Description
The purpose of this paper is to suggest grounded theory as a potential methodology within
the field of arts marketing and the creative industries in general, particularly if the research aims to gain
insights into consumer experiences.
International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research
Immersion, emergence and reflexivity: grounded theory and aesthetic consumption
Christina Goulding Michael Saren
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Christina Goulding Michael Saren, (2010),"Immersion, emergence and reflexivity: grounded theory and aesthetic consumption",
International J ournal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, Vol. 4 Iss 1 pp. 70 - 82
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Immersion, emergence and re?exivity:
grounded theory and aesthetic
consumption
Christina Goulding and Michael Saren
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to suggest grounded theory as a potential methodology within
the ?eld of arts marketing and the creative industries in general, particularly if the research aims to gain
insights into consumer experiences.
Design/methodology/approach – Grounded theory is a general, qualitative methodology that is
concerned with social processes and interactions. The paper looks at the fundamental processes that
grounded theory must follow and provides an example of applying grounded theory in the context of
researching the Goths, an aesthetic subculture.
Research limitations/implications – The paper suggests that within the creative industries there is
scope for the wider application of inductive, theory-building methodologies that aim to provide deeper
understanding of behavior.
Originality/value – The value of the paper lies in detailing a systematic methodology that scholars may
apply across the spectrum of creative and cultural marketing from music festivals to museums.
Keywords Consumption, Arts, Marketing information
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
This special issue of IJCTHR is concerned with creative methodologies for arts marketing.
The authors suggest that given the increasing emphasis on the consumer and the changing
nature of the experience within the culture industries, grounded theory is one such
methodology. Today the cultural sphere is expanding to cater for wider audiences with a
diverse set of motivations. Accordingly, the culture industries can no longer afford to target a
narrow but de?nable market interested only in aesthetics and education. Museums and art
galleries compete for audiences, and indeed funding by offering ‘‘experiences’’ alongside
more traditional forms of display; cities are marketing themselves as centres of culture, rural
towns and villages are boosting their economy through hosting festivals and events while the
heritage sector offers trips back in time through ‘‘living’’ interpretation. In line with these
changes and expanding markets the last two decades have witnessed a transition in how
arts marketers research and understand consumers. Traditionally embedded in the realm of
visitor surveys and the positivist paradigm(Moscardo, 1996; Merriman, 1991) arts marketing
has seen an expansion of methodologies that vary from phenomenology (Masberg and
Silverman, 1996), observational methods (Boisvert and Slez, 1995), ethnography (Joy and
Sherry, 2003) and grounded theory (Goulding, 2000a, 1999a).
Today academics consider grounded theory to be a general methodology for use across the
social sciences. Although originally developed by sociologists for sociologists, academics
working in a diverse array of disciplines from nursing studies to business and management,
have adopted this methodology. Grounded theory is a methodology that is particularly
concerned with behavior and interactions and as such has potential for further application in
the ?eld of arts marketing if the objective is to develop insights into experiences. This paper
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VOL. 4 NO. 1 2010, pp. 70-82, Q Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1750-6182 DOI 10.1108/17506181011024779
Christina Goulding is based
at Wolverhampton Business
School, University of
Wolverhampton,
Wolverhampton, UK.
Michael Saren is based at
the School of Management,
University of Leicester,
Leicester, UK.
Received June 2007
Revised March 2008
Accepted April 2008
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begins with a description of grounded theory and the fundamental processes associated
with applying this method. An illustrative case based on a study of the Gothic subculture in
the festival context at Whitby in the North East of England follows. Here the authors describe
the process of immersion, emergence and re?exivity. The paper concludes with a discussion
of issues surrounding writing and publishing grounded theory research.
2. Grounded theory
Two American sociologists, Barney Glaser and Alselm Strauss, developed grounded theory
in the late 1960s largely as a reaction to the overriding emphasis on testing existing,
established sociological theories at the expense of generating new, relevant and empirically
grounded theory. In a climate that discouraged the use of ‘‘soft’’, unstructured qualitative
approaches due to their perceived lack of ‘‘scienti?c’’ rigor, Glaser and Strauss (1967)
devised and published a methodology that makes explicit the entire process of theory
generation through a series of procedures for collecting, interpreting and presenting data.
Essentially, the role of grounded theory was, and is, the generation of new theory that
accounts for the relationship of the individual or collective experience to society, to history,
the group or the organization. With origins in symbolic interactionism the researcher
attempts to determine what symbolic meanings, artefacts, words and gestures have for
people as they interact with one another and how individuals construct their notions of social
reality through these symbolic meanings (Cutcliffe, 2000). The seductive appeal of
grounded theory lies largely in the fact that it offers a structured approach to exploring the
social, the symbolic and context speci?c behaviors. To quote Glaser (1999, p. 836):
Grounded theory refers to a speci?c methodology in how to get from systematically collecting
data to producing a multivariate conceptual theory. It is a total methodological package. It
provides a series of systematic, exact methods that start with collecting data and takes the
researcher to a theoretical piece that is publishable.
As such grounded theory is well suited to the analysis of data researchers collect by means
of participant observation, direct observation, semi and unstructured interviews and case
studies as most users of this method will be concerned with situations in which they are able
to observe behavior in naturalistic settings (Turner, 1983).
2.1 Fundamental processes
When using grounded theory, the individual must followa set of fundamental processes if the
end result is to be recognized as a product of the methodology. Grounded theory requires
the individual to enter the ?eld at a very early stage and begin the process of data collection
and analysis. This starts with theoretical sampling, early data interpretation and constant
comparison. A number of strategies exist for handling the data that involve moving through a
series of coding that becomes more abstract and theoretical with the identi?cation of
patterns and relationships. The following highlights some of the essential elements of the
methodology:
1. Theoretical sampling. Unlike other methodologies where the samples are predetermined
in terms of location, characteristics of the participants and numbers, with grounded
theory sampling is an emergent and ongoing process that evolves as the theory develops
from the data. In fact the ?ndings and emergent questions direct the researcher to
different contexts, people and places in order to saturate the data. ‘‘Theoretical sampling
is the process of data collection for generating theory whereby the analyst jointly collects,
codes and analyses the data and decides what data to collect next and where to ?nd it, in
order to develop the theory as it emerges. This process of data collection is ‘controlled’ by
the emerging theory’’ (Glaser, 1978, p. 36).
2. Constant comparison. This is a fundamental feature of grounded theory and requires the
researcher to engage in data interpretation at the same time as the data are collected. As
its name implies, constant comparison is a process by which the researcher transcribes
interviews or analyses memos comparing like with like while looking for emerging patterns
and themes. The search for similarities is important as is the search for differences, as
researchers need to account for and explain differences in behavior. This proposition
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means that the presentation of grounded theory research must go beyond thick
description to explain the phenomenon under study.
3. Memos. Memo writing is vital as they provide a bank of ideas which the researchers can
revisit. They help map out the emerging theory. Essentially memos are ideas noted during
the data collection process which help to reorient the researcher at a later date. However,
ideas can also occur away from the data and the researcher should write these down.
Memos may be a few lines or several pages long.
4. Open coding. Open coding involves the breaking down, conceptualization and
categorization of data. This may start with taking a transcript of an interview and
scrutinizing it ‘‘line by line’’ in order to identify key words and phrases that give some
insight into what is happening in the data. At this stage coding is unstructured and the
researcher may identify hundreds of codes. Inevitably, the researcher needs to reduce
these codes as coding moves to a more abstract level in the search for patterns and
themes that suggest a relationship.
5. Axial coding. This involves the appreciation of open coded categories or concepts in
terms of their dynamic interrelationships. These should formthe basis for the construction
of a coherent matrix of associations. The researcher initially clusters these concepts into
descriptive categories before re-evaluating them for their interrelationships. The
researcher then undertakes a series of analytical steps which gradually subsume the
descriptive categories into higher order categories (or one underlying core category)
which suggests an emergent theory. However, they should remain open to reappraisal.
6. Selective coding. Selective coding subsumes the data further into a core category that
the researcher has to justify as the basis for the emergent theory. This is normally when the
researcher writes up the theory and integrates existing theories to show relevance and
new perspective. Nevertheless there are pitfalls to beware of when using this
methodology. There is general acknowledgement of the danger of placing too much
emphasis on identifying codes as the exclusive feature, without theoretically coding
which involves explaining how codes relate to each other (Glaser, 1978; Strauss, 1991;
Glaser, 1992; Stern, 1994). The researcher must also ensure that constant comparison is
an ongoing feature of the process. Theoretical sampling should direct the researcher to
further individuals, situations, contexts and locations and they should only present the
theory as developed when all core categories are saturated (when no new insights have
emerged from the data and the categories have been fully interpreted).
