The Darker Side of Multisensory Experiential Consumption: Insights from Yachting and Adventure Racing

Home , Burning Man, Monochrom, Obstacle racing, Tough Mudder

A Dissertation Submitted in Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Rebecca Scott

September 2014

School of Marketing UNSW Business School UNSW Australia

1 THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES Thesis/Dissertation Sheet

Surname or Family name: SCOTT

First name: REBECCA Other name/s: OLIVIA

Abbreviation for degree as given in the University calendar: PhD

School: Marketing Faculty: UNSW Business School

Title: The Darker Side of Multisensory Experiential Consumption: Insights from Yachting and Adventure Racing

Abstract (350 words maximum)

The darker side of multisensory experiential consumption is investigated through ethnographic fieldwork in the realms of ocean yacht racing and military-style adventure racing. Four themes are addressed: (1) How do people voluntarily participate in consumption experiences that involve suffering and that they know will be difficult, unpleasant and painful? Findings give insight into three paradoxical discourses – suffering is managed out of day to day practices, yet some people seek it out; most institutions have sought to reduce injury in the workplace, yet outside of work people increase their chances of injury; we are healthier than ever, yet choose to risk our well-being. Emphasized are the notions of the work of culture, individualization, hyper-performance and edgework.

(2) How are these experiences commercialized? How is pain articulated as an explicit selling point, and how is the narrative being developed into a cultural commodity? Findings show how masochism proves toughness; how masochism is considered as a lived experience, but one where consumers may be unable to decode marketing communications that promise pain because of over stimulation of the mind and underuse/misuse of the body; how masculine masochism can be sold to make a profit, yet it may deliver feminine experience.

(3) How does the body interface with the natural world? A typology is developed to identify how embodied experiences change according to the privileging and suppression of sensory stimulants. A holistic approach helps consumer researchers to understand the relations between the senses, including contradictions and dilemmas, and how this shapes embodied knowledge.

(4) How are consumer researchers to use techniques from sensory anthropology to explore the senses and derive novel insights into consumer experience? Provided is a concrete set of methodological guidelines around the concepts of embodiment, mimesis, the mindful body, local biology and the work of culture.

A body-centric approach offers a rich corporeal narrative to introduce the phenomenon of people voluntarily suffering. Highlighted is the role of the senses in emerging forms of experiential consumption. Three contexts span the dissertation: the non-work pursuits of affluent Western consumers, controlled adventure racing contrasted with uncontrolled yacht racing, and the commercialization of these pursuits.

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I hereby grant to the University of New South Wales or its agents the right to archive and to make available my thesis or dissertation in whole or in part in the University libraries in all forms of media, now or here after known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I retain all property rights, such as patent rights. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation.

I also authorize University Microfilms to use the 350 word abstract of my thesis in Dissertation Abstracts International (this is applicable to doctoral theses only).

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Declaration

Originality Statement

I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another person, or substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at UNSW or any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgement is made in the thesis. Any contribution made to the research by others, with whom I have worked at

UNSW or elsewhere, is explicitly acknowledged in the thesis. I also declare that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project's design and conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged.

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Acknowledgements

In the beginning, I remember being told by a fellow student that a PhD is not a sprint it’s a marathon: anticipation at the start line, starting the race, coming across obstacles, and the interlacing of fatigue and euphoria. However, running the race and reaching the finishing line would not have been possible without assistance.

First, I would like to thank my family for their loving support, humor, and ability to keep me grounded throughout this journey. My father, Peter Scott for being my ever patient career advisor, and supporting me in my perpetual student status. My mother, Sophia Vedeniapine for being on Skype the moment I needed her to offer counseling, guidance, perspective and wit. I would also like to thank my brother Henry Scott and grandma Cynthia Vedeniapine for their encouragement and inspiration. To my family, you have been my loyal UK supporters throughout this marathon.

My Australian supporters are my friends, Bob Buckton and Mary-Anne Chown that have loved me like parents. My deep gratitude also goes to Bianca Snee, Jarnah Snee, Aline Reuter, Oralie Maylin-Wright, Louise Kelly, Russell Bonner and Hannah Shephard. I particularly want to thank Simon Wright, for stepping in to be my Tough Mudder teammate at the last minute and Kelly Dee for being a sister to me for the duration of the highs and lows.

My partner Cody Herd has been the fine weather on the marathon. The breath of fresh air I needed in the last 10kms of the race, when I was running out of oxygen. The sunshine I turned my face to when I needed warmth and serotonin. Cody kept me connected to the best of the Australian outdoors, reminding me of my own personal value in experiential consumption.

In any marathon you need a good pair of running shoes, this was my supervisor Mark Uncles: experienced, supportive, breathable, a good fit, sturdy and reliable with a wonderful soul. Without Mark’s experience and advice this thesis would not have been possible. Working with Mark has been a privilege. His time, expertise and

4 calmness have made this endeavor a very smooth ride. Mark has consistently been there for me every step of the way and kept me on track.

My co-supervisor Julien Cayla helped me tremendously in fine-tuning my research technique so that I could run more efficiently, not get tired, breathe easier and prevent injury. Julien has been incredible at encouraging me to “think outside the box” in terms of my thesis and my future career. Julien has encouraged limitless thinking and aspiration, which has proved to be vital. He has shown me what is possible through ethnographic research, both in academia and in industry.

I thank the Graduate Research School at UNSW Australia for providing me with a generous scholarship and stipend, which allowed me to focus on learning and doing research during the past 3.5 years. I am also grateful to Mohammed Razzaque for being a supportive and insightful Lecturer in Charge during my time as a Tutor for Fundamentals in Marketing.

I also thank the Business School at UNSW Australia for support throughout my doctoral years. I am especially thankful to Nadia Withers, Paula Aldwell and Margot Decelis for their warmth and efficiency in the School of Marketing; to my readers, Nitika Garg and Paul Patterson for their high-level feedback; to Ashish Sinha and Jack Cadeaux for support with the logistics of the dissertation and the funding to attend conferences; and to Ian Wilkinson for his valuable comments at the start of my study.

Melanie Wallendorf was the sugar I needed in the marathon when I started to hit a wall. Spending time with Melanie and the euphoria and emancipation that accompanied my time at the University of Arizona gave me the push I needed to reach the finish line. Melanie’s energy, knowledge, generosity and belief in me have been a huge source of motivation. Her worldviews have empowered and encouraged me to reach goals I never thought possible.

I owe deep gratitude to my colleagues at the Marketing Department at the Eller College of Management at The University of Arizona, where I spent a semester as a visiting scholar. The time I spent there was energizing and inspiring, it not only advanced my doctoral skills, but I was fortunate enough to mix with some beautiful minds and make

5 friends for life. In particular, I would like to thank Julien Cayla for planting the seed to spend time at The University of Arizona. I owe sincere gratitude Merrie Brucks for her kindness, enthusiasm and support during her Consumer Behavior Seminar.

I thank the Marketing Department at the University of Sydney, which allowed me to attend two of their courses. I would like to especially thank Teresa Davis, Marylouise Caldwell and Paul Henry for keeping me in the loop and inviting me to University events and gatherings when they thought this could advance my learning and career. From the Faculty of Art and Social Sciences I would like to thank Meaghan Morris for sharing her expertise as a cultural mentor.

This dissertation would not have been possible without my participants. I am indebted and thankful to all of those from the Tough Mudder and yacht racing communities for sharing their personal stories and worldviews. For ethical reasons and to protect their right to anonymity, I cannot disclose their names here and thank them individually, but I hope that I have captured their voices and imaginations as truthfully as possible.

I thank the organizers of three very insightful seminars which have helped me advance significantly in terms of understanding the methods and theories behind Consumer Culture Theory. The Cannon of Classics Seminar run by Oxford University, the Methodology Workshop held at London Holloway, and the Consumer Culture Theory Data-Analysis Workshop, which was organized by The University of Arizona.

It is my great pleasure to thank everyone who helped me to complete my thesis successfully. In particular, I am indebted and thankful to Kaye Chan, Lisa McCarthy, Bernardo Figueiredo, Nicole Lasky, Jeenat Mohamed, Sarah Duffy, Ryan Miller and Will Neill from UNSW. Terhi Vaisto from Aalto University Finland. Beth DuFault, Andre Figueiredo Maciel, Ainslie Schultz, Jameson Watts, Shan Yu, Sangeetha Venkataramani, Arti Gandhi, Clark Tsao, Zhen Tang, Peng Wang from the PhD cohort at The University of Arizona. Linda Price, Hope Schau and Sidney Levy from the faculty at The University of Arizona, their help and enthusiasm have been critical to the success of this endeavor. I would also like to thank Jeff Murray, Lisa Penaloza, Pauline MacLaren, Giana Ekhardt, Jim McAlexander, Avi Shankar and Ekant Veer who have been my PhD guardians throughout this journey, and have kept a smile on my face. I also extend sincere gratitude to Rus Belk, Eileen Fischer, John Sherry, Rob Kozinets, Johnathan Schroeder,

6 Eric Arnould, John Schouten and Markus Giesler for their continual encouragement and knowledge.

I am thankful to my proofreader Dan Butler and the three external reviewers of this thesis. I know it must take a lot of time and dedication to do a good thesis review, so I would like you to know that I am sincerely grateful for it.

This thesis is written as a collection of publishable papers and therefore the references are linked with each independent chapter. In broad terms, there is a target journal for each chapter.

7 Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction: The Darker Side of Multisensory Experiential Consumption……………………...………………………………12 1.1 General motivation for the research…………………………...... 12 1.2 Summary of findings from chapters…………………………...... 18 1.3 Linkages across the chapters……………………………………..20 1.4 References………………………………………………………..22

Chapter 2. “The Thing I was Born Into”: Reclaiming the Body in Adventure Racing and Consumer Research………………………………...... 23 2.1 Abstract………………………………………………………..…23 2.2 Introduction………………………………………………………24 2.3 The work of culture as a lens on voluntary suffering……………27 2.4 Voluntary suffering: a socio-historical view…………………….29 2.5 The corporeal and sensory construction of voluntary suffering…………………………………………………………...... 32 2.6 Philosophy and religion………………………………………….33 2.7 Experiential consumption………………………………………..33 2.8 Summary of theoretical background……………………………..35 2.9 Context: Tough Mudder……………………………………...... 35 2.10 Methodology……………………………………………………36 2.11 Data: confronting the paradoxes of voluntary suffering Through the Work of Culture……………………………………...... 37 2.11.1 Before the event……………………………………….37 2.11.2 During Tough Mudder: the reappearance of the body……………………………………………………...... 51 2.11.3 After Tough Mudder: Reflections on the experience of voluntary suffering…………………………….64 2.12 Discussion…..……..……………………………………………77 2.12.1 Resolving the paradoxes through the work of culture...... 80

8 2.12.2 Limitations……………………………….…….……..86 2.13 References…………..………………………………………………….87 Chapter 3. Selling Marketplace Myths: There is Money in Masochism……...93 3.1 Abstract…………..………………………………………………………93 3.2 Introduction…………..………………………………………………...... 94 3.3 Sociocultural forces that give rise to experiential masochistic myths …………..……………………………………………………………99 3.3.1 A brief history of marketplace myths………………………...... 99 3.3.2 Saturation of the experience economy………………………..101 3.3.3 Safe and digital society…………………………………...... 101 3.3.4 Commercializing marketplace myths: the case of masochism………………………………...... 101 3.4. Research activity……………………………...... 102 3.5 Findings: marketplace myths………………...... 106 3.5.1 Myth one: masochism proves toughness...... 106 3.5.2 Myth two: masochism as a lived experience...... 120 3.5.3 Myth three: selling masculine masochism and delivering feminine experience...... 131 3.6 General discussion...... 144 3.7 References...... 153

Chapter 4: Five Senses, Four Earth Elements: One Typology for Investigating Multisensory Experiences...... 157 4.1 Abstract...... 157 4.2 Introduction...... 158 4.3 Theoretical background...... 161 4.4 Research contexts...... 166 4.5 Methodology...... 167 4.6 The sensory body interfacing with the natural earth elements in the field...... 169 4.6.1 Muddy earth in adventure racing...... 169 4.6.2 Muddy earth in offshore yacht racing...... 174 4.6.3 Shocking fire in adventure racing...... 174 4.6.4 Shocking fire in offshore yacht racing...... 177

9 4.6.5 Inescapable water in adventure racing...... 178 4.6.6 Inescapable water in offshore yacht racing...... 179 4.6.7 Suffocating air in adventure racing...... 182 4.6.8 Suffocating air in offshore yacht racing...... 184 4.7 Discussion...... 185 4.8 Future Research...... 191 4.9 References...... 193

Chapter 5: Exploring Embodied Experiential Consumption with Sensory Anthropology...... 197 5.1 Abstract...... 197 5.2 Introduction...... 198 5.3 Conceptual background...... 201 5.3.1 Sensory anthropology...... 201 5.3.2 How concepts from medical anthropology can be used in consumer research...... 206 5.4 Research contexts...... 212 5.5 Research design...... 213 5.6 Findings: sensing experiential consumption...... 216 5.6.1 Embodiment...... 216 5.6.2 Mimesis...... 222 5.6.3 The mindful body...... 225 5.6.4 Local biology...... 228 5.6.5 The work of culture...... 231 5.7 Discussion...... 235 5.8 Implications for market research...... 238 5.9 Future research...... 241 5.10 Conclusion...... 241 5.11 References...... 243

Chapter 6: Conclusions, Contributions and Extensions...... 247 6.1 Contributions of the research...... 247

10 6.2 General discussion...... 253 6.3 Research limitations and extensions...... 257 6.4 References...... 260

11 Chapter 1

Introduction: The Darker Side of Multisensory Experiential Consumption

1.1 General Motivation for the Research In this thesis, themes of experiential consumption and the senses are investigated. Through a social and cultural lens, I examine the dramatic and counterintuitive changes occurring in multisensory experiential consumption - the integration of different sensory realities. Consumer researchers have conducted an array of studies on multisensory experiences. Despite impressive work, problems and paradoxes remain. Much research on experiences revolves around the notion from social psychology that consumers pursue pleasure and avoid pain; also known as the hedonic assumption. By and large, consumer researchers have conceptualized experiences as based on fantasies, feeling and fun (Goulding et al., 2009). My approach is different as all four chapters draw on data from the “darker side” of human experience.

The experience economy is blossoming and, within this economy, there has been the appearance of ‘the darker side’, which not only informs theory, but method as well. Recently a number of masochistic and sadistic twists and turns have emerged to challenge many traditional hedonic assumptions. What remains unknown is how and why, when people in the Western world have discretion, they choose to engage in consumption experiences that are difficult, unpleasant and painful. Indeed, start-up experiential organizations, born out of the 2007-2009 recession, are profiting from selling sufferable experiences. Helping to examine these questions and themes will add to our knowledge of the evolving experience economy. This thesis blends discrete and overlapping bodies of work from consumer behavior, marketing, sociology and anthropology, which facilitate an understanding of masochistic consumption.

The aim of this thesis is to explore how people in the contemporary West desire experiences that are physically difficult, unpleasant and painful, including the methodological possibilities consumer researchers have for delving into these themes.

12 By drawing out the sociocultural significance of these practices, we glean important insights into the future of multisensory embodied experiences.

Experiential Consumption Extraordinary new interests are sweeping through the modern experience economy. In 1999, Pine and Gilmore introduced the notion of an emerging experience economy, and showed we have transitioned from selling goods and services to selling experiences (Pine et al., 1999). Fifteen years later, we are discovering the experience economy is evolving from the pursuit of pleasure to the pursuit of pain. Until now the world view of experiential consumption has primarily been observed through a pleasure and hedonistic lens. Therefore, current knowledge of experiential consumption, specifically masochistic experiences, is incomplete. The modern welfare economy has predominantly been orientated towards comfort, reducing distress and suffering. But as a side-effect, modern life has become remarkably ‘joyless’ (Jantzen et al., 2012). This study presents an opposing reality to the mainstream assumption of consumers as pleasure seekers (Diener, 2000; Lee & Sirgy, 2004; Malouf, 2011) by suggesting that masochistic consumption is highly relevant and valued in today’s developed societies.

Theories have attempted to explain why consumers are drawn to negative emotional experiences, such as the consumption of observing negative experiences (Andrade & Cohen, 2007), why consumers’ risk their lives for play (Celsi et al., 1993) and why less pleasant activities are appealing because they are seen as memorable (Belk & Costa, 1998; Keinan & Kivetz, 2011). Yet why consumers are drawn to participate in difficult, risky and painful consumption remains largely untouched. I offer an alternative view to one of the most well-grounded assumptions in psychology and consumer behavior - hedonism’s prime directive - people’s tendency to pursue pleasure and avoid pain (Andrade & Cohen, 2007).

The Senses Central to experiential consumption is sensory stimulation (Bromiley & Curley, 1992; Joy & Sherry, 2003). The senses enliven the dry bones of experience. Contemporary sensory studies build on a considerable amount of previous research in the human sciences. One of the most prominent themes in the sensory model of modernity is the

13 separation of the senses, particularly sight. In pre-modernity, the senses were considered as a whole, and each sense was correlated to a natural earth element: touch to earth, sight to light and fire, hearing to air, taste to water and smell to vapor (Howes, 1991). This understanding of the architecture of the senses came apart during the enlightenment, whereby mind and body came to be seen as separate entities.

The senses are highly marketable, and are often drawn upon to sell experiences. However most researchers have not been explicit about how we collect multisensory data in consumer research. We thus need to look hard at our methodology. I enhance our understanding of the role of the senses in experiential consumption by overturning the division of the senses and the privileging of vision in contemporary theory and demonstrate that all senses play a role in mediating cultural experience. During this enquiry I found that the natural earth elements play an important role in extracting sensory insights.

The Social and Cultural Construction of Experience We are interested in how social and cultural influences shape how people in contemporary society engage in difficult and unpleasant consumption. As human experience is grounded in the body and subsequently received through the senses, we analyze the status of the body in contemporary Western society (Leder, 1990). Sociology and anthropology shows us how, in conditions of high modernity, the body has a tendency to disappear from awareness and action. Modern cultures are typified by a “disembodied” lifestyle. Our homes protect us from direct engagement with the outer world. Our relative affluence alleviates most of us from immediate physical needs and distress. The use of machines means we have become disinvested in work, which once engaged our muscles. Technology in health, communication and transport enables us to transcend the natural limits of our bodies (Leder, 1990). Consequently, there has been a rising interest in consumer culture to find ways to “return to the body”. Experiential consumption has been an important platform for this. Body therapies, craftwork, exercise, and an intimacy with nature have been reactions toward a “decorporalized” existence.

Such social developments provide a conceptual basis in which to explain emergent difficult and unpleasant consumption practices in modern consumer culture. It is also

14 worth noting how cultural variations are played out. In Western history, the body has been subject to strict regulation, largely due to the Cartesian paradigm – the separation of the mind and the body. Consumer engagement in seemingly masochistic experiences challenges the hierarchical dualism of Cartesianism, as it illustrates the experiential prominence of the body in the guise of pain, injury and risk. The lived body provides a mode of escape from the cognitive monotony of dualism, which is so deeply entrenched in modern culture. Given my research themes of experiential consumption and the senses and how these constructs occur at the site of the body, embodiment will be a focus of phenomenological interest.

Intended Audiences The primary audience for this thesis is scholars in consumer behavior and marketing that have an interest in the social and cultural aspects of consumption, in particular, consumer culture theorists. This encompasses ethnographers, and other social researchers that have an interest in lived experiences. As the landscape of experiential consumption is changing, my findings enhance experiential learning by drawing attention to the idiosyncratic marketplace of voluntary suffering (Chapters 2 and 3). Additionally, I aid consumer researchers performing ethnography in these experiential/sensory contexts that are facing challenges in gathering data, analyzing and writing up embodied experiences. These alternative research approaches are intended to guide and deepen research into multisensory experiential consumption, particularly emergent masochistic behaviors (Chapters 4 and 5). The methodological approaches I present offer a complementary mode of knowing where consumer theorists can leverage the potent effects of consumer practices and narratives. Additionally, marketing insights professionals stand to gain an understanding of how promotional messages of pain are decoded and dispersed into the wider marketplace. This helps marketing insights departments refine experiential strategies and gather ideas about market opportunities in different spheres of people’s lives (Chapters 2 and 3).

The proliferation of the darker aspects of experiential consumption also carries relevance for marketing practitioners, i.e. any marketer that is promoting or considering promoting a multisensory experience. Therefore the secondary audiences are consumer researchers (Chapter 4) and marketers in general (Chapter 3 and 5).

15 This encompasses the people that are involved in the orchestration of sensory and experiential consumption, such as those people staging Tough Mudder and The Clipper Yacht Race. For example, the research speaks to people such as IDEO designers who partnered with Tough Mudder to construct a robust, innovative and market-leading approach to obstacle innovation. After IDEO designers completed the Tough Mudder obstacle course, they began designing and building prototypes. As they had experienced the course before starting project work, IDEO designers could grasp the strengths, weaknesses and nuances of the obstacles. Organizations such as IDEO can harness insights from this thesis to work behind the scenes of Tough Mudder and adopt human-centered design approaches and internalize best-in-class principles of innovation. For instance, the account of the multisensory experience of warm, thick and heavy mud may inspire new obstacle themes, such as a mud volcano with mud lava which excites the senses in a different way. An erupting volcano of mud integrates an alternate audio and touch component. This in turn can tap into a new fear dimension of mud beyond drowning and submersion. The sounds and tremors of a volcano are associated with the less controllable facets of experience in nature and these sensations may be valued by some people.

In summary, the thesis speaks to these audiences by inspiring marketing insights and stimulating organizational creativity in academia and in industry. Marketers are provided with complementary modes of interpreting multisensory data collection (Chapter 5) so they can leverage the potent effects of toughness in commercial mythmaking (Chapter 3).

Research Approach Driven by the meta themes listed above, the approach to all the studies is ethnographic. An ethnographer can become immersed in a culture, to learn, to feel, to see, to hear and to act within the lived reality under study. I lived among the “natives”, learning their language, participating in their life activities and rituals, observing from an insider perspective, interviewing people, taking reams of field notes to gain an understanding of the world of masochistic consumption: the guiding knowledge and beliefs, the values, the meanings, the activities, both sacred and profane. Later in the thesis, details of the methodology are discussed in each of four core chapters. Academic ethnography has facilitated various streams of research,

16 enabling for example investigation of consumer tribes within changing marketplaces. Such ethnographic insights have transformed marketing strategy and allowed practitioners to understand how brand communities form and what they contribute to organizations. The resulting data allows us to organize and understand how people give meaning to their experiences. I make sensory ethnography a topic in its own right (Chapter 5) and take a suite of methods and approaches from anthropology to illustrate its relevance to marketers.

Research Questions and Research Objective This thesis presents an alternative reality to the field of experiential consumption by investigating the masochistic behaviors inherent in the modern experiential marketplace. I explore the how questions surrounding sociocultural masochistic phenomena, i.e. the patterns and process of similarity and difference across sensory modalities, practices, myths, rituals, narratives, performances and meanings of sufferable experiences. To explore how people do things, I consider the body as a central concern for social, political, epistemological and methodological truths. I illuminate how the human body is the most immediate and proximate terrain whereby social and cultural hows can be realized. To address these questions material is drawn from marketing, consumer research, and sociology and anthropology:

Chapter 2. How do people in the Western world, when they have discretion, voluntarily participate in sufferable consumption experiences that they know will be difficult, unpleasant and painful?

Chapter 3. How are these experiences commercialized? How is pain articulated as an explicit selling point, and how is the narrative being developed into a cultural commodity?

Chapter 4. How does the body – in particular, the five human senses – holistically interface with the natural world?

Chapter 5. How are consumer researchers to use techniques from sensory anthropology to explore the senses and derive novel insights into consumer experience?

1.2 Summary of Findings from Chapters Four core chapters provide new lenses on experiential consumption, including how multisensory experiential consumption can be studied methodologically. They shed new light on practices (Chapter 2), myths (Chapter 3), narratives (Chapter 3), the meanings of sufferable experiences (Chapter 2 and 3) and sensory modalities (Chapter 4 and 5). These insights relate to the behaviors and practices of consumers that are engaged in masochistic activities. This is very different from previous experiential studies that have largely focused on the pleasurable dimensions of experience. The findings also deliver a holistic account of the senses in consumption, which offers another perspective to the majority of sensory research that treats the senses discretely.

Chapter 2 I explore how people voluntarily participate in physical suffering. Pain and hardship have become pivotal to the contemporary experiential vista. It is discovered that these consumption practices reflect an evolution from pleasurable practices, to practices of suffering. A sensorially engaged ethnographic study of adventure race Tough Mudder reveals how the work of culture, individualization, hyper-performance and edgework extend our understanding of three paradoxical discourses:

1) Suffering is alleviated from day to day practices, yet some people seek it out;

2) Most institutions endeavor to reduce injury in the workplace, yet outside of work, people increase their chances of injury;

3) We are healthier than ever, yet choose to risk our health.

Voluntary suffering offers an alternative, yet confronting, way for researchers to conceptualize experiences in the modern world. The work of culture has been analytically useful to understand how, when a practice appears paradoxical in isolation, it becomes less paradoxical in context. I show how suffering has meaning by providing its practitioners with the vehicle, and the agency, of defining one’s self.

18 The body emerges as a locus of individual and social resistance, achievement and struggle. People are seeking experiences that ground them in their bodies and allow them to explore their physical boundaries.

Chapter 3 The second core chapter tackles how marketplace myths are conceptualized as cultural resources that draw people to a consumption activity. Modern societies strongly identify with masochistic myths. Experiences carrying these narratives are highly lucrative, yet consumer research offers little insight into the appeal and commercialization of such myths. My ethnographic enquiry into adventure racing and yacht racing addresses the emergence of masochistic experiential consumption myths. I advance current scholarship in commercial mythmaking in the following ways:

1) By investigating the social and cultural forces that give rise to a modern myth of masochism and toughness – inviting masochism to prove toughness is a new filter to previous work on masochism.

2) By examining how consumers may be unable to decode marketing communications that promise pain, due to the over stimulation of the mind and underuse/misuse of the body that perpetuates myths in adventure activities.

3) By showing the cultural meaning people acquire from being sold a masculine myth narrative, while experiencing a feminine narrative.

Findings reveal that selling hardship in contemporary societies can be highly profitable. This research is the first to look at how organizations use challenge, affliction and pain as effective promotional tools to sell experiences.

Chapter 4 Sensory stimulation is a key part of experiential consumption. Yet how we sense the natural earth elements holistically has been largely ignored. Empirical insights from yacht and adventure racing are drawn upon to provide dramatic assemblages of sensory experiences in nature. These contexts provide elaborate tableaux that illustrate the interfacing of man (senses) with nature (earth elements). The study

19 applies principles from medical anthropology to assist researchers to understand corporal experiences by advancing our understanding of lived experiences. A granular typology is provided that integrates the five senses (sight, sound, smell, touch and taste) with the four earth elements (earth, air, fire and water). The typology offers a new way of seeing, thinking about, and deconstructing the role of nature in experiential consumption. I find that the earth elements fuel people’s mobilization in a growing sphere of the sensory experience economy. By looking at people whose goals are to become embodied by re-imagining their bodies, I complement prior work that has focused on the practices of people who are besieging their senses in nature.

Chapter 5 The final core chapter addresses the lack of attention to the body in contemporary consumer research, particularly when it comes to the growth of physical experiences. I re-examine the use of ethnography and consider other sensory techniques. Fieldwork from ocean yacht racing and military-style adventure racing illustrate the value of studying how sensations are experienced phenomenologically, understood culturally and reenacted socially. Sociologists and anthropologists have extensively studied the senses. I demonstrate how consumer researchers can use techniques from medical anthropology to explore the senses and derive novel insights into consumer experience. Offered is a set of methodological guidelines using five concepts: embodiment, mimesis, the mindful body, local biology and the work of culture. In a marketplace where psychological, social and cultural marketing techniques are dominant, concepts such as sensors, sensations and sensory expressions allow organizations to differentiate and position their offerings. The five methodological concepts can be used in a broad range of contexts that draw from the body to extract multisensory mechanisms of interest, which would not ordinarily be accessible.

1.3 Linkages across the Chapters All four core chapters are linked across three meta-themes: the body, suffering, and the multisensory. The body, specifically embodied practices, is a central thread that runs throughout the chapters. A body-centric approach enables us to use a rich corporeal narrative to introduce the phenomena of people voluntarily participating in sufferable experiences (Chapter 2). Highlighted is the role of the senses in emerging forms of experiential consumption. Prolonged time in the field illustrates how the

20 earth elements speak to the senses, and exacerbate embodied experiences. Insights derived from the relationship between man’s five senses, and the earth’s four elements inform the development of a typology (Chapter 4). The theoretical basis is grounded in the medical anthropology literature, which has much to offer marketing research (Chapter 4). Following this, I deal with the use of methodological tools derived from medical anthropology to inform consumer researchers in addressing issues in multisensory experiential consumption (Chapter 5).

Three contexts also span the thesis: the non-work pursuits of affluent Western consumers, controlled adventure racing contrasted with uncontrolled yacht racing, and finally the commercialization of these pursuits. It is unusual and paradoxical how non-work pursuits of affluent Western consumers are based around physical pain, danger and suffering. To facilitate this masochistic gestalt, the focal contexts involve the natural earth elements in controlled (adventure racing) and uncontrolled (ocean yacht racing) environments. With an understanding of voluntary suffering and the forces acting upon it from the consumer’s experience, a platform exists for investigating the marketer’s perspective. I explore how this behavior has become commercialized (Chapter 3). Here I go beyond the consumer experience, to draw from a variety of commercial stakeholders to illuminate how suffering is advertised, packaged and interpreted in the wider Western culture. These experiences are monetized and therefore are promoted, sold and run as commercial businesses.

In summary, six themes transcend and link all of the thesis chapters. The themes outline important topical issues for consumer researchers and marketers in academia and industry.

1.4 References

Andrade, & Cohen, J. B. (2007). On the consumption of negative feelings. Journal of Consumer Research, 34(3), 283-300. Belk, R. W., & Costa, J. A. (1998). The mountain man myth: A contemporary consuming fantasy. Journal of Consumer Research, 25(3), 218-240. Bromiley, P., & Curley, S. P. (1992). Individual differences in risk taking, Oxford, England: John Wiley & Sons. Celsi, R. L., Rose, R. L., & Leigh, T. W. (1993). An exploration of high-risk leisure consumption through skydiving. The Journal of Consumer Research, 20(1), 1- 23. Diener, E. (2000). Subjective well-being: The science of happiness and a proposal for a national index. American psychologist, 55(1), 34. Goulding, C., Shankar, A., Elliott, R., & Canniford, R. (2009). The marketplace management of illicit pleasure. Journal of Consumer Research, 35(5), 759- 771. Howes, D. (1991). The varieties of sensory experience: A sourcebook in the anthropology of the senses: University of Toronto Press, Toronto. Jantzen, C., Fitchett, J., Østergaard, P., & Vetner, M. (2012). Just for fun? The emotional regime of experiential consumption. Marketing Theory, 12(2), 137- 154. Joy, A., & Sherry, J. F. (2003). Speaking of art as embodied imagination: A multisensory approach to understanding aesthetic experience. Journal of Consumer Research, 30(2), 259-282. Keinan, A., & Kivetz, R. (2011). Productivity Orientation and the Consumption of Collectable Experiences. The Journal of Consumer Research, 37(6), 935-950. Leder, D. (1990). The absent body: University of Chicago Press, Chicago. Lee, D. J., & Sirgy, M. J. (2004). Quality-of-life (QOL) marketing: Proposed antecedents and consequences. Journal of Macromarketing, 24(1), 44. Malouf, D. (2011). The Good Life: On Happiness and the Modern World. Collingwood: Griffin Press Australia. Pine, B. J., Gilmore, J. H., Conger, E., & Digital, I. (1999). The experience economy. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Chapter 2

“The Thing I was Born Into”: Reclaiming the Body in Adventure Racing and Consumer Research

2.1 Abstract1

Purpose – This study investigates how and why people voluntarily participate in physical suffering. Pain, affliction and challenge have become integral aspects of the contemporary experiential vista. I suggest that these consumption practices reflect a metamorphosis from pleasurable practices to voluntary suffering.

Methodology – Using a mixed method approach, I conducted a sensorially engaged ethnographic study of adventure race Tough Mudder in three distinct roles, at three different events: Tough Mudder Spectator in Scotland, Tough Mudder Participant in Sydney, and Tough Mudder Staff Volunteer in Sydney.

Findings – The work of culture, individualization, hyper-performance and edgework extend our understanding of three paradoxical discourses:

1) Suffering is managed out of day to day practices and actions, yet some people seek it out;

2) Most institutions have sought to reduce injury in the workplace, yet outside of work people increase their chances of injury;

3) We are healthier than ever, yet choose to risk our well-being.

I show how suffering has the capacity to provide its practitioners with the vehicle and the agency of defining one’s self. It further integrates people in an otherwise affectless and estranged society.

Research Implications – This naturalistic approach integrates our relationship to work at one end of the spectrum and the individual relationship with the body and senses at the other. The scope of the study is confined to the West and the practices explored here reflect a very Westernized type of agency, nevertheless certain aspects of the phenomena may also occur in other cultures.

Originality/Value – The experiential literature has tended to view people as pleasure seekers. Considered here is the unresolved question of how participants in the West make sufferable activities meaningful.

1 This paper is written in the style of a consumer research journal, broadly following the conventions of the Journal of Consumer Research.

23 Keywords – voluntary suffering, the work of culture, individualization, hyper- performance, edgework.

2.2 Introduction

Despair is screaming through the bars of the corporate cage, the hunger of men and women exiled from their deeper selves. They wanted more violence in their lives…But how to satisfy them? (Ballard, 2000, p. 255).

