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The Retail Ethnoscape Framework: Cultural Embeddedness of (Un)Welcome

Shahriar, Hossain LU orcid ; Ulver, Sofia LU ; Johansson, Ulf LU ; Bixo, Sofie and Lundqvist, Sara K (2026) In International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management p.1-1
Abstract
Purpose – To explore the cultural embeddedness of (un)welcome experiences among ethnically
marginalized consumers in retail spaces.
Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on Appadurai’s (1990) notion of the ethnoscape, the
study is empirically grounded in critical-incident interviews with consumers from multiethnic
backgrounds in Sweden.
Findings – Three dimensions through which (un)welcome is negotiated are identified:
interpersonal recognition in service encounters, cultural resonance in visibility encounters, and
atmospheric conviviality in material–sensory encounters. The research theorizes the Retail
Ethnoscape Framework, conceptualizing (un)welcome as interpersonal, representational, and
spatial... (More)
Purpose – To explore the cultural embeddedness of (un)welcome experiences among ethnically
marginalized consumers in retail spaces.
Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on Appadurai’s (1990) notion of the ethnoscape, the
study is empirically grounded in critical-incident interviews with consumers from multiethnic
backgrounds in Sweden.
Findings – Three dimensions through which (un)welcome is negotiated are identified:
interpersonal recognition in service encounters, cultural resonance in visibility encounters, and
atmospheric conviviality in material–sensory encounters. The research theorizes the Retail
Ethnoscape Framework, conceptualizing (un)welcome as interpersonal, representational, and
spatial zones of disjuncture between the retailer’s official mind and the consumer’s lived
ethnoscape. The study introduces retail proprioception—a learned bodily attunement through
which marginalized consumers detect these disjunctures—revealing the somatic origin of the
inclusionary labor they perform.
Research limitations/implications – The framework calls for culturally sensitive service scripts,
strategic workforce diversity, and integrated inclusion design. For consumers, understanding
retail proprioception enables more effective marketplace navigation, while societally, genuinely
welcoming retail environments foster multiethnic engagement, well-being, and social cohesion,
advancing human-centric retail. The small Swedish sample limits generalizability.
Originality/value – The paper advances retail welcome research by showing (un)welcome as
culturally embedded rather than determined by discrete cues; extends atmospheric scholarship by
demonstrating that environmental elements are perspectival constructs; reframes consumer
vulnerability as a contextually activated state rather than a trait; and contributes to marketplace
inclusion/exclusion scholarship by identifying retail proprioception as the embodied mechanism
through which inclusionary labor falls disproportionately on marginalized consumers. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
in press
subject
in
International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management
pages
44 pages
publisher
Emerald Group Publishing Limited
ISSN
0959-0552
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
8b9f3396-d65f-4707-879a-b67a4bfa5573
date added to LUP
2026-05-18 10:41:02
date last changed
2026-05-18 11:59:20
@article{8b9f3396-d65f-4707-879a-b67a4bfa5573,
  abstract     = {{Purpose – To explore the cultural embeddedness of (un)welcome experiences among ethnically<br/>marginalized consumers in retail spaces.<br/>Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on Appadurai’s (1990) notion of the ethnoscape, the<br/>study is empirically grounded in critical-incident interviews with consumers from multiethnic<br/>backgrounds in Sweden.<br/>Findings – Three dimensions through which (un)welcome is negotiated are identified:<br/>interpersonal recognition in service encounters, cultural resonance in visibility encounters, and<br/>atmospheric conviviality in material–sensory encounters. The research theorizes the Retail<br/>Ethnoscape Framework, conceptualizing (un)welcome as interpersonal, representational, and<br/>spatial zones of disjuncture between the retailer’s official mind and the consumer’s lived<br/>ethnoscape. The study introduces retail proprioception—a learned bodily attunement through<br/>which marginalized consumers detect these disjunctures—revealing the somatic origin of the<br/>inclusionary labor they perform.<br/>Research limitations/implications – The framework calls for culturally sensitive service scripts,<br/>strategic workforce diversity, and integrated inclusion design. For consumers, understanding<br/>retail proprioception enables more effective marketplace navigation, while societally, genuinely<br/>welcoming retail environments foster multiethnic engagement, well-being, and social cohesion,<br/>advancing human-centric retail. The small Swedish sample limits generalizability.<br/>Originality/value – The paper advances retail welcome research by showing (un)welcome as<br/>culturally embedded rather than determined by discrete cues; extends atmospheric scholarship by<br/>demonstrating that environmental elements are perspectival constructs; reframes consumer<br/>vulnerability as a contextually activated state rather than a trait; and contributes to marketplace<br/>inclusion/exclusion scholarship by identifying retail proprioception as the embodied mechanism<br/>through which inclusionary labor falls disproportionately on marginalized consumers.}},
  author       = {{Shahriar, Hossain and Ulver, Sofia and Johansson, Ulf and Bixo, Sofie and Lundqvist, Sara K}},
  issn         = {{0959-0552}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{04}},
  pages        = {{1--1}},
  publisher    = {{Emerald Group Publishing Limited}},
  series       = {{International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management}},
  title        = {{The Retail Ethnoscape Framework: Cultural Embeddedness of (Un)Welcome}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}