From “Moving Consumption” to “Spacing Consumption:” In Search of Consumption Geographies

Introduction: Over the last decade, human sciences have been trying to capture the supposedly increased mobility of society as a result of the flows and movements of people, objects, things, and ideas (Sheller and Urry 2004, 2006). Consumer research studies have been receptive toward this view of the world by producing several conceptual and empirical investigations that emphasize “mobile consumption issues in their worldwide and historical context” (Brembeck, Cochoy, and Moisander 2014, 1). Consistent with the approach that Brembeck, Cochoy and Moisander (2014) refer to as “moving consumption,” consumer research scholars have analyzed the “embodied sensibilities” of consumers dealing with “mobile-things” (Hansson 2014) and the importance of time and temporality in unpacking the mobile aspects of consumption (Figueredo and Uncles 2014; Dholakia, Reyes, and Bonoff 2014). This present paper aims to produce a further step in the investigation of the mobile nature of consumption phenomena by offering the theoretical concept of “spacing consumption.” This concept captures the mobility of consumption activities in their relationship with their local context by better appreciating the inherent spatial dimension of consumption mobilities. In this effort, the paper resonates with recent work that emphasizes the role of space and place in consumption (Chatzidakis, Maclaran, and Bradshaw 2012; Chronis 2008; Chronis, Arnould, and Hampton 2012; Debenedetti, Oppewal, and Arsel 2014). To fulfill its aim, this paper identifies non-representational modes of inquiry as an appropriate way to operationalize the new mobilities paradigm in the context of consumer research. In line with recent attempts within the marketing literature to appreciate aspects of consumption activities that are more than representational (Canniford and Bajde 2016; Hill, Canniford, and Mol 2014;), mobilities are seen here as the liaison between consumers and the space produced by them.