and were always screaming: “Ow, my ear! Ouch, you burned me!” Goodness,
it was awful.’
Black women have apparently normalised the barriers they face in taking care of their
hair, as they normalised other pains inherited from slavery and resulting from the
established structural racism that pervades daily life (Ribeiro, 1995). Even though
a growing set of brands now targets frizzy hair, the market offering is still scant given
the size of this population. Products and services do not properly meet the diversity of
needs for each Black hair type and style. Moreover, current brands sell volume control,
smoothness and straightening rather than choice, creativity and consumer empowerment
to create new hairstyles. Brands are supporting individuals’ efforts to conform to the
hegemonic social standard instead of supporting their identity creation.
Involuntary prosumption formation
Market void pushing consumers to turn to prosumption
When talking about products that are available for frizzy hair, interviewees observed that
the market seems to have limited options if consumers want to avoid straightening the
hair. On the other hand, some respondents expressed the opposite impression – ‘today
we have products’ – a contradiction that we can only understand by taking into account
the relativisation created by a ‘non-existing market’, or demarketing (Rocha & Casotti,
2018). The results of this research indicate that this ‘non-existing market’, with its limited
options, has led Black women to assume the challenge of becoming prosumers.
JOURNAL OF MARKETING MANAGEMENT
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For some consumers, the search for hair products confirms the lack of alternatives in
a market with limited options. Vilma’s (44 years old) efforts to find hair care products
combines a quest for information with ‘tests’ that she performs on her relatives and
herself. As she explained, ‘I research, I check other people’s hair or I look in the store and
I read, and then I say ‘I am going to try this product, to see whether it is good’. To some
extent, her efforts are justified by the lack of expertise among people who, in her opinion,
should be specialists: ‘I ask whether the company has products for ethnic hair. [The
saleswoman] stammers away there, she stammers away here, and not all companies
have specific [products for frizzy hair]; they think that Black hair products do not sell’.
Stepping into the role of hair specialists, in the absence of reliable professional advice,
these consumers begin their prosumption journey.
The Internet has become a powerful ally for Black consumers seeking to learn and
improve their skills in caring for their hair. Amanda (38 years old) used to straighten her
hair but today wears braids and follows Black bloggers, both Brazilian and international.
The virtual environment has broadened her familiarity with tight curl treatments, while
also bringing her closer to others whose realities are similar to her own: ‘There is a blog
that I read a lot, which is marvellous: “Black Girl with Long Hair”; there are women who are
breaking free from straighteners and telling their own stories’. Over the Internet, these
women find consumers that experience the same difficulties they do, creating a space of
authenticity and trust and a community that evolves together towards higher expertise
(Maciel & Wallendorf, 2017; Wenger, 1998).
Some consumers described alternatives that they have adopted for dealing with
market constraints. Prompted partly by the fact that she was unable to find professionals
trained to treat her hair, Vilma (44 years old) became a hairdresser, while Candida
(51 years old) appreciates her son’s skills, as he is the one who cares for her hair. Some
of Candida’s comments highlight the risks consumers face when treating their hair
informally: Once, her son forgot about a comb that still had guanidine on it; when
Candida used the comb absentmindedly, it burned a significant part of her hair. This
example shows how these consumers embark upon prosumption ‘the hard way’, against
their own will. They simply must find a way to present a proper appearance that may open
doors for employment and social acceptance. As Heloísa (31 years old) indicated, ‘So you
have your hair straightened in order to get social acceptance. Even because there are
some kinds of job [that if] you have frizzy hair, you lose your job’. In that sense, the lack of
competences becomes a frustrating challenge and barrier.
Developing skills and producing alternatives
Part of prosumption formation consists of developing skills to manage participation in
productive activities (Martin & Schouten, 2014; Seregina & Weijo, 2017). Skill development
has been seen as a pleasurable choice that allows consumers to make their production
process more triumphant to their peers, generating even a certain degree of distinction
(Mardon et al., 2018; Seregina & Weijo, 2017). This study, however, indicates that for
consumers under stigma, it becomes imperative to acquire some competences to cope
with a narrow market offering.
