 Making localness work: boundary intermediation in decentralised market systemsPaola Gioia,
Nacima Ourahmoune,
Brigitte Müller and
Diego Rinallo ()
Post-Print from HAL Abstract: Contemporary markets are increasingly structured around fragile and contested value categories, eg, localness, sustainability, or authenticity. Yet marketing scholarship has paid limited attention to how such categories become operational and durable in decen-tralised contexts without dominant orchestrators. Drawing on a Market System Dynamics perspective, this study examines how the boundary of localness becomes operational. We investigate the 100% Valposchiavo initiative in a Swiss Alpine Valley, where the distinction between local and non-local is negotiated among several actors. Based on interviews, field observations, and online reviews, we identify three recursive dynamics (boundary work, boundary operationalisation, and boundary materialisation) through which symbolic distinctions are translated into practices. We conceptualise the mechanism sustaining these dynamics as boundary intermediation, a distributed process of market stabilisa-tion under institutional ambiguity. Keywords: Market System Dynamics; boundary intermediation; local food system; place branding; institutional ambiguity; decentralised markets (search for similar items in EconPapers) Published in Journal of Marketing Management, inPress, pp.1 - 26. ⟨10.1080/0267257X.2026.2651846⟩ There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it. Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05603072 DOI: 10.1080/0267257X.2026.2651846 Access Statistics for this paper More papers in Post-Print from HAL |
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