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Making a market for alternatives: marketing devices and the qualification of a vegan milk substitute

Fuentes, Christian LU orcid and Fuentes, Maria LU (2017) In Journal of Marketing Management 33(7-8). p.529-555
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to describe, conceptualise and critically discuss how and with what consequences marketing is used to construct a mass market for vegan substitutes. Drawing on the concepts of the marketing device and qualification, it shows how Oatly – a Swedish company making oat-based products – enrols three sets of marketing devices, i.e. digital media, packaging and stores, to simultaneously ‘alternativise’ and ‘convenienise’ its range of vegan products. The result is the material and discursive construction of a range of vegan products that is qualified as different enough from conventional dairy products to be an attractive alternative, but similar enough to fit into existing practices of shopping for food, cooking and... (More)
The aim of this paper is to describe, conceptualise and critically discuss how and with what consequences marketing is used to construct a mass market for vegan substitutes. Drawing on the concepts of the marketing device and qualification, it shows how Oatly – a Swedish company making oat-based products – enrols three sets of marketing devices, i.e. digital media, packaging and stores, to simultaneously ‘alternativise’ and ‘convenienise’ its range of vegan products. The result is the material and discursive construction of a range of vegan products that is qualified as different enough from conventional dairy products to be an attractive alternative, but similar enough to fit into existing practices of shopping for food, cooking and eating. By qualifying products along multiple registers, Oatly constructs ‘plastic’ products, which can be consumed, for various reasons, by various groups of consumers thus enacting a multi-niche market for its products. (Less)
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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
vegan consumption, food substitutes, sustainability, alternative, market devices, qualification
in
Journal of Marketing Management
volume
33
issue
7-8
pages
529 - 555
publisher
Westburn Publishers
external identifiers
  • scopus:85019744537
  • wos:000414522100003
ISSN
1472-1376
DOI
10.1080/0267257X.2017.1328456
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
da990fc5-18fe-4116-8761-4a8673a22274
date added to LUP
2017-05-28 18:58:24
date last changed
2024-06-09 17:24:01
@article{da990fc5-18fe-4116-8761-4a8673a22274,
  abstract     = {{The aim of this paper is to describe, conceptualise and critically discuss how and with what consequences marketing is used to construct a mass market for vegan substitutes. Drawing on the concepts of the marketing device and qualification, it shows how Oatly – a Swedish company making oat-based products – enrols three sets of marketing devices, i.e. digital media, packaging and stores, to simultaneously ‘alternativise’ and ‘convenienise’ its range of vegan products. The result is the material and discursive construction of a range of vegan products that is qualified as different enough from conventional dairy products to be an attractive alternative, but similar enough to fit into existing practices of shopping for food, cooking and eating. By qualifying products along multiple registers, Oatly constructs ‘plastic’ products, which can be consumed, for various reasons, by various groups of consumers thus enacting a multi-niche market for its products.}},
  author       = {{Fuentes, Christian and Fuentes, Maria}},
  issn         = {{1472-1376}},
  keywords     = {{vegan consumption; food substitutes; sustainability; alternative; market devices; qualification}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{05}},
  number       = {{7-8}},
  pages        = {{529--555}},
  publisher    = {{Westburn Publishers}},
  series       = {{Journal of Marketing Management}},
  title        = {{Making a market for alternatives: marketing devices and the qualification of a vegan milk substitute}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0267257X.2017.1328456}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/0267257X.2017.1328456}},
  volume       = {{33}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}