The Hard Sell: An Ethnographic Study of the Direct Selling Industry

ISBN-13: 9780367603991 / Angielski / Miękka / 2020 / 216 str.

John Bone

Opis

In this work John Bone provides a lively and engaging insight into the social world of direct selling organizations. He investigates these under-researched organizations via a detailed ethnography of two home improvement companies selling products such as fitted kitchens, double glazing and conservatories, as well as developing wider sociological d

Recenzje

Prize: The British Sociological Association Philip Abrams Memorial Prize 2007 (joint winner) 'John Bone's penetrating study of direct selling in the home improvements industry takes us into a world that makes a mockery of the principles of rationally ordered bureaucracy. This is booty capitalism: irrational, anti-structural, and fixated on short-term gains. Offering a wealth of ethnographic material, Bone's study is a major contribution to our understanding of the dynamics of contemporary capitalism.' Alan Aldridge, University of Nottingham, UK '...for readers who require insights into the day-to-day organization and operations of an important but little-known business type, this provides essential reading...As a contribution to business history, this work of sociology has opened up an aspect of "real life" to academic scrutiny and has exposed a less glamorous part of the retail industry to first-rate effect.' Business History

Spis treści

Contents: Introduction: direct selling; Setting the scene; Entering the field; 'The Persuaders' part 1: marketing; 'The Persuaders' part 2: sales; The culture of the 'con man'; A culture of excess; Booty capitalism; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.

O autorze

John Bone is Lecturer in Sociology in the Department of Sociology, University of Aberdeen, UK.