Each stage of the coding process presents dilemmas of interpretation. How the researcher
deals with these dilemmas depends on how they conceptualize the method, and over time,
this conceptualization has re?ected tensions in philosophical de?nitions. Academics
generally accept that there are two forms of grounded theory, one associated with Glaser,
the other with Strauss and Corbin. This divergence traces back to the spilt between the two
original authors that occurred when Strauss and Corbin published their 1990 text introducing
a new coding process. Glaser’s response was to deny that this constituted true grounded
theory due to the new processes stress on preconceived and forced discovery centering
primarily on these preordained categories at the expense of allowing the theory to emerge.
Simply put, Glaser’s model favors creativity and openness to unanticipated interpretations of
data while Strauss and Corbin take a much more prescriptive and mechanical route (Hall
and Callery, 2001; Suddaby, 2006). These differences may also be attributable to
divergence in the epistemological implications of the methodology with Strauss and Corbin
endorsing Dewey’s instrumentalismby introducing a form of hypo-deductivism, while Glaser
insists that grounded theory involves only the inductive phase of inquiry (Rennie, 1998).
Whilst it is not the authors intention to dwell on this issue, this is something that anyone
considering using the methodology should be aware of in order to allow them to make an
informed decision regarding which version to adopt. Ultimately the individual researcher
should read the seminal texts, particularly Discovery (1967), followed by Strauss and Corbin
(1990), and Glaser (1992) in order to make up their own mind which version ?ts their own
ontological and epistemological position, their preferred style of working and their
propensity to risk taking.
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3. Researching an aesthetic sub-culture of consumption: immersion, emergence
and re?exivity
In this section the authors present a summary of their research into the Gothic sub-cultural
experience in order to illustrate the process of applying grounded theory. The authors apply
a version of grounded theory that is predominantly Glaserian in nature. The initial aim of the
research is to explore the social dynamics and the nature of the collective experience in a
highly charged festival context. The authors previous work on subcultures, identity and the
supporting props and materiality which enabled their existence is a trigger for their interest.
They are also interested in communal aesthetics, style and identity expression. As such,
Goths offer an ideal case given their reputation as a ?amboyant subculture. Goth closely
links to a particular visual aesthetic, a musical genre and with the myth of the vampire. Goths
also revere the poetry, the literature and the style of the ‘‘Romantics’’ and have a penchant
for the darker side of nature manifest in the works of Poe, Shelley and Stoker. As the authors
had no experience of the subculture they approached the research with an open mind and
embarked on a process of immersion, emergence and re?exivity involving multiple visits to
the Goth festival in Whitby and ongoing contact with a number of key informants.
3.1 The Whitby Goth Festival
In order to gather data the authors had to get access to Goths in a communal environment.
With grounded theory theoretical sampling requires the researcher to ?rst go to people and
places that are most likely to offer early insights. The authors had read about the bi-annual
festival held in Whitby and decided to contact the organizer. Whitby is a small town in the
North East of England which is normally a fairly sedate holiday destination with long sandy
beaches and a thriving ?shing industry. The town has a mix of historical architecture with
many Victorian and Edwardian houses, narrow winding cobbled streets and an impressive
abbey perched on the edge of a cliff overlooking the town. Whitbys claimto fame is the close
links to ‘‘Dracula’’. Whilst living in Whitby Bram Stoker was inspired to write his iconic novel
which saw the vampire’s ship arrive in Whitby and his seduction of Lucy take place at Whitby
Abbey. Today, the town markets itself on this connection and this unique association makes
Whitby the spiritual home for many Goths. Whitby transforms for two weeks every year. Up to
10,000 Goths of all persuasion who parade in their costumes, ranging from simple black
jeans and tee-shirt to extravagant and ?amboyant period costumes to extreme fancy dress
take over the town.
Prior to the October festival in 2003 the authors contacted the organizer, who invited them to
design and send a poster detailing who they were, what the research was about and contact
numbers. The organizers distributed the posters at all the pre-events and they were
displayed throughout the duration of the festival at all the major venues. They also provided
the authors with passes allowing access to all areas and all events which enabled the
authors to engage in participatory observation in addition to collecting data by way of video,
photographs and interviews.
3.2 Immersion
When the authors talk about immersion, they mean the literal sense of immersion in the
culture, the context and the data. The ?rst night in Whitby the authors attended the opening
venue at the Spa Pavilion which hosts the major bands and is the main attraction and
meeting place. Here the authors acclimatized themselves with their surroundings, the
crowd, the music and the amazing display of costumes. They expected the dominant look to
be black. Instead, there was an abundance of color and texture on display; scarlet, white,
deep purple, emerald green, silk, satin, velvet and lace. The authors noticed that their
posters were on prominent display throughout the evening at strategic positions and they
decided to mingle informally with the participants. The next day a number of Goths who had
seen the posters and were keen to participate in the research contacted the authors. The ?rst
to call was Clinton and they arranged to meet. Clinton is a 27 year old vampire Goth. He
turned up dressed in full Victorian/vamp costume, complete with cat’s eyes contact lenses,
fangs, a silver tipped walking cane, cravat, tailored morning jacket, embroidered waistcoat
and silver nail extensions. With him was his partner, Lucy, a female vamp, dressed in a long
black Edwardian costume, jet jewelry and wide brimmed feather hat. Clinton had also
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brought along two friends; Christopher, a punk Goth whose attire was more modest
consisting of black jeans and tee-shirt and long straight black hair and his partner, Becky, a
Cyber-Goth who sported long, green, blue and blond wool hair braids, striped black and red
leggings, heavy buckled industrial boots, a leather jacket and ?ared 1950s style skirt. The
informants spent four hours talking about the group’s experiences within the Gothic culture,
their ?rst encounters with Goth and the signi?cance of Goth to themand their lives in general.
The next contacts were Heike a 42 year old accountant for the Ministry of Defense in her
‘‘normal’’ life, and Christine a 43 year old social worker. Both Heike and Christine are
traditional/vampire Goths, and were also dressed in full period costume, complete with
whale bone corsets and Victorian silk dresses. A further three hours were spent exploring
their motivations, connections and experiences.
Clinton and Heike became the authors gatekeepers and guides introducing others who
agreed to talk to them. Both are two of the most well known ?gures on the scene and had
contacts at all levels including fellow Goths, Goth retailers and the organizing body. Heike
guided the authors around the landmarks of Whitby and initiated them into the rites and
rituals of Goth dancing and the various genres of Goth music.
During the course of the event the authors ate and drank in the restaurants favored by Goths,
visited the abbey, shopped in the Goth shops and listened to the music. They mixed with
Goths on an informal basis and used the two main Goth pubs. The data collection consisted
primarily of interviews, participatory observation of activities including retail settings, band
venues and dance nights. The authors wrote up observations in the form of memos, made
video recordings at a variety of events and took photographs to provide tangible visual data.
Data collection and analysis were simultaneous and the authors started the process of
interrogating the data while they were there. This consisted of an inductive, interactive
process between data collection, transcription, constant comparison, preliminary analysis,
idea generation, further data collection and more focused questioning.
3.3 Emergence
In April, 2004 the authors returned to Whitby for another week and met up once again with a
number of the earlier participants with whomthey spent the majority of the time, meeting new
participants, collecting further data and re?ning their ideas. They made a ?nal visit in April
2005, in order to check concepts and collect further supporting evidence. In total the authors
collected over ?fty hours of audio-taped interviews with 22 Goths, ten hours of video
recordings and seventy ?ve photographs. They also had a wealth of insights gained from
informal conversations with Goths from all walks of life including doctors, nurses, local
authority planners and computer programmers. In other words, the authors continued
‘‘theoretical sampling’’ while newinsights arose fromfresh data. In turn the authors identi?ed
hundreds of codes that ‘‘emerged’’ directly from the data. These subsequently had to be
reduced and connected to each other through a process of abstraction and axial coding.
3.4 Re?exivity
After the ?rst event the authors kept in touch with Heike and Clinton and arranged to meet up
again. Clinton even invited the authors to his home to see howGoth was very much part of his
general lifestyle. In addition, between venues they were contacted via email by a number of
people who had seen the poster and were keen to participate. The time gap allowed the
authors to re?ect further on the data collected at the festival, re?ne their ideas and construct
a more focused interview schedule which they conducted by email with new respondents.
The original group were asked to re?ect, adjust anything in the initial analysis that they felt
was not right and add to their original narratives. During the intervening period between
festivals the authors re?ected on the data and identi?ed a number of key themes. Given the
nature of the experience, the transformative effect on both place and people and the
temporary nature of this transformation their analysis started to focus on the concepts of
theatre and performance. Some of the concepts that emerged fromthe authors experiences,
observations and the stories of the informants include:
B stages and settings;
B actors, roles and character change;
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B stars, support cast and audience;
B transformation through props;
B enacting the myth;
B festival time; and
B trace.