Ballard’s vignette provides a metaphorical frame in which to situate the research. Contemporary civilization is in despair, enslaved into emotionally boring lifestyles. The modern body is caged in by rational and restrained behavior and practices. In Western societies, we have largely tended to expunge everyday life from the manifestations of the body (Bradshaw & Canniford, 2010; Le Breton, 2000).

The experiential literature has put great emphasis on pleasure seeking (Arnould & Price, 1993; Gilmore & Pine, 1999; Goulding et al., 2009; Holbrook & Hirschman, 1982), yet debates regarding experiential consumption have not rigorously considered why consumers are drawn to painful sensations. For example, the emotional branding literature generally stipulates that consumers are in pursuit of pleasure and comfort from their brands with little consideration given to experiencing negative emotions (Gobe, 2001).

Andrade and Cohen (2007) refer to hedonism’s prime directive as a ‘hedonic assumption’ by asking how the assumption can be reconciled with people choosing to expose themselves to negative experiences. Recent marketing trends suggest that many consumers are attracted to unusual and novel consumption experiences and choose activities that are predicted to be less pleasurable (Keinan & Kivetz, 2011). This threatens many traditional perceptions of pleasurable hedonic consumption experiences. I focus on the unresolved issues of voluntary suffering by considering the willingness of consumers to subject themselves to painful sensations, and the sociocultural implications of this (Simmel et al., 1997).

Research into consumer experiences has been mainly from psychological and socio- psychological perspectives. The field of psychology has paid little attention to the

24 psychoanalytical literature, which encompasses themes of pain, suffering and masochism (Grossman, 1986). Psychoanalysts were some of the first to investigate masochism (Lenzer, 1975), however there have been many disagreements among Freud’s contemporaries to discover the broader significance of masochism in people’s lives. There is still ambiguity concerning mental states that arise from self-inflicted pain, discomfort, and adult masochism (Grossman, 1986). However, it is apparent that people’s tendency to pursue pleasure and avoid pain has come under scrutiny, and more researchers are challenging this long-held assumption in psychology and consumer behavior (Andrade & Cohen, 2007). Typically, work in this area takes a clinical and scientific approach to patient’s evaluations of suffering, rather than considering the bodily meaning and practices (Hansen & Streltzer, 2005; Sternbach, 1986). I go beyond discussing, observing, and conceptualizing voluntary suffering by bodily participating in the scrapes, sprains, bloodshed and stringing out of the nervous system to maintain integrity within my intensive enquiry.

From a cultural perspective, anthropologists have only recently begun to identify the tendency in the field to under-report, or even ignore, human suffering, misfortune and deviance (Hollan, 1994). The same can be said for the field of consumer research, whereby voluntary suffering has received little or no attention, both in terms of individual experience and the larger social matrix in which it is embedded.

Here, I conceptualize voluntary suffering as the conscious choice made by an individual in the Western world to engage in practices, activities and behaviors, which entail: violence against the self, hardship, injury, difficulty, fear, risk and pain. Voluntary suffering involves the intentional surrendering to a raw and immediate physical experience. This would include the suffering people take upon themselves in order to accomplish a personal aim, such as an athlete who is disciplined to win a race (MacFarlane, 2005). In the context of experiential consumption, these practices are sold in Western world marketplaces, and range from rock-climbing, to boxing and live kidnapping.

Consumer researchers have attempted to explain why people are drawn to negative emotional experiences, such as the consumption of observing negative experiences (Andrade & Cohen, 2007), why consumers’ risk their lives for play (Celsi et al.,

25 1993), and why less pleasant activities are attractive because they are seen as memorable (Belk & Costa, 1998). However, such scholarship is limited because it inadequately situates the consumption of sufferable experiences within their historical and socio-cultural contexts. In particular, there has been a failure to address how consumers are voluntarily drawn to participate in consumption practices that involve physical suffering.

There are several paradoxes associated with the shift from pleasure seeking to voluntary suffering. Industrial societies are largely organized around safe, secure and controlled living environments. However, despite the commitment of Western society to reduce threats to individual well-being, there are many people who actively seek activities that allow them to fraternize with injury or death. This is the nexus at which the current work is situated. Three central paradoxes are at the intersection of social over-regulation and physical transcendence:

1. Risk, danger and suffering are managed out of day to day practices and actions on an institutional level, through mechanisms such as health and safety law, private health care and signage (e.g. Caution slippery surface). Yet thrills, danger and suffering are actively sought out by some people, driving them to engage in practices including live kidnapping, burials and electrocution. 2. Whilst institutions have sought to reduce injury in the workplace, dangerous experiences such as parkour (Clegg & Butryn, 2012), rock-climbing and hang-gliding have witnessed unprecedented growth (Lyng, 1990). 3. We are healthier than ever, yet we still choose to risk our health. We are living at a time when our tolerance to pain is decreasing, and the choice of pharmaceutical remedies is increasing (Barsky, 1988; Barsky & Borus, 1995). For example, industrialized societies spend a considerable proportion of their GDP on painkillers (Rivlin & Gravelle, 1984).

It is puzzling that we live and work in environments that are comfortable, yet in our discretionary time we seek activities that are uncomfortable. There is a social agenda to protect us from suffering and, for some, a private agenda to seek it out through

26 consumption. It is important to note that pleasure and pain are not always mutually exclusive. This irony of self-infliction deserves research.

2.3 The Work of Culture as a Lens on Voluntary Suffering To address these paradoxes, our conceptual approach draws on Obeyesekere’s (1985) discussion of the work of culture which he describes as “the process whereby painful motives and affects...are transformed into publically accepted sets of meanings and symbols” (Obeyesekere, (1985, p. 147). The work of culture enables us to make sense of voluntary suffering by investigating the practices that transform voluntary suffering into culturally accepted meaning. For example, in the case of our first paradox, due to suffering being managed out of day to day practices on an institutional level, people are choosing to engage in painful practices which are then transformed into publically accepted meanings and symbols. The forms of pain, misery and suffering can be individual concerns, or grounded in political, economic and social inequalities as our three paradoxes illustrate. Voluntary suffering practices crystallize out of the dialectic between cultural categories and bodily processes. This transformation creates meaning for some people.

In some affective states, such as intense fear as a result of a traumatic atypical experience, individuals may be more resistant to meaning than others. Hence, people may find some forms of suffering more difficult to transform than others. A person’s ability to make sense of voluntary suffering is related to individual experiences, including the mastery they have gained, or failed to gain, in manipulating cultural meanings. The work of culture offers an alternative interpretation of the prevailing view of people as pleasure seekers. The transformative lens explains how the body has evolved from an instrument of unadulterated pleasure to an object of voluntary suffering (Campbell, 1987; Goulding et al., 2009; Holbrook & Hirschman, 1982; Jantzen et al., 2012). This is intriguing because people living in relative luxury are risking permanent disabilities, paralysis, heart attacks and death.

This paper seeks to describe the actions, practices and experiences which lead to the consumption of voluntary suffering as a leisure pursuit. To explore these experiences a practice-based approach will be used for two reasons. First, practices help us look at

27 cultural idiosyncrasies, contradictions and paradoxes. Second, we cannot understand the bodily actions of voluntary suffering if we don’t turn attention to practices.

This perspective enables empirical investigation of voluntary suffering in action, in the immediate settings within which the activities take place. Practice theory represents a cultural theory founded upon a way of explaining and understanding social action (Reckwitz, 2002; Schatzki, 2010). The concept minimizes the analytic importance of individuality by directing attention to the practices that organize and shape individual action. Practice can be understood as ‘routinized type of behavior consisting of several elements interconnected to one other: forms of bodily activities, forms of mental activities, “things” and their use, background knowledge in the form of understanding, know-how, states of emotion, and motivational knowledge’ (Reckwitz, 2002, p. 249). Consumption is therefore conceived as part of an organized constellation of behavior in social life. Activities occur within a ﬁeld of practices, and as a constitutive element of different everyday tasks and projects (Schatzki, 2010; Warde, 2005).

Complex issues such as education and religion are relevant to this enquiry into voluntary suffering and paradoxical behavior. Such integrative practices involve a mesh of social and material arrangements, sequences of actions and shared understandings (Schatzki et al., 2001, p. 88). Voluntary suffering is treated in this way because it represents distinct and organized actions facilitated by collective structures of knowledge. These enable a participant to act, interact and use objects intelligibly. Integrative practices entail bodily doings and sayings. Thus Tough Mudders might jump into ice-cold water or eat a healthy diet as part of their practice (Howes, 2003).

I contribute to experiential research by demonstrating how voluntary suffering helps people reconnect to a corporeal aesthetic to demonstrate their disillusionment in capitalism, materialism and social regulation. Practices detail how the body functions as a locus of resistance, and a critical site to understand voluntary, market-mediated experiences of suffering.

28 The structure of the chapter begins by briefly theorizing the socio-historical tradition of voluntary suffering, followed by an analysis of the corporeal and sensory construction of voluntary suffering. Next, the significance of the Tough Mudder context is explained as an experiential laboratory for the disembodied, testing nerves, patience, pain and fear. Then, an ethnographic approach is used to report findings in relation to early, middle and late stages of the adventure race. From the data, discussion focuses on three practices: hyper-performance (people performing like high performance athletes in work and leisure), individualism (autonomy at the centre of society), and edgework (pushing oneself to the physical edge). Cultural and practice theories are used to contribute to the experiential consumption literature by demonstrating how voluntary suffering, when it is chosen and controlled, enables social resistance, achievement, growth and community.

2.4 Voluntary Suffering: A socio-historical view In this section we briefly explore the cultural context in which Tough Mudder is situated. There have been historical instances where groups have sought extreme forms of pleasure and pain, often concurrently. We are interested in themes of voluntary suffering including, violence against the self, danger, pain and hardship. Western consumers live a relatively safe existence, yet paradoxically run with the bulls, climb ice-waterfalls and pay for live burials. People have done similar practices in the past, yet manifested in different ways. Therefore, dramatic and socially unsettling practices heighten and enliven our relationship to our bodies, and to wider society. We do not have the scope to delve into a complete historical review, but will provide examples of how people experience voluntary suffering. We begin with contemporary emergent sufferable experiences, and then look for historic precedents.

In the USA and Canada, Monochrom have curated Experience the Experience, which gives people the opportunity to be buried alive in a coffin for fifteen minutes (Johannes, 2012). To provide a framework to the program, lectures are provided detailing the medical cultural history of being “buried alive”. Live burials are one of the most terrifying of all experiences and have been the subject matter of many horror movies (Johannes, 2012). Even in the nineteenth century, it was said that every tenth person was buried alive. The practices involved in Monochrom burials include

29 handling the soil, claustrophobia, management of a mental breakdown, or panic and anxiety attacks during or after the experience. The mastery of particular body techniques and the orchestration of the senses are prerequisites to the accomplishment of burial practices.

Similarly, the Extreme Kidnapping Company based in Detroit enables thrill seekers to pay to be abducted. The service caters to the extreme sports adventurer who is bored with experiences currently on the market (Thick, 2013). For $1,500 customers are handcuffed, duct taped, soaked, slapped and zapped with a stun gun. The process of practices constructs coherent sequences of action and evocations of the scene. During interrogation, the mind and body must perform at its optimal level. Of course such customized abductions are unlike a real kidnapping because an Extreme Therapy Hostage can abort the torture by uttering a safe word.

Climbing ice water falls is another extreme activity where voluntary suffering is prevalent. The sport is extremely dangerous – far more so than rock climbing (Brady, 27 May 2013). Avalanches present the gravest threat to ice climbers in the Canadian Rockies. The vast majority of routes are vulnerable to avalanches for extended periods and climbers regularly die. If the temperature is not right, the ice column can collapse under the climber’s weight. Ice can crack, shatter and cut. Practices include researching climbs, swinging the ice tool to grip the ice, gaining traction with crampons and preventing falls with ice screws and rope (Ronca, 2014).

Running with the bulls at Pamplona is another excellent illustration of the interrelationship between pleasure and suffering. Thrill, risk and danger draws thousands of adrenaline-fuelled runners to race ahead of six bulls for 928 yards from a corral to the bullring (Cortes, 2013). The eight-day fiesta draws millions of spectators each year. Feelings of anguish and helplessness and mixed with the risk of being tramped, pinned, crushed or gored. However, the popularity of the race with runners forces us to conclude that facing danger and death is a way to enhance the joy of life.

At the turn of the millennium, vital questions were being raised about the normative values of the consumerist West (Burroughs & Rindfleisch, 2002; Campbell, 2005; Etzioni, 1998). Numerous cultural outlets began to question the disconnectedness and

30 estrangement of the American dream. For example, Fight Club and American Beauty (Fincher et al., 2000), convey an abrasive and brutal delineation of one man’s rebellion against the material culture to which he has become enslaved.

Consumption utopia became a significant part of the 20th century’s cultural landscape. Yet despite the affluence and status, often these societies have struggled to deliver fulfillment and satisfaction to consumers (Fitchett, 2002). Thus voluntary suffering becomes subtly manifested in materialism. Relatively rich and powerful people often began to feel atomized and demoralized with their comfortable lifestyles (Philo & Miller, 2001). Many people suffer from time famine (Vuckovic, 1999), and experience boredom and restlessness from a hyper-stimulated state (Stromberg et al., 2007). Suffocation and a sense of sterility have led to a highly competitive yet soul- less culture for some. People are increasingly evaluated in terms of the success of the images they are able to portray, the size of their homes and bank balances, or how they compete in a ruthless and insecure employment market as a route to stimulus and agency (Fincher et al., 2000). As contentment from work and consumption has become increasingly scarce, many people become dissatisfied with their leisure time which can appear aimless (Philo & Miller, 2001). Therefore, even at the risk to life itself, many seek to prove they are not a cog in an machine (Dostoevsky, 1834). This has seen the beginning of unorthodox individualistic consumption needs.

In stark contrast, the 1930s promoted a new form of economic, political and societal liberalism. One initiative was integrity of the human body as a source of labor in a healthy production space. Therefore, maintaining and maximizing physical output was crucial. Contemporary historians and anthropologists noted the significant role drug foods (e.g. sugar, coffee, tobacco and alcohol) played in the expansion of the world market (Nichter, 2008). This shows the power of the state in controlling physical desires, appetites and potency. Anthropology reveals the relationship between the body and the body politic, which leads to the regulation of the body in terms of gender, sexuality and reproduction, also known as bio-power (Foucault, 1978). Concentration, endurance and intensity were bodily practices that were heightened to increase production in the growing capitalist economy.

31 Conversely, the essence of 18th century Western Europe has been described as a morbid era that will destroy mankind so that it can start afresh (Fischer, 1849). The insatiable pursuit of unfulfilling pleasures is comparable to 21st century Western societies which seek to discover the uses and abuses of sex, suffering, violence and power (Fitchett, 2002). The 18th century has been referred to as a time of complete destruction - the impotency of pleasure without its poetry (Sade, 1987). Similarly today, the hedonic pursuit of pleasure is becoming redundant for many people and exchanged for the pursuit of suffering. This epoch in France has been described as a mad state, deprived of morals, ideas and reason (Hegel, 1975). With the multiplicity of pleasurable bodily sensations available, it has also been predicted that man would eventually find pleasure in the sight of blood (Dostoevsky, 1834).

Rome’s most tyrannical emperor, Caligula (AD 12-41), found suffering central to life. He possessed and practiced elements of madness, cruelty, viciousness and megalomania (Johnson & Turner, 1973). He was a coarse and cruel despot with an extraordinary passion for sadism. Caligula loved executions and preferred to have them prolonged (Renshaw, 1994). This is an extreme example of man’s need to observe and participate in physical suffering.

Such illustrations demonstrate the relationship between suffering bodies and Western society. When reviewing suffering across the ages, we can see how culture has had a central part in transferring painful motives into acceptable meanings. On a corporeal level, this process has been played out in practices.

2.5 The corporeal and sensory construction of voluntary suffering Next we illuminate sociocultural explanations of voluntary suffering. From a bodily perspective, fast-paced lifestyles not only deaden the senses, but cause stress and disease on the rest of the body (Jones, 1987). In this way we literally lose touch with our embodied reality, yet ironically claim to have a greater grip on it as we strive for independence (Rayner, 2006). This may also account for a lack of individuality among many people who appear listless and resigned. This has led consumers to seek new and varied extreme sensory experiences. Suffering in pursuit of a challenge is one such novelty. Once society has stripped us of our senses, it then sells embodiment back to us in the guise of extreme physical activities. Simmel et al (1997) suggest

32 modernity potentially ruptures embodied experience by dumbing down the senses which are besieged by the modern world’s information overload.

The proliferation of voluntary suffering practices suggests that the compliant behavior demonstrated by white-collar workers in the office, generates a need for physical trauma and affliction outside its walls. But what are the ends? We are healthier than ever, but more anxious about our health. We are living at a time when thresholds of tolerance to pain are decreasing and the choice of pharmaceutical fixes for the symptoms and varieties of malaise is increasing (Barsky, 1988; Barsky & Borus, 1995). In parallel with this trajectory, medicine has advanced from barbaric and crude methods, to a thing of scientific wonderment (Porter, 1999). The irony is palpable, this is the same society that spends a considerable proportion of its GDP on painkillers (Rivlin & Gravelle, 1984).

2.6 Philosophy and religion In the next section we draw from cultural and social concepts to offer additional insight into voluntary suffering. Key philosophers and theologians have seen voluntary suffering as an opportunity for growth. Many possibilities arise if we reframe pain rather than avoid it. Suffering can give us profound insights into ourselves. It can put us back in touch with our fundamental humanity (Chödrön, 2002). By becoming accustomed to suffering, we may lose the anxiety that fear of it brings to our lives (Chödrön, 2002). Therefore, the way forward is to accept and welcome it not as a menace, but as a higher form of experience. Suffering becomes the sole cause of consciousness for many. In a sense there is an impotency in pleasure and potency in suffering (Dostoevsky, 1834).

In contrast, for most people the desire to avoid suffering lies at the heart of decision making. Most societies can be judged on the way they deal with the twin problems of fear and suffering. Here the West fares badly - we don’t tend to handle them well. The first truth of the Buddha is that suffering is inevitable for humans, but that it often leads to a greater corporeal reawakening than pleasure (Chödrön, 2002).

2.7 Experiential consumption

33 Finally, we detail how voluntary suffering sits within the wider experiential suffering literature. Hedonism was part of the epoch of post-postmodernism (Vermeulen & Van Den Akker, 2010) and remains a prominent force in today’s experiential consumption. Euphoria, ecstasy, illicit pleasure and social production are key terms defining such consumption (Goulding et al., 2009). However until now researchers have not rigorously considered why consumers are drawn to negative sensations. This oversight is important for many reasons. For example experiencing hardship with others is known to facilitate social engagement, camaraderie and belonging (Tumbat & Belk, 2011).

Tough Mudder operates in heavily Westernized countries. Mudders complete the course as part of a team, yet the embodiment is highly individual. Mudders never lose their individuality, they profit from their group, but they don’t lose themselves in the we-ness. Unlike rave cultures, they do not submerge themselves in the group as Goulding et al (2009) demonstrate. It is worth noting, however, that rave culture and adventure racers both use alternative reality and multi-sensorial experiences to emancipate and disengage themselves.

Another important study is Kozinet’s (2002) exploration of the emancipatory dynamics of the Burning Man project. Both this and our study share a critical construct: participants use communities to escape the constraining practices that govern markets and institutions. Burning Man is described as “a new adult theme park” which “successfully constructs a hyper community” (Kozinets, 2002, p. 20 & 35). Within the temporary community, people are distanced from the market, which has been accused of undermining the realization of the caring and communal ideal. Participants bring their own food, leave nothing behind and spectators are prohibited (Kozinets, 2002, p. 21).

Similarly, Tough Mudder constructs a liminal community through a discourse of voluntary suffering using the body as the platform for addressing human dissatisfaction, longing and unrest. The two diverge, however, in that the “Mudder” community embraces the market and shares many similarities with Disneyland: high ticket prices, sponsorship, charity affiliation, vendors, media fascination and iconic

34 branding. In contrast Burning Man is described as the antithesis of Disneyland (Kozinets, 2002).

Equally, Arnould and Price (1993) talk about the Colorado River as a place for extraordinary hedonic experiences, romantic nature, personal growth, renewal and communitas. In comparison, Tough Mudder is most distinctive for its mud and 10,000 volt electric shocks which forces a more individual and orchestrated engagement, despite the organization’s commitment to a group challenge.

To summarize, most existing experiential consumption research deal primarily with the hedonic realm. In contrast, Tough Mudder participants bond on the basis of voluntary suffering. Conventional tests of endurance, such as climbing a mountain, vary according to the location (e.g. desert, mountain or river). This means the experience is set against a sublime encounter with nature. Tough Mudder, on the other hand cannot offer such a romantic experience.

2.8 Summary of theoretical background Humanity has been witness to frivolity, economic destruction, and sadism. The fetishization of sex, work, and material obsession has patterned our history and made the voluntary consumption of suffering an enigma to modern researchers. As we have become more connected to material possessions, so humanity has become disconnected with the embodied corporeal self. Our relationship to the body and senses has been mediated through occupation, culture, and various political and financial institutions. These have laid the foundation for people to arrive at a place of sensory deadening. Yet many questions remain and we call for a more corporeal approach to experiential consumption by suggesting that attention should be directed to the puzzle of how voluntary suffering has become necessary to the well-being of some people that seemingly have it all.

2.9 Context: Tough Mudder Tough Mudder is a team adventure race comprising of an 18-21 kilometer assault course designed by British Special Forces. Founded in 2010, the course consists of a revolving menu of 26 extreme military style obstacles: running through burning hay bales, crawling through 10,000 volts of electrical wires, slithering through tightly

35 enclosed spaces and navigating monkey bars above muddy pools and plunging seven foot into freezing water. Injuries can include permanent disabilities, spinal injuries, stroke, heart attack, and even death. The cost to enjoy this kind of suffering is $90- $155, or a $40 spectator fee. Each event is successfully marketed as possibly the toughest event on the planet whereby teams can discover a rare camaraderie (Livingstone, 2014). In 2013, 3.5 million people took part in the event worldwide (Widdicombe, 2014), making Tough Mudder the world’s fastest growing adventure sports company (Miller, 2012). Participants sign a death waiver and pledge to help others during the event. Mudders are encouraged to go with a group and to drink a beer at the finish line (Dos Equis is a sponsor). Although the event is not timed, the top 5% of finishers qualify for World’s Toughest Mudder (a timed 24-hour long competition). A description of the trials usually elicits one of two reactions: “That sounds kind of fun,” or “Why would anyone want to do that?” (Roberts, 2012, p. 1). Over 200 participants have been permanently inked with a Tough Mudder tattoo and bragging rights are exercised on dating websites such as eHarmony (Ozanian, 2010).

2.10 Methodology A sensorial approach to ethnography provided valuable insight into the popular health culture, dietary practices, drug foods and physical training involved. Derived from sensorial anthropology, a multisensory ethnography facilitated a deeper understanding into the cultural responses to perceived senses (taste, touch, sound, sight and smell). This means that in all forms of data collection, from participant observation to diaries, particular attention was paid to sensations such as shortness of breath, chest pain, muscle spasms, dizziness, states of freezing and burning and shifts in physical and mental ‘energy’ (Hinton & Hinton, 2002). We studied sensations that evoke embodied memories and how the space and place in which a human body is situated induces experiences of fear, joy and social connection (Nichter 2008). Extensions to the methodology are discussed at greater length in chapter 5. Our investigation of the Tough Mudder community began in February 2012, when our lead author began informal observation of the online community Mudder Nation. This involved analyzing photographs, documents, press-materials and cultural data. After five months of building up a knowledge base, we spent two days of observing an event at Dramlanrig, Scotland.

36 In September 2012, the lead author participated as a Tough Mudder team member in Sydney, Australia. This included participant observation, pre- and post-event interviews with 14 Mudders (including photo-elicitation), photography, video analysis, journal reflections and field notes. On average, interviews lasted 1.5 hours. This allowed us to gather not only prompted responses, but spontaneous observations. Over the two events 209 pictures and four hours of video were taken. This resulted in visual and audio records as well as supplementary field notes.

To gain participant observation from a different perspective, the lead author worked for Tough Mudder over the two-day Sydney event in April 2013, . Pre- and post-event interviews were conducted with nine members of the Tough Mudder community including Tough Mudders, Tough Mudder MC and a Personal Trainer. During the event, unstructured interviews were conducted with volunteers, lifeguards, course marshals, event coordinators and Tough Mudder teams. In addition, artifacts were collected, as well as video footage, pictures and field notes. The lead author was also living with two Mudders for three months over this period, which contributed to immersion in the lives of the Mudders. Personal participant diaries of two Mudder housemates supported this over a five week period. Living with a trauma nurse and a travel nurse, heightened the bodily lens used to interpret the bodily practices of voluntary suffering.

2.11 Data: Confronting the Paradoxes of Voluntary Suffering Through the Work of Culture We use the work of culture to establish a link between voluntary suffering practices and our three paradoxes: (1) How danger and suffering is managed out of day to day actions by institutions, yet some consumers yearn for thrill, danger and suffering. (2) How legal and political institutions have sought to reduce injury in the workplace, yet outside work dangerous experiences have witnessed unprecedented growth. (3) How industrialized societies are healthier than ever, yet people still choose to risk their health.

37 The work of culture helps us to integrate these behaviors to reveal how escape motives transform an individual hyper-performing mind, into a meaningful hyper- performing body.

2.11.1 Before the event Voluntary suffering will be explored in three stages: before, during and after Tough Mudder. We begin by outlining how participants prepare and plan for Tough Mudder, including the practices and rituals people use to escape different aspects of modern Western life. There is also an observable corporate/entrepreneur approach to the pre- event training. Through a university contact, our lead author joined a pre-enrolled Tough Mudder team:

Today I met my first team member, Matt, a fellow student at UNSW. After meeting him over coffee to discuss our motivations for doing Tough Mudder it became apparent that he had no interest in the team experience. He wanted to get an individual time to qualify for the 24hr Tough Mudder…he also said the other three guys in the team were injured (Hayden, Benji and Mitch), but they were going to try and do it anyway. I suggested we all meet together and potentially train (Lead Researcher, Diary Entry, 05/09/12).

In the days following the meeting with Matt, the injured team members dropped out. In the interest of completing the course as a team, our lead researcher recruited a friend to join the team late:

I’m feeling very relieved that Simon has joined because there will be more of a team. At the moment it’s very fragmented. He is scared, but we can go at a steady pace because he hasn’t trained much (Lead Researcher, Diary Entry, 10/09/12).

Following the staggered start in forming a team, optimal body condition became highly salient. In particular, how the body had to be managed and controlled to a military/corporate degree in order to embark on this kind of event. Simon’s anxiety, and the fierce competiveness from Matt did not seem out of the ordinary. More concerning, was that three young fit men in their twenties all deemed themselves unfit to enter. Whether their withdrawal was due to nerves, better judgment or genuine injury remains unknown.

Separation from the Rituals of Modernity

38 Forming a team and training for Tough Mudder is one of the many rituals associated with the event. Mudders also engage in preparation rituals to transform out of their controlled, predictable, routine urban lifestyles:

It’s a real contrast to sitting in an air-conditioned office. What I always find amusing about offices is people moan about stuff, like it’s too hot, it’s too cold, like buy a desk fan, there’s no real. Most people don’t get out at all, they just sit there and whinge about stuff. It doesn’t make you appreciate what you’ve got, but it’s certainly a real contrast, because at the end of the day you’ve paid a heap of money to go and subject yourself. Being cold is never good, never nice, especially when you’re blessed with certain male items. Wet and cold is not good, wet cold windy is pretty bad. Wet, cold, windy and electrocuted is probably horrible. Wet, cold, windy, electrocuted covered in mud and burnt by a fire is probably pretty shit (Eliot, M, 29, Senior Fire Engineer, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

You kind of prepare yourself for that level of pain. I’ve seen one video, where it gave my time and start date for my team. It had a video of this ice bath, so I’m preparing myself to jump into ice. It comes back to that feeling of living a bit more, you know, when you just go and you do a corporate job, and you do your 9 to 5, and your days pass by doing the same mundane tasks. And you go and put yourself in a situation where it’s something completely new for your body and mind to overcome. You kind of come away feeling like you’ve lived a little bit more. You take you mind and body to a new level of endurance (Matthew, M, 30, Investment Banker, Tough Mudder, April 2013).

For Eliot, the office is not a place where the sublime, sacred and authentic can be accessed; there is superficiality, which is divorced from nature. He describes the Tough Mudder experience to be more real than the reality of office life, known as “hyper-real” (Lyng, 1990, p. 861). Eliot sarcastically acknowledges that he can access individual authenticity and embrace his body through sensory stimulation, a stark contrast to the insensate problems of urban life. Matthew implies that he is not really living unless he is taking his mind and body to a new level of tenacity. Neither men are getting what they need through their banal routine, they imagine and embody the physical challenge and stimulants to prepare them for Tough Mudder.

Corporate banker Matthew describes his pursuit for authenticity. His distaste for modern living is exemplified through his frustration in society’s trust in commodities. By putting his body on the line in Tough Mudder, he ceases to conform with what is stressful, profane and unfulfilling. Matthew alludes to the failing social arrangement of work life balance in modernity, which is re-negotiated during Tough Mudder. Tough Mudder Master of Ceremonies Simon, has not participated in Tough Mudder, yet he observes the social tension that Matthew describes:

I get to have a rant do I? In short I think we’re screwed. I think as a race we’re incredibly selfish. We’re delusional about how this world actually works. We’re so caught up in the rat

39 race of money, wealth and fame we’re missing the reason we’re on earth. Which isn’t that bigger reason, just to live and enjoy relationships with people rather than the other stuff. It’s kind of that, I saw a great video of a hamster in a wheel, and the faster he runs in the wheel, the more things appear around his wheel, he’s got his health and happiness meter on one side. He comes off the wheel and his health meter starts to go up, his happiness meter starts to go up, then all the other stuff starts to disappear. It’s a great analogy for what we’re all doing. There was a TED talk saying we work in jobs we don’t enjoy, to earn money to buy a house that’s bigger than we need, to fill it with stuff we don’t need, to impress people we don’t like. Then you re-frame that whole thing. I mean, I work in a corporate bank, but I like to think I have my head screwed on my shoulders. I go to work for means, some people work 70 hour weeks. As a race we trust in things that don’t really exist, this man in the clouds who supposedly created us all, trust in the government that say they do right by us. We conform like chess pieces, but don’t really get the game. I guess Tough Mudder allows you, just for a day, to go out, and suppose just put it all on the line, so you know that none of that matters. I’m just gonna use my body for what it was intended for, and do something different, and I guess that’s why it’s rising (Matthew, M, 30, Investment Banker, Tough Mudder, April 2013).

I think in this day and age it can’t be a masculine event. It’s more of a human event. These are human beings wanting to put themselves up against each other, or up against something to know where they stand. If they have a boring nine to five office job they can get out there on the weekend and put themselves to the test (Simon, M, 36, Tough Mudder MC Contractor, April 2013).

Matthew’s account of human strain within the labor force reveals his need to align his body with natural stimuli to draw meaning, instead of drawing meaning from computers, clocks and materialistic agendas. His reference to the payoff between work and health/happiness reflects his disillusion in consumerism, a race going nowhere. Being a chess piece in a game or a hamster in a wheel indicate a dissatisfied physical body suffering under constraint, routine and structure. As an established city banker, Matthew is a major contender in the rat race, yet his embeddedness in corporate culture makes him one of the most qualified to speak of its degenerative effect on humanity. Matthew is so disenchanted with the practices of consumer culture, he believes it is worth risking his physical body in Tough Mudder because it represents practices of resistance. It distances him from selfishness, materialism, insatiable desire and the rupturing of mental and physical health. He explains how political and occupational institutions already undermine health. In other words, by opting to risk his body, he regains control and agency over it.

Next, Paul and Riccy share their disenchanted relationship with time, a common discourse among Mudders:

I can’t remember the last weekend where we didn’t have something planned. It seems for the last 18 months it’s just been the period of my life, weddings, engagements and babies and stuff everywhere (Paul, M, 36, Medical Services Advisor, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

40 Some days I could be doing seven days a week, some days I could be doing two or three. Since I’m contract based as well I’m not always working, then sometimes I can be working ninety hours a week. So, I don’t really have many commitments outside of work just because I can’t really commit to anything (Riccy, M, 30, TV Producer, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

Paul’s introspection reveals how the practices of modern life imprison him. For Riccy, it is his work schedule as a busy TV producer that restricts him in his leisure time. Paul’s desire to eschew the routine trappings of urban culture becomes apparent as he lists the regulating forces, which constrain him. For both Mudders, routine carries little meaning, suffering on the other hand, offers a break from the social malaise within which they are entwined.

Fellow Mudder Niall is from a large Irish family; he grew up in the countryside and read politics, history and languages at University. He studied in France and Spain to get a degree in Spanish history, which he calls useless. Niall then became a web developer before settling in IT recruitment. He has lived and worked in America, Poland, Ireland, and now Australia. His intense schedule reflects how economic, technological, social, and cultural networks shape his daily routine:

A work day involves the gym either before or after work, the usual bathroom routine. If I don’t walk to work I take a short commuter train, where I will be reading, I do deliberately because it’s the only reading time I get in a day. I do not have a single free minute in my work day, it’s just ridiculous, it’s continuous, whatever I have planned it never happens because I’m pulled away to a thousand other things. I work from 8am to 7pm pretty much every day, sometimes longer. Lunch is food court salad brought here (Niall’s office), nothing else. In the evening, I’m either working out, or I cook, then I’m in bed at 9.45pm because I have to be, because I’m utterly wreaked every day. So that’s my fairly boring day. No, it isn’t boring because it’s busy all day so, but not so exciting I guess (Niall, M, 38, Associate Director, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

Structures impose both an empowering and a constraining force on Niall’s agency. Despite his independent life trajectory, his vignette shows an abundance of structure (e.g. fixed employment), and a scarcity of agency (putting structurally formed capabilities to work in an innovative way) (Eccles & Wigfield, 1995). Niall’s participation in Tough Mudder interrupts and overcomes the restraints of his heavily structured time-space path by providing him with a symbolic, creative and meaningful experience. The sensory vigilance required of Niall to manage suffering in nature helps him to overcome the immaterial reality of his city office.

