Zeynep Arsel
Assistant Professor, Department of Marketing
Zeynep Arsel received her PhD in Marketing from University of Wisconsin-Madison with minors in Sociology and Cultural Anthropology. She also holds a MBA degree from Middle East Technical University and a BSc. in Management from Bilkent University. Dr. Arsel’s work broadly explores how cultural narratives, structures and institutions shape individual consumption practices. On a practical level, her research has applications to fashion and home design, sustainability and social media use. She published articles in the Journal of Consumer Research and Journal of Marketing, is in the editorial board of Consumption Markets and Culture and routinely presents at international conferences. Dr. Arsel was the 2011 recipient of Petro Canada Young Innovator Award in the Strategic Research Cluster “The Person and Society.”
Dr. Arsel’s work has been funded by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Fonds Québécois de la Recherche sur la Société et la Culture, Association for Consumer Research, Marketing Science Institute, and was featured in Wall Street Journal, Globe and Mail, WIRED, Psychology Today, Harper’s Magazine, Montreal Gazette, L’Actualite, Vancouver Sun, Ottawa Citizen, Calgary Herald, The Star Phoenix, Canada.com, Le Devoir, La Presse, Miller Mc-Cune, Wisconsin Public Radio, CBC Radio, Profit Magazine, Flavorwire, Isthmus Magazine, Yahoo News, LiveScience and numerous blogs.
Selected Research
Refereed Journal Articles
Arsel, Zeynep and Jonathan Bean (forthcoming in 2013) “Taste Regimes and Market-Mediated Practice,” Journal of Consumer Research, 52 (February).Arsel, Zeynep and Craig J. Thompson (2011) “Demythologizing Consumption Practices: How Consumers Protect their Field-Dependent Identity Investments From Devaluing Marketplace Myths,” Journal of Consumer Research, 37 (February), 791-806.
Thompson, Craig J., Aric Rindfleisch and Zeynep Arsel (2006) “Emotional Branding and the Strategic Value of the Doppelgänger Brand Image”, Journal of Marketing, 1(January), 50-64.
Thompson, Craig J. and Zeynep Arsel, (2004) “The Starbucks Brandscape and Consumers’ (Anti-Corporate) Experiences of Glocalization”, Journal of Consumer Research, 31 (December), 631-643.
Book Chapters
Arsel, Zeynep and Xin Zhao (forthcoming in 2012), “Blogs” in The Digital Consumer, eds. Russell Belk and Rosa Llamas, Routledge .Refereed Conference Presentations
Debenedetti, Alain, Philippe Mérigot and Zeynep Arsel (2012) “Continuity and Transfer of Place Attachment: An Ethnographic Exploration," EMAC 2012 Conference, May 2012, Lisbon, PortugalArsel, Zeynep and Susan Dobscha (2011), “Hybrid Pro-social Exchange Systems: The Case of Freecycle,” Association for Consumer Research Conference, October 2011, St Louis, MO
Debenedetti, Alain, Philippe Mérigot and Zeynep Arsel (2011) “The Continuation of Place Attachment Experience Through Time and Space: The “Coin De Verre” Case", 6th Workshop On Interpretive Consumer Research, May 2011, Odense, Denmark
Arsel, Zeynep and Jonathan Bean (2010) “Networked Styles and Normalizing Taste Narratives”, Association for Consumer Research Conference, October 2010, Jacksonville, FL
Arsel, Zeynep and Susan Dobscha (2010) “Local Acts, Global Impacts?: Examining the Pro-Social, Non-Reciprocal Nature of Freecyclers” European Association for Consumer Research Conference, July 2010, London, UK.
Arsel, Zeynep and Jonathan Bean (2010) “Collective Taste Making: Analyzing Apartment Therapy Narrative”, Consumer Culture Theory Conference, June 2010, Madison, WI.
Arsel, Zeynep and Xin Zhao (2010) "Personal Blogging, Performance and the Quest for Fame", Association for Consumer Research Conference, October 2010, Jacksonville, FL
Arsel, Zeynep (2009) “Exploring the Social Dynamics of Online Bartering” Association for Consumer Research Conference, October 2009, Pittsburgh, PA.
Arsel, Zeynep and Craig J. Thompson (2008) “I Might Consume Like a Hipster, but I am not a Hipster: Myth Markets and Consumer Reflexivity” Consumer Culture Theory Conference, June 2008, Suffolk University, Boston, MA
Arsel, Zeynep and Craig J. Thompson (2005) “Consuming It Cool: Status Multiplicity and Contextualized Cultural Capital” European Association for Consumer Research Conference, June 2005, Göteborg, Sweden
Thompson, Craig J and Zeynep Arsel (2003) “Consumers’ Experiences of Glocalization in a Hegemonic Brandscape: The Case of Starbucks and Local Coffee Shop Culture”, Association of Consumer Research Conference, October 2003, Toronto, ON
Arsel, Zeynep (2002), “Consuming ‘by’ taste or consuming taste: A Revisit to Bourdieu’s Distinction “, Association for Consumer Research Conference, Oct 2002, Atlanta, GA (poster session)

Zeynep Arsel
Assistant Professor, Department of MarketingPhD (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Contact Information
John Molson School of Business1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd. West
Montreal (Quebec)
Canada H3G 1M8
Office: MB 13.227
Phone: (514) 848-2424 ext 2956
E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Website: zeyneparsel.com
Area of Expertise
- Brands
- Blogs
- Identity and Consumption
- Redistribution Markets
- Taste and Social Distinction
Videos
- Listen to Dr. Arsel's Cinq a Six radio interview on the Hipster Economy