This special issue seeks to establish literature as a valuable resource for marketing and consumer research. While marketing scholars have long studied stories and narratives, literary texts and literary theory remain underutilized in the field. The editors invite researchers to explore how novels, poetry, drama, and other literary forms can deepen our understanding of consumer behavior, brands, and markets in ways that complement traditional empirical approaches.
The issue welcomes three main types of contributions: studies using literary texts as empirical material to examine consumer culture; scholarship applying literary theory concepts to marketing phenomena; and reflections on literary methods and epistemologies in consumer research. Additionally, the editors invite work on how literature itself is marketed and consumed, including phenomena like BookTok, and submissions that experiment with literary and creative writing forms as modes of scholarly contribution when integral to the research.