The authors had to integrate all of these concepts and support them with data. Alone, the
concepts hold little meaning, so they have to be connected in order to provide an
explanatory story. Before the authors can claim saturation of the data, they must check the
concept. The following represents the concepts that emerged from the research which fall
under the umbrella or category of ‘‘theatre as consumption’’.
4. Theatre as consumption
4.1 Stages and settings
The ?rst thing to recognize about ‘‘theatrical’’ consumption is that performances usually take
place upon a stage or within a particular setting conducive to the drama that is being
enacted. Place is a complex issue (Are?, 1999) and at Whitby the interpretation and use of
place is based on emotional attachments (Urry, 1990) and perceptions of authenticity
(MacCannell, 1992). For Goths, Whitby holds both emotional attachments due to its
connection with the Dracula myth, and a perceived authenticity, resulting from the Abbey,
which is a tangible reminder of the vampire’s arrival in Britain. The Goth festival takes place
within particular spatially de?ned environments whereby places are turned into spaces for
identity construction and expression. This involves transformation of place and space for the
duration of the event. The following photograph provides one such example. The Elsinore
pub (see Plate 1), usually a quiet sedate traditional establishment transforms during the
festival both inside and out with spoof horror decorations, bat banners and frothing colored
drinks. The Goths themselves transform the physical environment with their appearance,
hearses and density).
4.2 Actors, roles and performing identity
Central to any theatrical production are the actors themselves, their roles and their status in
the drama. The analogy of the individual as ‘‘actor’’ has an established place in the literature.
The meaning of Goffman’s (1959) ‘‘self performance’’ forms in and on a mirror stage. The
mirror metaphor represents the process of signi?cation in which the concealment and
disclosure of signs constructs the self. In other words self performance is a social act of
image formation. Central to this is the idea of the self as a simulation whereby make believe,
authenticity and simulation serve as vehicles of socio-cultural transformation as individuals
adopt and shed characters across the various roles and situations they ?nd themselves in.
At the festival, these roles become exaggerated and enacted to the full. For the duration of
the event there are numerous multiple performances, often running in parallel. One can
watch Goth Morris dancers performing in the square, vampire Goths playing out the myth in
the abbey graveyard and Goth Monks roaming the streets in cowls and robes. However, the
main events offer the greatest opportunity to show off and attract attention. At the Spa
Pavillion where the big name Goth bands play, at least 2,000 Goths parade, perform and
compete for attention as they allow themselves to take on their desired persona and become
their fantasy character. For some, this dressing up is about ‘‘reaf?rming’’ their sense of self
and performing their identity and is at best when in the company of other like minded
individuals. As Laura explains:
Laura: I think Goth is one of two things for most people. It is either a reaf?rmation of the self, or an
opportunity to become a person you aren’t normally. To be out in a group of Goths is very exciting
and makes you feel less of an ‘‘outsider’’. As such you tend to really go for the dressing-up and
costume when you’re in that situation because you have more con?dence in your identity. When
9-5 you’re the geeky IT boy, or a sales assistant by day, at night or at the weekend you can
become another person, or even your real self.
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Interestingly, Laura uses the term ‘‘reaf?rmation’’ of self, indicating a deep held knowledge
of who she is, but that her identity tends to be buried when away from the community. In this
sense the festival context allows Lucy to get back in touch with her inner core. For others
Goth is seen as a weekend escape from the quotidian and is treated as a temporary
neo-tribal experience (Maffesoli, 1996).
4.3 Stars, supporting cast and audience
Goth is a visual culture that the participants describe as a ‘‘family’’ with all new members
welcome. However, the reality is that there is a pecking order grounded in a hierarchy. These
hierarchical distinctions depend on commitment (Schouten and McAlexander, 1995) and
the attainment of a high degree of subcultural capital (Thornton, 1995). This of course varies
depending on the centrality of Goth to the individuals’ identity. These can distinguish who are
the stars, who are the support cast and who are the audience, as Clinton observes:
There is a hierarchy and this is very much to do with personal participation. You’ll ?nd that the
Goths ‘‘higher up’’ are the ones who make the most effort with the scene and with their image. For
example, I like the fangs and the whole vampire look, but I didn’t just want a pair that stuck over
my teeth. I searched the Yellow Pages until I found a dental technician who would make them so
they sat on a plate which was hidden. They took months to make and cost around £350, which
was a hell of a lot cheaper than if a dentist had made them.
Plate 1 Goths outside the Elsinore pub
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For some, Goth is their main role and they commit and dedicate themselves to it; perfecting
their craft and honing their performance. This sense of commitment and dedication gives
rise to a star system. Paul (see Plate 2) and his partner are two such stars.
For them Goth is a central part of their lifestyle, they have a long established history on the
scene and are known by everyone. They are true performers in the literal sense as they play
in a band ‘‘The Beautiful Deadly Children’’ who feature as the main attraction at many
prestigious Goth events. When not on a physically constructed stage their performances are
still literally scripted and enacted. They always arrive separately and time their entrance for
maximum impact. He will enter through the front, while she will wait for the right moment to
make an appearance from the rear entrance. These two are at the pinnacle of the hierarchy
and are considered to be the king and queen of the British Goth scene.
4.4 Audience
One further feature of theatre is audience. If Goths are viewed as actors engaged in a
performance then they normally require an audience to play to. The audience may take
many forms, as in the Goth community itself. Indeed there is no denying that participants
come to see and be seen. Goths also attract external audiences. There are the residents of
Whitby who are now used to the spectacle but still come out to observe; and then there are
the Goth watchers, a new breed of day tripper who come to Whitby speci?cally to see the
Goths, mingle with them, photograph them and have their photographs taken with them.
4.5 Transformation through props
Integral aspects of theatre are the props and costumes that transform the ordinary into the
extraordinary or the spectacular. The drama continues throughout the duration of the festival
at both the metaphysical level and the physical. For example, the drinking of red wine is
symbolic of drinking blood; a mirroring of the act of transubstantiation in many Christian
faiths. At the physical level, a whole retail industry descends for the two separate weeks
offering a staggering range of merchandise. These include corsets of varying shapes, size
and style, fangs, whether custom made or bought ‘‘off the shelf’’, masks, wigs, leather and
PVC, light sticks, fetish gear, period costumes and even cof?ns for order and delivery. The
?yer for ‘‘Vampire Realm: one stop shopping for vampires’’ gives an indication of the scope
of merchandise or props that individuals can purchase which in turn help to transform both
Plate 2 Paul, the ‘‘King of Goth’’
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themselves and the environment. Some drive the ultimate status symbol, the hearse, whilst
others adorn their motorbikes with Goth motifs and slogans. Authenticity is held to be highly
important. Clinton, for example when discussing his out?t described how, he had bought his
coat and shirt in Whitby. ‘‘You have to go to Whitby if you want the real thing.’’
4.6 Enacting the myth
The myth of the vampire is the foundation of Gothic community. The vampire is a legendary
creature that has a history going back to the Ancient Egyptians, but who Bram Stoker’s book
Dracula iconicizes and romanticizes. Myths have their place in many subcultures. They
provide a sense of history, context and continuity. They can also become the encoded
embodiment of values which the group enacts. Inherently, myths incorporate a sense of
mystery which helps to sustain their existence and mystery shrouds the vampire myth, which
for many Goths has been the subject of a life time fascination and is the main attraction
towards Goth for many participants:
Becky: It was de?nitely related to my morbid interest in horror and vampires when I was younger. I
think I was under the initial impression that these people were as morbid as I and that this would
de?nitely be somewhere I could ?t in. Possibly I was under the romantic delusion that vampires
just might exist. Floating around in black capes and Victorian dresses appealed to me too and I
would always have a good stare at any Goths I saw, wondering where they got their clothes.
Being into metal meant that I was always ?irting with Goth fashion and I found that I loved wearing
corsets and chiffon. Plus, I seem to have an innate leaning towards black clothes . . .
While the vampire myth is central to many of the re-enactments, Goths do not actually
believe they are vampires. The parody and pastiche evident in the pubs and the main events
themselves indicate that vampiric role play has a fun element which is not devoid of humor.
4.7 Festival time
Like Bakhtin’s (1984) carnival, the sense of theatre the Goths create is not merely a spectacle
seen by the people, rather something they live in and in which everyone participates
because the very idea embraces everyone; but only for a speci?c duration. The concept of
carnival and the carnivalesque is evident in the collective gatherings of Goths throughout
their time in Whitby. If one observes, for example, the dress and performances at the Spa
(the main social venue), there are individuals dressed as pirates, vampires, ?gures from
history, Nazis with braided dreadlocks, transvestites, cyber-Goths, skeletons and fetishists.