If Black people are described as unable to cope with frizzy hair, they sometimes seem
to opt for straightened hair not just as an act of social conformity, but also as a way of
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offsetting their own lack of skills. As suggested by Flavia (50 years old), hair care can bring
suffering results impacting the peace of mind of these women. The daughter of a Black
mother, this respondent described her ‘suffering’ resulting from her mother’s decision to
straighten her hair. This fragment of her remarks reflects her wish to experience a different
feeling, which happened only sometime later, when her father released her from
straightening.
As my mother did not know how to care for ethnic hair, she thought it was better to
straighten it. So, before my father ‘released’ me from straightening, I never felt at peace
with my hair. It was a real drag. I went through all that suffering at the hairdresser, to have my
hair loose, and I couldn’t sweat, not a drop could fall. I suffered a lot, and it was not me, that
was not me. (Flavia, 50 years old)
Ana Paula (38 years old), is the daughter of a White woman with straight blond hair.
When the family lived in France, her mother agreed to have her curly hair straigh­
tened. Even though they were able to find a beauty parlour that could purportedly
respond to Ana Paula’s request, it was not a satisfactory experience, as both mother
and daughter were unfamiliar with certain effects of the technique used. As recounted
by Ana Paula,
It was smooth and straight, but blacker than coal, and when I looked in the mirror for the first
time, I started to cry and said: ‘Mom, this is not what I wanted.’ My mother was devastated,
because she wanted to respond to my request to straighten my hair, but as she is White with
smooth, straight hair, she did not know what to do with me. (Ana Paula, 38 years old)
Flavia’s and Ana Paula’s experiences illustrate a certain feeling of being hostage to market
offers (straightening) that can result when consumers do not envision alternatives.
Consumers attempt to conform to the standard, surrendering to it as the only solution,
but at the same time, they do not anticipate the constraints and setbacks of this option,
which is often marketed as the most convenient.
One practice that seemed common among the interviewees and their families was that
instead of buying frizzy hair products they were making their own. Their reasons varied
widely, but some respondents expressed that financial reasons made it worthwhile to
make products themselves. Products sold in small bottles were said to require frequent
expenditures, which can eat away at consumers’ incomes. The alternative is to blend
ingredients to develop a product in the hope that it will meet needs and last longer than
the store-bought product would. This was explained by Vilma (44 years old):
The moisturizer comes in a small bottle, I use a lot and it’s not cheap. I get the oil, the serum,
I buy saline solution which is really cheap, I wet my hair and I add it. I prepared a homemade
moisturizer: the quantity was far larger and I was able to make better use of it, this worked out
well. (Vilma, 44 years old)
Claudia (57 years old) did not seem to be financially affected by hair care product prices.
She also manufactures homemade products. Her comments on homemade items seemed
to be directed more at market gaps in hair care products and the invisibility imposed on
Black consumers. She felt that high-quality products are not directed at consumers with
frizzy hair. This means that using homemade products that ‘upgrade’ the performance of
the store-bought treatment through ‘crazy chemistry’ (such as by adding oils or vitamins)
may lead to undesirable outcomes such as hair loss.
JOURNAL OF MARKETING MANAGEMENT
1239
Regardless of the trigger for prosumption formation (financial or not), interviewees
experience similar demands and search for alternatives even under risk. Whether lacking
ability or not, they increase hair solutions through prosumption, such as by manufactur­
ing homemade products and treatments.
Becoming a prosumer ‘the hard way’
Black consumers become prosumers ‘the hard way’, many times against their own will.
Heloísa (31 years old) described caring for her hair as more akin to an obligation than
a necessity: ‘The truth is that we learn to care for our own hair. I have a friend who does
her own perms, she dyes her own hair, she does everything, she learned to do it.’ This
obligation is not experienced with the same intensity by their White fellow citizens, as
pointed out by Ana Paula (38 years old): ‘They do not [experience it], definitely not. Their
routine, their daily lives are much simpler. The hair salon is right next to their homes, for
sure’. The transcripts also disclose some informality in the skills development of Black
consumers, especially in the deployment of somewhat unusual hair care techniques. For
Flavia (50 years old), financial constraints imposed this situation on her relatives: ‘My sister
and daughters learned by themselves, at their own initiative, because my sister had no
money.’