41 Tough Mudder lifeguard Jess explains the risks involved in the event that fuels participants need for challenge and exertion. Laura’s use of the word sedentary conveys the minimal kinaesthetic movement she experiences in her suburban lifestyle. Patrick echoes Laura’s sentiment by expressing his desire to feel physically tired:

People do Tough Mudder for fun, a challenge. Last year (Sept 2012) we did 1,000 rescues in the Arctic Enema in 2 days, with 26,000 people, 3 people were choppered out to hospital. (Jess, F, 24, Tough Mudder Contract Lifeguard, April 2013)

With my job it’s very sedentary, so it’s nice to feel I’m being challenged with a physical outdoors nature based activity. It’s a bit different to working in an office (Laura, F, 25, TV Producer, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

I haven’t done anything very close to it, and especially as it seems people move through the obstacles quite quickly, as opposed to some of the other ones, which I’ve done, where you have to wait behind people. No, I actually quite enjoy feeling really really tired afterwards, and feeling like you’ve actually had to exert yourself (Patrick, M, 23, Student, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

Both participants crave physical movement and the sensations following this exertion. Laura considers nature as a space to confront and overcome challenges. She refers to the self-reliance accessible through the physical realm and an anti-modern ruggedness exhibited equally by men and women in harmony with nature. Human strain in Laura’s life is that of a mental kind. In contrast Tough Mudder is designed to strain the mind and the body in unison. Patrick is drawn to the continual unrestricted movement offered by Tough Mudder as Mudders quickly move through obstacles. This suggests there is a flow of varied physical sensations, which are free from restriction. Physical practices involving bodily sensations and movements, while weight and muscle tensions are subdued. Modernity ruptures embodied experience by dubbing down the senses which have become besieged by the modern world (Simmel et al., 1997):

When asked about current challenges, Niall and Dove situate themselves as existing deep in their comfort zone:

Only work challenges to be honest, living in Australia doesn’t provide many challenges. It’s nice and comfortable. It’s an easy place to live (Niall, M, 38, Associate Director, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

The challenge I guess. Just being able to do it, to be able to see the finish line, to be involved with something that is quite a massive event. Just to push my boundaries (Dove, F, 37, Executive Assistant, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

42 Working in technology has eased many irritations of life for Niall, while releasing time from mundane tasks for more fulfilling challenges (Willmott & Nelson, 2006). Many people have tried to do more than the released time allows, and therefore life seems busier. Subsequently, our quest for individuality and self-fulfillment becomes a double-edged sword. Niall demonstrates how some modern freedoms, such as comfort and material wealth, can be onerous. They draw us into a web of distinctions and deeper kinds of self-fulfillment are neglected. Dove mirrors Niall’s notion of living in a land of ease, she also needs to be physically exerted.

To summarize, these quotes relate to Separation from the Rituals of Modernity and reveal important tensions that Mudders face in modern culture. Once teams have been established, there is typically a dynamic mix of anticipation and excitement on the corporeal realm (such as how to manage pain and cope with electrocution). This is coupled with the cognitive challenge of completing the course. Tough Mudder manages the process by emailing all Mudders a video of grueling obstacles such as the ice bath the night before the event, while Mudders welcome a change from their insatiable work and consumption practices.

Individual Tensions and Releases Monica demonstrates the highly ambitious nature of most Mudders. At the age of 27, she was at the peak of her profession as the Marketing Manager of a five star resort in Cancun. Six years later she was diagnosed with cervical cancer. Monica was forced to face a frightening personal challenge, which gave her a different perspective on life. These events have made Monica highly self reflexive. Below she talks about being competitive against herself:

I’m not a competitive person. I like to do well, but being competitive is not one of the things that drive me, other than beating my own time for example. So, I’m competitive with myself, but not with other people. It’s probably the same, once I know I have a goal to complete, then I research what I have to do, try to do it to the best of my abilities (Monica, F, 39, International Communications Manager, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

Monica demonstrates another derivative of competitiveness, individualism and hyper- performance. Rather than competing against a reference group, she competes against herself. On a cellular level, the internal competition she faced fighting cervical cancer may explain her perspective on competition. Suffering is more than a path to success for her, it is a higher form of experience: a new chance of life.

Similarly, Riccy explains how his individuality is a life and death matter. His extreme approach to life is mirrored outside his involvement in Tough Mudder and Urban adventure races. Riccy’s work in reality TV often requires working 90-hour weeks. In his leisure time, he participates in competitions, such as board game tournaments and was recently ranked one of the best in Australia. He uses adventure racing and gaming competitions as a way to becoming an everlasting icon within his reference group:

I’d rather die, and people remember something about me, than just be someone who’s forgotten, so preferably a positive impact. But I just don’t want to go unnoticed (Riccy, M, 30, TV Producer, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

Riccy’s view portrays an overwhelming mental and physical investment in the excess and radical. He draws upon a mosaic of leisure activities to ensure that he is remembered in a way that adheres to the Western logic of success. Tough Mudder is one of many masochistic platforms in which people suffer to succeed. Riccy derives meaning from being remembered for having a positive influence.

Although Tough Mudder is a team event, its communal ideals are often thinly spread. For example, Tough Mudder supports the charity Legacy, yet many Mudders are skeptical about the amount when this is measured against total turnover. Also, the high cost for spectators conveys mixed messages concerning the event’s genuine desire to foster the community. We review three divergent perspectives on the Tough Mudder entry fee. For Bridgid, Tough Mudder projects a communal image, yet embodies capitalist and individualistic values. In contrast, Rory and John are more sympathetic to the needs of the industry, particularly as personal trainer John is a commercial stakeholder:

They charge $40, or $20 for a spectator on the door, which is just ridiculous. I mean $15 is all right online, but still what are they getting for $15? I don’t know. I think that’s pretty stupid when they’re talking about being a team effort and supporting each other. My mum and dad would come out, but I don’t think I’m going to say to them it costs $15 to come out. A lot of personal friends would come out definitely…I don’t know, or if they have a limit to how many people can come out and watch it, because when they’re advertising it as a real team effort and support your friends and get people involved. I think it’s a bit of a joke that it costs that much (Bridgid, F, 28, Pediatric Nurse, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

It is expensive, but to be honest I compare it to a music festival, where I’ll pay $140 for a music festival; get completely written off, not remember anything, have a good time, but pretty much your body will go backwards. Whereas this (hand gestures forwards) it’s like

44 more with it I suppose. The fitness side of things you’re going to get more out of it at the end of it (Rory, M, 26, Electrician, Tough Mudder, April 2013).

It’s certainly quite expensive. I understand the distance and the logistics just to set the event up will be quite considerable. However, the first Tough Mudder event in Australia was sold out in just two weeks. That’s why they put on two events in Sydney instead of just the one (John, M, 36, Personal Trainer, April 2013).

Tough Mudder markets voluntary suffering as an exclusive activity. We see here how a combination of corporeal experiences leads to the feeling of community. Belonging to a group is based on sensory interactions which Bridgid classifies as not only encompassing her teammates, but also her friends and family. On a social level, Bridgid is exhibiting frustration and betrayal by Tough Mudder carrying the ideals of the capitalist economy into her space for freely inhabiting her body - charging her personal friends to experience being-in-the-world at Tough Mudder (Dion et al., 2011). Rory and John are more empathetic when defining what their money buys them. Rory specifically implies the event makes his body move forwards, hence there is value for money found in the physical transformation. This transformation is the work of culture, translating suffering practices into valuable and meaningful experiences.

Monica and Kate offer a different perspective by referring to an authentic truth. Monica conveys Western society’s obsession with personal commoditization and public image, and represents herself as the embodiment of the performed identity (Jolly, 2011). Kate explains how Tough Mudder speaks to her as if she was speaking in a lost dialect:

I love that I’m going to be dirty and I love getting muddy, and I’m going to be in the water because I think it strips off all the layers. You know, fakeness that you actually put on yourself to interact with society, and when you’re stripped bare, where people don’t care how you look, or how clean, or the clothes you wear, or the social status you have, the job you have or who are your friends, you’re just you. Muddy or dirty or whatever, you have to draw into your inner strength and then the true qualities are going to come up… I can see the plainness of the human experience, the spirit as well (Monica, F, 39, International Communications Manager, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

It speaks to every single part of my personality. So I love getting dirty, I love being outside, there’s obviously a challenge in that one. That one for me provokes a heck of a lot more emotion than the other one and it makes me want to look it up. It doesn’t scare me (Kate, F, 32, Social Media Strategist, Tough Mudder, April 2013).

Monica and Kate demonstrate how Tough Mudder strips away the layers of daily performances. Their fast-paced lifestyles have deadened their senses causing them to

45 lose touch with their sensory and physical self. Their spiritual and romantic passion for mud reveals how nature is vital to their experience, which is reflective of the wider Mudder discourse. Mudders use nature to cement a valuable experience (Canniford & Shankar, 2013). The metaphor of stripping bare is also important as it links to empowerment through nudity. In West Germany, nationhood was reconfigured through the naked body, nudity became an emblem of opposition (Hinton, 2002). An unclothed body signified freedom from the ‘moral economy’ of consumer capitalism. It further suggests a disengagement with conspicuous consumption and materialism (Boehling, 1996). Similarly Mudders reveal that public displays of nudity give rise to a corporeal aesthetic, which mobilizes disillusioned activists. Monica and Kate’s want a return to the authentic (e.g. human experience), the natural (e.g. dirt and water) and the unrepresented (e.g. ‘just you’).

To summarize the quotes from the Individual Tensions and Releases section, the need for distinction amongst Mudders is much in evidence. Themes of competition against the self, as well as being remembered and noticed are very salient. It seems contemporary culture prevents people from knowing themselves: their limits, their fears and their physical capabilities. For example, Monica discusses stripping off the layers of fakeness in modernity. Tough Mudder provides a means for people to know, understand and fully embody their physical body.

Physical and Mental Preparation Practices Mudders described their participation in hyper-performance rituals, i.e. competitively performing at their peak. Brian is 30 years old. He is from Ireland and recently spent four years travelling around India, South East Asia, and Central America. Now working as an IT engineer in Sydney, he is immersed, both inside and outside of work, in digital connectivity, accessibility and interactivity. The following excerpts show how Brian exhibits signs of hyper performance in his sport and diet. Dove shares many traits with him. She controls her mind much like a high performance athlete and exhibits a highly independent attitude, synonymous with her upbringing in the Eastern suburbs of Sydney where she went to a performing arts school, training as a classical ballerina from the age of five until she was 21. After dislocating her hip, she was no longer able to dance and began to travel. In other words a physical

46 injury opened the door to mobility, recreation and authentic sensations. She jokes that her life was all ballet and no food:

At the minute my main focus is triathlon. I swim quite a bit, I did stroke correction lessons back in May, so they’re really good to make me a little bit faster. I run a bit, not so much these days, so most weekends on the mornings go on a decent 50-70k cycle, then during the week do boxing two days a week…I like pushing myself, so my big one is the marathons, when I get into running a big goal was to break three hours in the marathon, so I did that in Melbourne two years ago, so yeah that was quite a big achievement. And not just the result but, like, leading up to that for three months I gave up alcohol and I gave up meat, which was more of a hippy thing than specifically (laughs) well, I wanted to see how my body would react to other forms of protein while training (Brian, M, 29, Senior Systems Engineer, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

Well I’ve been seeing a personal trainer, running to get my cardiovascular fit, and eating. So I’ve been on a detox for two months, so I haven’t had any alcohol, sugar, coffee and dairy, very boring, very hard. But yeah, a lot of running, weight training, no group training, just didn’t get round to it. And now I’m just focusing on the head space (Dove, F, 37, Executive Assistant, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

Like many Tough Mudders, Brian uses the metaphor of “pushing himself” – a prerequisite to optimal performance. In contemporary society, values which shape the socially ‘correct’ body include endurance, agility and longevity (Scheper-Hughes & Lock, 1987). However, to achieve these qualities an element of physical suffering is necessary. Brian is pushing the boundaries of his body to embody such traits. This may be driven by his job in IT stripping him of his senses because he is required to hyper-perform in a disembodied and digitized work environment. Similarly, the event requires Dove to craft a tough and fit physique, which from one anthropological standpoint, suggests a preparation for war (DeMause, 1984). Relative to Dove’s normal routine, her body will be engaging in sensory warfare (e.g. ice water submersion in the Arctic Enema obstacle). Her detox practices support a holistic and healthy body free of illness, disease and pain, yet she seeks to go beyond the limiting structure of her healthy body, and immediately subject herself to burns, sprains and electric shocks the moment she is optimally fit. This provokes the question: what is good health?

Monica and Dove both share a very strict regimented diet as part their hyper performing practices in preparation for Tough Mudder:

I’ve been trying to run at least three times a week, with a longer run on the weekend, so at least 10-15k. I’ve been going to the gym doing some specific weight training exercises, twice to three times a week. In terms of the diet, taking supplements, vitamins, fish oil, magnesium, and then for the diet, I mainly try to eat healthy. It’s not a very selective diet, but I do have

47 like whey protein for example. I try to eat protein a lot in the morning, then at lunchtime as well, and when I go to sleep (Monica, F, 39, International Communications Manager, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

I’ll go to the gym, watch Breaking Bad, I’m addicted, it’s a TV series, if you haven’t watched it you’ve got to watch it, have a massive meal and drop dead, fall asleep. If it’s a Friday, I might go and meet friends for a drink after work, but for the last two months I’ve been on detox. So I haven’t had a drink for two months, or any sugar, or any coffee, so it’s pretty much my life at the moment. Just training, training, training (Dove, F, 37, Executive Assistant, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

Prior to her account of diet and exercise, Monica describes the time when all the familiarity and support system in her life disappeared and she had to reinvent herself as a different person when moving from Cancun to Sydney. This is an important trait in modern Western life. She found the reinvention really challenging because she missed her people, her food, and her language in Mexico. These practices have made her very physically and mentally adaptable. For example, through acculturation and the re-embodiment of a new culture, she has trained her body to hyper-perform with the use of supplements and stimulant control. Monica’s vignette is reflective of the body-conscious culture inherent to the Sydney lifestyle. The socially idealized body in the West for men and women is strong, lean, androgynous and physically ‘fit’. This model reflects core cultural values including toughness, autonomy, self-control, competitiveness and youth (Pollitt, 1982). Health is increasingly viewed as an achieved rather than as an acquired status; people are expected to work hard at being strong and healthy, and to be able to cope with suffering. Monica and Dove’s consumption practices are tightly linked to the militarist and Social Darwinian notion of the fast and slim will win, while the fat and flabby will fail.

Our Tough Mudder teammate Matt is younger, and at 24 he is the youngest in our study. He has recently graduated as a mechanical engineer at UNSW in Sydney and is a keen tennis player and consistently trains in the gym. He is atypical in the sense that he is highly competitive. He completed the course for a faster time alone, rather than as part of a team which is the ethos of the event. On the day, Matt displayed signs of hyper performance through his determination to keep to his time goal. Similarly Eliot’s story outlines the cognitive interworking of individualistic hyper performance:

I always had the goal in mind to break two hours. I didn’t have much of an idea on how quick I was going to be, so the whole time I was running keeping in mind wanting to achieve a good time. Not so much achieve the top five per cent to go to the world’s best, but just be happy with my own time, but I had nothing to compare it to, so it was a loose goal. I had a stop

48 watch on my arm but I couldn’t see it because of the mud. I always wanted to have an idea of how I was going, but once two hours passed you realize it’s tougher than you think. I think I was really driven by the competitive edge (Matt, M, 24, Student, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

10,000 volts is a scary number. As far as I know people can’t survive that kind of voltage…why 10,000 volts? Why would people do that to themselves? I’ve probably answered that before, it’s kind of that, “can my body take it?” Probably that’s a question men ask more than women. Maybe that’s an ego thing, a testosterone thing, alpha male thing. Can I put my body through that and be OK? Naively I haven’t even thought about what this could do to me (Eliot, M, 29, Senior Fire Engineer, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

The physical materiality of the event, valorized by mud, overcomes technological devices (e.g. Matt’s watch). This encourages participants to immerse themselves fully in the cognitive and corporeal aspects of the course – to be in their bodies, in the world (Dion et al., 2011).

Yet, Matt did not fully cognitively engage. Despite being encouraged by the Tough Mudder culture to be part of the challenge, not the race, Matt still upholds his competitive individualistic goal of breaking two hours. One of Tough Mudder’s appeals is its ability to sensorially re-engage people through thrill, pain, pleasure and suffering. Part of the re-engagement is to disengage the mind from thought as illustrated in Eliot’s quote. The mud and electricity relieve participants from the regulating forces that disembody them (e.g. technology). Matt’s challenging job hunt has not deterred him from getting a Mohican hairstyle in honor of the event. Tough Mudder encourages this type of remixing and morphing:

Matt: The day before Tough Mudder I rested the whole day and I loaded up on carbs. I ate a lot of food, I drank quite a bit of water so I’d stay hydrated, but I didn’t want to bloat myself. I ate lots of sugar, like jelly beans before the race. And I got a hair cut Mohawk style. I couldn’t go too crazy because I got interviews, but I got a little Mohawk and I got spray painted yellow hair (Matt, M, 24, Student, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

Lead Researcher: Why did you do that?

Matt: So I’m more tough. I don’t know. I also wanted to shave down a bit, and I thought this was the perfect opportunity. And I wanted to look more badass. It’s all part of it I guess (Matt, M, 24, Student, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

In the first extract, the practice of Matt cutting his hair is reflective of the preoccupation with the body in contemporary society. In the West these practices reflect an individual’s wish to distinguish themselves from others. Matt identifies himself as a Mudder, despite the fact the image may rupture his job prospects as a mechanical engineer. Many researchers and practitioners of body alteration explain

49 this behavior as the final seat of individual control over oneself. Due to the strong pressure of regulation, one finds solace in a painful modification of one’s own body. Matt demonstrates how there is community in like-bodied people (Myers, 1992). In addition, his second quote reveals his relationship to toughness. He shows these experiences are important not so much because he wants to suffer, but because suffering means he is tough. This is a cherished trait because it grounds human experience in the body. It is also a resource for meaning construction, yet it is fast becoming a redundant trait in digital and comfortable industrialized societies. Suffering is therefore an enhancing practice for individualism. From a social perspective, practicing toughness is a violent reaction to the softening of society. Yet on an individual level, toughness is valued as it translates to instant gratification: masculinity, soldier, unbeatable (Widdicombe, 2014).

Matt shares many traits with Eliot, a Senior Fire Engineer who lives in Bondi. Tough Mudder is the latter’s fourth adventure race following Valley Stampede, Warrior Dash and Tough Bloke Challenge. Eliot describes his drive on a previous adventure race to choose physical sacrifice to achieve mental glory. His embodiment of the obstacle was inscribed on his leg for weeks in the form of friction burns. Eliot’s commitment to adventure racing is synonymous with individuality and hyper performance:

I was determined to come first, and I did but at the price of an injury, not out of the whole event, out of the people we trained with. So yeah, the last obstacle was a big rope and you had to go across it, and I put my legs up and dragged myself along and got a big rope burn on both my legs and had to be off work the next day. I couldn’t walk, and it took about 10 weeks to heal (Eliot, M, 29, Senior Fire Engineer, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

For Eliot, the visceral immediacy of life is key. It allows for the emergence of unprecedented and unconstrained representational forms, rather than playing with ironic citation and distance (Jolly, 2011). This theory has been explored by comparing Madonna (postmodern) to Lady Gaga (post-postmodern) (Engberg, 2013; Jolly, 2011). For Madonna, performance is about professionalism; her values are perfect, ironic and managed. Whereas for Lady Gaga, “it’s about blood and guts, stumbles and falls, life and death” (Jolly, 2011, p. 1). The natural and authentic ideals displayed by Lady Gaga share many similarities with Tough Mudders: the Death Waiver, guaranteed injury, mud immersion and shared suffering. In Eliot’s anecdote, the

50 visceral immediacy of life is key rather than playing with ironic citation and distance (Jolly, 2011). We observe how many consumers are ready to suffer for reality, to feel alive in their flesh and blood and to reclaim autonomy through their bodies.

A diary entry from our lead author concludes our pre-event narrative:

I woke up one hour before the alarm and felt stressed. I could hardly eat breakfast. I travelled with my team mate Simon and two friends that were winding us up in the car, we got stuck in very heavy traffic one hour before we were due to start on the 11.30am wave. After parking, we walked to registration where I got talking to Max from Spartan (another new adventure race which involved throwing spears). This made me think when does it stop, will there be a jungle adventure race where you swim with snakes? It was also good to see the other Mudders on the course. I did expect mud, but the level of mud was so much…Simon and I were pretty nervous, we both had gloves but forgot to put them on. I tried to get hold of Matt but no joy (Lead Researcher, Diary Entry, 23/09/12).

The vignettes from the Physical and Mental Preparation Practices section illustrate how Mudders perform and manage their bodies like athletes through diet, training, rest, detox and image. The scientific levels of regulation, control and management point to hyper-performance against the self. This is despite the pain and sacrifice incurred.

2.11.2 During Tough Mudder: The Reappearance of the Body To capture the embodied knowledge of being a Tough Mudder, our lead author travelled to the Glenworth Valley with her teammate Simon and two friends that had been tasked with taking videos and photographs. At this stage, the sensory modalities of the event became salient. Themes emerge to show Mudders are experimenting with their bodies to ensure optimal performance:

Tough Mudder Base Camp Upon arrival there was a primal and tribal atmosphere. It was friendly and chanting and jeering could be heard across the isolated valley. One soon felt engulfed in a wider tribe. The pre event nerves in the car were boosted by adrenaline as one walked directly into the festival scene, enmeshed in the carnival of tough. Like a clean raindrop joining a fast moving muddy stream. One couldn’t help but smile at the

51 outfits, tutus and burley men dressed as sweet old ladies with bonnets on. Clusters of semi-naked teams still in pristine condition stood around the base camp oozing adrenaline; a focused yet jovial fight and flight gaze could be seen in their faces. Sponsors VB Bitter and the Holden Colorado help set the scene of toughness on signage, obstacles and fitness tests. Using multiple sources we record people’s first impressions of the event reveal how participants negotiate their edge with objects and injury:

There seemed to be a lot of people walking, and getting injured (Niall, M, 38, Associate Director, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

I saw numerous people hit by runaway wood, and some people even taken away on stretchers (Spectator at Tough Mudder, F, 35, Sept 2012).

I went to the toilet just before heading to the starting pen. The girl ahead of me was retching. That’s not the weird part. What was strange was that no one else but me seemed to find this alarming (Lead Researcher, Diary Entry, 23/09/12).

The quotes from Niall and the spectator echo the reconceptualizing discourse of civilization, which occurs during the event. The question of what is civilized becomes important here because sane people are paying to subject themselves. For instance, in the spectator’s quote, participants are being hit by rolling wooden logs that have been dropped by exhausted Mudders struggling to complete the Hold Your Wood obstacle. Mudders initially frown upon the notion of people walking. However, less speed reduces the chances of injury and the opportunity to help others - an important value in the Tough Mudder community. By Tough Mudder reframing teamwork rather than individual achievement being the ultimate mark of success, forces Mudders to re- examine their edge collectively and draw meaning from participation, instead of victory.

Matt felt it was important to keep photos of how happy he was before the run. The pre- and post-event visual records mark a recomposure, renewal and rehumanisation of his identity. His willingness to participate indicates his need to shift from “de-” to “re-” behaviors. Gina and Rory interpreted the disappearance of one body and reappearance of another as a joke:

Took off my jumper, did a few stretches, hair sprayed my hair yellow, got a few photos before the race to see how clean and happy I was, to compare to the after shots (Matt, M, 24, Student, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

52 Generally pretty fit, there’s no hugely overweight people. There’s a few overweight people, but generally overall they have to be fit and able. Generally I guess, pretty rowdy, there for a good time (Gina, F, 25, Fitness Instructor, Tough Mudder, April 2013).

A lot of people seemed to dress up and take it as a big joke. We saw a lot of costumes (Rory, M, 26, Electrician, Tough Mudder, April 2013).

The human body is an important marker when observing human development and cultural practices (Strain, 1996). Matt is experimenting with his physical form: from the aesthetics of hairstyle, to the warmth of his muscles. This illustrates how Tough Mudder provides Matt with the space to discover his physical agency (Strain, 1996). His body is also in a mode of experiencing and interpreting the changing Tough Mudder environment. He implies a transformation is about to occur. Stretching, spraying his hair, and recording his cleanliness and happiness are practices that ground his experience in his body.

Commonly Mudders joke about the discomfort they are about to experience. They question what they are doing with no answers:

They’re all excited. But also slightly nervous at the same time, I think being in a team we have a bit more support. Well you have your buddy there don’t you, just in case you fall on you face (laughs) (Dove, F, 37, Executive Assistant, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

I think it’s quite built up in people’s expectations that it’s very tough, which I’m sure it is, but it’s not killer tough. So they see the distance, which is 20k, which is a significant distance, they see all the obstacles, and I think they say it takes three hours. So I guess that’s pretty daunting depending on your background (Brian, M, 29, Senior Systems Engineer, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

We were just pissing ourselves laughing, thinking what the hell did we sign up for. That was the one that set the mood at the beginning. We knew it was coming, and knew it was going to be horrible, yet we just did it anyway. No one hesitated, we all just did it and were like, why are we doing this? (Riccy, M, 30, TV Producer, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

I’m thinking maybe I should have an alcoholic beverage before I do Tough Mudder. Give me some Dutch courage and maybe take the edge off the fact that I’m going to get electrocuted and possibly lose my eye balls at some point during the day (Jarnah, F, 31, Registered Nurse, Tough Mudder, 2013).

As social suffering becomes imminent, many Mudders experience a shift from mind to body just before they start the course. The quotes above reveal how Mudder’s turn to their teammates to manage their conflicting thoughts and emotions. For instance, Riccy chooses an activity he finds horrible and detrimental to his physical well-being, yet he enjoys the experience. He shows the entanglement of the body and the mind. A dichotomy is present between a computerized mind, which is pre-programmed to doubt and question what he signed up for, and the instrumental body, which

53 sensorially delivers pain and pleasure. This illustrates the central role of the body as a site for the transfer of meaning between nature, society and culture to interpret perceptive and cognitive processes.

The aforementioned quotes from the Tough Mudder Base Camp show the melting pot of emotions experienced at the initial stage of the obstacle course. Mudders are met with the unexpected the moment they arrive, whether it is a runaway wood or retching in the toilets. As part of the experiential production line, the conflict of excitement and nerves leads to the tightly controlled experience of the Bull Pen.

The Bull Pen: Releasing the Mudders Moving back to our lead authors:

When approaching the start line the commentator could be heard psyching up hundreds of Mudders that were about to be released. Lots of “Woohoos” and “Hoo-rahs”, the air of health, vibrancy and happiness was palpable. To enter the “Bull-pen” we scaled a six foot high wall, which launched us into a pack of 600 other Mudders. Egyptian pharos, naughty nurses and tribal face paints were some of the costumes, which flavored the pen. The crowd was young, fit, tough, white and mostly male. Tough Mudder teams congregated like cattle as energizing heavy metal music rippled through the apprehensive cohort. Mudders were now in the final stages of a highly orchestrated sensory production line. The Tough Mudder commentator addressed Mudders by mixing mind games with empowerment he lead chants including, “when I say team, you say pride”, and the all important pledge: I understand that Tough Mudder is not a race but a challenge. I put teamwork and camaraderie before my course time. I do not whine – kids whine. I help my fellow Mudders complete the course. I overcome all fears (Lead Researcher Fieldnotes, Tough Mudder Participant, July 2012).

54 Following the pledge orange smoke canisters filled the air and the tribe was released. Almost immediately after leaving the starting pen, Mudders were led straight through a ditch of neck-deep sticky mud gloop – a priming of what was to follow. The Kiss of Mud obstacle came a kilometer later. This forced participants to slither over silty gritty rock ridden-mud while under barbed wire. Signage throughout the course reminded participants of the magnitude of what they were embarking upon (Figure 3):

Figure 3: Tough Mudder Course Signage

At the Sydney 2012 event, Tough Mudder teammate Matt informed the lead author he was running at an earlier time to run alone and qualify for the World’s Toughest Mudder (24-hour Tough Mudder). He displays highly competitive traits both with himself and with others. He capitalized on the group spirit of the event, yet ran the event as an individual:

I’m most looking forward to seeing how my endurance and strength, like how well I do in the course compared to others, how I go through it, to get there and see how your training has paid off, that kind of excites me I guess (Matt, M, 24, Student, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

Once I broke off from the guys, cos they were a bit slow, I would have been happy to do it as a group, but I really wanted to challenge myself, and feel I wouldn’t have gained as much if I ran with them, which is what a few of my other friends said who ran as a group. I really liked the fact that even though I ran alone, everyone helped me, there was not one person who looked away from me or didn’t help, people were willing to help before you’ve even asked. They would reach down and help you up, that was really helpful at the Berlin Walls, which was the tall one, and the log jumping. I was at a similar pace with another guy so we sort of helped each other up. I really sensed that team spirit which was great. Regardless of your friends, regardless of your gender, regardless of your race, everyone is helping everyone, and that was really good. I liked that, and that’s one thing I’d take away from it (Matt, M, 24, Student, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

Again we see Matt’s desire to test the boundaries of his body without the constraint of a team. He cherry picks from the group’s strengths for his own independent advancement. Matt’s use of “I” is prolific compared to most Mudders who use “we”

55 to tell their story. Not only is he aware of the reservoir of help available from the team ethos, he is also aware of the diversity of other people’s skills he can draw from to improve his course time.

Nestled in the middle of the obstacles is the Electric Eel. Here Mudders use their triceps to crawl as fast as they can through lanes of muddied water pooled on plastic tarp. In addition to scraping limbs against rocks, a mass of electrical wires hangs down from a wooden frame placed inches from the ground. Screams and grunts resonate with the electric shocks which are delivered every three seconds. Our lead author’s introspection reveals her sensory expression of electrocution. Her vignette serves to shred the social fabric of people as pleasure seekers:

The first electric shock obstacle (Electric Eel obstacle) involved crawling in mud through electric wires carrying 10,000 volts, with barbed wires overhead. My approach to the obstacle was to power my way through as fast as possible to minimize the shocks. When the electric hit me I felt an intense snapping feeling. It felt wrong. It was the only point in the event where I felt I shouldn’t be doing this. It felt like my veins and arteries were ripping, like they're going to burst. You find it difficult to move. When I got out the obstacle every breath I took was clear and cool. My heart continued to beat too fast (Diary entry: 22nd Sept 2012).

The vignette describes the stringing out of the nervous system, one route to hysteria (Green, 1994). This can also be seen as torture, violence against the self, or voluntary suffering. The tendency to internalize violence is referred to as “militarization of the mind” (Ignacio, 1990) which naturally links to the military style adventure race. Hence, on one level people become soldiers during Tough Mudder. Anthropological studies of war zones reveal how soldiers learn to hate everyone: including themselves. This can be understood as part of many rational inconsistencies that are built into the logic of our fractured lives.

Tough Mudder provides an environment where people can engage in practices that supersede their everyday personas and bodily constraints. Monica illustrates how positive bodily meaning is derived from physical suffering by creating a recasting, reframing and re-evaluation of daily life. She makes explicit reference to finding meaning in suffering because it helps her to break away from sensory numbness and move towards the visceral immediacy of life:

It gets you out of your shell, we sometimes get too much into routine of everyday, and I love breaking the routine because that’s when you get insights. So it’s not about endurance of hardship you know, it’s the meaning that you get from overcoming those difficulties. There is

56 a book called Man’s Search for Meaning, by Victor Frankel, who was a survivor of a concentration camp, and it says that people can derive meaning from suffering, and if the suffering that you go through has meaning for you, then it’s a good thing (Monica, F, 39, International Communications Manager, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

She feels suffering breaks the routine and leads to insights. The book continues the theme of the military facilitating suffering, which retrospectively provides meaning. In keeping with the concentration camp analogy Patrick contends the meaning of life is found in every moment and does not cease in times of suffering. In addition, freedom of choice is ever present. This is not a situation that Tough Mudders would have been likely to have previously encountered, yet it takes them out of their shell physically, mentally and emotionally. Frankel believes suffering ceases to be suffering when it finds a meaning: such as sacrifice.

As a continuation of personal restoration, Brian earnestly argues Tough Mudder means suffering leads to pleasure. Suffering, achievement and self-betterment are consistent and inter-twined concepts in Brian’s work and personal life. He feels continual emotional challenges keep him close to his family and friends at home in Ireland. He suffers emotionally to achieve residency in Australia. Brian is also used to challenging himself physically in marathons. These factors have positively influenced Brian’s embodied practice of suffering in Tough Mudder:

They just see it as pain, not necessarily pain, pain sounds extreme. They see it as discomfort, like why would you put yourself through that, and yeah that’s probably the main image that people have…as with any extreme activity, there is going to be a level of discomfort or pain. Not all, but any endurance there can be quite a lot of pain involved. But then that’s part of achieving that pleasure is putting yourself through pain, to get to the other side … that’s what pushes the fun and makes it enjoyable, pushing yourself is the main idea. Completing it, people would see that as an achievement, and one gets pleasure from their achievements (Brian, M, 29, Senior Systems Engineer, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

It’s out in the country, and it sounds silly, but if you’re running on grass it’s like real grass, it’s not just a park made up for it, so I think that definitely adds to it. It just makes it more interesting, more different, more wild (Brian, M, 29, Senior Systems Engineer, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

Again the metaphor of “pushing yourself” is used. In this context, the painful practices of striving, sweating and slaving leads to pleasure. In Brian’s description of a loving and respectful relationship with the grass, we observe narratives of communion and wilderness, which can be likened to primitivism.

