Introduction: Markets and the arts of attachment

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book exposes the diverse ways in which people coalesce and are coalesced by and around various market processes, ranging from the highly strategic activities of the 'engines' of collection, to the opening up of markets to forms of political participation, at a range of scaler registers. It focuses on marketing agencies, while at the same time shifting the analysis to how agencies exploit the potential of online forms of collectivity with particular attention to the role of social media. The book confronts the art of market attachment at its core by exploring the purest, most fascinating case: the hybrid bond that exists between a consumer and a product. It draws attention to the multiple dimensions of attachment that such digitally aware expert-led activities can engender. The book discusses real necessity of considering the series of trials that result in market attachment.