The ways in which this kind of involuntary prosumer is shaped and developed, and the
elements that contribute to her formation process, will be presented in the following
paragraphs.
Empirical learning through self-testing
Many respondents described frequent testing of the products on their own hair, leading
them to develop skills by intuitively mimicking scientific procedures, such as contrasting,
isolating variables and testing against placebos. A good example of this scientific mindset
is Ana Paula (38 years old): ‘I think that I learned by doing, finding out what would be best
for my hair, testing. I have always tested a lot of creams on my hair.’ Some of the testing
described in interviews resulted in bad choices and poor product application, as reported
by Margarida (28 years old): ‘I even used vinegar to offset the smell [of the Afro perm
product], but it didn’t make it better, it simply added the smell [of the vinegar] to the
perm. Even washing it didn’t help. It was awful.’ Eager for her daughter to ‘enjoy’ her hair,
Flavia (50 years old) said that she tested out many products on the girl’s hair, saying,
‘Andrea’s hair is always a challenge, a laboratory’. This scientific approach is present in
regular voluntary prosumption (Silva & Campos, 2019), but in the case of involuntary
prosumption practices, self-testing in the private sphere becomes even more noteworthy
for the lack of organised forms of communal work or regular environments within which
to learn (Maciel & Wallendorf, 2017).
Some respondents stated that skills spring from need and draw on companionship of
family and peers. Some used the expression ‘learning the hard way’ in order to explain
how Black consumers sometimes acquire skills needed to care for their hair by them­
selves. With straightened hair, Maria (42 years old) said that she initially took turns with
her mother and her aunt when applying henna to their hair, until she finally felt qualified.
She said, ‘We learned from each other, and then I did the course in 2000; [the course] gave
me a broader overview of hair care.’ Financial constraints make Candida (51 years old) ask
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her son for help, and she expressed the belief that he is skilled in caring for her hair: ‘I
usually go to the beauty parlour, but as this is expensive, who did it for me was my son.
I even like it when he touches my hair’. This is similar to the concept of cooperative
scaffolding proposed by Maciel and Wallendorf (2017) to describe how beer aficionados
draw on qualified interlocutors to increase their cultural competence on a new taste
regime. However, unlike cooperative scaffolding, in our context peers may or may not be
qualified. Often, they shared the same level of expertise and were side by side in
discovering new production possibilities with each other. Informal family environments
are an important arena for the development of such forms of prosumption.
Respondents also referred to a form of training through which individuals develop
sharper caring skills. Training may be not only a way of fine-tuning specific skills, but also
a path for conveying this learned knowledge to younger generations. Amanda (38 years
old), the mother of a boy, said that her sister had ‘consolidated’ this kind of learning with
her niece. Thus, if Amanda does not reproduce everything that she has learned from her
own mother on her son’s hair, she feels that her sister can fine-tune this expertise, as she
has a daughter. According to Amanda,
My child is a boy and I raised him ‘wild’ [with natural hair]; this is his hair, and that’s it. But my
sister, she can train, she can use all the knowledge on Ana Beatriz,3 something that does not
happen with me. (Amanda, 38 years old)
Expertise for a ‘good hand’
A ‘good hand’ appears in transcripts as an attribute of someone who cares for other
people’s hair, with positive outcomes that perform above expectations. In these cases,
‘people with good hands’ seem to have a ‘natural’ skill that might not depend on formal
qualifications to perform hair care procedures. Candida (57 years old) talked about
people who ‘do not have good hands’ to explain the difference a gifted hand could
make:
I do not know what it is, but there are some people who do not have a good hand for hair.
