Associate Professor, Marketing
Concordia University Research Chair in Consumption and Markets
Program Director, Master's Research Programs at John Molson School of Business

Biography    Teaching activities    Publications    Participation activities    Research activities    Peer Reviewing and Editorial Service    News & Press releases   

Zeynep Arsel received her PhD in Marketing from University of Wisconsin-Madison with minors in Sociology and Cultural Anthropology. She also holds a MBA degree from Middle East Technical University and a BSc in Management from Bilkent University. Zeynep’s work broadly explores sociology of consumption. 

Zeynep is an Associate Editor at Consumption Markets and Culture and is in the editorial Board of Journal of Consumer Research and Journal of Marketing Management. 

Zeynep was the 2011 recipient of Petro Canada Young Innovator Award in the Strategic Research Cluster “The Person and Society,” 2012 Sidney J. Levy Award, and 2014 Outstanding Reviewer Award for Journal of Consumer Research.

Zeynep’s work has been funded by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Fonds Québécois de la Recherche sur la Société et la Culture, Association for Consumer Research, Marketing Science Institute, and was featured in Wall Street Journal, Globe and Mail, WIRED, Psychology Today, Vice, Harper’s Magazine, Montreal Gazette, L’Actualite, Vancouver Sun, Ottawa Citizen, Calgary Herald, The Star Phoenix, Canada.com, Le Devoir, La Presse, Miller Mc-Cune, Wisconsin Public Radio, CBC Radio, Profit Magazine, Flavorwire, Isthmus Magazine, Yahoo News, LiveScience and numerous blogs.

Education

PhD (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
MBA (Middle East Technical University)
BSc (Bilkent University)

Areas of Expertise

• Taste
• Brands
• Gender
• Value and valuation
• Spaces of consumption

Graduate student supervision

Zeynep is interested in supervising MSc and PhD students on topics of branding, social media, value, exchanges, taste, commercial and domestic spaces and gender

Letters of Recommendation

Former and current students: If you would like to ask for a letter of recommendation, I strongly suggest you to check this website before sending me a request.

View Zeynep Arsel's CV

Introduction to Marketing, Undergraduate
Consumer Behavior, Undergraduate
Strategic Brand Management, MBA
Qualitative Research Methods, MSc

Edited Books

Taste, Consumption and Markets (forthcoming), eds. Zeynep Arsel and Jonathan Bean, Routledge, NY 

Gendering Theory in Marketing and Consumer Research (2017), eds. Zeynep Arsel, Kirsi Eräranta, Johanna Moisander, Routledge, NY (Originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Marketing Management)

Refereed Journal Articles

Arsel, Zeynep (invited, forthcoming), “Asking Questions with Reflexive Focus: A Tutorial on Designing and Conducting Interviews,” Journal of Consumer Research

Martineu, Eric and Zeynep Arsel (2017) “Managing Communities of Co-Creation around Consumer Engagement Styles,” Journal of the Association for Consumer Research

Debenedetti, Alain, Harmen Oppewal and Zeynep Arsel (2014), “Place Attachment in Commercial Settings: A Gift Economy Perspective, ” Journal of Consumer Research, 40 (February), 904-923.

Arsel, Zeynep and Jonathan Bean (2013) “Taste Regimes and Market-Mediated Practice,” Journal of Consumer Research, 39 (February), 899-917 (lead article).

Arsel, Zeynep and Craig J. Thompson (2011) “Demythologizing Consumption Practices: How Consumers Protect their Field-Dependent Identity Investments From Devaluing Marketplace Myths,” Journal of Consumer Research, 37 (February), 791-806.

Thompson, Craig J., Aric Rindfleisch and Zeynep Arsel (2006) “Emotional Branding and the Strategic Value of the Doppelgänger Brand Image”, Journal of Marketing, 1(January), 50-64.

Thompson, Craig J. and Zeynep Arsel, (2004) “The Starbucks Brandscape and Consumers’ (Anti-Corporate) Experiences of Glocalization”, Journal of Consumer Research, 31 (December), 631-643.

