Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-23-2023
Publication Title
Journal of Consumer Affairs
Pages
1-26
Publisher Name
Wiley Periodicals LLC
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to center transgender consumers in the conceptualizations between marketplace marginalization and digital spaces. We examine trans-gender crowdfunding as a hashtag-bounded digital space created by and for the transgender community–namely, the #TransCrowdFund digital space on Twitter. We draw on trans digital geographies as a novel analytical lens to focus attention on transgender consumers' unique experiences in and between digital spaces. Through qualitative hashtag mapping, we analyzed a sample of 200 Twitter profiles and accompanying tweets drawn from individuals using the#TransCrowdFund hashtag. Findings suggest transgender consumers utilize crowdfunding as a hashtag-bounded digital space in three ways: accessing networks, narrativizing needs, and signaling identity. Within each of these functional uses, underlying tensions arise in navigating transphobic marketplace marginalization, unique to transgender consumer well-being. Our research demonstrates the power of centering transgender consumers–both conceptually and contextually–in consumer research and offers implications for scholars and policy makers.
Recommended Citation
Hansman, Beck and Jenna Drenten (2023), “Centering Transgender Consumers in Conceptualizations of Marketplace Marginalization and Digital Spaces,” Journal of Consumer Affairs, https://doi.org/10.1111/joca.12520.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Copyright Statement
© The Authors, 2023.
Included in
Communication Technology and New Media Commons, Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, Finance and Financial Management Commons, Gender and Sexuality Commons, Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication Commons, Human Geography Commons, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies Commons, Marketing Commons, Social Media Commons, Spatial Science Commons
Comments
Author Posting © The Authors, 2023. This article is posted here by permission of Wiley Periodicals LLC for personal use. The article was published in the Journal of Consumer Affairs, February 2023. https://doi.org/10.1111/joca.12520