Market transformation in the French coffee scene: an actor-network theory perspective

Anissa Pomiès

Chapter 15 in Research Handbook on the Sociology of Consumption, 2026, pp 183-192 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: What is the role of consumers in the emergence of a niche market in a culture of consumption shaped by a strong mainstream market? The chapter addresses this question by exploring the evolution of the French coffee scene through the actor-network theory (ANT) lens. Building on a seven-year ethnographic study, it shows that it was consumers used to drinking coffee in traditional cafés who became France's first specialty coffee market professionals. They then connected with an established professional association with a similar interest to co-found the specialty coffee shop niche market. The chapter shows that a four-step process of problematization, interessement, enrollment, and mobilization fostered the transformation of consumers into market professionals, reshaped their taste practices, and enabled the creation of the alliances needed to form a niche market.

Keywords: NIche market; Market professionals; Actor-network theory; Sociology of translation; Ethnography; Specialty coffee (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035310500
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.elgaronline.com/doi/10.4337/9781035310517.00027 (application/pdf)
Our link check indicates that this URL is bad, the error code is: 403 Forbidden

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:elg:eechap:22245_15

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.e-elgar.com

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Chapters from Edward Elgar Publishing
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Jack Sweeney ().