You can have your hair done, and it doesn’t come out looking great, it doesn’t have that
bouncy, blow-dried look. (Candida, 57 years old)
This ‘good hand’, however, is actually a complex combination of skills. Consumers have to
not only master the skills related to treatments or hairstyles (e.g. dreadlocks or braids), but
also combine them with particular possibilities of the hair (e.g. frizzy, kinky) in an
imbricated form of competence. When talking about her dreadlocks, Flavia (50 years
old) associates them with ‘mysticism’, requiring some skill on her part that is almost
‘ritualistic’ for hair treatment:
There are alternative forms [of treatment], because dreadlocks have a mysticism. It is not
ordinary hair that you can wet every day . . . I am learning to rinse my hair with apple vinegar,
baking soda, I try to effectively wet my hair every ten days, because then I use shampoo.
(Flavia, 50 years old)
Different styles may demand different levels or types of expertise. While some
respondents said they found it necessary to test products, learning ‘the hard way’,
specialising through ‘training’ and describing the practice as an obligation, others felt
that a lack of skills could be offset by the practicality of a favourite style. Despite
JOURNAL OF MARKETING MANAGEMENT
1241
their ‘mysticism’, Flavia (50 years old) also described her dreadlocks in this practical
sense, comparing them to the ‘natural Black’ style she had used previously.
For me, they [dreads] are marvellous because I wake up ready to go. When I had a [natural]
Black hairdo, it was a problem. It had to be round, it had to be bouncy, it had to look good, it
had to be moisturized, glossy. (Flavia, 50 years old)
Skills are also found in different forms of technical competence (Watson & Shove, 2008) to
support hair treatment or styling. These include a) knowledge about types of hair and
ingredients, b) senses to guide the treatment, and c) motricity and expertise with gestures
and techniques. Mastering these different levels of competence is essential for an accom­
plished result.
With regard to necessary knowledge, consumers have to know about their hair needs,
product ingredients and forms of treatment and styling. For example, their evident
familiarity with active ingredients in styling products (guanidine, hydroxide and thiogly­
colate) seems to derive from tests that they conduct. Still, in this testing process, these
consumers may establish and depend on relationship networks that encompass relatives,
friends, ‘occasional housemaids’ and beauty parlour professionals, sharing experiences
either directly or indirectly. They ‘perform alchemy’, ‘blend’, ‘make’, ‘test’, ‘train’ and – with
luck or a ‘good hand’ – manage to ‘consolidate’ certain skills.
Respondents also displayed familiarity with their hair types. This was evident particu­
larly when they referred to one characteristic that appeared repeatedly in the transcripts:
the dry appearance of frizzy hair. Claudia (57 years old) recalled that ‘if you don’t find
a product that does this [minimising the dry look], there is no point; and if it is not
a product for your hair, the effect is the opposite, it becomes more painful and spikier.’
Interviewees’ knowledge was also apparent in terms of ingredients that can straighten
their hair. Vilma (44 years old) explained that not all professionals can handle such
chemicals ‘because you have to know how to work with relaxing, whether it’s guanidine,
hydroxide or thioglycolate.’
In general, media has served as an important tool for developing expert consumer
skills. For example, Flavia (50 years old) learned about hair cleansing ‘with apple vinegar
every fifteen days’ from reading about the model Camila Alves. The respondent explained
how she follows this practice: ‘I spread it on, I spread it massaging my scalp, I dampen it
and untangle the dreadlocks that have got knotted, when I start to unbraid them. That is
it.’ She noted that the Internet is a medium that is frequently used by some Black women
when seeking information, particularly blogs authored by Black women.
With regard to senses as a form of competence, narratives reveal that senses
provide individuals with a way to become experts. The learning process includes
careful observations, tentative mixtures using raw materials, and hair testing. Achrol
and Kotler (2012), when highlighting marketing directions for the third millennium,
call attention to the ongoing rediscovery of senses that have been befuddled by
artificial positioning strategies. We can also find recent consumption studies that
broaden the role of the senses (Canniford et al., 2018). Senses – sight, hearing and
touch, give these women a sense of intimacy and familiarity in dealing with hair
difficulties, such as dry appearance of frizzy hair, and provide them with the ability to
propose alternative products and services.
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The interview with Flavia (50 years old) stressed the sensorial appeals of frizzy hair care.
While experiences in beauty salons helped her become familiar with certain techniques,
this respondent described the development of her skills through fine-tuning her sense of
touch.