57 Tough Mudder is orchestrated to make participants work together in teams. Spectators wait patiently at the “buzzworthy” obstacles to watch participants get burnt, frozen and electrocuted. Walk the Plank and The Berlin Walls are iconic obstacles that tap into people’s fear of heights. In Walk The Plank, Mudders have to jump 15 foot into cold muddy water – they step off and free fall as their stomach climbs into their throat. At The Berlin Walls, Mudders sit astride the top of the ten foot high wooden wall to help others over.

Brian explains the organizing forces of extreme sensations and total immersion during the challenge. This can be juxtaposed with his normal lifestyle as an IT technician. Rather than immersion in ice and mud, he ordinarily faces a controlled, clean and routine urban environment, which is devoid of extremes and sensory sentiment. The immersion is palpable, and is further apparent in volunteer fieldnotes:

If you’re exhausted after two hours and you still have to climb over a ten foot wall, that does take physical strength, and more so mental strength, that’s an aspect of it I like as well the mental side…it’s fun jumping around in mud, but I guess fire and ice are both extremes and opposites and this is an extreme event. Obviously people fear fire with good reason, and they fear the impact of ice upon them. That’s a human trait too that’s bred into us, and taught to us that they are born extremes and we should fear them to an extent. So, I guess it’s to play on our emotional fears (Brian, M, 29, Senior Systems Engineer, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

When I arrived at Walk The Plank, I could see some Mudders had slipped into a kind of fear trance, their bodies went into a mini shock. From claustrophobia, to inhibitions and anxieties, the course left no primal human fear untapped (Lead Researcher, Volunteer Field Notes, April 2013).

Fear has been the motor of oppression around the world, whereby brutish acts are performed to maintain the status quo (e.g. Caligula). However, Brian valorizes the role of fear in Tough Mudder, which has multivocal qualities. For example, he discusses the fragility of mankind and how the mosaic of obstacles offered by Tough Mudder facilitates a playful yet controlled engagement with fear. Hence, fear delivered through the channel of Tough Mudder has rich positive meaning. Although fear is deliberating and restricting, it can also be motivating.

Bridgid is also highly competitive. Her desire to be in front in a sufferable event is distinct from the shared pleasures of hedonic experiential consumption (Goulding et al., 2009):

58 You are pushing yourself a lot and giving 100%. So I guess somewhere in there, without actually admitting it, I must like the feeling I get from it. I’m a bit competitive too, so I guess I like beating people (laughs). That’s my challenge, to always be in front of someone (Bridgid, F, 28, Pediatric Nurse, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

Again, the metaphor of “pushing yourself” is present. It implies transgression, bravery and personal growth. Like most Mudders, Bridgid shocks her body beyond comfort thresholds. This recurrent theme within hyper-individualist Western modalities can be explained by alienation, cultural fragmentation and class confusion which drives people to do what ever it takes to be special (Niedzviecki, 2006). Tough Mudders such as Bridgid work closely with life and death in healthcare, drawing meaning at the margins (edgework). For them, the event is a site for transgression through challenge (the work of culture).

Next, Eliot reveals the complexity of the conflicting group and individual values present in Tough Mudder. The event is positioned as a group challenge, yet the challenge is enacted in a multiplicity of different ways. Eliot embraces the group dynamic, yet traces of individuality remain. This is less visible from an outsider’s perspective, as shown by the Simons quote:

They must do it for a selfish reason, got to do it as part of a challenge, but it turns out there is a lot more to it than that. There’s a real sense of, we’re all in the mess we need to get to the end, help…Teamwork is all about supporting the people that are struggling and asking for help when you’re in the shit. If you do something on your own, you’ll probably go a lot quicker, if you go in a team there’s that support network, everyone benefits from it. Plus, if you’re on your own, you have to wait at the end for everyone else, that not all right, that’s rubbish (Eliot, M, 29, Senior Fire Engineer, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

There’s a sense of goodwill with this event. So people will share their own battle stories too, some obstacles are physically challenging, and some are mentally challenging. So to have some complete stranger pat you on the back and say “you’re alright only got a little bit further to go”, or just helping you get over a certain obstacle. There is a real camaraderie that gets built out there, and it’s very real and strong I think (Simon, M, 36, Tough Mudder MC Contractor, 2013).

When interpreting Eliot and Simon’s accounts, both observe/extract the benefits of the collective network as a type of mutually recognized pain community at Tough Mudder. Eliot uses the metaphor of being “in the shit” to describe the social, embodied, collective meaning of the event. There is also important mimic meaning in suffering with 30,000 other people in a niche event. The physical mirroring produces social capital, which is recognized within the community of like-minded actors who uphold a commitment to suffering sports (Atkinson, 2008).

When describing the obstacles, Ernie highlights the transition from a pleasurable life, to suffering in Tough Mudder. Originally from Taiwan, Ernie grew up in Australia and lives in North Sydney. Working as a disaster response nurse, he has immersed himself in travel and worked with confronting diseases in London. As a Buddhist, he endorses the values of the Dali Lama because he has lived through hardship in his life in terms of exile and dealt with it in a positive way. Ernie admires how the Dali Lama hasn’t given up or viewed hardship negatively. He brings these principles forward when explaining how obstacles force Mudders to push their envelopes:

I think they’re signs of danger, fire, electricity, there are things you normally avoid in normal life. They are putting them in your way, you have to get past it, yeah that’s why they chose it to face things that you would normally avoid during normal life (Ernie, M, 28, Disaster Response Nurse, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

Ernie counters the hedonic assumption of pursuing pleasure and avoiding pain. Both Hinduism and Buddhism attribute a lower value to life, compared with Hellenistic or Christian approaches, this is evident in the status of the body. In Hellenism, the human body is a model for perfection in the form of a unity between physical beauty, morals and intellect. In comparison, Buddhism identifies life with pain and thus discredits the flesh. The body is regarded as an instrument, providing it is controlled by the soul. By choosing to face risky and painful obstacles, Ernie embodies his Buddhist faith by discrediting his flesh, simultaneously he uses his body as a path through which his spiritual energy flows (Varga, 2005). He discusses the unique reconnecting practice offered by Tough Mudder. By facing electrocution he is able to control the seemingly uncontrollable. This leads to great satisfaction and feelings of competence (Lyng, 1990). Mudders endure two obstacles, which emit 10,000 volts of electricity. Whether the electric current causes participants to be knocked unconscious depends on the path it takes through the body. Beyond electrocution, Tough Mudder offers physical risk and a corpus of fears: heights, water, claustrophobia, failure and abandonment. Overcoming the electricity – historically referred to only as electrical death (Prejean, 1994) – is akin to surviving or controlling a killer. Mudders torture themselves before the event by watching YouTube videos of the electrocutions. Tough Mudder Founder, Will Dean, knew that the electricity obstacles alone would sell the event. As an edgeworker, Ernie is also negotiating the boundary between

60 consciousness and unconsciousness during electrocution. This is the first time electrocution has become commercialized as part of a sporting activity.

After the electrocution obstacles, the Arctic Enema is the next most feared and revered. Mudders jump into a deep tank of iced water, swim under a wooden plank and through thick layers of ice, then climb out the other side before becoming hypothermic. The frigid ice dumpster shocks muscles into intense numb bricks. Parts of people’s bodies turned blue and several Mudders suffered recurring muscle cramps. Seizures, fractures and heat exhaustion are also common injuries on other obstacles. When the edge is mismanaged participants rely heavily on the emergency services. This reliance has increased substantially since April 2013 after the death of Tough Mudder participant Avishek Sengupta. Agreements are made with local ambulance services for better transport and more units. In the newspaper story below, Kari and Teresa provide a medical account of the logistics of consuming suffering:

We had people with orthopedic issues such as fractures to their arms or legs. Some suffered from dehydration. We had one person with a cardiac complaint. That was just Saturday, but on Sunday we took five more Tough Mudder patients, with some of the same type of injuries — fractures, dislocations and dehydration. The hospital increased its staffing for the Tough Mudder event. We opened a 14-bed area to go with our 10-bed emergency room (Kari, Director of Emergency Room Services and Urgent Care, Sauk Prairie Memorial Hospital, Australia) (Cronk, 2013).

We’ll have extra trauma nurses on duty. We’ll have the incident command centre ready if needed; staff a partial incident command centre and extra surgical coverage (Teresa McCabe, vice president of marketing and development for University Healthcare, Berkeley Medical Centre, USA) (Cronk, 2013).

Tough Mudder communicates the reality of injuries through marketing materials. Social media fuels word of mouth using shocking advertising conveying the pain, hardship and infliction and people are getting hooked (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Tough Mudder Social Media, 2013

Sensory marketing engages consumers’ senses and influences their perception and behavior (Krishna, 2012). Loaded with sensory cues and input, shocking content in an advertisement significantly increases attention, benefits memory, and positively influences behavior (Dahl et al., 2003). In an age when consumers are exposed to an estimated 3,000 advertisements per day (Lasn, 1999), blood will get an advertisement noticed. This proves an earlier theory that due to the multiplicity of pleasurable bodily sensations, people would eventually find pleasure in the sight of blood (Dostoevsky, 1834).

Tough Mudder has become a cult attraction for millions of people. Hypothermia or broken bones are commonplace; Founder Will Dean explains how “the precipice” is a central part of the experience:

The goal is to reach a point of no return. People reach a point between life and death. It's a precipice: you either step over it or step back (Will Dean, M, 34, Tough Mudder Founder, 2014).

The death of Sengupta, 28, is a warning to the burgeoning industry - and participants. I get where it’s fun. But I think there’s this illusion, that it’s controlled and thousands of people do it, so it must be safe…these aren’t as hard as in the real military, but the risk is the same. (organizers are) forgetting how little room for error there is (Mario, M, 30, U.S Coast Guard, 2013) (Wood, 2013).

“The precipice”, or “the point of no return” metaphorically communicates “the edge” that Mudders’ negotiate. In Will and Mario’s vignette, the edge is life and death. Mudders can be seen as stress seekers finding a way to fulfill their need for arousal (Klausner, 1968), in a controllable environment (Lyng, 1990). Tough Mudder is a highly managed temporal space that offers Mudders an optimal state of involvement with an experience, in contrast to the extremes of boredom and anxiety.

Before crossing the finish line, the Electroshock Therapy obstacle is the final and one of the most feared hurdles Mudders face. Wave upon wave of athletic bodies fall to the ground stunned as they hit dangling wires carrying ten thousand volts of electricity. The obstacle is responsible for a large proportion of injuries. The volunteer staff are armed with long wooden sticks to ensure the electricity wires all dangle so people don’t escape being shocked. That said, Mudders could opt out of all obstacles. However, due to the crowds of cheering spectators, as well as the MC commenting on every move participants make, people rarely opt out of the finale. Volunteers are clad with jackets branded “Tough Build: Tough Mudder is not a race but a challenge”. Paying to partake in an experience that entails electrocution and helplessness is indicative of an underlying revulsion of people’s current bodily state. A glut of overstimulation (Heise, 2008) is evident in the experiences below:

You could see a lot of electricity. I know I could see all this flashing happening. When I was running through I was getting shocks and it’s also really funny losing coordination of your muscles. It’s really demeaning that last obstacle. You get to the finish and it really just kills you (Laura, F, 25, TV Producer, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

Generally I wouldn’t put myself in as such a helpless position when I’m exercising (Ernie, M, 28, Disaster Response Nurse, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

For Laura and Ernie, Tough Mudder becomes a site of resistance, practicing acts of indifference. Mudders act as agents of social change by reconnecting to their bodies. A collective consciousness of surrendering the body to the experience is evident.

Next, Matt describes his experience of the final sinister Electroshock Therapy obstacle. Mudders can receive up to 13 electrical shocks during this obstacle. If they are taken to hospital, their body scans are similar to those seen following a heart attack (Gregory, 2013). Matt’s extract provides an extreme account of voluntary suffering through practices of edgework. His mind deceives his body as he believes in completing the event in less than two hours in spite of the consequences:

63 seconds…there’s something wrong there. People shouldn’t not wake-up. Then I came out and the guy put the orange head band on me, and I was a bit dazed. He said, “are you alright man” and I said “yes”, but I wasn’t, I really wasn’t (Matt, M, 24, Student, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

Matt gives a harrowing account of his self-imposed electrocution. Traditionally, torture addresses the soul using the body as a vehicle with the goal of producing a docile body for the state (Scheper-Hughes & Lock, 1987). The use of pain has been used to imbue political power over the individual body. Matt however experiences self-inflicted torture and suffering. A Foucauldian analysis would suggest that the body politic, in its various guises, is producing new forms of bodily knowledge and power for Matt.

At the Tough Mudder finish line the commentator shouts words of encouragement: “it’s not about being fit, it’s about camaraderie and teamwork.” As soon as Mudders are over the finish line they are met with piles of half cut bananas, protein bars and energy drinks. Exhausted, but oddly content, Mudders join their teammates and enjoy a VB Beer. Bridgid and Patrick note the paradox between relief and genocide as the event draws to a close:

There were only like three showers available. Then we ended up just having a guy spray us, it felt like we were in a Hitler type shower, and I was just waiting for the doors to close and gas to come on. I just got my beer and it’s all a blur (Bridgid, F, 28, Pediatric Nurse, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

They ran out of bananas and water at the end. Someone with a hose came and hosed everyone and you had to all huddle up at the front. It seemed a bit concentration camp-like (Patrick, M, 23, Student, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

Both accounts above describe the interlacing of violence and terror with the nourishment of bananas and a cleansing shower. This scenario is meaningful because it shows a stripping and leveling of bodies, the final making of self, identity and belonging. Simultaneously, the military presence is ubiquitous in Tough Mudder as the volunteers take the role of military personal, and the Mudders take the role of the civilians.

When summarizing the section, The Bull Pen: Releasing the Mudders, the central theme of finding meaning in suffering is much in evidence. The meaning is different for different people, varying from conquering fears, to personal achievement and tapping into what is real. Overlapping with the theme of drawing meaning from

64 suffering is how Mudders experience multi-sensory unity within and across teams. The leveling experience facilitates a unique form of camaraderie that takes people out of their disembodied corporeal existence and into a space where bodies re-appear.

2.11.3 After Tough Mudder: Reflections on the Experience of Voluntary Suffering In our final section, we investigate what happens following the aftermath of Tough Mudder, including Mudders recovering, returning and reflecting. We use the work of culture (Obeyesekere, 1990) to identify how voluntary suffering practices have been translated into publicly meaningful experiences. Community bonding through pain, reclamation of the body, and a re-conceptualization of the body ideal are some of the key embodied meanings participants derive from Tough Mudder.

Recover and Return We begin with an introspection from our lead researcher describing the hours and days following the event:

Mud was caked underneath my fingernails. In the shower it was disgusting. I was picking dirt out of my previously glamorous coiffed hair. I was discovering long strands of grass in places that should not be described. It’s not that I’m precious, it’s more that I’m shocked. My legs ceased to perform basic leg functions, and towards the end of the evening I could no longer form whole sentences (Lead Researcher, Diary Entry, 23/09/12).

I woke up today feeling beaten, and sore, and exhausted like I didn’t own my body, and it was a painful cumbersome thing I was dragging around with me. I went to Neutral Bay to meet Laura (Mudder interviewee), then at 10.35am I realized I had gone to the wrong place! But it wasn’t wasted because I sat next to a table of people talking about Tough Mudder. Two of them were saying “it’s as hard as you want to make it.” I then checked online and found that 25,000 people participated over the weekend (Lead Researcher, Diary Entry, 24/09/12).

I think people are almost too drained to be interviewed because it’s such an intense experience. Even one day after the event, people are struggling to remember because the exhaustion has affected them. I was interviewing Paul (Tough Mudder) last night, and we were both annihilated struggling to piece words together. I never anticipated this being an issue (Lead Researcher, Diary Entry, 26/09/12).

We have just seen how the resurgence of the body affects the mind and the body. Next we witness how it affected Dove’s soul. Dove discovered that Tough Mudder spiced her, as though experiential sorcery had occurred. When Dove recounts the experience she is emotional, happy and lost for words. Tough Mudder volunteer Annabel explains one appeal of Tough Mudder is how it taps into people’s obsession with violence. Dove is one such person, in a prior vignette, Dove discusses her

65 obsession with TV series Breaking Bad, known for its emotional trauma, danger and physical violence:

It’s another world isn’t it. Regular life seems pretty easy, pretty boring. I wanna do another Tough Mudder (laughs), but maybe overseas…Tough Mudder’s kind of spiced me, not spiced me, poisoned me in a good way. It’s all I’m dreaming about at the moment, I can’t get it out of my head. I couldn’t sleep on the Saturday night, I kept seeing the same things about it, I kept having dreams about it. It was insane actually, that it had that effect over you (Dove, F, 37, Executive Assistant, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

I think people do it out of boredom. It’s $120, and it’s a story you can keep with you. I think it could link to our growing obsession with violence, aggressive TV, aggressive violence, and now there’s aggressive obstacles (Annabell, F, 21, Tough Mudder Volunteer, April 2013).

A key reading of Dove’s narrative is the influence of the event on a sub-conscious and spiritual level through the dream dimension. According to the anthropology of dreaming, people all over the world have for many years believed that dreams are real experiences where the dreamer connects to another human, spirit, animal or god (Hollan, 2004). Dove’s post event dream reflects her vivid and emotionally charged organization of herself and Tough Mudder; hence the encounter is highly individualistic. From an anthropologist’s perspective, the dream provides her mind with an updated map of her subconscious contours, and resonances with her own body. Dove’s observations challenge the ruling norms of ‘boring life’ as cited by Annabell, and are consequently important sites of difference and rebellion. Tough Mudder offers a refuge from dominant discourses, which allow social inhibitions to be cast aside, and ruling social norms to be renegotiated and reconfigured.

After the collective experience of Tough Mudder, Monica describes her return to individuality and a hyper performing mind. After mud immersion she reintegrates her body into the civilized world:

I had a bath with Epsom salts, and I washed my hair three times, and there was still mud coming out of it. Actually, instead of taking a shower, I took a bath because I wanted to get the salts in and the whole water was black and yuck you know, whatever. Then I had some fruit and watched a movie, and went to sleep at 8.30pm. I had the next day off…that night I had two Panadols, and went to sleep, and then the next day I went to a spa at the Observatory Hotel. You have a Jacuzzi with the warm water, then you have a heated pool to do some gentle swimming, and a sauna and a steam bath. I think that helped a lot with a couple of pain killers I was excited to go back to work and tell everyone actually (Monica, F, 39, International Communications Manager, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

66 The body can be conceptualized as a socio-historic nexus of shifting power relations that have different meanings as schemes of social and cultural resistance (Foucault, 1977). For Monica, when her body is clean she adheres to the norms and values of contemporary society, yet during Tough Mudder her muddy body resists the burden of consumerist capitalist ideologies of status symbol deployment and commodity fetishism. The discomfort and subtle suffering of mud is meaningful as it offers freedom from her body as a means of labor in a healthy production space. Bathing in magnesium salts, and taking paracetamol are some of the many practices she engages in as she transitions through the stages of her culturally civilizing and conforming process.

Similarly, Matt’s culturally civilizes his body in the evening following the race. He starts to document his embodied experience in photographs (Keinan & Kivetz, 2011):

That evening I was looking at the photos and sorting them, choosing my favorites, talking to my dad and brother about how it all went. I didn’t feel exhausted or anything, I had a few cuts, yeah I was really happy that I did it. The sense of accomplishment, I’ve never run 19k before, let alone all those obstacles in between, part of me wonders whether being knocked out gave me even more a sense of accomplishment (Matt, M, 24, Student, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

Matt extends the discussion by Paul and Brian through his new corporeal experiences (e.g. being knocked out by electricity) - a form of ethereal exploit. We see a physical expression of a man removed from his disciplined, predictable and safe culture. Being knocked unconscious gives Matt a temporary liberation from his corporeally bound middle class conservative codes, such as having the right hair cut for a job interview. Surviving unconsciousness is also a form of embodied performance, a new realm of endurance, which remains unexplored by most people.

Riccy also describes his return to individuality. His job as a TV producer editing from his laptop shows a stark contrast to the embodied, sensory demands of Tough Mudder:

Monday morning I woke up in pain and had to go to hospital. That’s when I realized there was something wrong with my hand. They (doctors) checked it out and realized there was a fracture, and all the blood was building up in it, so they said in a few days it will be fine. It’s been strapped up since then, then I went to my 14 hour work day as an editor, it was kinda hard, then Monday night it was so late, then we had TV time with friends. This morning I’ve got today off, just played video games, and I was trying to clean the house because it’s covered in mud (Riccy, M, 30, TV Producer, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

67 Riccy’s delayed response to his fracture is a classic representation of the virtual reality he exists within which ruptures the natural, spatial and temporal relationship he has with his body. His disembodied existence means practices of cleaning and editing continue, yet he is slow to notice his fractured hand. The ethereal materiality of the mud infiltrates Riccy’s home, and intercepts his schedule in the days following the event. There is a sense of matter out of place. Living in a muddy environment threatens the wellbeing of his technological resources.

The quotes from the Recover and Return section relate to how Mudders assimilate back into modernity. We observe the Mudders transition from the collective community during the course to more individualized behavior following the event. This is evident from the diverse behaviors following the event. Some Mudders take a bath and a day off work, others post photos on social media, some even dream about their experience. Less fortunate Mudders visit the hospital or clean mud from their apartment.

Reflections of Tough Mudder Long-term meanings and reflections from Mudders were triumphant, conquering and confident. From a non-participant’s perspective, Tough Mudder Master of Ceremonies Simon, reflects on the collective suffering as gimmicky pain. In contrast, like most Mudders, Ernie explains how collective suffering is a catalyst for meaningful bonding. This is akin to the experience of communitas in raving, river rafting and Burning Man communities:

There are different sections of pain, there’s the physical pain, one thing people underestimate is the mental pain with the course. There are massive stretches of nothing, inclines, not a lot of people run 20kms themselves. So, I think pain is a big feature. There is some gimmicky pain, like the Electro Shock Therapy, and the Electric Eel. There’s one obstacle, The Mud Mile, where you’re in mud pits, and you’ve got to pull yourself in and out of them. There is a series of mud pits that puts you through mental pain to get through. Definitely the Arctic Enema, yes it’s painful (laughs) (Simon, M, 36, Tough Mudder MC Contractor, April 2013).

I just really enjoyed the bonding through hardship, the teamwork, but in a really hard experience, that just makes a team good, there are stages of team building, and I think hardship makes those stages go faster, and that’s what I found in Borneo, and that’s what I found in Tough Mudder (Ernie, M, 28, Disaster Response Nurse, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

68 As an observer of the event, Simon dissects the gimmicky derivatives of pain, he highlights how much of the suffering at Tough Mudder is mental torment. Unlike the other participants in our study, Ernie has lived and worked in countries with severe adversity, he therefore draws a different meaning from hardship. Earlier, we discussed the reclaiming of the body through hardship, yet Ernie is suggesting a reclaiming of people, and a reawakening of human kindness and empathy. Mudders, as organized and cohesive agents, collectively construct meaningful community affiliation. The stages Ernie describes are reflective of historical trends in Western societies whereby civilized modes of behavior are instigated through self-restraint, social-distinction and emotional control.

Fellow participant Monica loves participating in sporting events that involve a team, especially Dragon Boat Racing. When asked how she became involved in Tough Mudder, she explains how she was peer-pressured by a friend who loves to compete. Monica describes how one of the main factors that attracted her to Tough Mudder is its non-competitive nature. Andy is also drawn to non-competitive sports, such as running, swimming and cycling. The team spirit of helping each other and bonding, is a trait that is comparable to many consumer cultures (Arnould & Price, 1993; Goulding et al., 2009; Kozinets, 2002).

I thought it was really interesting the total strangers helping you out. The spirit of camaraderie in there, people were all in the same boat, when you were jumping in the water people would put out a hand to help you up. It was really humbling to see that a lot of people who were really fit and really good, towards the end they started to get a lot of cramps, or got injured, and the whole team was like, what are we going to do now, and the whole response of the team stopping and taking care of their fellow people… they were very open and always willing to help, and there was a certain spirit that was created through hardship that a lot of people shared and you can talk about it with your friends as much as you want, but this is one of those things that until you do it, you don’t know what it’s like. So you could relate to people a lot more easily at the end because of the shared experience, like survivors of a plane crash (laughs) you have that bond (Monica, F, 39, International Communications Manager, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

It was nice, especially cos we were all dressed up (French Maids). We were getting a lot of response from people about our outfits. It seemed that everyone was doing the same course, everyone wanted to help each other out, and it was a very friendly atmosphere. People were

69 chatting with their beers afterwards, people were showering together, it’s quite a close atmosphere and everyone was happy about it really (Andy, M, 27, Doctor, Tough Mudder, April 2013).

In line with Ernie’s narrative, Monica and Andy highlight how voluntary suffering leads to bonding. Through their lived experience we see how neutrality, transparency and individuality of the self become exposed. For example, Monica witnesses the beauty in the bodylines of Mudders. Africanist anthropology states that when the bodies of the animals are together in a herd, a body-self extends in space and place, in material culture, in animals, and in the bodies of others (Van Wolputte, 2004). In Tough Mudder, bodies extend out to each other in various practices, such as an exhausted Mudder helping another Mudder out of a ditch which shows how pleasure and pain overlap.

Similarly, Matt transitioned from taking a fiercely competitive approach, to being an ambassador for the collective community aspect of Tough Mudder, including how this ideology can benefit his future employer. Whereas, Riccy oscillates between the collective, and the individual meaning derived from his experience.

It was good camaraderie, you’d think it would be more competitive, there was the odd one or two that would push through, but you’d end up talking to random people, there were two random girls who we helped. So we just stuck with them until we’d all completed the obstacle together. A lot of other events you wouldn’t engage with people that much, sometimes your team mates couldn’t help you. So you had to join another team, and you all just push each other through (Riccy, M, 30, TV Producer, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

In the future, any position I have in an engineering firm, I’m really going to encourage the team bonding you can experience through Tough Mudder. Possibly the company could sponsor it. I think that would be a really good team bonding tactic for any company (Matt, M, 24, Student, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

Riccy is in a position that seeks autonomy, yet he is continually dependent on other Mudders, and therefore fragile. He illuminates that one of the key appeals of Tough Mudder is the liminal relief from a competitive and individualistic society. His individual body is transformed into a collective body on the course. In this instance, suffering through the obstacles delivers community and rebirth through survival. Riccy relinquishes the feeling of being pushed: muscles labored, breath drained, and the mind broken and re-engaged. Although he is highly competitive, ironically Matt has projected the communal ethos of Tough Mudder onto his career. He states how this unique level of camaraderie can provide a corporate advantage. Strong culture

70 firms have a more reliable performance, helping them to excel in incremental change, and internal behavioral consistency (Sørensen, 2002). Hence, Matt observes a cyclical pattern of hyper-performing individual minds, engaging in Tough Mudder, an activity that requires a temporary hyper performing collective body, to then reengage with a hyper performing individual corporate culture.

In the same vein, Bridgid discusses the collapsing of the individual into the group challenge that occurs during the event. She is 28 years old, works as a pediatric nurse, and is an avid skier. She recalls conversations with fellow Mudders where individual and collective objectives alternate:

I was talking to one girl the other day, and she was saying she’s just got two things she wants to get out of it. Finish it in under three hours, so she’s got her own personal challenges. But I guess, I think she’s seeing it as a personal challenge as well as a group. I think she may have said attempt every obstacle (Bridgid, F, 28, Pediatric Nurse, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

I think the team got you really involved, like my team. Just that they were like, have we got everyone yet? Here give us your hand, let me help you. Or, if someone was slower, one of the team members would drop back at different times. And how you going mate, how are you feeling? That type of attitude, which was quite nice (Bridgid, F, 28, Pediatric Nurse, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

The cultural meaning of Bridgid’s account shows the temporal intermeshing of an individualistic culture, dissipating through an imposed and controlled collective culture. Akin to taking a cultural holiday from the fast-paced and often dysfunctional contemporary lifestyle. In Bridgid’s next narrative, she shares a very personal account of her feelings towards the expectation in society that: in order to be beautiful, one has to be skinny. Tough Mudder embraces originality in physique, which is otherwise squashed in the collective gaze of media, fashion and consumerism:

Society makes skinny super fit, and I’m not skinny, so it’s made me go “for fuck sake”, you can get a super skinny girl who’s not fit. I’m just, fuck society. So I kinda like that, it makes me feel better. Like, look I can do this, even though I’m not like size 8 or whatever. I like that about it (Bridgid, F, 28, Pediatric Nurse, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

Bridgid feels shackled to the everyday assessments by others and her eating, exercise, and relationship habits. This is characteristic of the hyper-health and body orientation of middle-class sport communities (Atkinson, 2008). Tough Mudder offers Bridgid a meaningful utopian oasis where tough female physiques are accepted; hence toughness displaces skinny in Mudder society. In this space, men are offered a

71 position in which to reflect their masculinity, hence the physical gaze is shifted from a primary focus on women to a focus on men. Bridgid does not have to manage conforming to the body ideal, which she encounters outside the event in mainstream modernity.

Besides the grand tour questions, we also asked Mudders more abstract and reflective questions, such as “what would Tough Mudder be if it wasn’t an adventure race?” Both Kelly and Ernie retrospectively reveal a more detailed picture of the work of culture. They refer to how people’s sense of lacking in their embodied selves drives them to enter the thorn bush. Jarnah’s explains how entering the Tough Mudder thorn bush requires her to turn off her mind and “just do it”:

I think it would probably be a thorn bush, you walk through a bush with all these thorns, I think that’s what they’re going after, something nice at the other side (Ernie, M, 28, Disaster Response Nurse, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

There’s no rationally. If you were logically doing it, you’re risking death, and putting yourself through pain, and mental and physical exhaustion. But I don’t think this event is meant to be logical. It’s meant to stop you thinking entirely logically. It takes you out of how most of our brains work every single day. Everything is ordered and logical, and now we’re going to just see what will happen…people who go out their way to get those injuries’ in their leisure time says to me, they’re lacking extremes in their daily lives (Kelly, F, 30, Emergency Clinical Nurse Consultant, Tough Mudder, April 2013).

When it came to the obstacles, my brain kind of shut out the pain and what was going on when I was going through the obstacle, so I was just determined to finished the obstacle. So, I was in that mode of just doing it. It wasn’t until afterwards, I thought I was like “oh I’ve got sore knees cos I went on rocks, or I scarped my arm (Jarnah, F, 31, Registered Nurse, Tough Mudder, April 2013).

The metaphor of a thorn bush is laden with meaning. The experience of passing through a thorn bush imbues notions of suffering, drag, entrapment, problem solving, poor visibility and skin-deep bloodshed. If someone is lost, either physically or metaphorically, one may also find themselves in a thorn bush. The body has become lost in modernity, which has been supported by the Cartesian duality that separates the body, and the mind, as Jarnah’s vignette shows. The reward at the other side is a renaissance, and a remobilization of the physical body that has previously been assigned to a secondary and subservient role. Science, logic and reasoning are privileged in modern culture. Kelly’s vignette complements the thorn bush analogy by showing how the body constitutes a part of being human that is controlled by its nature and, subsequently, has to be guarded against and tamed by reason, which belongs to the realm of the mind. The sensations experienced at Tough Mudder

72 deregulate the body by literally shocking embodied meanings, practices and communications back into people.

For Ernie, hardship is a means of learning, self-reflection and awareness. He attributes physical challenges to life-and-death seriousness, which are manifested in his experiences, such as his job as an emergency nurse, disaster planner and his humanitarian work in Borneo and Nepal. In all aspects of his life, seriousness and suffering is integrated. In contrast, Kate has a very comfortable urbanized lifestyle, yet her life philosophy is aligned with Ernie’s. She is passionate about people increasing the value of their lives by actualizing their emotional and physical capabilities to feel alive:

I think it’s a really important part of improving yourself, how much do you really know about yourself if you don’t push yourself to the limit? I constantly try to get new experiences and do stuff out of my comfort zone, so that I can grow and make that thing that was not in my comfort zone, into my comfort zone. And when you put yourself in a stressful environment you learn a lot about how you deal with stress, how you cope with it, and you go from there. In the last few years, even the time working in emergency, I wanted to push myself through hardship and learn those experiences (Ernie, M, 28, Disaster Response Nurse, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

I was getting old, and I read about it, and I thought, I’m going to scare the shit out of myself. And that’s why I did it. I wanted to keep pushing my boundaries a little bit further every time I did something, and this time I just thought it’s gonna scare me. And it did. The thought of electric shocks absolutely freaked me, and the thought of high walls freaked me (Kate, F, 32, Social Media Strategist, Tough Mudder, April 2013).

Ernie and Kate’s central use of the comfort zone and boundaries carries a mosaic of meanings. The comfort zone has been attributed to denial of our changing world signifying stepping beyond one’s own stagnant zone, to accept new and perhaps better worlds. In this context, sufferable practices, which depart from one’s comfort zone, conveys the willingness to become a learner in a new and uncertain world.

Next Brian revisits, reintegrates and reconceptualizes his childhood through the experience of the military style obstacles. He yearns to relinquish the innocence of childhood in unity with material nature; Tough Mudder Founder Will Dean supports this embodiment:

It's a kind of muddy baptism, people love mud, you see this regression back into childhood (Will Dean, M, 34, Tough Mudder Founder) (Widdicombe, 2014).

