More to Loathe than to Love? The reinforcement and contestation of stigma in the Reality T.V. show More to Love

Abstract

Stigma is a powerful phenomenon that, in many ways, places specific groups of consumers at the outskirts of the marketplace. Nevertheless, there are products and services which may appear to seek to confront stigmas while depending for their very the existence on the continued stigmatization of groups of consumers. We aim to understand how consumers negotiate the paradox of products for which the stigma is necessary, yet contested through an examination of the logics that are shared by and unique to the various factions of consumers reacting to the reality television show More to Love.