[I learned] hands-on, by touching. My touch . . . I do not know how to do Nago braids, but I can
do bigger box braids, which have the same Nago vibe. But Nago is very thin, I cannot grasp
the hair, so I started doing tests on my hair, and I liked the test, I did it on one side with the
other loose. I did it all held together, with a lot of little braids. (Flavia, 50 years old)
The third type of technical competence refers to expertise with techniques. When apply­
ing products, consumers learn proper ways of doing things or techniques, incorporating
a trained motricity (Warnier, 2001). Experiences accumulated throughout the course of
their lives seem to help consumers become experts, at least in terms of their own hair and
related products. For example, Candida’s (57 years old) extensive experiences with
straightening her hair with henna qualify her to talk about this technique:
You buy that tube, you squeeze it into a bowl, you spread it on with a comb, just like these
chemicals that we use nowadays. You separate the strands, and you spread it out there, tress
by tress. Then you put on the [plastic] bag and leave it on your head for an hour. (Candida, 57
years old)
This manual skill is often self-taught after careful observation of all potential opportunities
and alternatives. Due to financial constraints, Candida learned to care for her hair along­
side the ‘occasional housemaids’, as well as through observing professionals in beauty
parlours:
You do not need a lot of money to go to the hairdresser. I am very observant, I go to the salon
and I watch what the hairdressers are doing, what they use, what they spread on first, then
I do it at home. (Candida, 57 years old)
This prosumer, answering to social and material constraints, felt recruited by family and
peers to craft a form of consumption (Campbell, 2005) out of a very narrow offering
(Rocha & Casotti, 2018) or felt the need to improvise and produce homemade solutions
based on an intimate network of ‘people like me’ who experience the same forms of
pressures and seek similar solutions. Through this network, relentless observation and
intense self-training, these consumers develop a prosumption activity to deliver expected
results that help them conform with hegemonic beauty standards. This prosumption is
based on a complex set of skills which continuously increase the consumers’ knowledge,
sensorial sharpness and motor dexterity, helping them mimic the professionals that are
lacking in the market. Possibly for this reason, some interviewees described a desire for
entrepreneurship emerging from their prosumption experiences.
Discussion and closing remarks
We have examined the prosumption behaviour of Brazilian Black women with regard to
hair care. Literature on prosumption has mainly highlighted its hedonic and voluntary
facets, describing it primarily as resulting from identity projects (Arnould & Thompson,
2005; Cova, 2008) or attempts to create new markets (Martin & Schouten, 2014). The
context investigated in this study depicts consumers socially and ideologically convoked
JOURNAL OF MARKETING MANAGEMENT
1243
to become prosumers even against their will, learning ‘the hard way’ about how to
produce. Black women in Brazil live under social and material constraints, which lead
them to produce some of their hair care products themselves or perform athome the
services they would hire if available.
Our contribution lies in delineating the involuntary prosumer in the context of racial
stigma and social invisibility. Faced with the need to craft an aesthetic aligned with
demanded beauty standards (Casotti et al., 2008), and having few market alternatives
on which to rely, these consumers are drawn into prosumption. The formation of such
a prosumer is based on a close network of equally puzzled consumers who support each
other on the path to finding a way of producing shared solutions. Haunted by social
prescriptions, these consumers observe, test and experiment continuously, developing
a scientific flavour for their consumption, based heavily on self-testing. Finally, they also
invest in developing a complex set of skills under the name of a ‘good hand’, which is
guided by accumulated empirical knowledge, trained senses and refined motricity to
perform the required techniques.
The account of silent invisible consumers on stigmatised prosumption
Literature on consumers under stigma explored the role of groups in markets ruled by
stigma, despite mainstream institutional logics and structure (Sandikci & Ger, 2010;
Scaraboto & Fischer, 2013). However, this stream of research falls short in exploring
consumers who are invisible but operate privately creating solutions for their daily life
situations.
