The meanings of informal and second-hand retail channels: some evidence from Leicester

Authors: Colin Williams¹; Christopher Paddock²

Source: The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, Volume 13, Number 3, July 2003 , pp. 317-336(20)

Publisher: Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group

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Abstract:

Conventionally, informal and/or second-hand channels were viewed as being used by disadvantaged consumers out of economic necessity. With the cultural turn in retail and consumer research however, a new reading has emerged that views participation in such channels to be broader and more a matter of choice. To evaluate these contrasting perspectives, data collected from 120 face-to-face interviews in the English city of Leicester is reported in this article. Finding that the agency-orientated view of such retail channels is valid in affluent populations - but economic necessity remains the principal motive amongst lower-income populations - this paper reconciles these contrasting readings of economic and cultural theorists through a both/and approach sensitive to the varying meanings of such practices in different populations.

Keywords: Consumption; cultural turn; retail sector; second-hand goods

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0959396032000101372

Affiliations: 1: Reader in Economic Geography, Department of Geography University of Leicester Leicester LE1 7RH UK +44 0116 252 5242 ccw3@le.ac.uk 2: Postgraduate Researcher, Department of Geography University of Leicester Leicester LE1 7RH UK +44 0116 252 5242 csp5@le.ac.uk

Publication date: 2003-07-01

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