All combine to create a sense of high theatre and a collective ‘‘?ow’’ experience
(Csikszentmihalyi, 1992), or as Clinton notes, a ‘‘form of fancy dress’’.
4.7.1 Back stage/front stage preparations. Despite the theatricality and the time-
boundedness of the festival, the authors have to acknowledge that in the intervening
months preparations are actively underway for the next event. Bands have to be booked,
tickets ordered, accommodation secured and holidays fromwork organized. As soon as one
festival ends, rehearsals for the next begin on the part of the producers and the consumers.
Many spoke of how they can become really excited thinking about ‘‘the next time’’. Friends
made at Whitby, but separated through geographical distance email and phone each other
to plan what they will wear, what they intend to buy, ensure they co-ordinate their tickets and
so on. There is also a sense of loss and isolation from being away from the community. As
Monty describes:
Alas, outside of the Whitby festival, my involvement with Goth is very much an individual
experience, and pretty much always has been. I live in quite an isolated area so Goths are not
normally seen about or tolerated when they are. Nor are there any decent clubs nearby, so most
socialising involves trips to London, which is not something you want to do by yourself. I chat to
people online but very often they are too far away for meeting up so Whitby is something I
remember and look forward to all year.
4.7.2 Trace. Monty’s feelings when he is away from the Whitby Goth scene illustrate how his
experience of his time at the festival leaves a ‘‘trace’’ with him, if only by the festivals
absence. This is similar to Axelrod’s (1984) ‘‘shadow of the future’’. Some relationship
marketing researchers refer to this past-present-future interaction of events and experiences
as ‘‘relational time’’, where the past and future condition the relationship in the present
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(Halinen, 1998; Hedaa and To¨ rnroos, 2002; Medlin, 2004). Similarly, although collectively the
Goths only come to Whitby for the festivals, a trace of their presence remains with the place
all year. This takes an economic form in the preparations of hoteliers and shopkeepers for
their next visit. Indeed, the Mayor of Whitby told the local paper in their special tenth festival
anniversary edition how much the town values and welcomes the Goths. There is also
however, a trace left in the towns culture; the residents are more aware of their mythical
history through the Dracula story and, even in their absence, conscious of Goth music,
literature, fashion and style.
4.8 Summary of process
The authors strive for saturation in their analysis through constant re?ection on the data and
the literature. They read and connect literatures from across several disciplines including
consumer behavior, sociology and theatre studies. The authors apply what Glaser (1992)
terms the ‘‘?ip ?op’’ technique which requires the researcher to look at the data and
interpretation from every possible angle – to turn the data upside down and ask questions
until the best ‘‘?t’’ is found. This complexity often leads to increased output from the
research. With regard to publishing, most grounded theory studies identify in depth a
number of in?uential concepts. Single papers containing an entire study are rare due to the
complex issues that usually arise from the analysis. These may be viewed as ‘theory bits’
(Glaser, 1999), and may be a concept or hypotheses arising from the theory. The concepts
and categories should also act as building blocks and pave the way for subsequent
research in different cultural contexts in an ongoing process of theory development.
5. Writing the theory
In the previous section the authors simply presented a brief summary of the key themes.
However, when ?nally written up researcher have to explain every concept that supports the
major theme, provide supporting evidence (data) and relate the concept to the next. On a
?nal point related to writing the theory, there is often some confusion with regard to the
sequence in which researchers should write the research. One widely held belief is that
research should be written as it were conducted. That is as a process of presenting the
research questions, a discussion of data collection and codes followed by ?ndings, theory
and recontextulization in the literature. However, in reality this does not work. The end result
of such endeavors tend to be a confusing array of method mixed with early theory, mixed
with literature. In reality, grounded theory is usually written in a conventional manner. That is,
contextual literature, methodology, interpretation and theoretical ?ndings. Some get so
obsessed with writing the study ‘‘as it happened’’ that they lose sight of the fact that
grounded theory is not a theory in itself, but a methodology, and a means to an end.
Suddaby (2006, p. 637) makes some very interesting observations from the reviewer
perspective that offer food for thought and a useful set of guidelines for those engaging in
grounded theory research and looking to publish:
Even though grounded theory research is conducted iteratively, by analyzing and collecting data
simultaneously, it is usually presented sequentially. This gap occurs because the norms of
presentation in management (and other academic) journals have positivist origins and impose
discrete and sequential categories of data collection and analysis on authors trying to present
grounded theory research. In pure form, grounded theory research presents as a jumble of
literature consultation, data collection and analysis conducted in ongoing iterations that produce
many relatively fuzzy categories that, over time, reduce to fewer, clearer conceptual structures.
The theory comes last. Presenting grounded theory in this pure form, however, is neither ef?cient,
nor comprehensible to the majority of researchers who work in the positivist paradigm.
The norm that has evolved is to present grounded theory in the same sequence as
quantitative research. This however, can lead to accusations of methodological mixing, or
imitation of positivist research. Suddaby (2006) goes on to suggest means of overcoming
this; namely by making clear the means of data collection and analysis. The most
appropriate place to do this is in the methodology section, where the researcher can also
provide examples of coding and illustrative representations of conceptual developments
through diagrams or tables. Importantly, it is incumbent upon the researcher to state that,
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although they are presenting their study in a traditional manner, the concepts did, in fact
emerge from the data.
6. Conclusion
In this paper the authors propose the application of grounded theory within the ?eld of arts
marketing and the culture industries in general, particularly where there is a social, symbolic
or experiential element to be researched. After summarizing the fundamental features they
illustrate the process of applying the methodology in the context of the Whitby Goth festival.
The festival offers an example of how people use place, space and time to co-produce their
‘‘theatrical’’ experiences. Grounded theory also allows researchers to gain insights into
Whitby’s unique selling point based on the Dracula myth and how the Goths themselves, the
local business population and the tourist market capitalized on this.
However, whilst the authors have focused on a collective festival experience, researcher can
just as easily be apply grounded theory to other contexts such as museums, festivals or art
galleries. The challenge within the ?eld of arts marketing is to recognize that organisations
are selling an experience, whether purely aesthetic, social or embodied (see Joy and Sherry,
2003). However, there is still little evidence of the application of inductive, consumer oriented
methodologies that delve into the nature of such experiences. This could be the result of a
cultural mindset on behalf of curators or managers, especially if they come from an arts or
history background which naturally have their own speci?c methodologies. Moreover, the
application and analysis of interpretivist data requires particular skills and a degree of
experience (Suddaby, 2006). However, whilst not commonplace within the arts and heritage
sector, there are examples of the use of grounded theory. For instance, grounded theory has
been used to model visitor experiences at heritage sites (Daengbuppha, Hemmingway and
Wilkes, 2006); to assess visitor reactions to place, space, crowding, routing and exhibits in
the museum (Goulding, 1999b, 2000a); to understand visitors’ perceptions of authenticity at
heritage attractions (Goulding, 2000b) and to analyze age related experiences and the role
of nostalgia in relation to historical interpretation (Goulding, 1999a, 2001). Such issues as
place, space, crowding, environment, age and consumer groups and presentation all have
relevance to the creative industries and are worthy of further exploration. However, whilst
grounded theory has many advantages, not the least of which is ?exibility with regard to
methods of data collection, this method does come with a set of potential problems
(Goulding, 2002) which need serious consideration before embarking on a study using the
methodology. These may be summarized as follows:
B Grounded theory is risky. Grounded theory generally appeals to those researchers who
prefer to immerse themselves in data before jumping into theory and who enjoy working
with observations and natural language rather than numbers. However, the data controls
the nature of theoretical sampling and the researcher cannot de?ne the sample prior to
the research. The researcher must be prepared, if necessary, to take the research into
different contexts, to different people and to different places if they fail to reach saturation
early.
B Grounded theory is problematic when submitting research proposals. Theoretical
sampling is key to any grounded theory study. Nonetheless, given grounded theory’s
emphasis on emergent theory and possible protracted stay in the ?eld, issues of timing,
planning and targeting may prove dif?cult. Linked to this are the implications for the
budget, whether that of a manager or a research council.
B Grounded theory can be frustrating. As with any skill, practice over time tends to yield
improvement and greater con?dence. However, when using grounded theory the
researcher has to be prepared to ‘‘wade’’ around in data until codes and concepts start to
become clearer. Glaser (1978) refers to this as the ‘‘drugless trip’’ which has to be
endured until the light bulb comes on and a meaningful picture starts to emerge.
B Premature closure. This is where the researcher either withdraws too early fromthe ?eld or
fails to saturate the data from a theoretical perspective. The result of this is a series of
descriptive categories that lack theoretical sensitivity and as such do not constitute a
grounded theory.
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Nevertheless, for those who enjoy challenge, a degree of risk taking and the chance to
explore behavior from new angles grounded theory offers the opportunity for new theory
generation and innovation.