Unlike other contexts where consumers tried to change institutional logics through
market offers (Kjeldgaard et al., 2017; Scaraboto & Fischer, 2013), these involuntary
stigmatised prosumers are not driven to change market offers, specifically, but to gain
social visibility and inclusion as a whole in their daily lives. Resignified hairstyles, especially
those which bring consumers closer to their African ethnicity, are part of what consumers
believe may help them to achieve this goal; however, there is no evidence that this
process of resignification has led to changes in institutional logic (Scaraboto & Fischer,
2013). They perceive institutional mainstream tastes as a given, that they do not confront,
and this leads them to an invisible and private prosumption as the final alternative. Our
study, however, outlines a part of this phenomenon underexplored by Scaraboto and
Fischer (2013), reflecting efforts of anonymous consumers who craft alternatives to
manage stigma. Our findings help to understand the mass of anonymous plus-size
consumers that have to learn ‘the hard way’ about how to create a presentable look
with restricted market offers, while fatshionistas are working on a public digital realm for
institutional inclusion. The notion of involuntary prosumption describes procedures and
skills employed by anonymous stigmatised underserved consumers who operate daily to
perform beauty, inclusion and dignity.
Prosumption literature theorises the collective action of prosumers as a means to form,
alter or review market structures (Kjeldgaard et al., 2017; Martin & Schouten, 2014;
Sandikci & Ger, 2010; Scaraboto & Fischer, 2013). The collective face of involuntary
prosumption in our research reveals a different turn. Prosumption here is more present
in an intimate circle that provides the ‘support of equals’ who experience the same
burden of stigma. Although these prosumers are reproducing dynamics of collective
1244
A. R. C. ROCHA ET AL.
learning (Wenger, 1998), this network is not necessarily a source of higher expertise
(Maciel & Wallendorf, 2017), nor does it present a complex, diversified communitarian
structure with distinct roles (Martin & Schouten, 2014). This is a shapeless, informal group,
unfolding silently underneath market structures, in which consumers support each other
from a point of vulnerability and invisibility. This silent collective mass of invisible con­
sumers shares an intuitive knowledge and wise reflexivity that assist and shape their
prosumption. Involuntary prosumer learns ‘the hard way’, testing and learning through
error. Even if in our data, consumers describe their attempts to personalise and aesthe­
ticise (Sandikci & Ger, 2010) their hair through different hairstyles, what is at stake here is
the incorporation of a set of complex skills, through self-guided learning processes, to
achieve ‘the good hand’, i.e. an incorporate ability to obtain the desired results with scant
market offers.
Literature has also shown that resistance and critique may be important drivers for
prosumption activities (Cova, 2008; Scaraboto & Fischer, 2013; Thompson & CoskunerBalli, 2007; Thompson & Üstüner, 2015). In these studies, a critical account of market and
social standards trigger consumer protagonism and production (Sandikci & Ger, 2010).
Nevertheless, in involuntary prosumption, consumers start prosuming in a flow of prac­
tices that have often been silently learnt, uncritically, since childhood. They prosume
because they have to. Unlike other groups (Morais et al., 2018), the involuntary prosumers
described in this paper produce to socially ‘survive’. Therefore, critique or resistance may
follow involuntary prosumption, but they do not necessarily trigger it. Our data show that
consumers may identify a shortage in market offers or complain about the dictatorship of
straight hair, but they do not seem to relate this to larger critical accounts of structural
ideologies. However, given the growing movement of influencers around racial topics, we
expect future waves of critique and activist perspectives on beauty-related consumption
among Black consumers, and these could invite future research endeavours, that could
particularly explore the role of institutional entrepreneurs (Scaraboto & Fischer, 2013) in
the context of racial stigma.
Additionally, even if interviewees did not voice entrepreneurial intentions, this form of
prosumption, taking place in a context of restricted market offers, may potentially evolve
into production or entrepreneurial endeavours (Mardon et al., 2018; Martin & Schouten,
2014), as identified in popular consumption in emerging economies (Cordeiro & Campos,
2015; Morais et al., 2018). This may evolve as a rich platform for future research.
Entrepreneurship as a result of involuntary prosumption will probably also be associated
with a void in the market offering as well, becoming an enriching managerial tool with
which to track potential market volume.
