Standing out in the Crowd: The Rise of Exclusivity-Based Strategies to Compete in the Contemporary Marketplace for Music and Fashion

Brian J Hracs, Doreen Jakob and Atle Hauge
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Brian J Hracs: Department of Social and Economic Geography, Uppsala University, Kyrkogardsgatan 10 plan 4 (Ekonomikum) Box 513, 751 20, Sweden
Doreen Jakob: College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Geography, University of Exeter, Amory Building, Rennes Drive, Exeter EX4 4RJ, England, and Department of Communication Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 115 Bingham Hall, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3285, USA
Atle Hauge: Eastern Norway Research Institute, Skolegata 1, 2317 Hamar, Norway

Environment and Planning A, 2013, vol. 45, issue 5, 1144-1161

Abstract: Geographers have studied the complex relationships between cultural production, consumption, and space for some time, but the marketplace for cultural products is being reconfigured by digital technologies and broader societal trends. For producers of fashion and music the contemporary marketplace is a double-edged sword featuring lower entry barriers and fierce competition from an unprecedented number of producers and ubiquitous substitutes. Global firms and local entrepreneurs struggle to stand out in the crowd and command monopoly rents for their unique goods and services. This paper examines how independent cultural producers use ‘exclusivity’ to generate attention and distinction. Drawing on qualitative research with independent musicians and fashion designers in Toronto, Stockholm, Berlin, and New York it presents three mechanisms through which exclusivity can be created. These include exploiting consumer demand for uniqueness, enrolling consumers into the production and promotion process, and manipulating physical and virtual space.

Keywords: independent production; music; fashion; competition; consumption; exclusivity; production of physical and virtual space (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:envira:v:45:y:2013:i:5:p:1144-1161

DOI: 10.1068/a45229

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