How often do you get to do things like this, where it’s crazy obstacles? I guess it brings out the child in all of us to an extent. Or, the big kid in all of us, because who doesn’t like

73 climbing ropes, or climbing over fences (laughs), or jumping into icy water, which will be painful, but it’s all part of the fun. So mainly things like that, that slightly extreme element because you don’t get to push yourself with things like this that often, so that’s a big attraction (Brian, M, 29, Senior Systems Engineer, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

Childhood innocence is viewed as natural and pure, but it risks being compromised (Robinson & Davies, 2008). Brian uses Tough Mudder as a vehicle to revisit a nostalgic time. He reminisces about a carefree world of climbing ropes and fences. However as an adult, he is inherently constrained within the knowledge structures of sex, politics and death, from which children are excluded. Therefore, voluntary pain and suffering is transformed into the purity, innocence and exploration encountered in childhood.

The desire for the real is firmly supported by Kate and Kelly. They describe adventure races as a route to feeling human. These offer emancipatory possibilities and ultimate self-fulfillment. These self-reflexive and recursive interview extracts are indicative of our modern culture:

We live in a world of fear, and political correctness, conservatism, and adventure races give you a chance to be human again. I’m sure there are rules, but you don’t feel like you’re breaking any rules by breaking through the bush. It makes me feel like I’m going back to my real self. The thing I was born into, rather than what society has made me confirm to. You’re not in a gym, you’re not in an enclosed environment, you’re out there in the elements. It should be every weekend (Kate, F, 32, Social Media Strategist, Tough Mudder, April 2013).

It’s like when you just need to scream. It’s an outlet. And sometimes feeling pain is the only way of releasing all that built up energy they have. Perhaps they quite like the pain they are receiving in those pictures, so they have a memory. So when they go back to their ordinary everyday life, for a couple of days, or a couple of weeks, they have a memory of what they’ve done. So even if it’s a broken nose, or a burn or something, they look down and think, that’s right, I’ve done something other than this mundane work. Like battle scars (Kelly, F, 30, Emergency Clinical Nurse Consultant, Tough Mudder, April 2013).

Fear is a response to danger, Kate perceives danger as embedded in society’s political correctness, not in the electric wires at the Electric Eel obstacle. The spectacle of torture, death and disappearances have become deeply inscribed in people’s bodies (Green, 1994). Social conservatism has given Kate a motive to embark on the process of transforming voluntary torture and suffering into meaning, a return to the authentic body: “the thing I was born into”. This may come as no surprise in third world

74 countries, nonetheless, discourses from Mudders in the UK and Australia, suggest a need to reclaim the body in a climate of corporeal suspicion, apprehension and ambiguity. Both narratives provide overwhelming evidence for state violence, which is causing them to be dehumanized and scream. In contrast, Tough Mudder reproduces meaningful romantic and humorous bodily discourses. The internal conflict between nature and nurture – in particular the suppression of nature is evident here.

Tough Mudder offers an opportunity to express resistance to the normalized and controlled body. Paul and Brian discuss how new muscles are engaged:

The runs I do are road runs, or at worst it’s a grassy area and a lot of trail running, and that’s what Tough Mudder was, trail running. When you turn to the obstacles, obviously is totally different from the exercise I’ve done, so it’s just a totally different experience, different muscles being used in a different way (Paul, M, 36, Medical Services Advisor, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

This was a lot more bruising on the whole body, whereas cycling, running and swimming targets more specific areas of your body, this is definitely more bruising on the whole body, lots of cuts and bruises, at the end of the day your whole body’s exhausted, because you’re using so many different muscle groups. There are so many different obstacles, you’d use more muscles than you’d normally use (Brian, M, 29, Senior Systems Engineer, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

Paul and Brian describe how they voluntarily choose a leisure activity that turns on the body. Specifically, different muscle groups, comparable to a novel and unique corporeal experience which is more memorable, because it is less pleasurable (Keinan & Kivetz, 2011). Engaging in “uncivilized” experiential tastes and preferences is driven by people striving to use their time productively to reach accomplishments, which can be ticked off on an experiential checklist. Tough Mudder is a collectable experience as it can be recorded and shared digitally on social media, and physically through the orange headband.

The overarching theme from Reflections of Tough Mudder is the notion that the multitude of different types of pain and sensory stimulation facilitate people turning their minds off and their bodies on. In doing so, Mudders return to their “real self…the thing I was born into.” Some interpret this experience as a child-like component, while others regard it as an opportunity to challenge the status quo (e.g. conforming to the “ideal body”).

75 Maintaining the Mudder Community When Mudders return to their cars they are met with a flyer attached to their windscreen informing them of forthcoming adventure races:

I wanna do Valley Stampede which is 17th November I think, then there’s the mud run in Penrith on 1st December, there’s a new one I got a flyer for at the half marathon, the Beach Bash on the Central Coast in February. I want to do Mudder again. It didn’t feel like as much of a challenge as I thought it would (Paul, M, 36, Medical Services Advisor, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

Tough Mudder is part of a network of adventure races that leverage off each other’s communities to market forthcoming events. Snowballing the various outdoor adventure communities serves to accelerate the growth of experiential suffering, as well as reaffirming the existing community.

Two days after completing the event, Tough Mudder emails participants with a link to claim their social media finisher badge:

Hi there, Sydney Mudder! Congratulations on finishing Tough Mudder Sydney, and earning your orange headband! Here is your official Tough Mudder Finisher Badge that you can post digitally to your Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts (Official email from Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

As part of the cultural branding process, the Finisher Badge perpetuates the Tough Mudder community, because the imagery and identity associated with being a Mudder continues to exist on social media. As a stamp on the experiential CV (Keinan & Kivetz, 2011), the Finisher Badge symbolizes distinction, and an embodied ideology of actors that upholds a commitment to sufferable sports. Mudders are like-minded cohesive agents that are connected through sub-cultural perspectives, activities and relationships. The social media badge communicates this to the non- members on the outer world.

At the same time, Tough Mudder emails participants to ask for feedback and informs them of team discounts, as well as offering discounted pricing on forthcoming events:

Sydney Mudders, Congratulations! You are officially a Tough Mudder. We would say thank you but the truth is that you did this for yourself and your teammates. You can thank each other. We would appreciate if you took the time to fill out a quick survey to tell us what you thought of the event. Click here to let us know what worked and what didn't. If you participated as part of a team with 6+ Mudders, you must fill out this form to receive your team discount. You must request your discount by 23 October 2012. The discount will be

76 refunded to your credit card within 6 weeks after you submit your request. Each team member must request their discount individually. Can't get enough of Big Mudder? We understand. Tough Mudder Sydney #1 2013 is open for registration. Take advantage of discounted pricing - register now! Use the code “MoreMudderSydney2012” to receive $5 off a future Tough Mudder event. The code expires Friday, 28 September 2012 (Official email from Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

This extract reveals the commercial side of the Tough Mudder marketing machine, which has embraced the boundless power of online marketing. The tight time frames are a call to action revealing the persistent marketing roots of Tough Mudder on social media. This encourages Mudders to stay within the voluntary suffering community. However, it is met with mixed emotions as Patrick explains:

Their survey after the event online wasn’t a well-constructed survey. It forced you to respond in a very particular way. Especially in some of the stuff where I was going to evaluate it, and it didn’t leave enough room to give feedback, like having your time shifted at the last minute, or account for part of the course being missed out. So it would have been nice to air your grievances (Patrick, M, 23, Student, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

The constraints of the survey goes against the free and clean-living ideology which attracts people to the purifying practices of Tough Mudder in the first place. This reveals the role of marketers in commercializing the body, and the promotional techniques employed to ensure the body continues to be a commodity. Much like the relationship between pharmaceutical drugs and diseases, providing the “dis-ease” exists, there will be a market for the cure.

2.12 Discussion Through the work of culture, we have tried to answer how and why people voluntarily suffer, and the cultural meanings that derive from this behavior. To address our research question, practices concerning the mind/body, the social/cultural, and the production and expression of self-inflicted suffering help to explain three paradoxes of our modern age; (1) How danger and suffering is managed out of day-to-day actions, yet suffering is desired by some consumers (2) How institutions have sought to reduce injury in the workplace, yet dangerous experiences have seen unprecedented growth

77 (3) How Western societies are healthier than ever, yet people still choose to risk their health. In addressing these paradoxes we identified three central voluntary suffering practices: hyper performance, individuality and edgework. On the surface, voluntary suffering is nihilistic and sadomasochistic, yet we have found that beneath the surface it is liberating, self-actualizing and necessary for many. Through our enquiry we understand that people need more sensory excitement: to hyper perform in body as well as mind. Once these factors are recognized, the three paradoxes become less of an enigma.

Voluntary Suffering in Practice In this section we explore how hyper performance, individuality and edgework reveal how sufferable experiences have become desired in the Western world. Additional sub-themes within our data include how teams bond through hardship, and how people simultaneously approach and avoid pleasure and pain. However, these subthemes are more situated within the cognitive or affective dimension, rather than the physical body.

Hyper Performance: hyper performing minds require hyper performing bodies Hyper-performatism can be described as the willful self-deceit, which is believed in, or, identification with something in spite of itself (Eshelman, 2005). The drive for productivity in the nineteenth century, has matured into performatism in the twenty first century (Eshelman, 2005). Perfomatism works state that everyone in this world works, and must share results just as sports men. We have entered a society of diffused competition which permeates everything. In other words we must be competitive in all aspects of life: physically, emotionally, sexually and socially. The idea behind hyper-performance is that people must train themselves. Take sportsmen/women, for example, who may be expected to take drugs and monitor their eating habits: they must suffer to achieve. In Tough Mudder, it is not just competition with others; it is competition with the self on an individual level. People are experimenting and performing out-of-the-ordinary acts, such as choosing to be electrocuted. Mudders identify with voluntary suffering as a way to actualize a hyper- performing bodies to accompany their hyper=performing minds.

78 Individualism: Shared suffering reduces the division in an individualized culture Similarly, it has been said that we are in a hyper-individualized and increasingly fragmented community (Maffesoli, 2010). Individualism presents people as fundamentally separated, or able to become separated from all connections with intimate others, culture, and other identity-constituting elements of the social environment (Christman, 2004). Concern has been expressed over the changing active adult population; there are fewer people in employment contributing to maintain pension funds. Additionally, traditional forms of extended family ties are weakening, which means the state has to make the individual more responsible for their retirement (Varga, 2005). Subsequently, the economy stimulates individualism. This individualized community is evident in the Tough Mudder demographic. Mudders are primarily young middle class professionals. They are well-travelled and well- educated. They are continually connected to the internet, upwardly mobile and with a high regard for experience (Engberg, 2013). With the exception of those in the services, fitness and medical professions, Mudders are mostly white-collar workers that tend to have sedentary jobs and experience a lack of nature and corporeal engagement. Therefore, many suffer a negation of visceral reality in their jobs. The individualistic lifestyles Mudders lead explains their desire to temporarily engage in voluntary suffering under the guise of a ‘team challenge’. Through the theory of reflective modernization and issues of risk, we see how Western communities which once revolved around interaction, have now been dissipated due to mobility (Beck, 1992). In order for one to survive, an ego-centered world view must be adopted. This makes people adept at shaping an individual biology (Beck, 1992). Sharing suffering practices facilitates a re-emergence of traditional communal ties founded on risky, fearful and dangerous and bodily practices.

Edgework: negotiating the boundary between pleasure and pain, spontaneity and constraint, and conscious and subconscious. In keeping with hyper-performing and individualistic behaviors comes the notion of pushing oneself to the physical edge (Thompson, 1971). The essential character of edgework can be expressed as the boundary between life and death, functionality and disability, consciousness and unconsciousness, and sanity and insanity (Lyng, 1990). Edgework activities include observable threats to one’s physical or mental well-being

79 (Thompson, 1971, 1979). The failure to meet the challenge of edgework experiences will result in injury and even death.

The tension between spontaneity and constraint can be seen as the source of many problems of modern post-industrial society (Marx, 1967; Mead, 1934). Within the division of labor, social relationships take on an independent existence. There is a cleavage in each persons life – one branch of labor, and one of personal (Marx & Engels, 1970, p. 87). Subsequently, the individual is comprised of both the constrained and the spontaneous self. Voluntary suffering enables people to negotiate a medley of boundaries that remain otherwise unexplored in urban living.

Edgework is tightly inter-twined with hyper-performance and individualism. Edgeworkers must often push themselves to the outer limits of their physical performance (hyper-performance) in order to reach the performance boundary of the technology under their control (Lyng, 1990). Another common feature of edgework is that it involves the use of specific individual capabilities, such as the use and development of skills (Lyng, 1990). Participants in virtually all types of edgework claim to experience a sensation of self-actualization or self-determination (individualistic). In the pure form, edgeworkers are instinctively acting entities, they leave their experience feeling a purified or magnified sense of self (Lyng, 1990). The purification can be conceptualized as a newly-embodied meaning emerging from the experience, akin to the process of the work of culture transforming pain into publically accepted meanings.

2.12.1 Resolving the Paradoxes Through the Work of Culture Our three paradoxes give insight into our first irony: how danger and suffering is managed out of day-to-day actions by institutions, yet some people seek out suffering in their private lives through experiential consumption. In contrast with research that associates experiential consumption with hedonism, we have reclassified difficult and unpleasant consumption in a way that directs attention to some corporeal, social and culturally relevant features. Specifically, we draw attention to the usefulness of voluntary suffering as a filter in which to understand human dissatisfaction, longing and unrest. Through the work of culture, these painful motives and effects are transformed into an experiential gateway through which people can return to their

80 embodied selves. Tough Mudder provides a critique of inauthentic modern culture by using grueling adventure obstacles to show that there is an alternative to mainstream hedonic experiential consumption. This links to people’s need to question and rebel against the materialistic culture to which they have become enslaved. Previously, this has been expressed through films such as Fight Club, yet we are now seeing the resistance in new emerging forms of physical activities such as adventure racing and live kidnapping. This unedifying mortification of the body is keeping modern man in poverty, as illustrated in Fight Club:

Slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes. Working jobs we hate so we can buy (crap) we don't need. We're the middle children of history. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our great war is a spiritual war. Our great depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd be millionaires and movie gods and rock stars. But we won't. We're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off (Palahniuk, 2005).

The power of the state is vested in controlling physical desires, appetites and potency (Foucault, 1978). Tough Mudder is one example of emergent voluntary suffering practices that people are using to scream out and with which to reclaim their power and autonomy. In Southern India, sensorially engaged anthropological studies at the site of the body, proclaim that this is the first teacher. People must learn to use their senses not just their minds (Nichter, 2008). Many Mudders felt their senses were besieged in their safe and comfortable world. Tough Mudder helps people to reconnect to a corporeal aesthetic which mobilizes people’s disillusionment in capitalism, materialism and conspicuous consumption. During the event, the purging and reappearance of the body through the senses became evident. We observe the process whereby the pain of existing in sensorially maimed modernity is transformed through voluntary suffering into publically accepted embodied meanings. The layers of what constitutes one’s social status are stripped away: conformity, routine and identity are lost.

A central voluntary suffering practice was edgework: a classifying category for voluntary risk-taking (Lyng, 1990). Edgeworkers manage the boundary between life and death (e.g. Death Waiver) and sanity and insanity (e.g. insider/outsider perceptions of the event) (Thompson & Steadman, 2005). We examined how Mudders respond to the astute management of their senses. Mud and electricity emerge as salient and powerful sensory marketing tools. Voluntary suffering provides

81 an extraordinary expression of despair that allows for a complex negotiation of physical and mental constraints that contribute to people’s sense of agency. Broadly speaking, suffering grounded in the body, is one way of attempting to overturn institutional status quo, however briefly.

Our second paradox considers how institutions are seeking to reduce injury in the workplace, yet people are increasingly seeking risky experiences outside of work. Government and legal systems have forced all institutions to think about reducing injury at work. We found cases where work dominates the lives of Mudders, the overuse and stimulation of the mind and under/misuse of the body is a cultural problem voluntary suffering addresses. Just as Buddhist notions of suffering see it as a route to corporeal reawakening, using the work of culture shows how sufferable practices function as a form of play to combat workplace alienation by nurturing the body and freeing the individual from normative and social constraints. Conformity, routine, time-famine and being sedentary in their bodies were restrictive behaviors Mudder’s encountered at work. People have found many ways in which to adapt to the structural conditions of alienation and ratification (Lyng, 1990). For example, research on play suggests this type of action possesses characteristics that oppose feelings of alienation and ratification (Huizinga, 1970; Wilson, 1981). Men who participate in Mountain Men retreats are said to be taking flight from the alienating reality of their jobs (Belk & Costa, 1998). Tough Mudder participants are in many ways subject to alienation through their employment. Alienation (workers estrangement from skilled activity and control over the production process) caused by deskilling (Braverman, 1974), bureaucratic decision-making and authority structures (Edwards, 1979) is evident in all levels of modern employment. Theorists such as Ballard and Veblen suggested that once people are excused of productive labor, they will explore archaic and barbaric lives (Horowitz, 1992, pp. 34-39). Voluntary suffering is one manifestation of modernity in anarchy. Liberation from this experience comes in many guises: a sense of community and social cohesion was important to many, while others relinquished how pain and suffering provided an opportunity for personal growth.

Participants describe their voluntary suffering practices to be more real than the reality of everyday life, known as “hyper-real” (Lyng, 1990, p. 861). The negotiation

82 of the edge is perceived as real and objective. The Tough Mudder culture of toughness is born out of detraditionalization, and gives greater scope for agency (Lyng, 2012). We suggest that suffering has the capacity to provide its practitioners with the vehicle and the agency of defining one’s self. It further connects and integrates Mudders with other individuals in an otherwise affectless and estranged society. These talented young people work harder than they have ever done for longer hours. The orange head-band and fat lips are signs of spiritual health on the part of otherwise alienated white collar young men and women, for whom the world of Tough Mudder affords them the opportunity to escape the alienation and monotony of their daily existence and to (re-) connect to their authentic selves through embodied action. Tough Mudder founder Will Dean believes people are becoming isolated by social media, Tough Mudder gives them back a sense of community – specifically a wartime community spirit to replace a sense of lost social cohesion (Dapin, 2012).

To address the third paradox: how Western societies are healthier than ever, yet some people choose to risk their health. We have observed how Mudders bodies have been socially controlled and relegated, along with other categories such as emotion, consumption and nature (Firat, 2014). Social theory explains that over time the body has become subject to increasingly strict regulation, leading to a retreat of awareness with respect to certain embodied sensations, effects and behaviors. In particular, aspects of embodiment such as bodily functions (Bradshaw & Canniford, 2010) and bodily pleasures (Goulding et al. 2009), have been relegated to back stage areas of social life, or regarded with shame and embarrassment (Scheff, 2004). Despite developments in healthcare, from technology to patient care or miracle drugs, people still push the boundaries of their health. It is counter intuitive that the healthier we get and more knowledge we accumulate on health, the more we feel closer to immortality. Hence people have more scope to engage in sufferable experiences. This became evident through Mudders use of drug foods (e.g. paracetamol). The irony frees people to express their dis-ease, i.e. their physical distress in their uncomfortable body, through activities such as sport. Unorthodox practices such as choosing physical helplessness were specific manifestations of freedom from physical dis-ease. Space and movement was misjudged, participants felt dizzy, nauseous, cooked from within. Are these things pleasurable? We cannot be sure. If people continue to consume similar experiences we can only assume that they are, particularly as

83 Mudders interpret the event as helping them to achieve a new visceral and conceptual organization of the world. Such bodily states and symptoms of voluntary suffering serve to educate consumer research on the normative presence of symptoms and bodily distress in healthy people.

In summary, Table 1 integrates why and how hyper-performance, individualism and edgework can be used to explain these three paradoxes. This relationship hangs together within the framework of the work of culture transforming voluntary suffering into publically accepted meanings.

Table 1: Voluntary Suffering and The Work of Culture Voluntary Suffering Practices Paradoxes Hyper- Individualism Edgework Performance 1. Suffering is Identification and Daily practices in When people managed out of engagement with an individualized pursue suffering, daily practices on something culture create a there is an an institutional (voluntary suffering) fragmented observable threat level; concurrently in spite of oneself. community. to their physical suffering is Sharing suffering and mental desired by some in groups’ wellbeing as they people (e.g. addresses the negotiate ‘ the electrocution). division. edge’.

84 2. Institutions At work, most People suffer a Tension between have sought to people are required negation of visceral spontaneity and reduce injury at to have hyper reality in their jobs constraint at work work. performing minds, (e.g. Key can lead to Concurrently, not bodies. Performance alienation and risky, dangerous Voluntary suffering Indicators). These ratification. This and sufferable requires a hyper isolated and self- leads some people experiences have performing body. contained to take risks as a seen rapid growth One must suffer to individuals are radical form of in today’s advance, as this engaging in group escape from experience doesn’t happen for experiences (e.g. institutional economy. most people in the adventure races routine. workplace, people which are sold as ‘Edgeworkers’ look outside of “not a race but a feels a sense of work. challenge”), to deep connection, fulfill the need for which is traceable human to social and communion. cultural forces.

3. Advanced Drugs facilitate The prevention of Edgework industrial societies hyper performance. disease and expands are healthier than Pain killers mean suffering is tailored possibilities of ever, yet spend one can continue to to suit each human freedom. more money on hyper perform and individual body. It is defined by painkillers than manage/manipulate E.g. diet, health, normality, ever before. their level of drugs, nutrition, wellbeing and Hence, people’s suffering. exercise, genetics. progress. A way tolerance for pain The voluntary of people taking and suffering is pursuit of suffering their health back decreasing. is a further need into their own suited to every hands and re- individual body. claiming their bodies.

Implications for consumer research As an alternative to the hedonic assumption, voluntary suffering practices offer another way for consumer researchers to look at experiences in the modern world. The work of culture has been analytically useful as a framework to understand how, when a practice appears paradoxical in isolation, it becomes less paradoxical in context. Further, the visceral approach often goes ignored by consumer researchers, but nevertheless, serves important communicative functions in consumer cultures. As a result of our research, voluntary suffering can be conceptualized as a form of retreat from emotionally boring cultures of psychological drudgery and routine grounded in

85 rational, restrained and socially mannered behavior (Atkinson, 2008). We contend that intense emotional and social stimulation through suffering offers a return to a visceral reality: one has to suffer to experience reality. This is also significant for consumer research because voluntary suffering, despite being misunderstood, returns high profits within the experiential marketplace. The work of culture enables us to explore how people make their body ‘re-appear’ through various painful and sufferable practices by establishing a link between paradoxes, practices and subthemes.

Our approach to the study of culture has implications beyond the case of Tough Mudder in Western societies. In a relatively short space of time, experiential consumption has swung like a pendulum from pleasure to suffering. However, the taste for sufferable experiences is a socially acquired one, no different from acquired tastes for blue cheese or oysters. Using the work of culture, what initially appears frightening and distasteful, becomes pleasant, desired and cherished. Our three paradoxes concerning the social avoidance of suffering and the private agenda to seek it out suddenly appears less of an enigma. Through experiences like Tough Mudder, society, nature, and culture, speak simultaneously. Hence, the human body should be the most immediate and proximate terrain whereby social and cultural truths can be realized. In this case, the body is a locus of individual and social resistance, achievement and struggle. In today’s experience economy, people are seeking activities that ground them in their bodies and enable them to explore their corporeal boundaries (Dion et al., 2011). Our introductory quote by Ballard shows that violence against the self, in the guise of voluntary suffering, is one way consumers are reclaiming their corporeal satisfaction and re-connecting to their deeper selves.

2.12.2 Limitations This phenomenon clearly occurs in the West, but in theory it could occur anywhere. The practices we have explored reflect a Westernized type of agency, such as the notion that “I hurt me”. Generally speaking, our participants are employed, middle class, well-educated and well-travelled. But how far these practices and actions carry over into non-Western communities, or even the non middle-class is left unresolved. The implications for other consumer groups, particularly non-Western where they

86 may be under a threat of real violence from outsiders is left in the air. Nor does it address poorer or disadvantaged groups in advanced economies.

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92 Wood, C. W. a. P. (2013, May 25 2013). With rise of extreme races, fun comes with risk: Death and injuries at events like Tough Mudder and Warrior Dash lead to lawsuits The Balitmore Sun. Retrieved from http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bal-with-rise-of-extreme-races- fun-comes-with-serious-risk-20130524,0,554574.htmlstory

3. Chapter 3

Selling Marketplace Myths: There is Money in Masochism

Tough Mudder creator Will Dean, a polished Englishman and Harvard Business School grad will stop at nothing to sell you his brand of suffering (Keneally Scott, 2012).

93 3.1 Abstract1 Purpose – Marketplace myths are theorized as cultural resources that attract people to a consumption activity. Western consumers strongly identify with marketplace myths that carry a masochistic narrative, but current research offers little guidance regarding how masochistic experiences are becoming commercialized.

Methodology – From observer, volunteer and participant perspectives, ethnographic study in adventure racing and offshore yacht racing addresses the phenomenon of emergent marketplace myths.

Findings – Current scholarship in commercial mythmaking is advanced in three ways. First, it is shown how masochism proves toughness – a different filter to previous work on masochism. Second, masochism is considered as a lived experience, but one where consumers are unable to read an ad that promises pain due to the over stimulation of the mind and underuse/misuse of the body. Third, it is seen that masculine masochism can be sold to make a profit, yet it may deliver a feminine experience.

Research Implications – Findings show that for many people living in contemporary cultures, money is to be made out of selling hardship. This presents a gap for first world organizations to capitalize on the innate desire of some consumers for physical suffering. This contrasts with the routine physical and mental hardship that is faced by many people in second and third world nations.

Originality/Value – This research is the first to look at how organizations use challenge, affliction and pain as powerful promotional tools to sell experiences.

Keywords – marketplace myths, myth-making, toughness, masochism, experiential consumption.

1 This paper is written in the style of a general marketing journal, broadly following the conventions of the Journal of Marketing.

3.2 Introduction The modern welfare economy has predominantly been orientated towards comfort, reducing distress and suffering. Yet, as a side-effect modern life has become remarkably ‘joyless’ (Jantzen et al., 2012). Many individuals and organizations are embracing experiences that carry a masochistic mythic narrative. The myth is evident across multiple contexts: mountaineering (Tumbat & Belk, 2011), sky-diving (Celsi et al., 1993), boxing (Crossley, 2004) and white water rafting (Arnould & Price, 1993). A darker progression down the trajectory of modern experiences reveals emerging masochistic activities: electrocution during adventure racing (Livingstone, 2014) and paying to be kidnapped and buried alive (Johannes, 2012). These practices illustrate the grotesque and astonishing direction the experience economy is moving in.

Masochism can be defined in two diverging ways. Most commonly, it is associated with deriving sexual gratification from one’s own pain or humiliation (Oxford English Dictionary, 2014). The second definition is central to this study: the deliberate pursuit of an activity that appears to be painful, frustrating, or tedious (Oxford English Dictionary, 2014). Therefore, in the context of masochistic experiences, we conceptualize masochistic marketplace myths as experiences that are explicitly sold as painful or frustrating, specifically using stories of pain, fear and affliction during the sales process as a form of enticement, before, during and after the event. We refer to myths as stories, not lies, nor facts, simply a compelling sales narrative. Credible myths allow companies to offer value to consumers by authoring identity-affirming myths (Holt et al., 2004).

Besides consumption experiences, books, films, television shows and music also contribute to these marketplace myths. Television shows in particular, are embracing complexity, violence and amoral mayhem in storytelling with an exciting maturity. Television shows such as The Wire, Breaking Bad, Mad Men and Deadwood tackle issues of mortality and violence to a primed audience (Martin, 2013). The Hunger Games continues this narrative in its critique of various aspects of Western culture. The book depicts a culture whose most epic form of entertainment is watching teenagers brutally kill each other. One of the bestselling books of all time, Fifty Shades of Grey, notable for its sadism and masochism, is a case in point.

95 Whether watching or participating, the success of these edgy cultural scripts shows that consumers are strongly identifying with masochistic narratives.

Yacht racing and adventure racing provide an excellent window into the commoditization of marketplace myths. We use the term commoditization to explain the way cultural meanings and values are produced through marketing practices (Peñaloza, 2000). These contexts provide vivid glimpses of the tectonic shifts occurring in Western society, i.e. the myth of toughness. A surprising trend is the commercial gains available to organizations using marketplace myths carrying a masochistic narrative to sell toughness back to a soft society.

FIGURE 1 Official Tough Mudder Marketing Images

Pioneering adventure race Tough Mudder (Figure 1) is one of the fastest growing companies in the world (Livingstone, 2012). Sadistic yet enormously popular, each event is sold as “possibly the toughest event on the planet” (Keneally, 2012a)…Pain and suffering are not by-products; they are the main event (Widdicombe, 2014). Tough Mudder made more than $2 million in its first year, and approximately $25 in its second (Sterling, 2012). In 2012, Tough Mudder had grossed $70 million in revenue (Keneally, 2012b) and raised $6.5 million for The Wounded Warrior Project (Livingstone, 2014). In 2013, 3.5 million people took part. This is an unprecedented level of growth for a two-year-old start-up launched following the recession. Competition in the $250 million adventure race industry is hostile (Keneally, 2012a). For example, DeSena created the Spartan Race series. During the second Spartan

96 Race, in Boston, DeSena noticed a plane flying over his course trailing a banner: THINK THIS IS TOUGH? TRY TOUGH MUDDER.

With an iconic website, PR, as well as buzz and viral marketing, the commercial machine of Tough Mudder is poised to keep growing (Roberts, 2012). The company’s penchant for crafting dramatic obstacles, marketing savvy and salesmanship has lead to extraordinary commercial success. Founder Will Dean explains, “We’ve tapped into humble bragging,” using the Twitter-age term for thinly veiled boasting. “What we have found is that experiences, particularly shared ones, are the new luxury good” (Keneally, 2012a). The start-up also made partnerships with major brands including Dos Equis, 24 Hour Fitness, Bic, Camelbak and Under Armour. The brand sponsors claim to help endorse Tough Mudder becoming a mainstream mega-competition. The company has taken mainstream, what was once an obscure pastime to prove that there is money in mud - it’s a gold rush (Widdicombe, 2014).

Competitive yacht racing is the second context in this study. The records of danger and death at sea makes offshore yacht racing highly masochistic. Recreational boating is surprisingly dangerous. In Australia in 2009, the Coast Guard reported 4,730 recreational boating accidents, resulting in 736 deaths (McIntyre, 2011). In this study, stories of survival, adventure, and turmoil are told by sailors from: The Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Regatta, The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, and The Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. For the yachting community of Sydney, the dangers of racing have never been starker. In the 1998 Sydney to Hobart Race, 115 boats raced headlong into a severe and deadly storm. Only 44 of the 115 boats finished the course, and six sailors died (Rivera, 2012). It has always been accepted that there are risks in yachting, yet this has not deterred the burgeoning number of participants.

97 FIGURE 2 Official Marketing Images from The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race

Suggestively marketed as, “It’s not easy and only those with a firm desire to live life to the full apply”, Clipper reports that demand for places has never been higher (Cusworth, 2011). Marketed as “one of the world’s toughest yacht races”, both Clipper 09-10 and Clipper 11-12 sold out well in advance of the race start, and there has been a recent surge in media interest year on year (Figure 2). The sailing world provides a unique variety of tough encounters: seasickness, deliria, hypothermia, and electrical storms. The inclusion of the sea as a masochistic medium provides an unforgiving natural environment that promises physical risk and mental challenge at immense cost to participants (e.g. Clipper £43,070 race fee). There is also a rich sociohistorical legacy of trade, war, navigation and discovery, which offers a bountiful reservoir of myths and cultural meanings.

These types of consumption experiences are not new, people have always sailed, mountaineered and wrestled and spent their leisure time pushing themselves often harder than they do at work. However, masochistic consumption – explicitly sold on the basis of pain and hardship is new. For this reason, we have selected the emergent and highly orchestrated experience of adventure racing, juxtaposed with the traditional perils of offshore yacht racing. These sports have tapped into a latent desire for suffering and bedlam that is as surprising as it is universal (Keneally, 2012a).

98 We have introduced the myth of toughness between the organizations and their target consumer. We now extrapolate this myth out to encompass the organization and its wider market with major co-brands and sponsors in the automotive, technology and pharmaceutical industry. For example, Tough Mudder has crafted an unyielding myth of toughness and ruggedness. These brand attributes have been used by Holden to position the Colorado as one Tough Mudder; Panasonic to market the Toughbook as Australia’s most rugged notebook computer; and Advil to communicate toughness on pain relief (Figure 3). Panasonic challenged a Mudder to complete his tax return during the course. The headline “Toughbook, tough enough for Tough Mudder”, shows that Panasonic, an internationally recognized brand, is capitalizing on Tough Mudder’s marketplace myth of endurance, toughness and risk to sell the Toughbook (Sitkin & Weingart, 1995, p. 1).

FIGURE 3 Co-Brands: Holden Colorado, Panasonic Toughbook and Advil

In response, we became embroiled in the question of how masochistic stories have gained traction with regard to the salability of experiences in the industrialized West. Our motivation stems from the fact that a global multi-million dollar industry is being carved out of consumer’s insatiable desire to test their mettle. How these businesses are articulating pain as an explicit selling point, and how the narrative is being developed into a cultural commodity are unexplained points of interest. We extend the current discourse of experiential consumption by considering the cultural meaning of masochistic marketplace myths to participants and prospective participants,

99 organizers, managers, promoters, media, vendors, volunteers, spectators, pre-event trainers and brand partners.

We begin this article with a conceptual background of the sociocultural forces that give rise to experiential masochistic myths. A series of ethnographic studies into yacht racing and adventure racing unearths how a premium price is paid for myths that carry compelling stories of pain and difficulty. Specifically, we explore: Myth One: How masochism proves toughness Myth Two: Masochism as a lived experience - consumer’s inability to read an ad that promises pain Myth Three: Selling masculine masochism, and delivering a feminine experience.