The racial face of freedom and prosumption
Researching prosumption in a context of racial stigma also provides different per­
spectives on the literature. Theorisation on prosumption driven by social and ideo­
logical coercion, although scant, has shown that consumer production is not just
driven by consumer agency (Thompson & Üstüner, 2015; Scaraboto & Fischer, 2013).
Kravets and Sandikci (2014) propose the notion of ‘formulaic creativity’ to describe
how consumers accommodate neoliberalist values and daily life realities. The
Brazilian context offers a different take on this matter. It is a context where Black
JOURNAL OF MARKETING MANAGEMENT
1245
consumers not only adjust to mainstream ideology but do so under the rules of
stigma. This detail pushes consumers to produce covertly, in the private sphere and
in the shadows. We interviewed women from different social and economic strata,
finding that despite socioeconomic differences, their demands seemed similar, and
were related to market constraints and the desire to achieve the resignified beauty of
their hair. Future research should explore not only the evolution of market offers but
also how this evolution impacts different social classes.
We claim to understand the structural facets of this involuntary prosumption phenom­
enon even though we acknowledge that involuntary prosumption has agentic elements.
Narratives indicated that hairstyle choices have been expanded and it is now possible for
consumers to revere the aesthetic of their Black ancestry. Frizzy hair has been resignified,
and the natural appearance is increasingly considered beautiful and politically significant.
One may infer that all of the actions these consumers have taken to cope with different
hairstyles (for instance, making homemade products) show the agentic nature of the
prosumption phenomenon (Campbell, 2005; Maciel & Wallendorf, 2017; Morais et al.,
2018; Wolf & McQuitty, 2011).
Nevertheless, in Brazilian society – self-proclaimed a ‘racial democracy’ as a means
of masking veiled forms of racism (Dos Santos & Silva, 2018) – existing market
constraints disclose the contrast between what is preached and what is experienced
by Black consumers. Although we can recognise a certain improvement in market
offers, there is no democracy in hair care product consumption. Moreover, there is no
recognition of how this market lack affects Black women’s self-perception or the
ways in which they deal with practices they believe to be socially normative.
Therefore, investigation of involuntary and invisible forms of prosumption reveals
daily consumer efforts of dealing with stigma, that operate side by side with large
public claims of aesthetic revision for Black beauty.
It is not simple to precisely determine the extent to which Black consumers are
unassisted by the market. If some interviewees signalled this aspect clearly, others
recognised a certain evolution in market offers. However, the ‘lack’ of products seems
to be compounded by market professionals who are unprepared to help consumers
find what they need. If there are specialised products for ‘dry’ hair, which is the type
of hair most described by interviewees, then company-customer communication
should be improved to make these products better known among potential buyers.
Companies’ efforts should also extend to investments in training for salespeople. As
companies’ attention does not seem to have turned to the Black population, con­
sumers must develop skills ‘the hard way’, with a risk of suffering physical damage
such as burning their scalp and losing their hair. We advocate that silent consump­
tion practices like the ones displayed here can point the way for companies to make
improvements, not only by increasing offers but also by directing communication
efforts to connect with underserved consumers.
We assume that the current scenario is moving towards a stage where Black women
will play more important roles in society, with a growing presence, at least, in the
digital and political realms. Therefore, we infer that future research will indicate other
perspectives on Black prosumers. Furthermore, other studies may expand and deepen
the knowledge on this phenomenon, analysing it from the standpoint of other market
actors, such as hair care companies and practitioners.
1246
A. R. C. ROCHA ET AL.
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.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes on contributors
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 metho­
dology. Her research specialities are related to themes such as race and ethnicity, beauty consump­
tion, leisure consumption, BOP consumption.
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 brand­
ing, 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 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 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
JOURNAL OF MARKETING MANAGEMENT
1247
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 quali­
tative methodology, itineraries method, and nethnography. She is currently working on a research
project focused on Internet influencers, particularly make-up blogs.
ORCID
Ana Raquel Coelho Rocha
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0478-5146
Roberta Dias Campos
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7091-7901
Letícia Moreira Casotti
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7718-5072
Thaysa Costa do Nascimento
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5706-6022
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