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Corresponding author
Christina Goulding can be contacted at: [email protected]
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doc_984330058.pdf
The purpose of this paper is to suggest grounded theory as a potential methodology within
the field of arts marketing and the creative industries in general, particularly if the research aims to gain
insights into consumer experiences.
International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research
Immersion, emergence and reflexivity: grounded theory and aesthetic consumption
Christina Goulding Michael Saren
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Immersion, emergence and re?exivity:
grounded theory and aesthetic
consumption
Christina Goulding and Michael Saren
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to suggest grounded theory as a potential methodology within
the ?eld of arts marketing and the creative industries in general, particularly if the research aims to gain
insights into consumer experiences.
Design/methodology/approach – Grounded theory is a general, qualitative methodology that is
concerned with social processes and interactions. The paper looks at the fundamental processes that
grounded theory must follow and provides an example of applying grounded theory in the context of
researching the Goths, an aesthetic subculture.
Research limitations/implications – The paper suggests that within the creative industries there is
scope for the wider application of inductive, theory-building methodologies that aim to provide deeper
understanding of behavior.
Originality/value – The value of the paper lies in detailing a systematic methodology that scholars may
apply across the spectrum of creative and cultural marketing from music festivals to museums.
Keywords Consumption, Arts, Marketing information
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
This special issue of IJCTHR is concerned with creative methodologies for arts marketing.
The authors suggest that given the increasing emphasis on the consumer and the changing
nature of the experience within the culture industries, grounded theory is one such
methodology. Today the cultural sphere is expanding to cater for wider audiences with a
diverse set of motivations. Accordingly, the culture industries can no longer afford to target a
narrow but de?nable market interested only in aesthetics and education. Museums and art
galleries compete for audiences, and indeed funding by offering ‘‘experiences’’ alongside
more traditional forms of display; cities are marketing themselves as centres of culture, rural
towns and villages are boosting their economy through hosting festivals and events while the
heritage sector offers trips back in time through ‘‘living’’ interpretation. In line with these
changes and expanding markets the last two decades have witnessed a transition in how
arts marketers research and understand consumers. Traditionally embedded in the realm of
visitor surveys and the positivist paradigm(Moscardo, 1996; Merriman, 1991) arts marketing
has seen an expansion of methodologies that vary from phenomenology (Masberg and
Silverman, 1996), observational methods (Boisvert and Slez, 1995), ethnography (Joy and
Sherry, 2003) and grounded theory (Goulding, 2000a, 1999a).
Today academics consider grounded theory to be a general methodology for use across the
social sciences. Although originally developed by sociologists for sociologists, academics
working in a diverse array of disciplines from nursing studies to business and management,
have adopted this methodology. Grounded theory is a methodology that is particularly
concerned with behavior and interactions and as such has potential for further application in
the ?eld of arts marketing if the objective is to develop insights into experiences. This paper
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VOL. 4 NO. 1 2010, pp. 70-82, Q Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1750-6182 DOI 10.1108/17506181011024779
Christina Goulding is based
at Wolverhampton Business
School, University of
Wolverhampton,
Wolverhampton, UK.
Michael Saren is based at
the School of Management,
University of Leicester,
Leicester, UK.
Received June 2007
Revised March 2008
Accepted April 2008
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begins with a description of grounded theory and the fundamental processes associated
with applying this method. An illustrative case based on a study of the Gothic subculture in
the festival context at Whitby in the North East of England follows. Here the authors describe
the process of immersion, emergence and re?exivity. The paper concludes with a discussion
of issues surrounding writing and publishing grounded theory research.
2. Grounded theory
Two American sociologists, Barney Glaser and Alselm Strauss, developed grounded theory
in the late 1960s largely as a reaction to the overriding emphasis on testing existing,
established sociological theories at the expense of generating new, relevant and empirically
grounded theory. In a climate that discouraged the use of ‘‘soft’’, unstructured qualitative
approaches due to their perceived lack of ‘‘scienti?c’’ rigor, Glaser and Strauss (1967)
devised and published a methodology that makes explicit the entire process of theory
generation through a series of procedures for collecting, interpreting and presenting data.
Essentially, the role of grounded theory was, and is, the generation of new theory that
accounts for the relationship of the individual or collective experience to society, to history,
the group or the organization. With origins in symbolic interactionism the researcher
attempts to determine what symbolic meanings, artefacts, words and gestures have for
people as they interact with one another and how individuals construct their notions of social
reality through these symbolic meanings (Cutcliffe, 2000). The seductive appeal of
grounded theory lies largely in the fact that it offers a structured approach to exploring the
social, the symbolic and context speci?c behaviors. To quote Glaser (1999, p. 836):
Grounded theory refers to a speci?c methodology in how to get from systematically collecting
data to producing a multivariate conceptual theory. It is a total methodological package. It
provides a series of systematic, exact methods that start with collecting data and takes the
researcher to a theoretical piece that is publishable.
As such grounded theory is well suited to the analysis of data researchers collect by means
of participant observation, direct observation, semi and unstructured interviews and case
studies as most users of this method will be concerned with situations in which they are able
to observe behavior in naturalistic settings (Turner, 1983).
2.1 Fundamental processes
When using grounded theory, the individual must followa set of fundamental processes if the
end result is to be recognized as a product of the methodology. Grounded theory requires
the individual to enter the ?eld at a very early stage and begin the process of data collection
and analysis. This starts with theoretical sampling, early data interpretation and constant
comparison. A number of strategies exist for handling the data that involve moving through a
series of coding that becomes more abstract and theoretical with the identi?cation of
patterns and relationships. The following highlights some of the essential elements of the
methodology:
1. Theoretical sampling. Unlike other methodologies where the samples are predetermined
in terms of location, characteristics of the participants and numbers, with grounded
theory sampling is an emergent and ongoing process that evolves as the theory develops
from the data. In fact the ?ndings and emergent questions direct the researcher to
different contexts, people and places in order to saturate the data. ‘‘Theoretical sampling
is the process of data collection for generating theory whereby the analyst jointly collects,
codes and analyses the data and decides what data to collect next and where to ?nd it, in
order to develop the theory as it emerges. This process of data collection is ‘controlled’ by
the emerging theory’’ (Glaser, 1978, p. 36).
2. Constant comparison. This is a fundamental feature of grounded theory and requires the
researcher to engage in data interpretation at the same time as the data are collected. As
its name implies, constant comparison is a process by which the researcher transcribes
interviews or analyses memos comparing like with like while looking for emerging patterns
and themes. The search for similarities is important as is the search for differences, as
researchers need to account for and explain differences in behavior. This proposition
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means that the presentation of grounded theory research must go beyond thick
description to explain the phenomenon under study.
3. Memos. Memo writing is vital as they provide a bank of ideas which the researchers can
revisit. They help map out the emerging theory. Essentially memos are ideas noted during
the data collection process which help to reorient the researcher at a later date. However,
ideas can also occur away from the data and the researcher should write these down.
Memos may be a few lines or several pages long.
4. Open coding. Open coding involves the breaking down, conceptualization and
categorization of data. This may start with taking a transcript of an interview and
scrutinizing it ‘‘line by line’’ in order to identify key words and phrases that give some
insight into what is happening in the data. At this stage coding is unstructured and the
researcher may identify hundreds of codes. Inevitably, the researcher needs to reduce
these codes as coding moves to a more abstract level in the search for patterns and
themes that suggest a relationship.
5. Axial coding. This involves the appreciation of open coded categories or concepts in
terms of their dynamic interrelationships. These should formthe basis for the construction
of a coherent matrix of associations. The researcher initially clusters these concepts into
descriptive categories before re-evaluating them for their interrelationships. The
researcher then undertakes a series of analytical steps which gradually subsume the
descriptive categories into higher order categories (or one underlying core category)
which suggests an emergent theory. However, they should remain open to reappraisal.
6. Selective coding. Selective coding subsumes the data further into a core category that
the researcher has to justify as the basis for the emergent theory. This is normally when the
researcher writes up the theory and integrates existing theories to show relevance and
new perspective. Nevertheless there are pitfalls to beware of when using this
methodology. There is general acknowledgement of the danger of placing too much
emphasis on identifying codes as the exclusive feature, without theoretically coding
which involves explaining how codes relate to each other (Glaser, 1978; Strauss, 1991;
Glaser, 1992; Stern, 1994). The researcher must also ensure that constant comparison is
an ongoing feature of the process. Theoretical sampling should direct the researcher to
further individuals, situations, contexts and locations and they should only present the
theory as developed when all core categories are saturated (when no new insights have
emerged from the data and the categories have been fully interpreted).