3.3 Sociocultural forces that give rise to experiential masochistic myths

3.3.1 A brief history of marketplace myths Advertising and mass media use mythic archetypes and plotlines to create compelling stories, characters, and promotional appeals (Thompson, 2004). These cultural myths exert significant influence on the meanings consumers ascribe to their experiences (Levy, 1981; Stern, 1995). Holt (2004) states that myths are the main medium in which people participate in their national culture. Myths are successful because they deeply connect with the culture in which they are embedded (Holt, 2003). In industrial societies, marketplace myths have been formed around cultural tensions over comfort, control and routine. In our study of marketplace myths, experiences compete to become iconic. Similar to other cultural products, a brand performs myths through its associated stories (Holt, 2004). When a shift in social ideology occurs, people are forced to reestablish their beliefs. At these junctures myths provide a sense of stability as new marketplace myths are formed out of the changing ideology (Holt, 2003). These myths are often sustained by brand communities (Schau et al., 2009). In brand communities myths are part of an aggregate of collective value, formed by value creating practices that extend beyond what the firm has created (Schau et al., 2009). Cambell (2011) states that human suffering is the principal theme of classic mythology, the secret of all suffering is mortality, which is the prime condition of life. For many people life comes to the fore during adventure sports. Cambell (2011)

100 contends that true wisdom lies far from mankind, and can only be reached through suffering. Only prevention and suffering open the mind to what is hidden from others. Hence, tough experiences can tell a unique story of the modern day relationship between masochism and toughness.

In contrast, the Western world has become safe, predictable, routine and digitized. In response to these urbanized lifestyles, masochistic myths function as compelling rhetorical devices for promoting specific social, professional and political interests of modern consumers. These interests give momentum to three mythic ideas. First, on the social dimension is the myth of near death. Cambell (2011) illustrates how mythology that helps people understand death is important in guiding people to form their own picture of themselves. We all need help in understanding our passages from birth, to life, to death. Cambell describes how our earliest evidence of mythology is associated with graves. Adventure races and offshore yacht races are sold as life and death laboratories, with varying levels of risk and control, for people to embody a near death experience. The second professional realm encompasses the carriers of the myth, such as the death waiver in Tough Mudder, or the legacy of deaths at sea within the sailing community. Finally, the political interests imbue the imagined connection to reality. For instance, for brands like Tough Mudder, the myth of a visceral mortality communicated through the death waiver provides Mudders with a temporary connection to an embodied world. Ironically, the vehicle for the myth is highly commercialized, controlled and legally bound.

In consumer research, a study by Arsel and Thompson (2011) shows how consumers experienced a marketplace myth as a threat to the value of their identity investments in the consumption field. Therefore, demythologizing practices were used to create symbolic boundaries between an identity-endorsed field of consumption (e.g. Indie consumption) and a field that has been commercially imposed upon (e.g. the Hipster marketplace myth). Arsel and Thompson (2011) suggest a need for more research investigating consumers generalized and field-related cultural capital. Our study addresses this concern by investigating how and why toughness is a new form of cultural capital. We explore how this is practiced and understood within a commercial system of social positions that make up the field of adventure racing and offshore

101 yacht racing. We extend the work of Arsel and Thompson (2011) by investigating the commercialization of myth making in the experiential consumption field. In the next section, the saturation of the experience economy within a safe society provides a theoretical overview for how a marketplace myth of masochism has become commercialized.

3.3.2 Saturation of the Experience Economy Pain is ubiquitous in human life, for centuries people have been able to choose from a myriad of pleasurable experiences, yet these pleasures have become the norm, and many people are looking for something extraordinary. For example, in Vancouver the art installation “Experience the Experience” gives people the opportunity to be buried alive in a coffin, or pay to be kidnapped (Johannes, 2012). Pine and Gilmore's book The Experience Economy (1999), ignited interest among service providers eager to differentiate their offerings in an increasingly competitive world (Poulsson & Kale, 2004). However, the realm of commercial experiences is becoming saturated causing it to spill into new markets not commonly associated with the experience economy (tourism, retailing and manufacturing).

3.3.3 Safe & Digital Society In the developed world, technology erases more and more hardship from peoples lives (Rosen, 2007). Growing up in a culture that is constantly connected has consequences for the cultural capital of myths that opposes the always on lifestyle. Submersion in an augmented reality, rather than an embodied reality, means engagement in sensorially extreme experiences is now more in demand because of our entrenchment in technology (Taussig, 1993). The digital world means we can resurge our mimic faculty (adopt another’s nature and culture) by watching people do things and embody the experience second hand before it happens. Therefore, the myth is embodied before it is experienced. In some cases, this means the experience has to be more extreme when it is encountered first hand - more sensorially stimulating than the video, picture or game.

3.3.4 Commercializing Marketplace Myths: The case of masochism Difficult and unpleasant experiences are becoming designed, staged, marketed, sold and developed to the extent that outdoor adventure is becoming another form of

102 recreational capitalism (Loynes, 1996). Recreational capitalism can be defined as outdoor adventure, recreation, education and training organizations which leave behind the values of the social movement that gave rise to the field. In so doing, they are in danger of disassociating people from their experience of community and place (Douglas, 1991). Travel companies, outdoor adventure and survival businesses, as well as companies that specialize in experiences and service encounters, are all involved in this commercial activity.

Images of self-expression and freedom are valuable assets to marketers. The advertising industry has identified the increased interest in risky sports, and now frequently uses extreme sport sequences to promote ordinary products with the aim of creating an aura of the special, extraordinary or extreme (Rosen, 2007). For example, white-water kayakers have been used to advertise men’s aftershave, new models of 4 x 4 off-road vehicles have been promoted by towing wake boarders, and international insurance is being sold in the skateboarders’ half pipe. Bennett et al. (2002) suggest that this development is no accident, but is happening on the back of an expansive and increasing action sports industry. Although audiences for traditional sport are still growing, adventure sports show staggering growth rates, and have come to be recognized as significant in their own right, for example snowboarding (Rosen, 2007). In summary, the saturation of the experience economy within a safe and digitized Western world has become an important nexus for marketplace myths of toughness to take hold.

3.4 Research Activity The mode of data collection was informed by the goal of understanding the sociocultural, commercial and bodily process of selling and partaking in masochistic experiences. To gain a balanced perspective on the contributors to masochistic myths, data was gathered from participants, organizers, managers, promoters, media, vendors, volunteers, spectators, trainers, charity benefactors and brand partners. This approach brought issues to the fore including the cultural roles of market practices, agents, discourses and commercial institutions. Discursive elements include the communicative means and substance of market exchange. Participating in market discourses and practices from various commercial actors meant we could study

103 markets, marketers and sociocultural market behavior. Here, the cultural roles within and between market agents is particularly relevant.

We intensively gathered data before, during and after our central events: The Sydney to Coffs Harbour Regatta and Tough Mudder. To enable immersion between events, our lead researcher lived with sailors for seven months, and Mudders for five months. This helped us to maintain the emic perspective (an internal viewpoint), which is important during a study of commercialization, which ordinarily would focus on the etic perspective (outside viewpoint). Living with participants facilitated a sympathetic understanding of the behaviors, experiences and beliefs that are meaningful to the actors from their position, in their environment. In adventure racing, our lead author conducted participant observation in three distinct roles: Tough Mudder crowd member, Tough Mudder participant and Tough Mudder staff volunteer:

104 Design and Procedure of Research in Adventure Racing

Role/Event Duration Data collection activities TOUGH 4 DAYS: 1. Staying at a Bed and Breakfast we were able to MUDDER Day 1: capture the conduct informal interviews with Mudders at SPECTATOR arrival of Mudders to breakfast and at check-in/out. Local pubs and Drumlanrig the local town. cafés facilitated informal interviews with Mudder Scotland, UK, Day 2/3: event teams. 2012. weekend spent 2. Researcher diary and field notes. observing base camp 3. Artefacts (x4). and the obstacle 4. GoPro video (2 hours). course. 5. Informal interviews with: sponsors, food vendors, Day 4: departure of course marshals, volunteers, lifeguards, spectators Mudders. and Mudders. 6. Pictures x 132. TOUGH 1 DAY: 1. 28 semi-structured Mudder interviews (14 pre MUDDER The lead researcher event and 14 post event). PARTICIPANT was in a Tough 2. Researcher diary and field notes. Glenworth Valley, Mudder team of 3. Artefacts (x8). Sydney, Australia, three. Research 4. GoPro video (2 hours). 2012. assistants were 5. Informal interviews with: competitor (Spartan Co recruited to capture Founder), course marshals, volunteers, lifeguards video, photo and field and Mudders. note data. 6. Pictures x 111. TOUGH 2 DAYS 1. 18 semi-structured Mudder interviews (9 pre MUDDER Working with a team event and 9 post event). VOLUNTEER of Tough Mudder 2. Researcher & Mudder participant diaries x 3. Fernhill Estate volunteers at 3. Researcher diary. Mulgola, Sydney, obstacles to assist the 4. Artefacts (x10). Australia, 2013. master of ceremonies, 5. GoPro video (2 hours). lifeguards, 6. Informal interviews with: operations managers, paramedics and sponsors, paramedics, personal trainers, course course marshals in marshals, volunteers, lifeguards, spectators and the safely and Mudders. operationalization of 7. Pictures x 117. course obstacles. Lived with 2 Mudders.

For yacht racing, The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, and The Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race were central to our interview data. However, The Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Regatta formed the focus of our participant observation data collection as shown below:

105 Design and Procedure of Research in Yacht Racing

Role/Event Duration Data collection activities TRAINEE 2 DAYS: 1. 14 Semi structured interviews (7 pre and 7 CREW 6 x 4 hour prior to race) with race marketers, crew MEMBER training slots recruiters, skippers, navigators, crew, The Pittwater to with the crew training schools and independent Coffs Harbour over 4 weeks instructors. Regatta prior to the race. 2. Participant observation during training. Training. 3. GoPro camera attached to deck for video and photos (2 hours). 4. Unstructured interviews conducted with 6 crew members (approx 15mins). 5. Researcher diary and field notes. CREW 2 DAYS: 1. Participant observation during preparation. MEMBER DAY 1: 2. Unstructured interviews conducted with 6 Boat Shopping and crew members (approx 15mins). preparation. cooking meals 3. Researcher diary. for the race. DAY 2: Striping the boat of unnecessary weight. Packing the boat with food/water. CREW 3 DAYS: 1. Participant observation during race. MEMBER Racing: tacking, 2. Go Pro camera attached to deck for video The Pittwater to cooking, and photos. Coffs Harbour weighting the 3. Unstructured interviews conducted with 6 Regatta. windward rail of crew members (10mins-2 hours). the boat, feeding 4. Researcher diary. and watering the 5. 7 Artefacts. crew, changing 6. GoPro video (2 hours). sails and 7. Pictures x 209 keeping the boat clean. CREW 1 DAY: Team 1. Participant observation post race. MEMBER debrief, boat 2. Unstructured interviews conducted with 6 Post Race pack-up and crew members (30mins – 3hours). arrival into recovery. Lived 3. Researcher diary and field notes. Coffs Harbour with sailors.

Methods of analysis involved organizing the data into narrative form. We developed categories for the various actors (e.g. producer, consumer, sponsor, event host community) and then identified patterns and relationships among the various modes of data (Lofland & Lofland, 1995). Meta themes (e.g. toughness myth) were divided into subthemes, based on granular levels of distinction (e.g. consumers inability to

106 interpret marketing for tough events). Further, brand sponsors that distinguished themselves as a part of the toughness narrative, often showed disparities between discourse and practice (Arnould & Wallendorf, 1994). For the purpose of critically evaluating themes, we compared data across sources, agents, events, countries and research methods.

3.5 Findings: Marketplace Myths Data analysis provides us with copious insights into masochism. However, in this paper we have decided to focus on the commercial dimension: how masochistic stories have gained traction in terms of the salability of adventure sports in Western societies, and how these businesses are articulating pain as an explicit selling point. Our findings show that: (1) masochistic engagement is profitable because it proves toughness - a unique filter to previous research on masochism, (2) consumers are currently unequipped when it comes to decoding an ad that sells pain, (3) many masochistic experiences are sold on the basis of masculine narratives (e.g. strength, mental grit, toughness and getting pumped), yet once experienced and embodied, the myth is frequently decoded as feminine (e.g. teamwork, bonding and sharing).

3.5.1 Myth One: Masochism Proves Toughness

The orchestration of masochism in adventure racing Ethnographic data indicates that the lack of hardship in day-to-day life is being sold back to people in contemporary society in the form of physical experiences, such as adventure racing and sailing. We question why people use pain and discomfort to prove toughness, and how this myth is orchestrated by organizations. Will Dean, Chief Executive Officer for Tough Mudder claims businesses cannot quantify the intrinsic value and excitement that comes with connecting consumers to a grueling event (Livingstone, 2014). Strategic brand alliances are important to Tough Mudder’s intrinsic values, which uphold the unique display of masochism and toughness. Tough Mudder entices potential sponsors through the website with a plethora of online information including media value, Facebook fans, current brand partners and charity success:

107 2012 Media Values (Tough Mudder Website 2014) Print Online Broadcast TOTAL No of impressions 41,016,008 633,016,001 78,777,978 752,809,987 Cav: (Media $8, 481,133 $13,255,772 $852,819 $22,589, 724 value)

Reach over 1,000,000 loyal Mudders at events in 2014 and join an elite roster of partners including Dos XX & Under Armour… 5,000,000 Facebook fans projected by the end of 2014… $6+ million raised for: Help for Heros, Legacy, Wounded Warrior Project (Sponsor the toughest event on the planet, Tough Mudder website, 2014).

In return for unadulterated access to clean living Mudders, Tough Mudder places certain demands upon its sponsors. The website qualifies perspective brand partners commitment to its masochistic myth with the following question:

Are your in-house corporate attorneys OK with the fact that Tough Mudder electrocutes our participants? (Tough Mudder website, 2014).

The model of commercial culture that Tough Mudder requires of its affiliates is implicit in the question, Tough Mudder operates in a marketplace characterized by challenge, toughness and mental grit. By reproducing these marketplace values through its sponsors, Tough Mudder can add multiple dimensions to the toughness myth. Cultural icons such as US Army Reserve and Dos Equis beer articulate the collective ideals regarding the meaning of toughness. One of the sponsors of probably the toughest event on the planet is Original Source shower gel and skin care. The brand alliance is a fit for both parties. Yolanda Uys, General Manager of marketing Original Source at PZ Cussons states:

We’re excited to be part of this unique event, and looking forward to all participants enjoying a refreshingly intense hose down after they cross the finish line (Delaney, 2012).

The role of Original Source as the antidote to grueling mud events is perpetuated throughout its brand affiliates. Original Source also supports Muddy Mountain Mayhem: a 24 hour mountain biking race to test the toughest bikers and investigate various consistencies, depth and stickiness of British mud (Davis, 2012). This keeps congruency between Tough Mudder and Original Source narratives which both play a vital role in the visceral consumption of mud, a vital ingredient to the toughness myth. Dan Weinberg, director of strategic partnerships for Tough Mudder, stated:

108 We feel they are the perfect fit, as Tough Mudder is not only one of the toughest events around, but also one of the muddiest. It’s great to have Original Source’s help to get our participants clean after they put themselves to the ultimate test (Delaney, 2012).

Whilst Tough Mudder and its sponsors regulate toughness back stage, Mudders are interpreting the myths and alliances front stage whereby mythical meaning is inscribed onto Mudders bodies (Goffman, 2002). In a climate where toughness becomes ever scarcer through lifestyle, our participants indicate that toughness is highly valued in relatively soft industrialized societies. As a social media strategist, Kate is highly informed of mythical marketing tools. She reveals how mythic archetypes and plotlines are used to create compelling messages. Crafting a captivating storyline is especially important as consumers are inundated with marketing stories. Kate explains the Mudder myth:

They create platforms for people to tell stories, or they tell stories I guess…stories are basically ways for people to find their emotions, if a person tells a good story they’re going to attract you by using your emotions... Will Dean (Founder of Tough Mudder) does it by creating a bit of a warrior course, I felt like I was a warrior for a few hours. They create something outside the sphere of your own life. They make you feel more adventurous and more crazy (Kate, F, 32, Social Media Strategist, Tough Mudder, April 2013).

Kate’s interpretation of the event is the embodiment of a warrior. Dominant in both national and territorial administration, warriors rose to unsettle the political balance, particularly between governing institutions, such as the military and the monarchy. Kate may not be uprising against the same institutions, yet she embodies a powerful resistant force against the structures in her life, such as a demanding work schedule and social constraints. Myths of toughness also reveal the spiritual potentiality in the human being. For Kate, the potentiality is revealed in the warrior - male being aggressive, and the female being receptive, the male being the warrior, the female being the dreamer (Campbell & Moyers, 2011).

In addition, Laura is keen to approach the material muddy aspect Tough Mudder, yet the mess incurred enrages her:

109 I was so, so angry, that is the whole thing that keeps you going through the whole course knowing that you can just wash it all off, and when we finished there was no water. I was ropeable, because I drove my car, which was relatively new, and I didn’t want shit in my car, and that mud stank, that was really upsetting. They were just hosing people, you want to come out and have a shower. I think a lot of people were really disappointed in that. Also, that’s something that really effects people spending time in the area after the race, they’re not spending their money. A lot of the food providers would have missed out on a lot of customers, people were starving…everyone was straight on their phones and Facebook promoting themselves. We were pretty much proud we had finished and bragging about our injuries as well, there were so many injuries. And then you get a lot of people commenting (Laura, F, 25, TV Producer, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

We see a further tension between material nature (power and movement of raw materials of nature, e.g. dirt), and the material trappings of civilization - mud and Laura’s new car. Clean objects bear no trace of other activities, and do not reveal failure to keep objects separate. Dust and dirt gives Laura endless opportunity to create order from Mudder chaos. Laura exposes the bragging rights inherent with the Tough Mudder community. For example, voluntary and confined electrocution within a vast muddy pool of water is a strong addition to ones experiential CV (Keinan & Kivetz, 2011). Self promotion on social media is not simply a spectacle, but a complex space of appearance that are symbols of participation, and signs of how that participation will be conditioned by capital. We argue that this capital is toughness achieved through masochism.

From the perspective of those who work at Tough Mudder, volunteer Annabel and food vendor Pallabi comment on the commercial nature of a challenging and painful event:

I think people do it out of boredom. It’s $120 and it’s a story you can keep with you. I think it could link to our growing obsession with violence, aggressive TV, aggressive violence and now there’s aggressive obstacles (Annabell, F, 21, Tough Mudder Volunteer, April 2013).

It’s something people don’t do often. It’s almost vulgar. It’s kind of gruesome which is fascinating. Definitely the end attracts the most crowds, the Electro-Shock Therapy obstacle (Pallabi, F, 22, Tough Mudder Food Vendor, April 2013).

Annabel sees violence as a sellable commodity whether it is watched on a TV show, or participating at Tough Mudder. She insinuates that violence is needed to take people out of their boring lives. The word violence is loaded with meaning, from street violence, to domestic violence and structural violence (e.g. gender, race and culture). Generally speaking, if one can withstand violence, one is tough and strong. Bloodshed and physical violence has been linked to social progress (Kleinman et al.,

110 1997). Therefore, there is a complex and elusive value being observed participating in violence. This is reinforced by Pallabi’s quote, which explains how the “vulgar” and “gruesome” obstacles attract big crowds.

Volunteers and vendors are united in illustrating how difficult and unpleasant masochistic activities show toughness:

You don’t see people running through electricity on a daily basis. It’s interesting seeing people pushing themselves to the limit of what they pay to go through…It’s a unique experience, you stay here for the majority of the day. Setting up the course takes a lot of time and money. You should expect to pay that much for the course, and the course should be that good. There’s nothing really like it, you don’t see this as very everyday (Mel, F, 20, Tough Mudder Volunteer, April 2013).

It’s like a festival feel in the spectator area. We’ve got live bands, a beer tent, and activities spread across the space, all with easy accessibility to the viewing points for up to eight of the obstacles (Mike, M, 45, Tough Mudder Food Vendor, April 2013).

Notions of work and play between consumers and producers, commercial stakeholders, and participants and non-participants are exchanged. Food vendor Mike is aware of the positioning of different tents in relation to the popular obstacles that draw crowds of potential customers. The quotes by Mel and Mike allude to the unique spectacle of Tough Mudder. Mel explains how enduring 10,000 volts of electricity and pushing oneself to the limit is unusual and intriguing. The spectacle unites commercial stakeholders with Mudders, volunteers and spectators who otherwise maintain conflicting interests. In this sense, the performance of masochism showing toughness acts as a social glue between commercial and non-commercial entities.

Matthew’s comments reveal how as a Mudder, he is happy to pay to be immersed in mud in the countryside, but in turn, he expects the modern conveniences of living in the digital age. This situation presents a divergence between two paradigms: a myth that has its commercial status wrapped in grueling military obstacles, and his expectation for technological convenience:

They did have ATMs there though, that was good. Again, they were right out where you exit. Reception on the phone was crap, so maybe they should get a service provider to sponsor it. I guess everyone wants to call their loved ones, there was no signal (Matthew, M, 30, Investment Banker, Tough Mudder, April 2013).

Nature is an important prop in the delivery of masochism. Yet as dirt is ‘matter out of place’ this aggravates many Mudders. It implies two conditions: a set of ordered

111 relations, and a contravention of that order. Therefore, dirt is never an isolated event, it is part of a system. For Matthew, nature and hence dirt must be removed for a pattern of order to be maintained (e.g. phone signal).

Similarly, Eliot illustrates how he approaches and avoids the marketplace myth at the start line. Every twenty minutes the Tough Mudder MC addresses six hundred Mudders eagerly waiting in the bull-pen. The address comprises of chanting, pledging, motivation, rules and loud music. At the start of the course the myth of toughness is crafted and controlled by the MC, then once the run begins, signage maintains the myth (Figure 4):

I quite enjoyed the start pen with the announcer and the music. I thought the oath was a bit of a wank, but I guess it all added to the experience, I liked the fact you had to jump over the wall to even get into the pen (Eliot, M, 29, Senior Fire Engineer, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

FIGURE 4 Tough Mudder Myth on Event Signage

It is evident that Elliot endorses the physical embodiment of toughness, such as jumping over a wall, yet he rejects the explicit rules forcing his conformity to the myth. This shows a further servicescape tension – Eliot is sold on the myth prior to the event, yet he simultaneously accepts and rejects the various mythical sub-texts on the day. As the myth maker, Tough Mudder is then faced with the problem of what to do when a consumer no longer embraces the toughness myth, or displays inconsistency in their buy-in.

A hobby such as adventure racing identifies the hobbyist as crazy, strong, brave and macho. Such identification can be helpful in an urban environment where impression

112 management may be at work (Rosen, 2007). Impression management supposes that people are constantly fostering impressions of themselves, and are concerned with their appearances because others will formulate their definition of their situation (Karp et al., 1977, p. 102). The approach behavior towards unique and unpleasant leisure pursuits is evident in the extract below:

I’ll enter any competitive thing that’s a little bit different. Yeah, I don’t like entering things that are safe, like just a pure run. Like I know for a fact that the swimming challenge is probably going to be hard for me, but I’m going to try it anyway (Riccy, M, 30, TV Producer, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

Riccy shows his unease for all things safe. Hence, danger is a prerequisite for him, and myths of toughness provide access to danger. To combat risk one must be alert, brave, tough and fit. Here, we start to see the relationship between masochism and toughness. In this instance, the impression management of masculinity may be at work. Social media has been the primary catalyst for the adventure race industry’s growth, a tool that concurrently makes impression management of the experiential CV prolific. Few things attract as many likes from Facebook friends as a photo of an acquaintance looking like a Navy SEAL, hurdling over burning bales of hay (Keneally, 2012a).

While Riccy interacts with the event on an individual and competitive level, Ernie interfaces with the event through a philosophical dimension:

I tend to try and live my life like the Tough Mudder world. I just came back from Borneo where I was trekking with the group as a team leader, so a lot of teamwork involved, a lot of hard work involved. So the last few months was a lot like Tough Mudder, and working in emergency is as well, it is a team sport and it’s hard as well (Ernie, M, 30, Disaster Nurse, Tough Mudder 2012).

Ernie explains how hardship is aligned in work and pleasure. Through his work as an emergency nurse, he is immersed in difficulty and unpleasantness. Therefore, the gap between real and perceived masochism is small as he embodies the myth. By living like the Tough Mudder world, he implies this logic of enduring pain to show toughness as a part of his lived experience.

113 Local communities and businesses also derive economic value from selling toughness. Tough Mudder founder Will Dean explains the commercial impact his event has on the hosting event communities:

Most of the money spent at Tough Mudder is not spent at the Tough Mudder event, it’s spent around the Tough Mudder event. Meaning ‘heads and beds’, people going to restaurants, people interacting with the town in a way that in a lot of places they’ve never had. In a lot of these communities we have up to 10,000, 15,000 people coming in on a day (Will Dean, Chief Executive Officer, 2013).

Will’s quote uncovers the profit maximizing commercial network of Tough Mudder, beyond producer and consumer. As most of the money generated is spent around the event, this lucrative commercial sphere plays a positive role in the cultural identity of adventure racing. Although the organization is driven by the logic of the market, this is not exclusive to adventure racing, but also spans tourism and hospitality. Hence, a culture of community and unity is temporarily created. National parks, state parks and private properties host the event and form powerful natural social theatres that endow the tough myth with material meaning. Mt Snow Valley in Vermont is a case in point. Below, three different parties share their perspectives on the commercial fortune they derive from Tough Mudder coming to Mt Snow:

It’s been a pleasant surprise, when Tough Mudder comes to town we’re actually as busy as our busiest ski weekend, and that’s big (Kelly Pawlak, General Manager at Mt Snow, 2013).

We sat down and did some calculations and determined that the economic impact is about $3- 5 million (Adam Grinold, Executive Chamber, Mt Snow Valley Chamber of Commerce, 2013).

What we always find after an event is that it isn’t just the venue asking us to come back, it’s all the local businesses (Will Dean, Chief Executive Officer, 2013).

Kelly, Adam and Will are all members of the Tough Mudder commercial subculture. Their divergent, yet economically aligned interests are part of a marketing process where systematic meaning management imposes intended interpretations on the consumers (Holt, 2002). Although many areas of consumer research have noted a disjuncture between the commercial and the sacred (Kozinets, 2002), what is apparent in the relationship between masochism and toughness is the blending of the scared (a transcendent experience) within the profane (commercial) (Belk et al., 1989).

114 John is a personal trainer and specializes in preparing people for events like Tough Mudder. His business model is to adapt to the different disciplines required for the event and therefore he must become accustomed to the different myths, such as the military at Tough Mudder and Greek warriors at Spartan. For each new adventure race, a training program is aligned with the narrative of the specific event. John poses an alternative view to the aforementioned Mudders. After undertaking two events, he believes the myth is very aligned with the reality:

It’s an incredibly impactful event. It certainly doesn’t mix its words with the pictures that come along: you know what you’re in for. There are a couple of pictures that came online today that had a picture of a guy that stood up from a mud pit covered in mud in what appears to be wearing a full suit. Anyone thinking about joining this based on that photo alone should not be under any misconceptions that this should be anything other than a tough competition…Tough Mudder has done very well. Its not pulled its punches; its shown exactly what you’re in for so there are no surprises, especially with the Death Waiver (John, M, 35, Personal Trainer, Tough Mudder 2013).

John’s highly charged account is suffused with meaning. He has a commercial interest in the event, which therefore makes him a myth maker by perpetuating the story of toughness, and maintaining the mystery between masochism and toughness is crucial to his business goals of training people who need to fit into various events, whether it is an endurance marathon, or a team mud run.

Relative to other consumption experiences, the Tough Mudder product offers something sadistically unique. The electrocution ordeal has compounded its success. At the Electroshock Therapy obstacle, a Canadian volunteer at the Scottish event made an interesting comparison between Tough Mudder, and an experience that most people would find daunting:

I climbed Kilimanjaro and you didn’t have to do any of this! (Emily, F, 25, Tough Mudder Volunteer, July 2012).

As the highest walkable mountain in the world, Kilimanjaro is known as wilderness for masochists. Roughly nine trekkers die every year out of 30,000 that attempt the ascent. In contrast, one Mudder in 1,000,000 has died in three years. This demonstrates the irrationality of how tough myths are interpreted. There is an element of blind ambition when it comes to proving toughness and statistics carry little weight in informing rational meanings.

115 After paying $150 for a tough experience, Bridgid’s anecdote shows how she still expects comfort, even though she has paid for toughness. Her emotional ambiguity towards her experience illustrates the complexity of her life and the challenges she faces. For Bridgid, it is an unwritten rule that her creature comforts will be there as actors, even within a myth of toughness:

There was not much water at the end, like the showers at the end, that’s a pretty major thing, people have got to get back in their cars, the cans of Solo ran out, and that’s pretty poor when you’ve paid your money. But that happens in big races as well, so I think they need to deal with that a bit better (Bridgid, F, 30, Nurse Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

Concluding thoughts from Bridgid reveal the hegemonic tension of a co-produced experience. Her need for service structures, technological resources, and consumerables conflicts with the wild, natural and isolated appeals of nature (Arnould & Price, 1993) which endorse and support the myth of pain and discomfort. This presents Tough Mudder with contradictory discourses during market-mediated experiences.

The orchestration of masochism in offshore yacht racing

We now move to our sailing data to reveal an alternative reading of the relationship between masochism and toughness. Guillermo reveals how pain, discomfort, frustration and exhaustion are inherent to the discourse of offshore yacht racing:

As we arrived at Tasman Island last night, we saw the band of clouds, and were looking at the barometer dropping down really quickly. It was really tough, the sea state was really bad and it was really gusty, so the wind went from 20 – 40 knots very quickly, and it was a bit messy for the first few hours (Guillermo Altadill, Navigator for Sydney to Hobart Race, 2013).

Sailing is a desirable platform for consumers to experience masochism to prove toughness. Guillermo discusses the dropping barometer. For sailors, this can mean hyperthermia caused by plummeting temperatures (Fujishima & Shimizu, 2003). This will quickly exhaust participants, particularly those who are untrained in cold environments. Adventure racing participants are also prone to hyperthermia, however course marshals will monitor and adjust the course and obstacles if temperatures drop too low. This is not an option in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race where the proponents of difficulty, pain and discomfort are isolated, and less subjected to orchestration and manipulation.

116

An extract from the Flying Fish website (provider of professional yacht training and racing) supports how yacht races, in this instance The Sydney to Hobart, is sold on the myth of toughness and battling the elements:

The world famous 628 mile Sydney Hobart Race is renowned for being tough. It is the Everest of amateur yacht racing. Each year around 130 yachts, from state-of-the-art ocean racers to 38ft sloops (one masted sail boat), arrive from both hemispheres to do battle with the competition and with the elements (Andy, Owner of Flying Fish Sailing Academy, 2014) (Fairclough, 2014).

Fairclough, owner of Flying Fish, demonstrates how economic actions are culturally informed, and how cultural knowledge is leveraged instrumentally in the name of proﬁt. Adventure organizations like Flying Fish, begin by describing the myth (‘the Everest of amateur yacht racing’), and then invite the challenge from which they aim to profit. The myth is organized out of interaction with the ocean environment - an experience revolving around thrill, challenge, teamwork and the unknown.

Despite the palpable presence of masochism, from a service provider’s perspective The Sydney to Hobart Race is a lucrative area. Russell explains the burgeoning adventure market:

It’s a box people want to tick, it’s a bucket list product. There’s definitely a growing market for these extreme adventure experiences, and that’s something that we’re starting to think about now because I think it’s caught us a bit by surprise, but now were aware of it we’re thinking of developing a few more products that will tap into that demand for extreme adventure (Russell, M, 50, Operations Director of Flying Fish Australia, 2014).

Paradoxically, as extreme adventure becomes appropriated, the availability of legitimate adventure experiences diminishes. The discrepancy between the new and undiscovered, which has an aura of virginity and sacredity, gets destroyed in the commercial activities. If leisure is commercialized and rationalized, and if adventurous activities are infiltrated by industrial standards, little space is left for risk and uncertainty (Lasch, 1991, p. 102).

From the consumer’s perspective, resilience against legitimate adventure is the greatest reward to emerge from the experience. In Tough Mudder, a paramedic is only a few minutes away. However, in yachting, the crew must bear broken bones until the end of the race, as John explains:

117

In almost every other activity you can press the stop button. You can say I’ve had enough, I don’t like it, stop. Sailing, it’s inescapable. People can be in places of severe discomfort and they can’t make it stop. But you know, I think that’s development as well, they have to get through it, and so they invariably do get through it. I mean there are stories of people jumping overboard just to make it stop. But obviously, that’s not normally the case. But generally speaking, people have to get through, so they do get through, and then they realize that actually they could get through. And maybe they’re capable of dealing with levels of discomfort, which they didn’t think they were capable of. And that’s you know, certainly the people that I’ve done sailing experiences with, they’re really proud that they got through it, that’s a really common theme in their feedback, and somehow they feel that develops a resilience of some kind, to get through other difficult things (John, M, 32, Freelance Sailor, 2012).

John relays a story of anxiety. Being at sea often creates the required level of stress for the anxiety bubble to burst caused by abnormalities, uncertainties and insecurities. During long racing passages at sea, in close confines any tensions amongst the crew are exacerbated, something that Mudders can walk away from after two hours. The sea is therefore a host to the strange, be it deserted ships, mutiny, or men becoming odd. Despite this, surviving the strange and strenuous reaps significant rewards for sailors in advanced industrial societies. Conquering a sport that is difficult to access is one of many status rewards of using masochism to prove toughness.

