Past research

2023 ICAR Symposium

The 8th ICAR symposium was hosted by the University of Sydney, Australia on 11-12 December 2023. The theme for the event was “Adjusting to the New Normal: what can anti-consumption teach us?"

2020 Special Issue of Psychology & Marketing (P&M)

This special issue was based on the 7th ICAR symposium, hosted by the University of Almería, in Almería (Spain) in 2018. The theme for the event was “Anti-consumption ― beyond boundaries.” Securing a special issue in Psychology & Marketing was our way of acknowledging the growth of anti-consumption research since the first special issue was published in Psychology & Marketing nearly two decades ago.

2018 ICAR Symposium

The 7th ICAR symposium was hosted by the University of Almería, in Almería (Spain), on November 9-10 2018. The theme for the event was “Anti-consumption ― beyond boundaries”.

2018 Special Issue of the Journal of Public Policy and Marketing (JPPM)

This special issue was based on the 6th ICAR symposium, hosted by The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in 2016. The purpose of the symposium was to discuss anti-consumption and Public Policy; as such, the Journal of Public Policy and Marketing was the perfect outlet.

2016 ICAR Symposium

The 6th ICAR symposium was hosted by The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia, on 9-10th December 2016. The theme for the symposium was anti-consumption and public policy.

2016 Special Issue of the Journal of Consumer Affairs (JOCA)

This special issue was based on the 5th ICAR symposium, hosted by Christian-Albrechts University in Kiel in 2014. The purpose of the symposium was to discuss anti-consumption and Consumer Well-being; as such, the Journal of Consumer Affairs was an ideal outlet.

2014 ICAR Symposium

The 5th ICAR symposium was hosted by the Christian-Albrechts University in Kiel, Germany, on 4-5 July 2014. The theme for the symposium was anti-consumption and consumer well-being.

2013 Special Issue of the Journal of Macromarketing (JMK)

This special issue was based on the 4th ICAR symposium, hosted by Griffith Business School in 2012. The purpose of the symposium was to discuss anti-consumption and society; as such, the Journal of Macromarketing was an ideal outlet.

2013 Special Issue of the Journal of Macromarketing  

2012 ICAR Symposium

The 4th ICAR symposium was hosted by Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia, on 27-28 June 2012. The theme for the symposium was anti-consumption and society.

2011 Special Issue of the European Journal of Marketing (EJM)

This special issue was based on the first ICAR/NACRE joint symposium in the northern hemisphere, hosted by Euromed Marseille in 2010. The purpose of the symposium was to identify and discuss the most pertinent redundancies and differences between anti-consumption and consumer resistance. From an initial pool of 50 submissions, this special issue comprises the top papers that survived two double blind peer review rounds.

View the 2011 Special Issue of the European Journal of Marketing articles

2010 Special Issue of the Journal of Consumer Behaviour (JCB)

This special edition of the Journal of Consumer Behaviour (JCB) is based on the theme of anti-consumption research and sustainability. A topic that was of particular interest to the special edition was the avoidance of specific brands or products as it could help us understand the typically disappointing market shares held by "green" products. Other potential areas amongst many include; preferences for one brand or product over another and research into consumers who actively look to reduce their levels of consumption overall (including "carborexics") or in specific product categories.

View the 2010 Special Issue of the Journal of Consumer Behaviour articles

2010 ICAR Symposium

In 2010, ICAR held its third international symposium, and first venture into the Northern Hemisphere, at Euromed in Marseille, France (25 and 26 June), in affiliation with the French National Research Agency and French Marketing Association, and generously supported by the Association for Consumer Research's Special Conferences Fund.

The inspiration for the symposium arose at a time when anti-consumption and consumer resistance were receiving more attention, as evidenced by recent works in the area. However, there was still much confusion about the differences and similarities between anti-consumption and consumer resistance. Thus, the main objective of the joint ICAR/NACRE Symposium was to come closer to identifying what the most pertinent redundancies and differences were in these two topics. Therefore, the Symposium theme was: "Anti-consumption and consumer resistance: Concepts, concerns, conflicts, and convergence."

Rob Kozinets' closing keynote/video on ethnography and anti-consumption research:
View video entitled: Consuming and resisting, a presentation to ICAR/NACRE by Robert Kozinets (18:04)

2010 Special Issue of Consumption Markets and Culture (CMC)

The fit between anti-consumption interests and CMC is perfect. An interdisciplinary and international journal, CMC focuses on consumerism and the markets as the site of social behaviour and discourse, and encourages pragmatic research that engages the role of management.

View the 2010 Special Issue of the Consumption Markets and Culture articles

2009 Special Issue of the Journal of Business Research (JBR)

This special edition of the Journal of Business Research (JBR) is based on ICAR’s first symposium in 2006 at the University of Auckland Business School in New Zealand. The symposium successfully brought together researchers from diverse research paradigms, academic disciplines and geographical regions, creating synergy and establishing a scholarly network that continues to grow.

View the 2009 Special Issue of the Journal of Business Research articles

2008 ICAR Symposium

Following on from the success of the 2006 ICAR symposium in Auckland, New Zealand, the second ICAR symposium was hosted by the University of Sydney on 4-5 December 2008.

The ICAR symposium was once again organised in a spirit of inclusion. It provided a platform for recent work in the anti-consumption area but was also an occasion to consider the urgent need for direction within sustainable practice.

The symposium theme was therefore set as: How can anti-consumption research contribute to sustainability?

2006 ICAR Symposium

In June 2006, the International Centre for Anti-Consumption Research (ICAR) held its first gathering in Auckland, New Zealand. The symposium was organised to follow the ACR Asia Pacific Conference in Sydney. The event was also held in conjunction with the special issue on anti-consumption by the Journal of Business Research.

On Tuesday 20 and Wednesday 21 June, international experts in the field of anti-consumption presented their latest work at the University of Auckland Business School.