Book Chapters

Arsel, Zeynep and Jonathan Bean (forthcoming), “Taste,” in Consumer Culture Theory, eds. Eric Arnould and Craig Thompson, Sage. 

Pomiès Anissa and Zeynep Arsel (forthcoming), “Retracing the History of the Concept of Taste,” in Taste Consumption and Markets: An Interdisciplinary Volume eds. Zeynep Arsel and Jonathan Bean, New York, Routledge. 

Arsel, Zeynep (2015), “Assembling Markets and Value,” in Assembling Consumption: The Handbook of Assemblage Theories in Marketing and Consumer Research , eds. Robin Canniford and Domen Bajde, New York, Routledge.

Arsel, Zeynep and Scott Stewart (2015), “Identity Degrading Brands,” in Strong Brands, Strong Relationships,  eds. Susan Fournier, Michael Breazeale, and Jill Avery, New York, Routledge

Arsel, Zeynep and Xin Zhao (2013), “Blogs,” in The Routledge Companion to Digital Consumption, eds. Russell Belk and Rosa Llamas, New York: Routledge.

Refereed Conference Proceedings

Pomiès Anissa and Zeynep Arsel (2016), “There is Disputing about Taste: Genealogy of a Contested Concept”, Consumer Culture Theory Conference, July 2016, Lille, France (Winner, Best Special Session Award)

Linnet, Jeppe Trolle and Zeynep Arsel (2014) “"The Moment of Entry: A Phenomenological Exploration of the Experience of Social Buzz," Consumer Culture Theory Conference, June 2014, Helsinki, Finland 

Bean, Jonathan and Zeynep Arsel (2013), “Understanding Mediated Practices: Combining Ethnographic Methods with Blog Data to Develop Insights,” Ethnography in Praxis Conference, Sept 2013, London UK.

Arsel, Zeynep (2013), “Collaborative Redistribution Systems and Value Creation,” European Marketing Academy 2013 Conference, June 2013, Istanbul, Turkey (accepted, however not presented).

Stewart, Scott and Zeynep Arsel (2013), “Degrading Brands and Consumer Brand Relationships,” Consumer Brand Relationships Conference, May 2013, Boston, MA.

Mérigot, Philippe, Alain Debenedetti, and Zeynep Arsel (2013) “The Porous Nature of Places: An Economies of Worth Perspective," 7th Workshop On Interpretive Consumer Research, April 2013, Brussels, Belgium.

Arsel, Zeynep, Alain Debenedetti and Philippe Mérigot (2012), “The Dynamics and Continuity of Place Attachment: Cues from a Parisian Wine Bar,” Association for Consumer Research 2012 Conference, October 2012, Vancouver, Canada.

Martineau, Eric and Zeynep Arsel (2012) “A Typology of Crowdsourcing Participation Styles”, Association for Consumer Research 2012 Conference, October 2012, Vancouver, Canada.

Debenedetti, Alain, Philippe Mérigot and Zeynep Arsel (2012) “Continuity and Transfer of Place Attachment: An Ethnographic Exploration, "European Marketing Academy 2012 Conference, May 2012, Lisbon, Portugal.

Arsel, Zeynep and Susan Dobscha (2011), “Hybrid Pro-social Exchange Systems: The Case of Freecycle,” Association for Consumer Research Conference, October 2011, St Louis, MO, USA.

Zhao, Xin and Zeynep Arsel (2011) “Food Blogs and Consumer Culture," 2011 Asia-Pacific Conference of Association for Consumer Research Conference, June 2011, Beijing, China.

Debenedetti, Alain, Philippe Mérigot and Zeynep Arsel (2011) “The Continuation of Place Attachment Experience Through Time and Space: The “Coin De Verre” Case," 6th Workshop On Interpretive Consumer Research, May 2011, Odense, Denmark.

Arsel, Zeynep and Jonathan Bean (2010) “Networked Styles and Normalizing Taste Narratives,” Association for Consumer Research Conference, October 2010, Jacksonville, FL, USA.

