The Holistic Myth: How the Complementary and Alternative Medicine Market Shapes a Unified Consumer Culture

Le mythe holistique: Comment le marché des médecines non conventionnelles structure une culture de consommation unifiée

Paul Pasquier (), Anthony Galluzzo () and Laure Ambroise ()
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Paul Pasquier: IAE ST-E - Institut d'Administration des Entreprises de Saint Etienne - UJM - Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Étienne, COACTIS - COnception de l'ACTIon en Situation - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - UJM - Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Étienne
Anthony Galluzzo: IAE ST-E - Institut d'Administration des Entreprises de Saint Etienne - UJM - Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Étienne, COACTIS - COnception de l'ACTIon en Situation - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - UJM - Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Étienne
Laure Ambroise: IAE ST-E - Institut d'Administration des Entreprises de Saint Etienne - UJM - Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Étienne, COACTIS - COnception de l'ACTIon en Situation - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - UJM - Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Étienne

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Abstract: This paper explores how the complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) market shapes consumer cultures by fostering a unified holistic perspective. While CAM is often associated with cultural pluralism and a fragmentation of therapeutic practices, we argue that it is underpinned by a cosmological myth. This myth, centered on concepts like energy and holism, harmonizes diverse practices and narratives by streamlining the complexities of health disorders and therapeutic journeys. Drawing on ethnographic and netnographic research conducted between 2020 and 2023, we show how consumers engage with these narratives to navigate a diverse marketplace and create meaning in their health-seeking behaviors. Our findings challenge traditional views of myths in consumer culture as purely diverse narratives, suggesting instead that they can also act as powerful unifying frameworks in complex social contexts.

Keywords: Cultures de consommation; Mythe; Médecines alternatives et complémentaires; Ethnographie; Postmodernisme (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-05-14
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-04991496v1
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Published in 41ème Congrès International de l’afm : Lille 2025, Association Française de Marketing; IAE Lille; IESEG School of Management, May 2025, Lille, France

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