Each stage of the coding process presents dilemmas of interpretation. How the researcher
deals with these dilemmas depends on how they conceptualize the method, and over time,
this conceptualization has re?ected tensions in philosophical de?nitions. Academics
generally accept that there are two forms of grounded theory, one associated with Glaser,
the other with Strauss and Corbin. This divergence traces back to the spilt between the two
original authors that occurred when Strauss and Corbin published their 1990 text introducing
a new coding process. Glaser’s response was to deny that this constituted true grounded
theory due to the new processes stress on preconceived and forced discovery centering
primarily on these preordained categories at the expense of allowing the theory to emerge.
Simply put, Glaser’s model favors creativity and openness to unanticipated interpretations of
data while Strauss and Corbin take a much more prescriptive and mechanical route (Hall
and Callery, 2001; Suddaby, 2006). These differences may also be attributable to
divergence in the epistemological implications of the methodology with Strauss and Corbin
endorsing Dewey’s instrumentalismby introducing a form of hypo-deductivism, while Glaser
insists that grounded theory involves only the inductive phase of inquiry (Rennie, 1998).
Whilst it is not the authors intention to dwell on this issue, this is something that anyone
considering using the methodology should be aware of in order to allow them to make an
informed decision regarding which version to adopt. Ultimately the individual researcher
should read the seminal texts, particularly Discovery (1967), followed by Strauss and Corbin
(1990), and Glaser (1992) in order to make up their own mind which version ?ts their own
ontological and epistemological position, their preferred style of working and their
propensity to risk taking.
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3. Researching an aesthetic sub-culture of consumption: immersion, emergence
and re?exivity
In this section the authors present a summary of their research into the Gothic sub-cultural
experience in order to illustrate the process of applying grounded theory. The authors apply
a version of grounded theory that is predominantly Glaserian in nature. The initial aim of the
research is to explore the social dynamics and the nature of the collective experience in a
highly charged festival context. The authors previous work on subcultures, identity and the
supporting props and materiality which enabled their existence is a trigger for their interest.
They are also interested in communal aesthetics, style and identity expression. As such,
Goths offer an ideal case given their reputation as a ?amboyant subculture. Goth closely
links to a particular visual aesthetic, a musical genre and with the myth of the vampire. Goths
also revere the poetry, the literature and the style of the ‘‘Romantics’’ and have a penchant
for the darker side of nature manifest in the works of Poe, Shelley and Stoker. As the authors
had no experience of the subculture they approached the research with an open mind and
embarked on a process of immersion, emergence and re?exivity involving multiple visits to
the Goth festival in Whitby and ongoing contact with a number of key informants.
3.1 The Whitby Goth Festival
In order to gather data the authors had to get access to Goths in a communal environment.
With grounded theory theoretical sampling requires the researcher to ?rst go to people and
places that are most likely to offer early insights. The authors had read about the bi-annual
festival held in Whitby and decided to contact the organizer. Whitby is a small town in the
North East of England which is normally a fairly sedate holiday destination with long sandy
beaches and a thriving ?shing industry. The town has a mix of historical architecture with
many Victorian and Edwardian houses, narrow winding cobbled streets and an impressive
abbey perched on the edge of a cliff overlooking the town. Whitbys claimto fame is the close
links to ‘‘Dracula’’. Whilst living in Whitby Bram Stoker was inspired to write his iconic novel
which saw the vampire’s ship arrive in Whitby and his seduction of Lucy take place at Whitby
Abbey. Today, the town markets itself on this connection and this unique association makes
Whitby the spiritual home for many Goths. Whitby transforms for two weeks every year. Up to
10,000 Goths of all persuasion who parade in their costumes, ranging from simple black
jeans and tee-shirt to extravagant and ?amboyant period costumes to extreme fancy dress
take over the town.
Prior to the October festival in 2003 the authors contacted the organizer, who invited them to
design and send a poster detailing who they were, what the research was about and contact
numbers. The organizers distributed the posters at all the pre-events and they were
displayed throughout the duration of the festival at all the major venues. They also provided
the authors with passes allowing access to all areas and all events which enabled the
authors to engage in participatory observation in addition to collecting data by way of video,
photographs and interviews.
3.2 Immersion
When the authors talk about immersion, they mean the literal sense of immersion in the
culture, the context and the data. The ?rst night in Whitby the authors attended the opening
venue at the Spa Pavilion which hosts the major bands and is the main attraction and
meeting place. Here the authors acclimatized themselves with their surroundings, the
crowd, the music and the amazing display of costumes. They expected the dominant look to
be black. Instead, there was an abundance of color and texture on display; scarlet, white,
deep purple, emerald green, silk, satin, velvet and lace. The authors noticed that their
posters were on prominent display throughout the evening at strategic positions and they
decided to mingle informally with the participants. The next day a number of Goths who had
seen the posters and were keen to participate in the research contacted the authors. The ?rst
to call was Clinton and they arranged to meet. Clinton is a 27 year old vampire Goth. He
turned up dressed in full Victorian/vamp costume, complete with cat’s eyes contact lenses,
fangs, a silver tipped walking cane, cravat, tailored morning jacket, embroidered waistcoat
and silver nail extensions. With him was his partner, Lucy, a female vamp, dressed in a long
black Edwardian costume, jet jewelry and wide brimmed feather hat. Clinton had also
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brought along two friends; Christopher, a punk Goth whose attire was more modest
consisting of black jeans and tee-shirt and long straight black hair and his partner, Becky, a
Cyber-Goth who sported long, green, blue and blond wool hair braids, striped black and red
leggings, heavy buckled industrial boots, a leather jacket and ?ared 1950s style skirt. The
informants spent four hours talking about the group’s experiences within the Gothic culture,
their ?rst encounters with Goth and the signi?cance of Goth to themand their lives in general.
The next contacts were Heike a 42 year old accountant for the Ministry of Defense in her
‘‘normal’’ life, and Christine a 43 year old social worker. Both Heike and Christine are
traditional/vampire Goths, and were also dressed in full period costume, complete with
whale bone corsets and Victorian silk dresses. A further three hours were spent exploring
their motivations, connections and experiences.
Clinton and Heike became the authors gatekeepers and guides introducing others who
agreed to talk to them. Both are two of the most well known ?gures on the scene and had
contacts at all levels including fellow Goths, Goth retailers and the organizing body. Heike
guided the authors around the landmarks of Whitby and initiated them into the rites and
rituals of Goth dancing and the various genres of Goth music.
During the course of the event the authors ate and drank in the restaurants favored by Goths,
visited the abbey, shopped in the Goth shops and listened to the music. They mixed with
Goths on an informal basis and used the two main Goth pubs. The data collection consisted
primarily of interviews, participatory observation of activities including retail settings, band
venues and dance nights. The authors wrote up observations in the form of memos, made
video recordings at a variety of events and took photographs to provide tangible visual data.
Data collection and analysis were simultaneous and the authors started the process of
interrogating the data while they were there. This consisted of an inductive, interactive
process between data collection, transcription, constant comparison, preliminary analysis,
idea generation, further data collection and more focused questioning.
3.3 Emergence
In April, 2004 the authors returned to Whitby for another week and met up once again with a
number of the earlier participants with whomthey spent the majority of the time, meeting new
participants, collecting further data and re?ning their ideas. They made a ?nal visit in April
2005, in order to check concepts and collect further supporting evidence. In total the authors
collected over ?fty hours of audio-taped interviews with 22 Goths, ten hours of video
recordings and seventy ?ve photographs. They also had a wealth of insights gained from
informal conversations with Goths from all walks of life including doctors, nurses, local
authority planners and computer programmers. In other words, the authors continued
‘‘theoretical sampling’’ while newinsights arose fromfresh data. In turn the authors identi?ed
hundreds of codes that ‘‘emerged’’ directly from the data. These subsequently had to be
reduced and connected to each other through a process of abstraction and axial coding.
3.4 Re?exivity
After the ?rst event the authors kept in touch with Heike and Clinton and arranged to meet up
again. Clinton even invited the authors to his home to see howGoth was very much part of his
general lifestyle. In addition, between venues they were contacted via email by a number of
people who had seen the poster and were keen to participate. The time gap allowed the
authors to re?ect further on the data collected at the festival, re?ne their ideas and construct
a more focused interview schedule which they conducted by email with new respondents.
The original group were asked to re?ect, adjust anything in the initial analysis that they felt
was not right and add to their original narratives. During the intervening period between
festivals the authors re?ected on the data and identi?ed a number of key themes. Given the
nature of the experience, the transformative effect on both place and people and the
temporary nature of this transformation their analysis started to focus on the concepts of
theatre and performance. Some of the concepts that emerged fromthe authors experiences,
observations and the stories of the informants include:
B stages and settings;
B actors, roles and character change;
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B stars, support cast and audience;
B transformation through props;
B enacting the myth;
B festival time; and
B trace.
