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- Title
Relational Brokerage: Interaction and Valuation in Two Markets.
- Authors
Wohl, Hannah; Besbris, Max
- Abstract
Across various markets, consumers rely on brokers to help them select goods. How do brokers shape consumers' valuation? We address this question by drawing from two independent but analogous ethnographies of brokerage and purchasing in the New York housing market and the New York art market. Building upon the relational turn in economic sociology, we identify the interlocking mechanisms by which brokers influence valuation in face-to-face interaction: Brokers (1) build trust by establishing rapport and displaying expertise, (2) prepare consumers to purchase by priming the consumption setting so that consumers compare a specified set of goods and experience urgency, and (3) posit matches between consumers and products, relying on demographic and cultural characteristics of consumers to complete transactions. Our novel theorization of brokerage has broader implications for understanding valuation and consumption.
- Subjects
NEW York (State); VALUATION; CONSUMERS; ECONOMIC sociology; HOUSING market; DEMOGRAPHIC characteristics; ART collecting
- Publication
Qualitative Sociology, 2024, Vol 47, Issue 1, p1
- ISSN
0162-0436
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s11133-023-09553-7