Mass Customization in Small Studios: How Wedding Planners Make Weddings for Couples?

• In Event: 30661 - Section on Sociology of Consumers and Consumption Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 1. Production of taste

Abstract

Sociologists have identified significance of salesperson-consumer interactions in economic transactions. But societal changes, including widespread application of customized product, raise the prospect of similar mechanism in production. I conducted three months of observations in Blossom Wedding Planning Agency (a pseudonym), supplemented by interviews with 5 established wedding planners. Drawing from the researches of ritual studies, cultural industry labor, and consumer behavior, this study examines how wedding planners blend commodification with professionalism to produce culturally meaningful yet marketable products. Overall, wedding planners co-create weddings with clients through iterative feedback and negotiation, while retaining control over the final outcomes.

Author

• Dongning Wu, Renmin University of China