Dr Damien Arthur

Biography/ Background

Dr Damien Arthur is a marketing academic with expertise in consumer behaviour, youth culture and qualitative methodologies. His current research examines the symbolic roles that brands play in the lives of today's youth. He has published in a number of international marketing publications, including Advances in Consumer Research, Psychology and Marketing, Australasian Marketing Journal, Young Consumers, and Qualitative Market Research. He is also active professionally and as the director of Youth Research Australia regularly provides consulting advice to organisations desiring an understanding of, and communicating with, Australian youth.

Qualifications

After completing an international exchange program at the University of Victoria, Canada, Damien graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce (Management) from the University of Adelaide in 1999. In 2001 he received First Class Honours in Commerce for his thesis titled "The Use of Threat in Advertising: An examination of Persuasion and Ethics". In 2002 Damien was awarded a University of Adelaide scholarship to complete a PhD in marketing. His PhD proposal was awarded the 2003 ANZMAC Monash Doctoral Colloquium Prize for the Best PhD Proposal that had the greatest potential to contribute to marketing knowledge. His PhD, "The Symbolic Consumption of Subcultures: An Ethnographic Study of the Australian Hip Hop Culture", was confirmed in 2010.

Teaching Interests

Damien is an entertaining and enthusiastic lecturer who, because of his age and research interests, relates particularly well to undergraduate students. When Damien teaches Consumer Behaviour he encourages his students to observe their own consumption as he sees this is an excellent way to grasp the significance of the theoretical concepts. His classes also utilise discussion boards and other online tools to compliment face-to-face education. While consumer behaviour is his passion, Damien also lectures Qualitative Research for Australian Institute of Music's Master of Arts Management.

Research Interests

Most of Damien's current research is related to the way young people use consumption to communicate symbolically. His PhD thesis is an ethnographic investigation of the Australian Hip Hop culture, a youth subculture firmly rooted in consumer based objects of music, clothes and symbols. In particular, it investigates how symbolic consumption can be an expression of a self and subcultural identity.

He is also interested in the structure of consumption-oriented subcultures and the evolving nature of one's self-identity and reflective consumption as one advances up the subcultural hierarchy. As such, much of his research relies heavily on the notions of authenticity and subcultural capital. In addition, Damien is interested in the role of iconic brands within subcultures, the relationship between consumption and community, the expression of masculinity via consumption and the expression of a self-identity through online communities.

Damien has also acted as a youth specialist and qualitative researcher for Thermometer Survey - Australia's most comprehensive social survey of community knowledge, attitudes, values, beliefs and intentions in response to climate change.

Publications

A full list of publications is available for download below, however notable publications include:

Arthur, Damien and Claire Sherman (2010), "Status within a Consumption-Oriented Counterculture," Advances in Consumer Research, 37, Pittsburgh, PA: Association of Consumer Research.

Chalmers, Tandy and Damien Arthur (2008), "Hard-Core Members' of Consumption-Oriented Subcultures Enactment of Identity: The Sacred Consumption of Two Subcultures," in Advances in Consumer Research, 35, ed. Angela Y. Lee and Dilip Soman, Duluth, MN, 570-575: Association of Consumer Research.

Arthur, Damien (2006) "Authenticity and Consumption in the Australian Hip Hop Culture", Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 9 (2), 140-156.

Arthur, Damien, Claire Sherman, Dion Appel, and Lucy Moore (2006), "Why young consumers adopt interactive technologies: a values-based approach," Young Consumers, 7 (3), 33-38.

Arthur, Damien, Claire Sherman, and Dion Appel (2006), "Understanding and Communicating with Australia's Young Adults," in Youth Brands and Lifestyles, eds. Paulo Ribeiro Cardoso and Sofia Gaio and Jesus Perez Seoane, Porto: Universidade Fernando Pessoa, 47-59.

Arthur, Damien & Pascale Quester (2004) "Who's Afraid of That Ad? Applying Segmentation to the Protection Motivation Model", Psychology and Marketing, 21 (9), 671-696.

Arthur, Damien & Pascale Quester (2003) "The Ethicality of Using Fear for Social Advertising", Australasian Marketing Journal, 11 (1), 12-27.

Professional Associations

Damien is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the Young Consumers journal, and is also a member of the Association for Consumer Research, the Australian Marketing Institute, and the International Centre for Anti-Consumption Research.

Professional Interests

Damien is the the director and founder of Youth Research Australia. In this capacity, and previously as a consulting academic, he has provided research and consulting advice to a number of organisations looking to successfully engage and communicate with Australia’s young adults (e.g. Nike, Target, Fantastic Noodles).

In addition, he has has worked closely with Lifelounge in the development of the Urban Market Report (UMR). Australia’s premier youth research project, the UMR encapsulates the behaviours and attitudes of Australia’s young influencers by combining both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. In particular the report focuses on the five lifestyle pillars (music, sport, fashion, entertainment and travel) and the three influences (finance, communication and sex) of youth culture.

Files

• Full List of Publications - Publications.pdf [84.1K] (application/pdf)

Entry last updated: Wednesday, 14 Sep 2011