Negotiating the meaning of brands

How does a brand become meaningful, and how does certain lifestyle values become integrated into a brand so that the brand appears like a trustworthy statement? The paper investigates the ongoing negotiation processes between brand maker and brand users as a key to understand how brands become meaningful. The result of the negotiation processes is the creation of a common consent of meaning, which the brand rests upon. This implies that a brand can only be meaningful if the brand maker and brand users can create this brand habit.     

A note on cognitive branding and the value profile

The aim of this paper is to present a pragmatic inspired branding method called a value profile, within the theory of cognitive branding. The method is theoretical anchored in Charles S. Peirce's pragmatic theory and can be used to identify the core values of brands and also identify the possible consequences of how these values influence people to purchase products. Moreover, it can be used to analyze the values themselves.     

Equality as a driver of inequality? Universalistic welfare,generalised creditworthiness and financialised housing markets

Abstract

Scandinavian countries are known for their universalistic welfare states, corporatist coordination, strong economic performances and egalitarian outcomes, an institutional combination often referred to as the ‘Nordic model’. However, these countries also possess volatile and increasingly vulnerable housing markets characterised by periods of sharp increases in prices and rents and some of the highest debt to income ratios in the world. The combination of a universalistic welfare state and housing market dynamics sets off a self-reinforcing process of increased stratification and re-familialisation. How did these orderly, egalitarian and welfare-oriented societies end up with housing markets that expose their citizens to increasing risk while driving inequality? The key lies in the effect the Nordic welfare state has on financialised housing markets. Successful decommodification of human lives leads to generalised creditworthiness which stimulates asset price inflation and new wealth and risk inequalities.