Mr Damien Arthur

Biography/ Background

Damien is the lecturer in charge of Consumer Behaviour, and is a PhD Candidate in Marketing at the University of Adelaide. His current research is examining the symbolic roles that brands play in the lives of today's youth. He has published in a number of international marketing publications, including Psychology and Marketing, Australasian Marketing Journal, Young Consumers, and Qualitative Market Research. He is also active professionally and regularly provides consulting advice to youth marketing specialists Lifelounge.

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 and his thesis titled "The Symbolic Consumption of Subcultures" will be submitted in 2009.

Teaching Interests

Damien is an entertaining and enthusiastic lecturer who, because of his age and research interests, relates particularly well to undergraduate students. As the lecturer in charge of Consumer Behaviour, Damien encourages his students to observe their own consumption behaviour as he sees this is an excellent way to grasp the significance of the theoretical concepts. Damien classes also utilise discussion boards and other online tools to compliment face-to-face education. While consumer behaviour is his passion, when time permits, Damien tutors Marketing Principles, Market Research and Information Systems, and gives regular guest lectures in Marketing Ethics, Qualitative Research and Advanced Theory in Marketing.

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.

Publications

Selected Publications Include:

Arthur, Damien and Claire Sherman (2010 Forthcoming), "Status within a Consumption-Oriented Counterculture," Advances in Consumer Research, 37: 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," Advances in Consumer Research, 35, ed. Angela Y. Lee and Dilip Soman, Duluth, 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 regularly provides research and consulting advice to youth marketing and branded entertainment specialists Lifelounge. Together they have helped many large organisations (such as Nike, Levi's and Target) to successfully engage and communicate with Australia's young adults.

In 2005, Damien was the Head Analyst of the Lifelounge Urban Market Report (UMR). UMR_05 encapsulated the behaviours and attitudes of Australia's young influencers by combining both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. In particular the report focused 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 [105.2K] (application/pdf)

Expertise for Media Contact

Categories	Advertising, marketing & PR
Expertise	Youth culture, youth marketing, consumer behaviour, Hip Hop, and subcultures.

Entry last updated: Sunday, 22 Nov 2009