Countervailing discourses of cultural appreciation versus cultural appropriation are fueling a tension between the ethnic consumer subject, who views the consumption of cultural difference as a valorized identity project, and the responsibilized consumer subject, who is tasked with considering the societal impacts of such consumption. Drawing on an extended qualitative investigation of international K-pop consumers, this study illustrates that this tension spurs consumers to pursue self-authorization the reflexive reconfiguration of the self in relation to the social world through which consumers grant themselves permission to continue consuming cultural difference. Four consumer self-authorization strategies are identified: reforming, restraining, recontextualizing, and rationalizing. Each strategy relies upon an amalgam of countervailing moral interpretations about acts of consuming difference, informing ideologies about the power relationships between cultures, and emergent subject positions that situate the consuming self in relation to others whose differences are packaged for consumptionCruz, Angela & Seo, Yuri & Scaraboto, Daiane. (2024). Between Cultural Appreciation and Cultural Appropriation: Self-Authorizing the Consumption of Cultural Difference. Journal of Consumer Research. 50. 962-984. 10.1093/jcr/ucad022.
I would stan a group or Id go on Twitter and before someone stans a group theyd be like, Is this group problematic? And then you click the thread and then itd be like this groups done blackface, this groups done cornrows, this group said the N word. I think with woke culture now being such a prevalent thing in the media, before someone stans a group theyre like, Okay, just to double check is this group okay to stan? Because a lot of people dont want to seem like theyre promoting this behavior. [ . . . ] If Im on Twitter at the moment Ill be looking through a friends account or someone elses account and itll be like, Dont follow me if youre a fan of this group, this group, this group or this group because I dont want to be associated with even the fans of that group. So they think that just because youre a fan of that group you support their behaviors. They just dont want to be mutuals with someone who supports people that they dont like. So lets say if Super Junior for example did some
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[ . . . ] One of my favorite groupsor used to be one of my favorite groupswas Oh My Girl, they were not necessarily racist but they were doing a lot of cultural appropriation. They were wearing bindis and specifically making fun of Indian culture. When I first started stanning they did do some stuff in the past and I gave them the benefit of the doubt because I was like, theyre young, we all make mistakes and they havent made a mistake in two years, Im assuming theyve grown from that. They did it again and Im like, No, I cant. (Nadia, interview)
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While K-pop idol group Oh My Girl used to be one of Nadias favorites, she stopped supporting them in response to repeated episodes of cultural appropriation. Nadias deliberate restraint carries significant identity-relevant consequences. As Nadia observes, those who continue to support controversial idols can be met with social rejection (dont follow me if you are a fan of this group). Restraining thus protects the self from exclusionary social sanctions that tend to be enforced by vocal reformers in the K-pop fandom. When consumers feel vulnerable to social judgments, as in the case of international K-pop fans who closely scrutinize each others consumption, the subject position of the cautious appreciator allows 32 Page 32 of 77 D o w n o a d e d l f r o m h t t p s : / / a c a d e m c . o u p . c o m i / j c r / a d v a n c e a r t i c e d o l / i / 1 0 1 0 9 3 . / j c r / u c a d 0 2 2 7 1 0 0 3 4 5 b y g u e s t /
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Manuscripts submitted to Journal of Consumer Research consumers to demonstrate their commitment toor at the very least, compliance withthe moral mandate of the cultural appropriation discourse, thereby offering a viable pathway for individuals to self-authorize what cultural difference they consume. Restraining How Cultural Difference Is Consumed. The subject position of the cautious appreciator also helps consumers manage the tension as it pertains to how cultural difference is consumed. Here, consumers dampen the intensity of K-pop related identity expressions, exerting careful control over how they convey their appreciation of K-pop. Jerry, for example, acknowledged that many K-pop fans risk being condemned as exhibiting the appropriative excesses of the stereotypical Koreaboo. To shield the self from these negative judgments, Jerry discussed the importance of steering clear of consumption practices that are
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