Mapping symbolic (anti-) consumption Margaret K. Hogg ⁎ , Emma N. Banister, Christopher A. Stephenson Department of Marketing Lancaster University Management School, Lancaster LA1 4YX, United Kingdom Received 1 June 2007; received in revised form 1 November 2007; accepted 1 January 2008 Abstract Rejection is at the heart of anti-consumption and is therefore key to some of the central relationships in symbolic consumption. However, researchers find rejection difficult to study because of the lack of material traces. This article draws on earlier frameworks to develop a new integrated and expanded conceptualization in order to achieve a more nuanced view of how rejection operates within symbolic consumption; and also to initiate research directions for investigating and theorizing rejection in anti-consumption. The focus on anti-consumption incorporates the interaction between avoidance, aversion and abandonment, and the relationship between distastes and the undesired self (mediated by the marketing, social and individual environments). A series of interrelationships and illustrations suggest how the expanded conceptualization is useful for theorizing and investigating anti-consumption. Crown Copyright © 2008 Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Anti-consumption; Negation; Rejection; Distastes; Undesired self; Aversion; Avoidance; Abandonment 1. Introduction Rejection is at the heart of anti-consumption (Lee, 2006; Lee et al., 2009-this issue; see also Fournier, 1998a; Wilk, 1994, 1995, 1997) within symbolic consumption. Symbolic con- sumption involves reciprocal and reflexive relationships between products (tastes and distastes) and consumers (positive and negative selves) within their social contexts. Bourdieu (1984) argues that in order to understand tastes researchers need to identify and appreciate the central role of distastes. Ogilvie's (1987) argument that “without a tangible, undesired self, the real self would lose its navigational cues” (p. 380) further clarifies the series of reciprocal relationships within symbolic consumption. However, despite the central importance of the dialectic between the undesired self (Ogilvie, 1987) and distastes (Bourdieu, 1984) for both academic and managerial understanding of rejection, this inter-relationship remains one of the most neglected and under-theorized areas in consumer behavior research. While this theoretical and empirical gap persists, the ability to understand how rejection mediates consumer–product interactions within symbolic consumption remains strictly limited. This article presents a new expanded conceptualization, integrating two earlier frameworks (Ligas and Cotte, 1999, p. 611; Banister and Hogg, 2004, p. 856) in order to achieve a more nuanced view of how rejection operates within symbolic consumption; to initiate research directions for investigating and theorizing rejection in anti-consumption; and to contribute to debates on the role of rejection and anti-consumption within symbolic consumption. A literature review informs this expanded integrative conceptualization. Two sets of inter-relationships illustrate the generative potential of the new framework specifically for anti- consumption. Directions for future research encompass a number of different levels (super-ordinate, middle and sub- ordinate), with links to wider issues in consumer research, and implications for theory, research, methods and practice. 2. Literature review This article responds to Sirgy's argument (1982, p. 294) concerning the lack of theory in earlier studies of the key Available online at www.sciencedirect.com Journal of Business Research 62 (2009) 148 – 159 ⁎ Corresponding author. Fax: +44 1524 593 928. E-mail addresses: m.hogg@lancaster.ac.uk (M.K. Hogg), e.banister@lancaster.ac.uk (E.N. Banister), chrisstephenson1000@hotmail.com (C.A. Stephenson). 0148-2963/$ - see front matter. Crown Copyright © 2008 Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2008.01.022