The authors had to integrate all of these concepts and support them with data. Alone, the
concepts hold little meaning, so they have to be connected in order to provide an
explanatory story. Before the authors can claim saturation of the data, they must check the
concept. The following represents the concepts that emerged from the research which fall
under the umbrella or category of ‘‘theatre as consumption’’.
4. Theatre as consumption
4.1 Stages and settings
The ?rst thing to recognize about ‘‘theatrical’’ consumption is that performances usually take
place upon a stage or within a particular setting conducive to the drama that is being
enacted. Place is a complex issue (Are?, 1999) and at Whitby the interpretation and use of
place is based on emotional attachments (Urry, 1990) and perceptions of authenticity
(MacCannell, 1992). For Goths, Whitby holds both emotional attachments due to its
connection with the Dracula myth, and a perceived authenticity, resulting from the Abbey,
which is a tangible reminder of the vampire’s arrival in Britain. The Goth festival takes place
within particular spatially de?ned environments whereby places are turned into spaces for
identity construction and expression. This involves transformation of place and space for the
duration of the event. The following photograph provides one such example. The Elsinore
pub (see Plate 1), usually a quiet sedate traditional establishment transforms during the
festival both inside and out with spoof horror decorations, bat banners and frothing colored
drinks. The Goths themselves transform the physical environment with their appearance,
hearses and density).
4.2 Actors, roles and performing identity
Central to any theatrical production are the actors themselves, their roles and their status in
the drama. The analogy of the individual as ‘‘actor’’ has an established place in the literature.
The meaning of Goffman’s (1959) ‘‘self performance’’ forms in and on a mirror stage. The
mirror metaphor represents the process of signi?cation in which the concealment and
disclosure of signs constructs the self. In other words self performance is a social act of
image formation. Central to this is the idea of the self as a simulation whereby make believe,
authenticity and simulation serve as vehicles of socio-cultural transformation as individuals
adopt and shed characters across the various roles and situations they ?nd themselves in.
At the festival, these roles become exaggerated and enacted to the full. For the duration of
the event there are numerous multiple performances, often running in parallel. One can
watch Goth Morris dancers performing in the square, vampire Goths playing out the myth in
the abbey graveyard and Goth Monks roaming the streets in cowls and robes. However, the
main events offer the greatest opportunity to show off and attract attention. At the Spa
Pavillion where the big name Goth bands play, at least 2,000 Goths parade, perform and
compete for attention as they allow themselves to take on their desired persona and become
their fantasy character. For some, this dressing up is about ‘‘reaf?rming’’ their sense of self
and performing their identity and is at best when in the company of other like minded
individuals. As Laura explains:
Laura: I think Goth is one of two things for most people. It is either a reaf?rmation of the self, or an
opportunity to become a person you aren’t normally. To be out in a group of Goths is very exciting
and makes you feel less of an ‘‘outsider’’. As such you tend to really go for the dressing-up and
costume when you’re in that situation because you have more con?dence in your identity. When
9-5 you’re the geeky IT boy, or a sales assistant by day, at night or at the weekend you can
become another person, or even your real self.
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Interestingly, Laura uses the term ‘‘reaf?rmation’’ of self, indicating a deep held knowledge
of who she is, but that her identity tends to be buried when away from the community. In this
sense the festival context allows Lucy to get back in touch with her inner core. For others
Goth is seen as a weekend escape from the quotidian and is treated as a temporary
neo-tribal experience (Maffesoli, 1996).
4.3 Stars, supporting cast and audience
Goth is a visual culture that the participants describe as a ‘‘family’’ with all new members
welcome. However, the reality is that there is a pecking order grounded in a hierarchy. These
hierarchical distinctions depend on commitment (Schouten and McAlexander, 1995) and
the attainment of a high degree of subcultural capital (Thornton, 1995). This of course varies
depending on the centrality of Goth to the individuals’ identity. These can distinguish who are
the stars, who are the support cast and who are the audience, as Clinton observes:
There is a hierarchy and this is very much to do with personal participation. You’ll ?nd that the
Goths ‘‘higher up’’ are the ones who make the most effort with the scene and with their image. For
example, I like the fangs and the whole vampire look, but I didn’t just want a pair that stuck over
my teeth. I searched the Yellow Pages until I found a dental technician who would make them so
they sat on a plate which was hidden. They took months to make and cost around £350, which
was a hell of a lot cheaper than if a dentist had made them.
Plate 1 Goths outside the Elsinore pub
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For some, Goth is their main role and they commit and dedicate themselves to it; perfecting
their craft and honing their performance. This sense of commitment and dedication gives
rise to a star system. Paul (see Plate 2) and his partner are two such stars.
For them Goth is a central part of their lifestyle, they have a long established history on the
scene and are known by everyone. They are true performers in the literal sense as they play
in a band ‘‘The Beautiful Deadly Children’’ who feature as the main attraction at many
prestigious Goth events. When not on a physically constructed stage their performances are
still literally scripted and enacted. They always arrive separately and time their entrance for
maximum impact. He will enter through the front, while she will wait for the right moment to
make an appearance from the rear entrance. These two are at the pinnacle of the hierarchy
and are considered to be the king and queen of the British Goth scene.
4.4 Audience
One further feature of theatre is audience. If Goths are viewed as actors engaged in a
performance then they normally require an audience to play to. The audience may take
many forms, as in the Goth community itself. Indeed there is no denying that participants
come to see and be seen. Goths also attract external audiences. There are the residents of
Whitby who are now used to the spectacle but still come out to observe; and then there are
the Goth watchers, a new breed of day tripper who come to Whitby speci?cally to see the
Goths, mingle with them, photograph them and have their photographs taken with them.
4.5 Transformation through props
Integral aspects of theatre are the props and costumes that transform the ordinary into the
extraordinary or the spectacular. The drama continues throughout the duration of the festival
at both the metaphysical level and the physical. For example, the drinking of red wine is
symbolic of drinking blood; a mirroring of the act of transubstantiation in many Christian
faiths. At the physical level, a whole retail industry descends for the two separate weeks
offering a staggering range of merchandise. These include corsets of varying shapes, size
and style, fangs, whether custom made or bought ‘‘off the shelf’’, masks, wigs, leather and
PVC, light sticks, fetish gear, period costumes and even cof?ns for order and delivery. The
?yer for ‘‘Vampire Realm: one stop shopping for vampires’’ gives an indication of the scope
of merchandise or props that individuals can purchase which in turn help to transform both
Plate 2 Paul, the ‘‘King of Goth’’
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themselves and the environment. Some drive the ultimate status symbol, the hearse, whilst
others adorn their motorbikes with Goth motifs and slogans. Authenticity is held to be highly
important. Clinton, for example when discussing his out?t described how, he had bought his
coat and shirt in Whitby. ‘‘You have to go to Whitby if you want the real thing.’’
4.6 Enacting the myth
The myth of the vampire is the foundation of Gothic community. The vampire is a legendary
creature that has a history going back to the Ancient Egyptians, but who Bram Stoker’s book
Dracula iconicizes and romanticizes. Myths have their place in many subcultures. They
provide a sense of history, context and continuity. They can also become the encoded
embodiment of values which the group enacts. Inherently, myths incorporate a sense of
mystery which helps to sustain their existence and mystery shrouds the vampire myth, which
for many Goths has been the subject of a life time fascination and is the main attraction
towards Goth for many participants:
Becky: It was de?nitely related to my morbid interest in horror and vampires when I was younger. I
think I was under the initial impression that these people were as morbid as I and that this would
de?nitely be somewhere I could ?t in. Possibly I was under the romantic delusion that vampires
just might exist. Floating around in black capes and Victorian dresses appealed to me too and I
would always have a good stare at any Goths I saw, wondering where they got their clothes.
Being into metal meant that I was always ?irting with Goth fashion and I found that I loved wearing
corsets and chiffon. Plus, I seem to have an innate leaning towards black clothes . . .
While the vampire myth is central to many of the re-enactments, Goths do not actually
believe they are vampires. The parody and pastiche evident in the pubs and the main events
themselves indicate that vampiric role play has a fun element which is not devoid of humor.
4.7 Festival time
Like Bakhtin’s (1984) carnival, the sense of theatre the Goths create is not merely a spectacle
seen by the people, rather something they live in and in which everyone participates
because the very idea embraces everyone; but only for a speci?c duration. The concept of
carnival and the carnivalesque is evident in the collective gatherings of Goths throughout
their time in Whitby. If one observes, for example, the dress and performances at the Spa
(the main social venue), there are individuals dressed as pirates, vampires, ?gures from
history, Nazis with braided dreadlocks, transvestites, cyber-Goths, skeletons and fetishists.
All combine to create a sense of high theatre and a collective ‘‘?ow’’ experience
(Csikszentmihalyi, 1992), or as Clinton notes, a ‘‘form of fancy dress’’.
