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What does it mean to span cultural boundaries? Variety and atypicality in cultural consumption

Hannan, M.T.; Goldberg, A.; Kovács, B.

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Authors

M.T. Hannan

A. Goldberg

B. Kovács



Abstract

We propose a synthesis of two lines of sociological research on boundary spanning in cultural production and consumption. One, research on cultural omnivorousness, analyzes choice by heterogeneous audiences facing an array of crisp cultural offerings. The other, research on categories in markets, analyzes reactions by homogeneous audiences to objects that vary in the degree to which they conform to categorical codes. We develop a model of heterogeneous audiences evaluating objects that vary in typicality. This allows consideration of orientations on two dimensions of cultural preference: variety and typicality. We propose a novel analytic framework to map consumption behavior in these two dimensions. We argue that one audience type, those who value variety and typicality, are especially resistant to objects that span boundaries. We test this argument in an analysis of two large-scale datasets of reviews of films and restaurants.

Citation

Hannan, M., Goldberg, A., & Kovács, B. (2016). What does it mean to span cultural boundaries? Variety and atypicality in cultural consumption. American Sociological Review, 81(2), 215-241. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122416632787

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jun 23, 2015
Online Publication Date Mar 4, 2016
Publication Date Apr 1, 2016
Deposit Date Jul 20, 2015
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal American Sociological Review
Print ISSN 0003-1224
Electronic ISSN 1939-8271
Publisher SAGE Publications
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 81
Issue 2
Pages 215-241
DOI https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122416632787
Public URL https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1434587

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Copyright Statement
Hannan, M. T. and Goldberg, A. and Kovács, B. (2016) 'What does it mean to span cultural boundaries? Variety and atypicality in cultural consumption.', American sociological review., 81 (2). pp. 215-241. Copyright © 2016 American Sociological Association. Reprinted by permission of SAGE Publications.




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