Supervisor name & contact details: Dr Kevina Cody
Kevina.cody@dit.ie
School of Marketing Research Centre Name and Website (if applicable)
Funding Agency
Scholarship Details
Subject Area
Title of the Project
Consumer behaviour
New Domesticity: Constructing Female identity in a postfeminist consumer culture
Project Description (max 300 words)
In line with the School of Marketing’s commitment to advancing empirical and theoretical developments within consumer behaviour and establishing a consumer culture research hub, this project is firmly positioned within the consumer culture theory field of inquiry. At its nexus is a fundamental interest in how ‘the marketplace has become a preeminent source of mythic and symbolic resources through which people...construct narratives of identity’ (Arnould &
Thompson, 2005). In particular, this project proposes an interpretive investigation of the rise of
‘New Domesticity’ within both marketplace and lifestyle discourses. Defined by Matcher (2014) as a re-embracing of domesticity by those who have the means and the ability to reject it if they want to, this project aims to understand the consumption practices and identity projects of those women for whom traditionally regressive feminine consumption spaces and activities are now at the heart of a postfeminist identity project.
Using qualitative methodologies such as ethnography, netnography, observational methods & focus groups, this project aims to unravel the complex but fascinating intricacies of posttraditional female identity projects as they intersect problematically with issues of class, gender and the overarching influence of the symbolic resources of the 21 st century marketplace. The findings and theoretical contribution of this project will continue to align the DIT college of
Business with the progressive and vibrant research domain of Consumer Culture Theory.

Please indicate the student requirements for this project
Minimum 2.1 (any discipline considered)
Deadline to submit applications (only for funded projects)
Please choose College as appropriate
Arts & Tourism
Business
Engineering and Built Environment
Sciences & Health
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