4.7.1 Back stage/front stage preparations. Despite the theatricality and the time-
boundedness of the festival, the authors have to acknowledge that in the intervening
months preparations are actively underway for the next event. Bands have to be booked,
tickets ordered, accommodation secured and holidays fromwork organized. As soon as one
festival ends, rehearsals for the next begin on the part of the producers and the consumers.
Many spoke of how they can become really excited thinking about ‘‘the next time’’. Friends
made at Whitby, but separated through geographical distance email and phone each other
to plan what they will wear, what they intend to buy, ensure they co-ordinate their tickets and
so on. There is also a sense of loss and isolation from being away from the community. As
Monty describes:
Alas, outside of the Whitby festival, my involvement with Goth is very much an individual
experience, and pretty much always has been. I live in quite an isolated area so Goths are not
normally seen about or tolerated when they are. Nor are there any decent clubs nearby, so most
socialising involves trips to London, which is not something you want to do by yourself. I chat to
people online but very often they are too far away for meeting up so Whitby is something I
remember and look forward to all year.
4.7.2 Trace. Monty’s feelings when he is away from the Whitby Goth scene illustrate how his
experience of his time at the festival leaves a ‘‘trace’’ with him, if only by the festivals
absence. This is similar to Axelrod’s (1984) ‘‘shadow of the future’’. Some relationship
marketing researchers refer to this past-present-future interaction of events and experiences
as ‘‘relational time’’, where the past and future condition the relationship in the present
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(Halinen, 1998; Hedaa and To¨ rnroos, 2002; Medlin, 2004). Similarly, although collectively the
Goths only come to Whitby for the festivals, a trace of their presence remains with the place
all year. This takes an economic form in the preparations of hoteliers and shopkeepers for
their next visit. Indeed, the Mayor of Whitby told the local paper in their special tenth festival
anniversary edition how much the town values and welcomes the Goths. There is also
however, a trace left in the towns culture; the residents are more aware of their mythical
history through the Dracula story and, even in their absence, conscious of Goth music,
literature, fashion and style.
4.8 Summary of process
The authors strive for saturation in their analysis through constant re?ection on the data and
the literature. They read and connect literatures from across several disciplines including
consumer behavior, sociology and theatre studies. The authors apply what Glaser (1992)
terms the ‘‘?ip ?op’’ technique which requires the researcher to look at the data and
interpretation from every possible angle – to turn the data upside down and ask questions
until the best ‘‘?t’’ is found. This complexity often leads to increased output from the
research. With regard to publishing, most grounded theory studies identify in depth a
number of in?uential concepts. Single papers containing an entire study are rare due to the
complex issues that usually arise from the analysis. These may be viewed as ‘theory bits’
(Glaser, 1999), and may be a concept or hypotheses arising from the theory. The concepts
and categories should also act as building blocks and pave the way for subsequent
research in different cultural contexts in an ongoing process of theory development.
5. Writing the theory
In the previous section the authors simply presented a brief summary of the key themes.
However, when ?nally written up researcher have to explain every concept that supports the
major theme, provide supporting evidence (data) and relate the concept to the next. On a
?nal point related to writing the theory, there is often some confusion with regard to the
sequence in which researchers should write the research. One widely held belief is that
research should be written as it were conducted. That is as a process of presenting the
research questions, a discussion of data collection and codes followed by ?ndings, theory
and recontextulization in the literature. However, in reality this does not work. The end result
of such endeavors tend to be a confusing array of method mixed with early theory, mixed
with literature. In reality, grounded theory is usually written in a conventional manner. That is,
contextual literature, methodology, interpretation and theoretical ?ndings. Some get so
obsessed with writing the study ‘‘as it happened’’ that they lose sight of the fact that
grounded theory is not a theory in itself, but a methodology, and a means to an end.
Suddaby (2006, p. 637) makes some very interesting observations from the reviewer
perspective that offer food for thought and a useful set of guidelines for those engaging in
grounded theory research and looking to publish:
Even though grounded theory research is conducted iteratively, by analyzing and collecting data
simultaneously, it is usually presented sequentially. This gap occurs because the norms of
presentation in management (and other academic) journals have positivist origins and impose
discrete and sequential categories of data collection and analysis on authors trying to present
grounded theory research. In pure form, grounded theory research presents as a jumble of
literature consultation, data collection and analysis conducted in ongoing iterations that produce
many relatively fuzzy categories that, over time, reduce to fewer, clearer conceptual structures.
The theory comes last. Presenting grounded theory in this pure form, however, is neither ef?cient,
nor comprehensible to the majority of researchers who work in the positivist paradigm.
The norm that has evolved is to present grounded theory in the same sequence as
quantitative research. This however, can lead to accusations of methodological mixing, or
imitation of positivist research. Suddaby (2006) goes on to suggest means of overcoming
this; namely by making clear the means of data collection and analysis. The most
appropriate place to do this is in the methodology section, where the researcher can also
provide examples of coding and illustrative representations of conceptual developments
through diagrams or tables. Importantly, it is incumbent upon the researcher to state that,
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although they are presenting their study in a traditional manner, the concepts did, in fact
emerge from the data.
6. Conclusion
In this paper the authors propose the application of grounded theory within the ?eld of arts
marketing and the culture industries in general, particularly where there is a social, symbolic
or experiential element to be researched. After summarizing the fundamental features they
illustrate the process of applying the methodology in the context of the Whitby Goth festival.
The festival offers an example of how people use place, space and time to co-produce their
‘‘theatrical’’ experiences. Grounded theory also allows researchers to gain insights into
Whitby’s unique selling point based on the Dracula myth and how the Goths themselves, the
local business population and the tourist market capitalized on this.
However, whilst the authors have focused on a collective festival experience, researcher can
just as easily be apply grounded theory to other contexts such as museums, festivals or art
galleries. The challenge within the ?eld of arts marketing is to recognize that organisations
are selling an experience, whether purely aesthetic, social or embodied (see Joy and Sherry,
2003). However, there is still little evidence of the application of inductive, consumer oriented
methodologies that delve into the nature of such experiences. This could be the result of a
cultural mindset on behalf of curators or managers, especially if they come from an arts or
history background which naturally have their own speci?c methodologies. Moreover, the
application and analysis of interpretivist data requires particular skills and a degree of
experience (Suddaby, 2006). However, whilst not commonplace within the arts and heritage
sector, there are examples of the use of grounded theory. For instance, grounded theory has
been used to model visitor experiences at heritage sites (Daengbuppha, Hemmingway and
Wilkes, 2006); to assess visitor reactions to place, space, crowding, routing and exhibits in
the museum (Goulding, 1999b, 2000a); to understand visitors’ perceptions of authenticity at
heritage attractions (Goulding, 2000b) and to analyze age related experiences and the role
of nostalgia in relation to historical interpretation (Goulding, 1999a, 2001). Such issues as
place, space, crowding, environment, age and consumer groups and presentation all have
relevance to the creative industries and are worthy of further exploration. However, whilst
grounded theory has many advantages, not the least of which is ?exibility with regard to
methods of data collection, this method does come with a set of potential problems
(Goulding, 2002) which need serious consideration before embarking on a study using the
methodology. These may be summarized as follows:
B Grounded theory is risky. Grounded theory generally appeals to those researchers who
prefer to immerse themselves in data before jumping into theory and who enjoy working
with observations and natural language rather than numbers. However, the data controls
the nature of theoretical sampling and the researcher cannot de?ne the sample prior to
the research. The researcher must be prepared, if necessary, to take the research into
different contexts, to different people and to different places if they fail to reach saturation
early.
B Grounded theory is problematic when submitting research proposals. Theoretical
sampling is key to any grounded theory study. Nonetheless, given grounded theory’s
emphasis on emergent theory and possible protracted stay in the ?eld, issues of timing,
planning and targeting may prove dif?cult. Linked to this are the implications for the
budget, whether that of a manager or a research council.
B Grounded theory can be frustrating. As with any skill, practice over time tends to yield
improvement and greater con?dence. However, when using grounded theory the
researcher has to be prepared to ‘‘wade’’ around in data until codes and concepts start to
become clearer. Glaser (1978) refers to this as the ‘‘drugless trip’’ which has to be
endured until the light bulb comes on and a meaningful picture starts to emerge.
B Premature closure. This is where the researcher either withdraws too early fromthe ?eld or
fails to saturate the data from a theoretical perspective. The result of this is a series of
descriptive categories that lack theoretical sensitivity and as such do not constitute a
grounded theory.
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Nevertheless, for those who enjoy challenge, a degree of risk taking and the chance to
explore behavior from new angles grounded theory offers the opportunity for new theory
generation and innovation.
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Corresponding author
Christina Goulding can be contacted at: [email protected]
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