Poetizing to improve consumer representation - Dr Pilar Rojas-Gaviria, University of Birmingham

Event Date: 10 March 2022

Speaker: Pilar Rojas-Gaviria is a marketing lecturer at University of Birmingham

Biography: Pilar Rojas-Gaviria's work focuses on understanding the role of consumption and market transformation in the construction of multicultural collective identities and solidarities. She draws on philosophical and sociological theories, poetry and research on consumer behavior. Pilar’s work has been published in different academic outlets such as the Journal of Consumer Research, The Journal of Business Research, The International Marketing Review, Consumption, Markets & Culture, and Journal of Marketing Management.

Abstract:

The notion of the identity project fosters a persistent emphasis on consumer goals and plans and has dominated many interpretations of consumers undergoing transformation. This article contrasts this self-will view by introducing the lived experience of poetizing. Poetizing represents our moments of humble vulnerability when we wonder about life circumstances that we do not control or understand as we experience transformation. In those moments of humble vulnerability, we are possessed by our identities, rather than owning an identity project. By adopting the theoretical lens of poetizing, we enrich our capacity to represent the messiness of life and make space for a critical understanding of the accidentality of identity in creation and its embedded vulnerability.

Full paper: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/14705931211027941

Published: 30 October 2025