In most endurance sports the mind gives up before the body. In sailing this not an option because the body is isolated. In a quote from John, we see how isolation proves toughness:

I guess it’s that sense of being free and isolated, and maybe taking on some measure of a challenge. I think most people who have done a bit of sailing will tell you, it’s sometimes not the most comfortable experience. In fact some people might say it’s one of the most uncomfortable situations you could put your body into. You could be sleep-deprived, hungry, you shouldn’t be thirsty, there’s no excuse to not drink. You could be seasick, and that can be a terrible feeling. Certainly watching people, and taking people through sailing experiences that have had less experience than me, and seeing them in sort of a survival zone, where they wouldn’t be able to talk to you, all they can do is just focus on surviving (John, M, 32, Freelance Sailor, 2012).

Desolation is interwoven in John’s account of yacht racing. Severe weather, fog or long periods of calm play a major role in fatigue, hunger, sleep-deprivation, cold and lethargy. Alone, or in isolation, these factors will have a detrimental effect on performance. This leads to psychological stressors of anxiety, unpredictability and lower levels of emotional intelligence, which makes land-based modes of probability unusable. Hence, masochism at sea proves toughness within an entire other space, a

118 domination of a new world, caused by lack of control, or lack of interest in commanding a world on land.

David recruits the crews for The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race. He reveals how investing in ones experiential blueprint, rather than objects, is the safest investment in a world of uncertainty:

A big part of my job is to explain all the bad things about the race, so I try and make it out to sound absolutely horrible. And that’s how we get down from the 7,000 (applicants). We try and talk people out of it and say, do you really want to do this? You know, you’re going to be living on a 70ft boat where you can only shower once a week, and you’ve got not privacy and you’re probably going to end up sharing a bunk. You can change your clothes maybe once a week, and you’ve got no fresh food, you’re racing, you get woken up every four hours. Do you still want to do it? Generally the harder you tell people it’s going to be, kinda the more interested they are (David, M, 48, Recruitment Manger for Clipper Ventures, 2012).

David reveals that the stronger he conveys the masochistic narrative, i.e. the more the toughness myth is inscribed in an attempt to unsettle, the more applicants desire the experience. Cultural studies theorists explain that the man that endures hardship and deprivations is performing a ritual: mastery of an inner and an outer nature. Not showering for a week illustrates the cultural boundary between the clean and unclean principle (Frykman, 1987). Traditionally, peasants were filthy and the bourgeoisie were clean, ironically applicants from all class backgrounds apply for the Clipper Race embracing myths of sleep, hygiene and nutritional deprivation.

Skipper Craig has been sailing for 28 years, and he cannot understand or explain why his crews choose to battle with the elements on the rail of his boat:

The guys feel like getting drowned, feeling uncomfortable, it’s finishing the race that’s important to them, it’s not winning it, it’s just finishing. I think they enjoy fighting the elements and then coming out the other side. Although I sometimes wonder, I think about those poor guys sat on the rail getting pounded around, and they don’t complain. They’ll sit there all night if they have to. I’m surprised (Craig, M, 42, Sales and Marketing Manager for Electra Lift, 2012).

Discourses of toughness in this context means being faced with fight or flight situations, yet the latter choice is not available. If we consider that the yacht is a floating space that lives by its own devices, its crew must therefore do the same. From an anthropologists perspective, the sea is seen as a liminal space where social mores are in limbo (Turner & Schechner, 1988). Craig shows how the cold, damp and relentlessly draining environment is met without objection. We find that Craig’s crew

119 do not only prove toughness during the race, their toughness transcends across maritime culture and history which still inspires classic literature, music and art. Next, Craig offers a personal account of disorder and disarray during a storm:

I got hit by that really bad storm…the waves were breaking over back of boat, and you had to hold your breath for ten to twenty seconds because you’re under water. All white water over the back of the boat, just watching big waves coming over the back of the boat, it does you good in those situations. The waves are over the back of the boat and it’s over two meters high of water, you hold your breath, and you’re still going. Running with the waves is quite bad because it’s uncontrollable. When the waves are coming from behind you’re not racing, you’re just surviving. There’s a time in a race where you stop racing and you survive, until the storm stops, then you’re back to racing again, and the guys they’ve got no control over it as well. They’re just sitting in silence (Craig, M, 42, Sales and Marketing Manager for Electra Lift, 2012).

The extremities and lack of control in Craig’s experience is totally unlike a Tough Mudder. In these scenarios, the senses are feeble instruments. The deteriorating sea condition throws Craig’s mental capacity into disarray. Control is not in the hands of a person or an institution, but in the hands of the ocean. We argue surrendering ones control to nature, elucidates the interplay between structure and agency. This experience serves to reify people’s alienation experienced within their structured society. We conclude this section with a reflection from Craig, which underscores the tension between the desire to embody and imbue toughness through difficult and painful experiences:

I sit at the back and I do wonder, I wonder why do they do it. Why do they sit there for so long, get pummeled with water, feel seasick. I don’t know the answer. It’s really hard to answer. I guess you would have to sit right in the middle of the guys and suss them out. It’s because I’m not sitting with the crew, I’d be steering for a few hours, and they’d be on the rail and no one complains. They may go down get a dry t-shirt on, get a jacket on, no complaints, no blaming. It’s a hard one to pin point that sailing you know, very different…thirty-six hours the boys are on the boat, they’re working, that’s a big piece of work. It’s work, it’s non- relenting, the waves don’t stop, they can’t get off (Craig, M, 42, Sales and Marketing Manager for Electra Lift).

By exploring the relationship between toughness and masochism, we have been able to highlight some premises that translate the value of the toughness marketplace myth. In both contexts, the body is a prop to prove toughness, which was shown by participants managing the tensions in their painful and tedious engagement with toughness. Tensions of class, fear, danger, capital, control, structure and agency are central discourses in the reservoir of factors that attaches a market value to toughness.

120 3.5.2 Myth Two: Masochism as a lived experience

Decoding masochism in adventure racing Tough Mudder participants saw their event as less challenging or daunting than they had been led to believe by the official Tough Mudder videos, emails and website. Our enquiry finds evidence of consumer disembodiment, whereby overuse/stimulation of the mind, and underuse/misuse of the body means consumers ill-equipped to interpret promotional materials for painful events. Tough Mudder is advertised as “hardcore” and “probably the toughest event on the planet” (Livingstone 2012, p. 1). According to the Co-Founder Will Dean, the race “is hard…but not so hard that you have to recalibrate your whole life” (Sweeney et al., 1999, p. 2).

The spectacle of people in the survival zone has been transformed into a marketable product. Advertisements and videos are pervasive parts of the contemporary landscape, with a strong influence on consumers’ notions of what we believe, and our notions of reality (Shrum et al., 1998). Equally, marketing-manufactured environments are increasingly pervasive parts of the social landscape that naturalize the interests of participating firms (Penaloza, 1998). Therefore if marketplace myths are naturalizing masochistic experiences, they are likely to become more accepted by consumers. For example, the videos from Tough Mudder emailed to participants before the event plays a key role in shocking them while simultaneously naturalizing voluntary electrocution and mud immersion. The three interview extracts below show how the fear and intensity in the video content is an important factor in crafting a myth of toughness:

It’s just very intense because they’ve got on the website videos of people running through the electricity field at the end, people literally running and falling. Other people who are struggling through the mud, it’s almost like it’s built up to be tougher than I’d imagine it to be like. It’s almost like it scares people so that those that aren’t sure wont do it. But whether that’s how they operate, or whether that’s just the advertising, I’m not sure (Paul, M, 36, Medical Services Advisor, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

I think everyone’s a bit more scared of it now. The fact more videos are being released, it’s just building up the tension (Riccy, M, 30, TV Producer, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

My mother actually freaked and said “don’t you have to be part of the army to do that?” (Dove, F, 37, Executive Assistant, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

121 Within this process, Mudders learn that pain, difficulty and frustration must be endured to prove toughness. From Paul’s quote it is apparent that since so much of advertising is hype, he wonders if the website videos are also hype. It is difficult for him to decode the myth as the videos appear to be made from real Tough Mudder footage. The extent to which the videos are a warning, or an advert, is challenging for participants to decipher. For Riccy, the videos are teaching and maintaining fear, which adds value to the experience. Dove explains how her mother, a third party is affected by the myth. Her mother’s generation would associate obstacle courses more with the military than with mainstream recreation, whereas for Dove’s generation obstacle courses are a leisure pursuit. To sustain the myth of fear and struggle, Tough Mudder obstacles are analyzed for key performance indicators through a rigorous process, including safety, cost, and customer satisfaction. The best obstacles generate a strong love/hate relationship (Addi, 2013). The Tough Mudder team adopt IDEO’s human-centered design and internalize best-in-class principles of innovation (Addi, 2013). This creates buzzworthy obstacles, and hence powerful advertising.

Tough Mudder possesses many well-established sponsors. On first impression these sponsors’ brand attributes endorse Tough Mudder’s myth: masculine, tough, high- performance, speed, strength and fear: for example Under Armour, Solo and Camelbak. However, if the sponsors are not fully integrated into the Tough Mudder myth, and endorse the experience of the brand, they can have a detrimental effect. From a commercial perspective, Hunter explains what Tough Mudder look for in their brand partners:

We look for partners who share our overall standards, who have the highest standards with their customers, who are industry leaders in their own right, and have the upmost respect for our brand (Hunter Manchak, Director of Special Operations for Tough Mudder, 2014).

Sharing institutionalized conventions that are deemed legitimate and normative by Tough Mudder forms a cohesive narrative of challenge, grit and toughness. These brand characteristics are controlled, managed and strategically implemented to ensure that consumers derive the desired meaning from all marketing messages, regardless of the origin. From the sponsor’s perspective, Ryan explains how the Tough Mudder marketplace myth is complemented by the Dos Equis offering:

122 There’s no better use for our products than a Tough Mudder event. Blood, sweat tears all those things and you get a Dos Equis at the finish, what could possibly be better (Ryan Thompson, Dos Equis Brand Manager, 2014).

As the antidote to blood sweat and tears, Dos Equis is excelling and mytholizing its status from a humble beer, to a medical or even sacred substance. The meaning management contributes a performative and theatrical dimension to the role of Dos Equis in the toughness myth. The brand provides symbolic and communicative potency to the construction of the body in Tough Mudder culture, i.e. a masculine beer drinking body.

From the participant’s standpoint, Jarnah and Andy’s perception shows the messy aftermath when a myth is not fully integrated with its makers:

They just hired people to dish out the gear. It didn’t feel like it was that involved. It felt like they sent their workers to go do whatever like. They’re just putting their name to Tough Mudder because it was a big event (Jarnah, F, 31, Registered Nurse, Tough Mudder, 2013).

The fact they were there didn’t affect me too much. It didn’t make me want to buy more of their stuff. I mean, obviously I was quite happy to have a beer at the end, so that was good. I didn’t even take notice of the other sponsors like Camelbak and things like that (Andy, M, 27, Doctor, Tough Mudder, 2013).

For Tough Mudder, there are real commercial dangers in using co-brands, sponsors and charities to lay claim to an authentic masochistic voice. These third parties can overwrite the complex actuality of toughness with their own myths and diverging corporate agendas. Jarnah indicates that the sponsors are only interested in affiliation with Tough Mudder. She feels that rather than being indigenous carriers of the masochistic brand, the sponsors cripple the efforts of the authentic story. Andy concurrently found that the sponsors did not enhance his experience, hence they are disputational claimants to a territoriality of the authentic (Lawson & Tiffin, 2002). However, Tough Mudder manages this strained interface with financial support and “free gear” provided by its sponsors.

As a social media strategist, Kate offers an alternative view. She felt the sponsors helped to bridge the two cultural worlds: toughness myth and marketized reality. For her, the commercialization was well implemented, and rather than detracting from the myth, the brands provide the dramatic heart of the story:

123 I thought they were fantastic, well placed. The food was great, in Victoria they had an option of healthy food, which was such a nice change from other places. It was cheap too, well cheapish for an event, so I was really impressed with that. I know it’s bad, but I really loved that VB at the end, a Solo too. I think it’s an iconic way to end a race. I always ended a race at the pub. I love the Colorado sponsoring too, they had all the signs along the way “you’re not tough if you quit”. I think the sponsors did really well in embracing the branding and the messaging of the race. None of them offended me at all, which is unusual. We had some good sports nutrition stuff, USN or something. I know heaps of people in my team bought that. They gave out the free bits of protein bar. It was fantastic. Some of my team members got completely into that whole thing. That sponsor obviously worked, it was very popular (Kate, F, 32, Social Media Strategist, Tough Mudder, April 2013).

She clearly identifies with the dominant masochistic myth and idealized authentic tough narrative. She feels the sponsors stay within the boundaries of the tough discourse, and serve to enhance rather than taint her experience.

In the next vignette, Kate continues to explain how the myth and the reality are part of the same sphere. She discusses the positive attribution of commercialization. But her job as a social media strategist is biased towards commercial appropriation. Although most of the Tough Mudder community would question the synchronicity of the myth and the event, none deny the challenge:

I think the commercialization makes it look a lot more accessible. But this happens with anything that’s successful, and I think it’s really great for Tough Mudder, and it’s really great for people who want to get out there and give it a go. Just because it’s not for really tough people, doesn’t diminish the fact it’s still a challenge for people (Kate, F, 32, Social Media Strategist, Tough Mudder, April 2013).

The obligatory death waiver also makes Mudders relinquish their legal rights. Although the waiver is a standard part of adventure activity insurance requirements, Kate explains how the details of the Death Waiver deterred her. Yet the descriptive waiver helps to reinforce the masochistic marketplace myth and smooth over the incongruent interface between a tough adventure and a safe experience:

I further understand and acknowledge that any of these risks and others, not specifically named, may cause injury or injuries that may be categorized as minor, serious, or catastrophic. Minor injuries are common and include, but are not limited to: scrapes, bruises, sprains, nausea, and cuts. Serious injuries are less common, but do sometimes occur. They include, but are not limited to: property loss or damage, broken bones, torn ligaments, concussions, exposure, heat-related illness, mental stress or exhaustion, infection, and concussions. Catastrophic injuries are rare; however, we feel that our participants should be aware of the possibility. These injuries can include permanent disabilities, spinal injuries and paralysis, stroke, heart attack, and even death (Extract from Tough Mudder Death Waiver 2013).

124 Kate: Scared the shit out of me! Absolutely scared the shit out of me (laughs). I remember reading it and thinking, “oh this is real”. I don’t know if it’s a marketing strategy or what it is, but it scared the shit out of me. I read it and I suddenly realized everything was real and maybe I wasn’t ready for this. It was awesome but got me really really wanting to do it, but got me really really questioning my sanity (Kate, F, 32, Social Media Strategist, Tough Mudder, April 2013).

Interviewer: Any specific parts of it that scared you?

Kate: Yes. Signing it. Signing away my fear. If I can remember rightly, it actually does qualify ways you can die and serious injury. I think they give you percentages of people that get injured and people that get injured seriously, and people that get injured very seriously and die. To put it into a quantifiable document it really brings things home that you might be doing something that’s just a bit different from your average running or adventure race (Kate, F, 32, Social Media Strategist, Tough Mudder, April 2013).

The death waiver, and Kate’s exasperated response to it, illuminates the commercial tension between a highly manicured, orchestrated and inauthentic experience which is carefully and responsibly managed around health standards and legal considerations, and the masochistic narrative that packages it. A rich servicescape tension materializes here to add a complex layer to the process of de-coding the myth. This forces the question, if masochism is absent, is toughness absent? The notion of Tough Mudder as an adventure race is now called into question. What is further visible is the co-producing reality of the event. The subjugation of the Mudders bodies and senses are essential to interpret and decode the myth.

From a commercial standpoint, Kate’s post-hoc realization illustrates how Tough Mudder marketing, PR and the media sensationalize the marketplace myth. Kate explains how fear is a motivational driver to her involvement in the event. She also alludes to a fear of her boring life:

I’ve had a lot of people question my sanity and I think it’s because of the media. I think it’s portrayed as a lot harder than it actually is. That’s what inspired me to do Tough Mudder, it was all these articles on the toughest race on earth. I think the articles are almost written to scare people, and I think the marketing department of Tough Mudder do a really good job of it. At first it scared me off it. I remember reading the first article and thinking, who would ever do that. I’m not sure if they’re written by people that haven’t done Tough Mudder, so if they’re actually feeding off what the marketing department does. I think they’re written to lock into people’s head space...it depends who writes them: If it’s the PR department for Tough Mudder, they’re written obviously to get fire in peoples belly, and also get people to question whether they’re quite satisfied with their life at the time too. That’s obviously why a lot of people do it: to push the boundary of their rather boring life I think. That’s why I did it. I think the articles helped along with that and scare you into thinking maybe you should try it (Kate, F, 32, Social Media Strategist, Tough Mudder, April 2013).

125 Kate’s vignette is an excellent illustration of how a savvy consumer, who owns her own business in social marketing, cannot de-code a myth of pain. The narrative of masochism is highly effective, as consumers do not possess the tools to make sense of what is being presented. We can use our sight to read nutritional information on the back of a cereal packet, and cognition to decipher if the product contains enough fiber. However, in the pain economy, people literally have to use their bodies and their senses to unpack the myth.

Unlike seasoned Mudder Kate, Kelly is a first time Mudder. Her job as an Emergency Clinical Nurse Consultant makes her no stranger to the extraordinary and the grotesque. Kelly makes the distinction between the in-house Tough Mudder mythmaking, and variants of the myth on You Tube:

It’s different to what I thought it would be. There were a lot of people trying it out who weren’t necessarily fit and active and in the best shape. However, there were definitely a bunch of people who are fitness fanatics who were in it… if you look at their (Tough Mudder) website, they make out that it’s a very challenging tough event, that will push you to your limits, but is also really good fun. Promotes teamwork and collaboration and looking after your neighbor. When I’ve looked it up on YouTube, it doesn’t seem as hard as they portray it to be on the website. A lot of them seem to be strolling between the obstacles (Kelly, F, 30, Emergency Clinical Nurse Consultant, Tough Mudder, 2013).

The passage from Kelly shows how Tough Mudder is trying to control the myth, and how the strength of the narrative becomes fragmented as it becomes dispersed across multiple media channels. The irony here is that direct control from Tough Mudder may lead to lower perceived authenticity. Kelly is a savvy participant at discerning motives for featuring content. Although she can discern the reasons for the different myths, she remains unclear as to which will most accurately depict her experience. Selecting users as editors can be one way to make the myth more authentic. Nevertheless, organizations wishing to sell a co-producing experience must be comfortable with the uncontrollable nature of co-production (Humphreys, 2010).

Following the event, Kate observes the stark contrast between the tough marketplace myth and reality. She explicitly states how the Tough Mudder marketing videos lie by leading people to believe the event is only for the elite:

126 Their marketing campaign showed me who did Tough Mudder. But when I got there, I don’t think there is one type of person who does Tough Mudder, but I think we all have the same goal to face our fears and challenge ourselves. Someone who wants to challenge and get uncomfortable…those marketing videos are lying man (Kate, F, 32, Social Media Strategist, Tough Mudder, April 2013).

The marketing videos Kate refers to are official videos from Tough Mudder. It is only after she has experienced the myth that she possesses the embodied knowledge to de- bunk the mystique used to sell Tough Mudder. Kate sees through the mystification generated by the economic order, which favors mythic assumptions. The myth is not text, it is a virtual experience, an opportunity to encounter vectors in liminal space, which are socially and physically different from everyday life, yet play with the same symbols.

A disenchanted Rory and Jarnah critically dissect the difference between the Tough Mudder marketplace myth that was sold to them, and the reality of the event. Marketing material reinforces the tough story (Figure 5). These participants deemphasize the significance of the military inspired obstacle courses:

FIGURE 5 Tough Mudder Social Media Photographs

I remember they said it (Tough Mudder) was specially built for Special Forces, but I think that’s bullshit. One obstacle was one bale of hay stuck on top of another bale of hay. Like I just jumped over it. Even an overweight person could have jumped over it. It really disappointed…the obstacles weren’t that bad, they were cut short, they could have been longer to make them more challenging, or have more of them. For example the Berlin Walls, there were two of them but there could have been more, or the crawling tunnels, it was good, but it wasn’t that challenging really. Even the electricity zapping, they were quite short little runs, some people got hit four or five times, some people got hit once or twice which isn’t much (Rory, M, 26, Electrician, Tough Mudder, April 2013).

127 It didn’t feel like the rough and tough army style when you have a commando next to you pushing you through the course, screaming at you. You didn’t have time limits so much and it wasn’t a race. That’s what they pushed at the start telling you it’s not a race. I guess they didn’t want anyone to hurt themselves. But it’s totally different from Tough Mudder ran by army style people (Jarnah, F, 31, Registered Nurse, Tough Mudder, April 2013).

For Rory the event did not meet his expectations, he felt angry, disappointed and cheated. However, he did say he would do the event again, providing it was in a different location/country. In contrast, Jarnah’s emotional resolution was positive, she felt a sense of mastery. Jarnah agreed it wasn’t the exact experience she anticipated, nonetheless, she did not have as much emotional investment in the myth fulfilling her needs as Rory.

In contrast to the majority of Mudders, Kelly’s medical interpretation of the event reveals its controlled and structured story. The characters; Mudders, volunteers, paramedics, lifeguards and course marshals shape the scene. As an emergency nurse, Kelly possesses cultural authority to assess the safety of the experience – hence she has the occupational power to de-bunk the toughness myth. She knows that there is something different about pain that is designed by a company:

It’s got an organization team, it’s got first aid personnel, volunteers. It’s a well-known event also, so if things went seriously wrong, or had gone seriously wrong, and the whole event was unsafe, it would have been shutdown. So, I see it as a controlled tough event. Compared with taking off on your own, and grabbing your own hiking equipment and doing Mount Everest, and figuring it out for yourself. I see that as a bit riskier (Kelly, F, 30, Emergency Clinical Nurse Consultant, Tough Mudder, 2013).

Kelly’s prior role as a trauma nurse has made her a purveyor of expert knowledge on pain. As a medical professional, she is responsible for assessing risk and communicating risk to her patients. Language and practices surrounding aches pains, soreness, discomfort and numbness is part of her cultural capital (knowledge, skills and education). Case managing trauma patients in a major Sydney hospital has given Kelly prolonged exposure to spinal chord injuries from road accidents. Motorcycling is known to be risky and dangerous. In contrast the risk of accidents occurring in adventure racing is minimal, yet people are still trying to make sense of these risks. Kelly is therefore one of the only Mudders in the study who is literate in decoding the toughness marketplace myth, and its minimal pain and risk relative to other extreme activities.

128 In summary, myths help people to identify with the experience of being alive (Campbell & Moyers, 2011). It is of little surprise or significance that the toughness myth of Tough Mudder does not accurately reflect the reality of the lived experience for Mudders. Yet, what this unique context tells us is that consumers are not currently equipped to decode experiences, (and potentially goods and services) that promise obscure forms of pain and fear (e.g. electrocution). Years of exposure to advertising and promotional materials which sell low fat breakfast cereals, eco-friendly detergents and the most effective teabag shape has trained consumers to a certain level of market savviness. However, consumers in the pain economy remain lost and guessing when interpreting marketing materials. More surprisingly, as empathetic organizational stakeholders, participants have challenged the notion that commercialization diminishes the mythological plane of experience.

Decoding masochism in offshore yacht racing

Ocean racing provides a contrasting profile of a consumer’s ability to read painful experiences. The analysis of sailors helps us understand how marketplace myths are used in an environment that places higher demands on participant’s pain and discomfort barriers. We asked the yachtsmen in our study what sailing means to non- sailors based on their many years of experience. Races are not explicitly advertised as tough and painful to the same extent as Tough Mudder. However, the reality of the isolation, unpredictable and enduring nature of the sport means this is an undersold toughness marketplace myth. Our objective was to decipher if there is a myth about sailing, and if so, what does it mean? Ed’s response is typical:

It means to be a bum! It’s an escape, a separate thing from the world. It’s an opportunity to drop all the stresses. I’m not a beach holiday person, I’d rather sail, or windsurf. It’s a mechanism to switch off from the rat race (Ed, M, 52, IT Consultant, 2012).

Ed describes the need to remove himself from society. His work in IT security for European banks has put him at the forefront of the financial frontier. According to the classic social theorists Weber, Marx and Simmel, money is the yardstick with which to evaluate the universe of services, objects and relations (Maurer, 2006). As someone immersed in the financial world, money and its abstractions erode Ed’s sociability and subtend his existence: beach holidays, cruising and Disneyland have little to do with

129 authentic tourism (Urry, 1990). By distinguishing himself as different from beach holiday people, and preferring to sail or windsurf, he demonstrates that existential authenticity can be found in activities that are dependent on an individual’s mastery over the wind and tides.

James describes a more common perception of sailing as a prestige sport:

To other people sailing means of the elite, the rich and famous. It means money, it means power. It basically feels like it’s out of reach for the common man when it’s not, I can tell you…what we say is that, yes you may be the common man, but you do have the ability to go on this. It’s all perception, the world is perception, this is what people don’t understand is that, if you perceive something, and you think “oh no I can’t do it”, then unfortunately you can’t do it. But they believe their perceptions regardless of whether it’s true (James, M, 31, Owner of Merit Sailing, 2012).

James reveals how yachting is still perceived as restricted to the middle-class, the high representation of public schoolboys and masculinity is an enduring discourse. Although James runs a company that aims to break down the social and economic barriers of sailing, the story of privilege remains strong. Unlike Tough Mudder, challenging sailing narratives have become layered up over centuries and are therefore a thick myth to unscramble as James has found. This explains why yacht racing does not need to be explicit about how tough and unpleasant it will be, it is engrained in our sociohistoric culture. Class inequalities in yachting are a form of symbolic violence, a misrecognition of actions, hence taking masochism beyond simply the physical realm and into the marginalization of the working class. Gender violence is one of the most common forms of symbolic violence (Bourdieu, 2004), which is visible in the low representation of women in offshore yacht racing. Subsequently, in the yachting data we are starting to observe a different form of masochism compared with Tough Mudder.

John explains that even when he divulges the truth behind the marketplace myth, people still believe the latter. And in a similar way to the Tough Mudders, the myth must be embodied to be decoded:

130 The proximity that you’re going to share with people together on a sailing yacht is different from what people would normally experience in life and other team based activities. The inescapable nature, especially when it’s a yacht offshore for several days of the activity, that is an exceptional side to offshore sailing… you know you really are in a small space and you probably share that small space with six, ten, twelve people. It’s like, you know, being in a car, like sharing a car with six people, for four days, and not getting out of the car. And then shaking the car, you know, having constant motion sickness. You can’t really, if people aren’t a sailor, you can’t really describe it so that people would never, ever, ever go sailing in their lives (laughs). And yet, when a lot of people do, they find it incredibly rewarding (John, M, 32, Freelance Sailor, 2012).

In contrast to James, John indicates that even when he breaks down the myth into bite-sized discourses to explain the yarns and madness at sea, people still do not believe him. Words are not sufficient, this myth must be lived through the body. Bodies of all kinds,: physical, political, and social, are all very significant in meaning making (Firat, 2014). Monomaniac obsession, grief-fuelled insanity, paranoia and drug-induced mental breakdowns are all covered in non-fiction sailing books. These stories serve as important texts for yacht racing organizations when managing how they interface with toughness.

In the following quotes, two independent sponsors of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race describe the economic value of selling an identity myth of toughness and exploration. Since the 1840s, the Clipper ships have upheld cultural texts of national pride, romance, competition and changing technology. The central Clipper narrative of economic expansion continues to attract brand partners today. In Yorkshire, the race start and finish were the biggest events hosted by the city in terms of attendance with an estimated 200,000 visiting Hull for both events:

The Clipper Race has done a wonderful job raising the profile of this area both nationally and internationally, and bringing visitors to this fantastic region (Terry Hodgkinson, Clipper Sponsor, Chairman for Yorkshire Forward, 2014).

Clipper’s value as a brand partner comes from its identity myth: an appreciation of cultures, lifestyles, religions, attitudes and physical learning that connect with communities around the globe. Following the recession, Yorkshire Forward set out to improve the economy of the region by helping to create new jobs and businesses, improve the skills and environment for its communities and to attract new investment. The economic expansion inherent in bringing trades from the far ends of the world is strategically married with the objectives of Yorkshire Forward. Hence, toughness is culturally and historically decoded as a function of economic prosperity:

131

The Clipper Race project is a great marketing tool that is putting us on the map. It is opening doors for trade and investment, while creating global awareness of our islands strengths and assets (Luciano Lisi, Clipper Sponsor, CFO of Cape Breton Explorations Ltd, 2014).

Cape Breton Explorations Ltd is another sponsor which co-authors the myth of economic expansion. Luciano refers to cultural mapping, the intersection between culture, economy and place. Each of these terms acknowledges the various ways in which the partners are engaged in producing, transacting and distributing values. In sum, unlike adventure racing participants, sailors have been infiltrated with countless sociohistoric sailing myths to develop more of a repertoire of knowledge to decode commercial narratives surrounding sailing. The Clipper race is regarded as one the ultimate sailing experiences asking enormous endurance capabilities from sailors. Hence, the myth of danger and toughness is never far from stakeholder’s minds - this drives Clipper’s marketability .

3.5.3 Myth Three: Selling Masculine Masochism and Delivering Feminine Experience

Reflecting on masochism in adventure racing Within our data we detected that the marketplace myths used to sell adventure experiences strongly embody masculine discourses of power, control, toughness and mastery, such as the use of sports, war and combat metaphors used in sales materials (e.g. “remember that guy that gave up? Neither did anybody else”). Yet, for most participants, the tough male myth transgressed into feminine discourses of teamwork, sharing and bonding. Although these are highly generalized gender characteristics, it explains the mechanics of the myth, and the inner workings of the toughness sales hook.

From an organizational perspective, managing and appropriating a marketplace myth of toughness is contentious when simultaneously meeting safety and insurance requirements. We begin with quotes from Mudder Niall, and orchestrator Nolan who reveal a servicescape tension between the perception, and the reality of toughness:

132 I suppose the pre-day marketing that would have been around was very testosterone based, like “yeah this is the toughest thing”. That isn’t the feeling on the day at all. The feeling on the day is, “oh we’re all here, lets give this a shot”. It’s a much softer message on the day, and a much softer atmosphere than you would have anticipated (Niall, M, 38, Associate Director, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

Most people when they view our course probably think that it’s insane, and people are getting hurt left and right, but that’s just not the case (Nolan Kombol, Head of Course Design and Operations, 2014).

Niall and Nolan illuminate the gap between the marketplace myth of pain and injury (masculine), and the safe nurturing reality (feminine) of adventure races. Health and safety compliance imbues narratives of regulation, order and control. These characteristics act as diluting agents to a tough marketplace myth. The following vignettes exemplify the economic reliance on safety at a Tough Mudder event:

We usually have between 40 and 50 medical staff on site, basic life support to advanced life support. We have a lot of paramedics out there, Emergency Medical Services divers at the water obstacles, we will have water safety people. So it’s really a variety of medical staff out there (Hunter Manchak, Director of Special Operations, 2014).

A lot of the things that we’re putting into the course are tried and tested time and time again. These obstacles have engineer drawings, they’re approved by the engineer just before the event, and we monitor them throughout the event (Garth Wilson, Course Manager, 2014).

Ironically, the backstage production of adventure racing is implicitly sanitized and abstracted from the raw immediacy of other life and death activities available in the experiential marketplace. Many such experiences do not market themselves as explicitly tough, (e.g. skydiving and boxing). There is a discernable tension in the Tough Mudder service management between delivering the core tough service, and choreographing a standardized service to a mass market. As the service delivery is implemented simultaneously with consumption, this is the first time that the preface front stage marketplace myth (website, videos and emails carrying explicit tough, pain and grit narrative) is married with the backstage reality (health and safety control, checks and compliance).

Before embarking on the event, Jarnah and Matthew offer a crystallizing reflection of how the Tough Mudder myth of endurance, challenge and seriousness is communicated and interpreted. Participants that have a higher social status in the field most commonly employ aesthetic discrimination. For example, Matthew possesses cultural authority in the embodied state owing to his expert forms of cultural capital

133 from his position as a devoted member of a cross-fit gym. These forms of capital convey strength and skill, but more importantly for Tough Mudder, his specialization in an endurance sport used by military special operations units conveys a key form of capital. In comparison, Jarnah has lower status in the running field, she is more invested in the yoga community. The different levels of cultural status means that individuals evaluate and draw different meanings from the same event:

It seems like it’s something that men, or extremely fit women would do. It’s kind of advertised as a testosterone fuelled event where you are pushing your body to limits that I suppose some women wouldn’t be comfortable with…I’ve recently heard about the Worlds (Worlds Toughest Mudder). I find that quite shocking. I’ve heard the Worlds is a 24hr event and people just turn up and complete the course as many times as they can to be crowned the world champ of Tough Mudder. I found that a bit extreme… I suppose they (Tough Mudder) kind of market it in that way cos they want people to really push themselves. They advertise to attract the sort of people who wouldn’t pussy foot around the event. They want people that are going to take it seriously and get excited by the challenge (Matthew, M, 30, Investment Banker, Tough Mudder, April 2013).

There are two central themes within Matthews vignette. First we see how he has bought in to the suffering and trauma marketplace myth to assert his toughness. There is a clear relationship between masochism and toughness: for Matthew pain shows strength. The experience of pain and suffering is fundamentally social for Matthew, especially when taking into consideration his group cross-fit history. Second, he reveals the gendered meaning of male strength and competitiveness, juxtaposed against women’s non-competitive nature. Research in gender and competition confirms that competition enhances performance in men, but not in women (Gneezy & Rustichini, 2004). Matthew implies Tough Mudder does not want participants who “pussy foot” around. Meaning those who exercise caution and lack commitment to the challenge are not welcome. In his mind, only strong and serious people are suited to partake in the event, showing the desirability of physical strength and the need to be challenged. Hence, a masculine myth is being communicated. By saying “they want people that (not who)” he implicitly states that Tough Mudder participants are objectified, rather than conveying the humanity of the human subject, the lynchpin of agency. People are objects that are required to maintain the marketplace myth of using toughness to master obstacles. Matthew draws highly gendered meanings of male strength and endurance, whereas Jarnah is mostly uncompetitive:

134

Website’s really good. Got some grueling movies on there from the previous years which puts you off in a way, makes you nervous of what’s to come…apparently the voltage is not like your normal electricity fence, it’s more than that, and I remember leaning on an electrical fence when I was a kid when I was told not to, and it’s not very pleasant, and it put me off (Jarnah, F, 31, Registered Nurse, Tough Mudder, April 2013).

