Empathetic Sensibilities in the Practice of CCT-inspired Research

What unites and distinguishes consumer culture theory and interpretive consumer research is not simply the desire to generate theoretical insights (Arnould & Thompson 2005), but the methodological sensibilities brought to consumption contexts and challenges encountered through participation and immersion. Exploring researcher vulnerability through the lens of emotional exchange, we bring to the fore the terrain of interpretive consumer research in “sensitive” contexts (Renzetti and Lee, 1990). We show that work in such contexts has important consequences for research practice and that it places empathy centre-stage, to reveal reciprocal processes of meaning-making and identity reformulation through exchange.