Arsel, Zeynep and Xin Zhao (2010) “Personal Blogging, Performance and the Quest for Fame,” Association for Consumer Research Conference, October 2010, Jacksonville, FL, USA.

Arsel, Zeynep and Susan Dobscha (2010) “Local Acts, Global Impacts?: Examining the Pro-Social, Non-Reciprocal Nature of Freecyclers, ” European Association for Consumer Research Conference, July 2010, London, UK.

Arsel, Zeynep and Jonathan Bean (2010) “Collective Taste Making: Analyzing Apartment Therapy Narrative,” Consumer Culture Theory Conference, June 2010, Madison, WI, USA.

Arsel, Zeynep (2009) “Exploring the Social Dynamics of Online Bartering,” Association for Consumer Research Conference, October 2009, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.

Arsel, Zeynep and Craig J. Thompson (2008) “I Might Consume Like a Hipster, but I am not a Hipster: Myth Markets and Consumer Reflexivity,” Consumer Culture Theory Conference, June 2008, Suffolk University, Boston, MA, USA.

Arsel, Zeynep and Craig J. Thompson (2005) “Consuming It Cool: Status Multiplicity and Contextualized Cultural Capital,” European Association for Consumer Research Conference, June 2005, Göteborg, Sweden.
Thompson, Craig J and Zeynep Arsel (2003) “Consumers’ Experiences of Glocalization in a Hegemonic Brandscape: The Case of Starbucks and Local Coffee Shop Culture,” Association for Consumer Research Conference, October 2003, Toronto, Canada.

Arsel, Zeynep (2002), “Consuming ‘by’ taste or consuming taste: A Revisit to Bourdieu’s Distinction,“ Association for Consumer Research Conference, Oct 2002, Atlanta, GA.

Invited Talks and Workshops

Extending Place Attachment Spatially and Temporally, Stockholm Business School, June 2016

 “Coding,” Consumer Culture Theory Qualitative Data Analysis Workshop, Fayetteville AR, 17 June 2015

“Taste,” The Walrus Talks- Being Human, Ottawa, 29 April 2015

"'Work-Life-Balance' or Finding Life, Leisure and Pleasure on the PhD Treadmill,” ANZMAC Doctoral Colloquium Keynote, Brisbane Australia, Dec 2014.

“Value,” ACR Doctoral Symposium, Baltimore MD, Oct 2014

“Disintermediated Exchanges and Regimes of Valuation,” L'Universite Paris-Est, Paris, April 2014

“Regimes of Valuation in Collaborative Redistribution,” Chicago Consumer Culture Community, Chicago, April 2014.

“Regimes of Valuation in Collaborative Redistribution,” University of Melbourne, Australia, Nov 2013 and York University, April 2014 

“Discontinuities in Place Attachment,” Cass School of Business, London UK, Sept 2013.

“Regimes of Valuation in Collaborative Redistribution,” University of Southern Denmark, Odense Denmark, Aug 2013.

“Collaborative Redistribution Systems and Value Creation,” Anthropology of Markets and Consumption Conference, The University of California at Irvine, Irvine, CA USA, March 2013.

“Taste Regimes and Market-Mediated Practice,” William Kern Lecture Series, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY, Dec 2012.

“Collaborative Redistribution Systems and Value Creation,” HEC Lausanne, Switzerland, Sept 2012.

“Buying Less, Consuming More: Collaborative Redistribution for Sustainable Consumption,” Concordia University Faculty Research Excellence Showcase, Oct 2011, Montreal, Canada.

“Taste Regimes and Market Mediated Practice,” L'Universite Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallee, Paris, May 2011.

External Grants

Guest Editor

Special Issue on Theorising Gender and Gendering Theory in Marketing and Consumer Research (2015)

Associate Editor

Consumption, Markets and Culture

Editorial Review Board Memberships

Journal of Consumer Research
Journal of Marketing Management

Honours and Awards

Concordia news

It's not just big business — crowdsourcing creates a ‘win-win situation’

The boy in the Barbie commercial breaks down stereotypes … or does he?

The Walrus Talks: Doing taste