There are contested accounts from participants regarding whether the electricity is worse or easier than expected. This helps to maintain the marketplace myth and simultaneously makes some of the participants mythmakers. Jarnah’s account of the electricity is an example of how people view the marketing materials, yet they are not sure how to interpret the narrative - if it’s hype or if something such as the death waiver is a legal warning of the risks. Mudders like Jarnah are faced with the problem of having to interpret an ad that promises pain. This further supports an earlier insight that consumers do not know how to read a masochistic narrative, i.e. advertising that sells pain, because it’s not in their repertoire.

From a volunteer’s perspective, Annabel discusses the masculine image of the VB (Victoria Bitter) sponsor and its branding implications:

You see commercial industry like VB (Victoria Bitter) providing volunteers. With VB, sponsoring it gives a manly image. The Tough Mudder volunteers being friendly helps to sell their products (Annabell, F, 21, Tough Mudder Volunteer, April 2013).

Annabel picks up on the masculine narrative of VB and links it with Tough Mudder. The early VB slogan from the 60s is concerned with men dripping with perspiration and schooners dripping with condensation: “For a hard earned thirst, you need a big cold beer, and the best cold beer is Vic, Victoria Bitter”. The slogan relates to men sharing a few tinnies in the dinghy when fishing. Central to the slogan is the image of a man taking a long, satisfying gulp, and then wiping his mouth with his masculine forearm. Here, Tough Mudder have purposefully aligned their tough brand with the VB brand story of the strong, outdoors, Australian man.

After the event, with a bemused and reflexive detachment, Matthew illustrates how the course was softer than the marketplace myth led him to believe. Before the event he explained that Tough Mudder, “it’s something that men or extremely fit women do…pushing your body to limits”. The difference between his pre and post event

135 narratives shows a contrast between the legitimate experience, and the spectacular package in which it was sold:

I found all the obstacles pretty easy (Matthew, M, 30, Investment Banker, Tough Mudder, April 2013).

Matthew stigmatizes softness because it de-legitimizes the tough marketplace myth. Ease and softness are also associated with femininity that further detracts from the tough and painful myth. Legitimacy can occur through various mechanisms including reward or punishment. The incongruence between the masculine values of toughness and the feminine realty of ease has a punishing impact on Matthew as a consumer. He is disappointed that the tough myth did not live up to his expectations. Financial realities and health and safety compliance exert a great influence in shaping these gendered discursive processes and structures.

Laura describes a different discrepancy within the toughness marketplace myth. One of her daily rituals is doing her hair and make-up, and one of her biggest challenges and achievements in life was loosing 25kg. Hence, social acceptance from her reference group is important to her, and subsequently shapes how she decodes marketplace myths. When asked what engaged her, Laura’s comment is insightful. Tough Mudder sells a myth of fear and intensity, yet for her, delivers an experience of camaraderie. The gap between perception and reality is significant and exceeds Laura’s expectations:

I think it was the camaraderie, I was actually genuinely surprised about how helpful everyone was, I found that really surprising…it’s such a lovely atmosphere there, even though it’s meant to be a kind of a frightening, intense experience, I came out of there feeling really happy, because everybody was so friendly. Like you didn’t encounter that many people that were a bit too serious to give a shit about you, and just watching other teams work together and just to be really supportive of each other, and you just never see that in normal life, and you wouldn’t ever talk to a stranger in normal life. So to see everyone’s bodies kind of unified because they are doing the same thing (Laura, F, 25, TV Producer, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

When interpreting Laura’s themes of camaraderie, support and unification in comparison to Matthew’s soft and easy feminized meanings, Laura does not stigmatize the illegitimacy of the marketplace myth. Instead, she is content with the team cohesion and support from fellow Mudders. Laura’s goal of reference group acceptance is met, yet Matthews’s goal of a tough and painful experience is not. These meanings that have been decoded from the marketplace myth on a macro level

136 suggest that Tough Mudder is selling a myth of masculinity (stories of pain, toughness and challenge), yet delivers a feminine reality (experiences of ease, softness, teamwork and unity).

Mudders have an opportunity to “unlock a true sense of accomplishment, have a great time, and discover camaraderie with fellow participants that’s experienced all too rarely these days” (Livingstone, 2014, p. 1). The interview extract below describes the marketability of a team experience:

I think a lot more people are happy to pay for it. When you go into something that’s intimidating about it being a race, it takes a lot of the fun of it, and it makes people agitated and cranky, and unhelpful. And also having the idea of it being military style, the armed forces helped design it, you know armed forces isn’t a race, it’s a team effort. I think that’s what sets it apart and makes it more accessible for people (Laura, F, 25, TV Producer, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

Laura discusses the intimidation inherent in competition. Under the premise of a winner-takes-all scheme, competition enhances performance among males but not among females (Gneezy & Rustichini, 2004). Hence, the greater access afforded from a team event is not for people in general, it is for women. Further, research has shown that women’s performance increases if they’re in homogenous groups, in comparison to the competitive environment (Gneezy & Rustichini, 2004). Tough Mudder has therefore sold Laura an imaginary space free of competition, a place for her to resist and transgress a male world. The event is a site that temporarily disrupts her taken- for-granted notions of a masculine ordered reality. Rather than generating escapist fantasies that maintain social order, Mudders challenge the ruling norms, making the events important sites of difference and rebellion.

In a similar rhetorical move, Eliot exemplifies how the gap between expectation and reality was filled with camaraderie and team bonding. In his eyes camaraderie and community have become repackaged and commercialized under the dynamic relationship between toughness and masochism. Tough Mudder is not a race, but a team challenge, completed in a group because many of the obstacles are impossible without teamwork. The challenge is simply getting through the course rather than winning or getting a fast time. Tough Mudder has constructed a temporary cohesiveness around the teams which appears to be in high demand:

137 It’s a big contrast between the lack of teamwork in real life and ample teamwork in Tough Mudder. People pay money to do a lot things basically (laughs), I know a lot of people, no one would let go of that amount of money. If someone said we could serve you physical exercise, an emotional aspect and said alright “pay me $150”, no ones going to take that up. They must do it for a selfish reason, but it turns out there’s a lot more to it than that, there’s a real sense of we’re all in the mess, we need to get to the end, help (Eliot, M, 29, Senior Fire Engineer, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

In contrast, although Tough Mudder is one of the fastest growing companies in the world, Kate describes it as hippy. She believes that the marketplace myth fulfills a cohesive and enlivening function necessary for contemporary society:

I think people are always looking for something different to increase the value of our lives, and I don’t know if it’s just this generation, but I think in previous generations they look for different things like the hippy culture. It’s like we always need something to remind us that we’re alive (Kate, F, 32, Social Media Strategist, Tough Mudder, April 2013).

Kate’s use of the word hippy is indicative of the 60s, a time where opportunities and failures were tightly intertwined and defined by objective constraints and openings. From white-run corporate structure and resistance against restrictive educational systems, to feminism and Lennon’s revolutionary spirit, there was hope and fear on a violent assault on the established order which linked rich and poor, old and young, socialist and conservative (Jameson, 1984). In a similar vein Tough Mudder blends people together to face fears and violence and to take opportunities to resist the West’s natural consumerist order (e.g. civilized, healthy, hedonistic and conforming). Kate uses the positive traits of the ‘60s to make sense of her experience. The transgression between the power struggle of war and aggression into peace and unity can be linked to masculine myths blending into feminine myths. These occurred in the 60s and are now repeated in Tough Mudder. However, a central point of difference is that the ‘60s resisted white-run corporate culture. Whereas adventure racing is white- run corporate enterprise, which partners other white-run corporate organizations.

The community impact derived from the feminized myth has a high economic value. These two extracts show the Tough Mudder Operations Department taking great pride in the event’s delivery. Discourses of hedonism are more prominent than those of masochism, and discourses of violence are reduced:

We bring not only income generation to the community, but we bring a great vibe, a great atmosphere (Lucas Barclay, Vice President of Operations, 2013).

138 We’ve never had any Driving Under the Influence at our event, we’ve never had any issues of discord, certainly never had any issues of violence. This is an event for clean living people (Will Dean, Chief Executive Officer, 2013).

For communities Tough Mudder symbolizes romantic ideals of brotherhood, triumph and challenge. Although the event is bound temporally and spatially, the borders of time and place are crossed in the activities and interactions of the visitors, vendors and event personnel. For example, in Berkeley, as a gesture of welcome, business and restaurants hung 2,000 orange and black flyers in honor of Tough Mudder, sayings included: “Welcome to Mudder Country” and “Whiners Go Home.” The flyers are hung in the hope to entice participants to local retailers (Cronk, 2013). Tough Mudder also paid the Berkeley County Development Authority $10,000 for the two day lease of the Tabler Station Business Park for event parking. With the influx of tourists expected to attend the event, Laura Gassler, Executive Director for the Martinsburg-Berkeley County Convention and Visitors Bureau, predicts the whole region will financially benefit from the competition. Gassler states that CVB’s tax from hotel occupancy for April increased by several thousand dollars due to the number of Tough Mudder participants who stayed in Berkeley County (Cronk, 2013). The successful collective orchestration of a Tough Mudder event is a dramatic representation of the profits available from selling masculine discourses and delivering feminized experiences.

When talking about lived experiences, we are not only interested in the individual’s response, but also how the visceral reality is shared across various platforms. From a promotional standpoint we observe how social media is used to communicate and control a masculine myth before and during the event (Figure 6). The myth later dissipates into a feminine myth during and after the event (Figure 7). The Official Tough Mudder Website, Facebook and Instagram are some of the central social media platforms in which these myths are disbursed.

139 FIGURE 6 Masculine Images: Facebook and Instagram

The social media images above are further illustrations of how Tough Mudder is controlling and aligning its narrative with masculine myths before and during the event. In the first image, male strength and toughness is used to sell the event. This is apparent in the flexing of muscles used to entice potential Mudders to sign up for Tough Mudder Melbourne 2015. The second image shows the masculine story being reinforced by the Solo Man wash at the event (note: there is no Solo Women wash). This shows a deliberate attempt by Tough Mudder to bring masculinity to the foreground, and keep femininity in the background (for example, one narrative used at the Man Wash is “release your inner man”. The final image suggests puppies and the Tough Mudder headband (signalling completion) attract women. Referring to women as “chicks” is a slang term typically used by men usually in the absence of women as it can be regarded as derogatory. The masculine language used by Tough Mudder, and their brand partners, serves to strengthen the male voice and ideology.

However, during, and particularly after the event, the feminine narrative becomes visible as Figure 7 illustrates.

140 FIGURE 7 Feminine Images: Facebook and Instagram

The image of a helping hand is a vital part of the Tough Mudder social Media landscape. But such images are not used to the same degree as the images of toughness. Sponsorship by Wheaties on Facebook shows up the co-operation and teamwork aspects and this becomes particularly salient to Mudders during and after the event. Also post-event we find soft narratives emerge as in the twin girls. Feminine messages of love, softness, vulnerability, family, happiness and sweetness are communicated here on the Tough Mudder Facebook Group. Following an event, the Tough Mudder website states how Mudders report 82 percent higher levels of satisfaction when they have helped others complete an obstacle, rather than tackling it individually. The most popular Tough Mudder obstacles, such as Everest, Pyramid Scheme, and Berlin Walls are also the most team-oriented. The final image of a team working to achieve a mutual goal demonstrates this is more satisfying than an individual accomplishment.

Tough Mudders Andy and John observe the granular contradictions between running a premier obstacle course which hinges around receiving a 10,000 volt shock and the health and safety regulations inherent with compliance and growth. They discuss the potential restricting procedures that come with commercial success:

With the electricity thing, it’s only a matter of time before that gets chopped. You know, someone’s going to get ill when they go through it, and there will be litigation about it, and they will close it down. I think people perceive it to be safer the more commercial it gets (Andy, M, 27, Doctor, Tough Mudder, April 2013).

141 Quite frankly, I’m surprised the electric shock is allowed to continue to stay in there. I’m surprised they allowed it in America, in the land that seems to sue every man and his dog for barking in the wrong spot. I’m blown away. And yet 1,000s upon 1,000s sign up to do it (John, M, 35, Tough Mudder Personal Trainer, April 2013).

As Tough Mudder becomes more visible, more people will decode the narrative and it will become more difficult to prove toughness through masochistic myths. The difficulty and pain would have receded in order to comply with health and safety regulations. This has become apparent to us whilst attending three events over a two- year period. Over time, we observed how paramedics were more visible, obstacle jumps were smaller, the course was less complex and the norm for Mudders to walk the course increased. This lays a foundation for a new event to perpetuate the toughness myth. Yet, commercial growth in masochistic marketplace myths is still facilitated and constrained by legal compliance and safety restrictions.

Reflecting on masochism in offshore yacht racing

We find that offshore yacht racing supports the masculine myth to deploy an experience, which is otherwise laden with feminine subtext. As the ocean is free from editorial sanctioning, organizers of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race wishing to create a co-producing experience must become comfortable with the uncontrollable nature of the race. From a commercial standpoint, important trade-offs must be considered between company liability and the potential profit from encouraging consumer participation. Russell’s vignette shows how following the 1998 Hobart, the value of safety supersedes the value of toughness, tactics, danger and risk:

The safety procedures have evolved over the years, driven by the tragic events like the 98 Hobart where 6 people died. A lot of findings and conclusions from the inquest from the 98 Hobart and some very common sense decisions where made to improve safety. So prior to 98, it was a tactical right of every boat to keep weather information secret. Now, if there’s any significant weather on the course, i.e. strong winds and above, it’s now a duty to convey the information to other boats, and to the race committee boat so the information can be disseminated among the other boats (Russell, M, 50, Operations Director of Flying Fish Australia).

It is argued that sailing has been used as a site for demonstrating masculinity among the upper and middle classes (Crawley, 1998). Men have appropriated sailing as masculine, and its equipment has been developed to emphasize attributes of the male body; technological expertise, aggression and physical prowess are essential. However, the 1998 Hobart is an example of the crisis of masculinity in competition.

142 The creators of a product marketed to a particular audience have consequently had to readjust the marketplace myth. Following, the 1998 Hobart, known as the greatest single disaster in Australian maritime history, yacht racing has become significantly more regulated. Below, Russell illuminates the mitigation surrounding the event:

Following the 98 catastrophe, 50 per cent of the crew of every boat have to have the equivalent experience of a Sydney to Hobart passage, i.e. 600 nautical miles of continuous sailing in maybe open ocean, or significant offshore waters. Fifty per cent of the crew has to have done a specific sea survival course: The Internal Yacht Racing Federation Sea Survival Course, geared to yacht racing. Two of the crew has to have First Aid certificates, two of the crew have to have a radio license. The boat itself is required to complete a 24 hour passage, preferably with the crew that are actually going to sail it in the race, prior to the race, to confirm that it’s seaworthy. We use that 24 hour passage as a means to prepare the crew for the actual race itself. The boat has to meet strict conditions in terms of the safety equipment carried, it’s subject to a spot-check to make sure it’s carrying that equipment. All boats have to present themselves to the race committee vessel with their storm sails up to show storm sails are present on the boat and fully functional (Russell, M, 50, Operations Director of Flying Fish Australia).

We can observe a clear evolution of a male sport combining skill, force and masculine behavior (e.g. yelling and risk taking), to a sport based on feminized behavior (e.g. safety and communication). Although science and money continue to affirm the social order of sailing, the Sydney to Hobart Race is a pioneering case study of how toughness and masochism, when orchestrated by nature, causes a reexamination of masculine virtues.

Earlier we discussed how sailing is perceived as a male middle-class sport fraught with grief, symbolic violence and discomfort. Interlaced within this medley, John explains the intrinsic sharing and unity that takes place on board:

Sometimes they get better, and sometimes they get worse. I think generally speaking, the drift of cohesion for that group of people and how they operate together is upward on most sailing experiences. I think that’s because all the fundamentals for what would create the upward drift and cohesion are all there…Sometimes, there’s a personality clash, you get situations where two people, or a few people find a point of difference with each other. The intimate proximity you share with people on a yacht means that those differences are confounded, people are kept too close to those differences, and then you can really see some dysfunction. And, it’s sad when that happens, and usually there’s not much dealing with that. If you’ve got 5-10 days together the reasons people would take exception to one another is so engrained in the personalities you’re not going to solve it (John, M, 32, Freelance Sailor, 2012).

The upward drift that John refers to can be conceptualized as communitas: an unstructured and undifferentiated communion or community of equal individuals (Turner, 1973). The process of communitas is leveling, or stripping, which liberates instinctual energies (Turner, 2002). This is particularly apparent in extreme contexts

143 such as a yacht race. The feminine discourse of community helps sailors to survive the experience.

David explains the uniqueness of communities at sea, and the market value it adds to the race:

The worst environments, or the bigger the drama, the more you pull together as a team. You don’t have time to think about what you’re going to do - you just deal with it. So when the weather’s nice and everything’s going really well you’re just sitting back and enjoying it, and as soon as something really bad happens that’s what pulls you together, and that becomes your really strong memory afterwards. So after the race, when people ask, “what’s your highlight?” It’s always the worst bit because it’s a really intense memory, and it’s weird you don’t have time to be scared (David, M, 48, Recruitment Manger for Clipper Ventures, 2012).

Here we see the embodied impressions of sea survival which cannot be expressed in words. The teamwork in times of strife is what makes the experience memorable. Hence, it is the collective, rather than the individual toughness, which gives meaning to the myth. This further reveals the importance of the body to interpret marketplace myths.

Much like Tough Mudder, the communal aspect of sailing was one of the most rewarding aspects of the experience:

If you’re out there for three days, quite a good bond is created… it’s good to watch. It’s good to see people looking after each other. One guy will go down and say, “do you want a jacket?” (Craig, M, 42, Sales and Marketing Manager for Electra Lift, 2012).

In Australian culture, a man may be ridiculed if he were to offer to bring another man his jacket. Nevertheless, the extremity of the yacht race brings a heroic and a paternal instinct to the fore among the male crew members. Psychologists indicate that when a husband and wife relationship is close, paternal care heightens. This logic is visible within the crew relationships. Paternal care giving is a surprising output from a masochistic encounter with nature. To summarize, our analysis of the two contexts suggests that the risky, tough and dangerous masculine discourses are morphing into softer and safer feminine discourses once the sport has been experienced.

144 3.6 General Discussion The ethnographic account presents a variety of consumer behaviors drawn primarily from our participant observations and interviews: spectating, participating and volunteering in adventure racing and yacht racing. Being immersed in the vast amount of commercial information available revealed distinctive insights into the co-created nature of emergent marketplace myths. Myths of toughness and challenge have always been around, yet over the past few decades the number of these experiential avenues has grown and diversified (Andrade & Cohen, 2007; Belk & Costa, 1998; Snowdon, 2012). The ballooning number of masochistic activities supports the theory that outdoor adventure is becoming another form of recreational capitalism (Loynes, 1996). We have paid attention to how difficult and unpleasant experiences have become appropriated to create marketplace myths of toughness. This article’s substantitive contributions are threefold. Myth one provides a platform for writing about the orchestration of marketplace myths. In other words co-operation between commercial entities and consumers to generate a myth around the notion of masochism proving toughness. Myth two is a platform for writing about, and decoding marketplace myths. Myth three is a platform for reflecting on marketplace myths. In developing these inductive insights we have gone beyond prior literature on mythmaking and experiential consumption, to form linkages conducive to the co- created commercialization of toughness:

Contributions: The Marketplace Myth of Toughness Myth Masochism proves toughness: orchestrating masochism as a different filter to One previous work on masochism. Myth Masochism as a lived experience: Decoding masochism, specifically, Two consumer’s inability to read an advert that promises pain reinvigorates prior research on consumer savviness. Myth Selling masculine masochism and delivering feminine experience: reflecting Three on masochism.

Myths have been used to assist commercial objectives. When companies author credible myths it can enhance brands (Holt et al., 2004). This is a widely used practice in the branding area, where marketing creatives make full use of branding myths (Holt, 2004). We have adapted this branding literature and applied it to the experiential consumption context. Our contexts show consistency between myth and experience, which serves to strengthen the brands, and is perpetuated by producers,

145 consumers and the media. What also becomes apparent is the dynamic that reflects the broader socioeconomic environment in which marketplace myths are created. One of the factors, which underlies the co-created dynamic between producer and consumer, are the contradictions that emerge. A tension develops which can potentially turn into a collision course for the myth makers. For example, the BP “Beyond Petroleum” advertising campaign promised a future of clean fuel. BP quickly diverged from this myth following the oil spill, the myth and actions of BT was heading in one direction, and green society was headed in another.

The first theme to emerge from our study is the complex and contradictory amalgam of cultural meaning and values imbedded in the relationship between masochism and toughness. Successful marketplace myths employ not just any myth, but stories that attempt to resolve tensions people feel between their lives and societies dominant ideology (Holt, 2003). Myths of toughness rely on an intimate and credible connection with a rebel world. We found that in Western societies there is an emerging market of young, physically active, middle class professions that relate to toughness. In turn, masochistic practices such as physical pain and discomfort are effective ways to demonstrate this and myths of toughness become valuable sales tools. Tough Mudder is managing this at a micro level, but at the same time, disowning responsibility through the death waiver. Following safety checks, yacht- racing organizations are also freed from responsibility due to acts of nature at sea. Normally we would expect physical and mental toughness to be important in societies that require it. However, we have found there is money to be made out of selling hardship to advantaged Western consumers. Masochism myths promise self- expression, rewarding communal affiliations and freedom from institutional constraints (Arsel & Thompson, 2011).

Using masochism to prove toughness raises questions of how has the experience economy become able to make a profit from selling toughness? Through technology erasing physical hardship from our lives (Rosen, 2007), disembodied lifestyles, and a saturation of pleasurable experiences, the market strips consumers of their senses, and their embodied reality. As advanced industrial societies are orchestrated around minimizing dangers, traditional risky adventures have largely disappeared from daily

146 life. Psychologists have stated that the more safe life becomes, the more people take on risks (Roberts, 1994). Risk takers are forced to find new ways of channeling the impulse that once would have made them the perfect individuals to try an untested food, or explore a new valley. Such a theory explains the enthusiastic transition toward adventure and thrill sports. In a rich and safety obsessed country like America, land of seatbelts, guardrails and personal injury-lawyers, everyday life may have become too safe, predictable and boring for those programmed for risk taking (Roberts, 1994). In an unsettling paradox, Western cultures’ emphasis on certainty and security, two defining elements of a “civilized” society, are not only fostering the adventurous marketplace myth, but may spawn riskier myths in the future. Put another way, Somalis don’t climb mountains because risk, difficulty and unpleasantness are inherent in famine-struck, war-torn Somalia (Rosen, 2007). Thus there is no need to go searching for these, and there are certainly no opportunities to commercialize such behavior.

The marketing of toughness in the Western world experience economy in many ways seems inevitable. This is particularly evident along the dimensions of physical toughness, challenge and pain that enable people to make sense of their experiences of ease, comfort and pleasure. For the rebel subculture (Holt, 2003) that value embodied fear, risk and challenge, and consider it to be a scarcity, they buy into a myth which sells embodied toughness back to them. At this juncture, a myth of toughness provides a powerful sense of structure. Yacht and adventure racing are excellent examples of cultural leaders at this formative stage of the toughness marketplace myth. When a myth promises toughness with authentic and charismatic conviction, and delivers or exceeds the promise, this fosters an intimate and credible relationship with a rebel world (Holt, 2003).

To this end, our contexts are contemporary experiential versions of the Mountain Dew product brand myth. Both convey virile stories of people that live to play dangerously, instead of sweating it out in the office. Physical toughness is asserted against the emasculation of corporate work. Subsequently, iconic power is retained by fitting the new ideological reality. The cultural contradiction between ease and toughness gains traction within the rebel subculture, fostering an emerging ideology of toughness in a soft society (Figure 8). For example, one Tough Mudder participant felt that she

147 embodied a warrior during the event. Dominant in both national and territorial administration, warriors rose to unsettle the political balance, especially between governing institutions. Mudders may not be uprising against the same institutions, yet they embody a strong resistant force against the structures in their life’s, such as a demanding work schedule and social constraints. Tough Mudder possesses political authority to Mudders tensions of institutional comfort, control and routine.

FIGURE 8 The Marketplace Myth Management Process (Holt, 2004)

Figure 8 shows the marketplace myth management process. There is a loop-back through a network of meanings that leads to a reevaluation following the embodiment of the insider and follower brief. All myth journeys go through cycles, the cycles, or repositioning, are to revitalize, capitalize and build stronger myths with audiences. As the myth maker, experiential organizations are confronted with the problem of what to do when a consumer no longer embraces the toughness myth, or displays inconsistency in their buy-in. Therefore, the challenge for marketers is how to recraft a marketplace myth when a cultural breakdown occurs. Managers must be able to anticipate new cultural tensions and choose one which best aligns with the experience providers political authority (Holt, 2003). Additionally, the alignment must

148 correspond to a particular rebel subculture, and deeply understand the rebel culture enough to create a credible and evocative myth. For example, in the future, the authors of the marketplace myth of toughness may need to look sideways at second or third world cultures, and explore whether affluent Indian or Chinese consumers would resonate with a myth of toughness in their experiences.

Pitting oneself against society’s protective rules may be the only way to delineate where the individual begins, and society ends (Farley, 1986). The marketplace myth of toughness is conducive to wider marketplace myth of rebellion. The logic of this myth can be explained by Slotkin’s (1992) analysis of The American Frontier Myth. Slotkin traces the myth back to the Puritan notions of the hero and blood myths - the concept of regeneration through violence. Similarly, a present day blood myth is regeneration through difficult and unpleasant experiences – masochistic consumption. Our data supports prior work which found that people search out creative self- expression in the guise of frightening and challenging physical tests (Rosen, 2007). Our participants yearn for freedom of choice, for situations where outcomes hinge on their physical volitional control. Resources in masochistic experiences are intentionally limited to decrease the possibility of success, and ensure that the uncertainty of these outcomes is maximized. In short, those who experience a surplus of certainty in their lives (i.e. those who are alienated) will seek uncertainty in play (Rosen, 2007). This is evidenced by billionaires choosing to embark on the Kokoda Trek, or less extreme, fly by helicopter to participate in Tough Mudder (Kelly, 2012).

Studies have explored the overrepresentation of management-level corporate participants in adventure racing (Kay & Laberge, 2002). The results showed that people who live and breathe full-on, need something like the Eco Challenge expedition race to tear them away from their jobs and tame them (Kay & Laberge, 2002). In this study, experiential organizations have yoked together masochism and toughness. Inviting masochism in to prove toughness is unique, and it is a different lens to previous work on masochism. We suggest that organizations should remain vigilant to the ebbs and flows of marketplace myths beyond outdoor adventure contexts as consumers propensity to align their values, and their wallets, to experiences that offer embodied strength, achievement and camaraderie reaches far beyond the confines of this study. Considering the myth makers in this study have

149 commercialized a cultural contradiction, organizations that traditionally offer pleasure, such as a day spa, could adopt more painful offerings such as hitting (massaging) customers with bunches of dry branches as conducted in Russian bathing rituals. This approach has worked for companies like MacDonalds that have repositioned their myth to stay relevant to changing social interests surrounding health and diet. However, organizations must be mindful that the core value of toughness is fragile, particularly as market growth in this area continues.

Our second contribution is how people do not know how to read an ad that sells pain. Consumers view the marketing materials, yet they are unsure how to interpret the story. Is the Tough Mudder death waiver hype or warning? For many, the myth is interpreted as cautionary. In other words the organization owes the consumer a duty of care to inform them how painful, risky and frightening the activity is, and it is for consumers to weigh that up. In comparison, people know how to read an ad for milk that promises high calcium, yet they do not know how to read masochistic myths because it is new to their repertoire. Consumers can speak to previous participants, yet they only have half the story, as every ‘body’ interfaces with masochism and toughness differently as the experience is co-created. For example, seasickness may not affect the helmsman, yet he may be the only crewmember that is unable to manage sleep deprivation. A Mudder may be the only member of their team to pass out during electrocution, nonetheless he may also be the only person who can remain calm under ice water.

Savvy consumers are empowered by their self-efficacy in established markets, (Macdonald & Uncles, 2007), yet our research shows that during pre-event marketing, a lack of experience excites and attracts the consumer. People decode mythic archetypes in various ways. This thrill from the unknown is valuable in the experiential marketplace. Savviness is one tool that consumers can deploy to interpret advertising. Up to six characteristics of the online SAAVY consumer have been identified, including interpersonal network competency and expectations of self- efficacy (Macdonald & Uncles, 2007). This work is founded on the basis that savviness is good for the consumer and functions in their best interest. However, we find evidence that consumer inexperience is part of the titillation of selling myths of

150 toughness to disembodied thrill seekers. From an organizational perspective, this presents vast sensory scope for designing, selling and implementing experiences.

One area for expansion is branding. Brands use mythology to become icons. Brands such as Dove, Volkswagen and Corona, are formed when their authors (culture industries, customers and intermediaries) paint stories (Holt, 2004). The influence of these authors varies greatly depending on the product. In the case of offshore yacht racing and adventure racing, organizations and commercial stakeholders exert a strong influence over the tough product, but this makes the experience perplexing for customers to interpret. The stories have enigmatic plot lines, characters and scripts that rely on metaphor to convey and enliven people’s imagination. Brands such as Clipper and Tough Mudder become iconic when they create identity myths: fictions that address cultural anxieties from imaginary worlds – rather than from the world in which the consumer lives. Former Starbucks executive Scott Bedbury argues for a more experiential slant on branding (Holt, 2004). Our research contributes to Holt’s work by unpacking the role of cryptic masochistic myths with a focus on how and why they resonate with Western society.

Third, we find that people derive satisfaction and thrill from being sold a masculine myth narrative, yet when a feminine narrative is delivered, people gain extraordinary meaning and growth from the experience. A contradiction arises. Yacht and adventure racing triumph by enticing people with a masochistic myth: tough, fear, challenge, pain and risk. Yet, they provide participants with a sense of shared achievement, camaraderie and joy. Success is derived from the rebel subculture’s favorable and inherent dispositions towards the meaning of mental and physical strength, challenge, risk, endurance, innovation and bragging rights. These meanings have been encoded onto the brands heroic myth. Hence, a marketplace myth is being born out of the contradiction between pain and pleasure, and masculine and feminine ideology.

This insight has developed the construct of marketplace mythology by showing how cultural myths are leveraged to create distinctive mythologies that serve diverse and often competing marketplace interests. This is exemplified in the organizational

151 tension between selling pain balanced with toughness within the confounds of health and safety legislation. Multiple ideological agendas have important implications for theorizing consumer emancipation. Metaphorically speaking, the masochistic masculine myth is the shiny wrapping paper that attracts the rebel subculture. Yet when potential customers unwrap the package and participate in the event, they find that the feminine subtext delivers camaraderie, unity and the collective overcoming of fears. This is evident from a variety of sources, from the promotional narratives of sponsors, to vendor’s observations and the visceral narrative shared across media platforms. The collective dimension reveals how the brand community influences the myth – from masculine to feminine. Value is created as consumers endow cultural capital from insider sharing, excite future consumption opportunities and imbue brand community vitality (Schau et al., 2009). The feminine experience illustrates how collective value creation within brand communities inspires the future development of the myth. For example, adventure racing and yacht racing communities are supported by online platforms such as YouTube and Facebook which gives consumers the opportunity to maintain a community and document, milestone and evangelize their experience (Schau et al., 2009). From a commercial perspective, we observe how social media is used to communicate and control a largely masculine myth before and during the event. The myth later dissipates into a largely feminine myth during and after the event, once participants have decoded it. Many contradictions exist within this myth, such as how some consumers are happy to pay to be immersed in mud in the countryside, but in turn, expect the modern conveniences of living in the digital age, such as phone signal and ATMs. This situation presents a divergence between two paradigms. Adventure racing and yacht racing are just two examples of how prosperous organizations can be when they not only deliver on what was promised, but over deliver on the unknown. This creates a genuine slow-release thrill that lasts long before, and long after the experience, as social media has shown.

In sum, the future of the tough marketplace myth is strong. Disembodied consumers can now rebel against their cultural conflicts by engaging in tough, challenging and dangerous experiences that satisfy both their mental, and physical need for toughness. By targeting social contradictions experiential organizations can go after veins of anxieties and desires that run through a nation. Yacht and adventure racing successfully create charismatic stories of the world to make sense of restrictive and

152 disembodied societal regimes (Holt, 2003). They speak to the rebels who challenge the national ideology, and live by alternate ideals. The power of myths is shown by obstacle racing now being one of the world’s newest and our research shows fastest growing sports. Reebok has confirmed global partner rights with Spartan Race (obstacle race series) to develop a range of clothing to cater to the emerging sporting pursuit (Sena, 2013). Spartan Race has now joined Tough Mudder in a number of organized events, which began in February 2013. The racing series maintains a global ranking system, and held 60 events around the world in 2013 (Sena, 2013). Further, Tough Mudder signed a two-year deal with the athletic-apparel brand Under Armour for a reported $2 million, to $3 million (Keneally, 2012a). In yacht racing, people will pay approximately £30,000 to spend a year of their lives on a grueling around-the- world yacht race (Knox-Johnston, 2012). Clipper Ventures, have found surprising numbers of people will pay good money to be on deck every four hours while struggling through mountainous seas or nerve-shredding calms. The Telstra Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race is an example of corporate sponsorship on the rise, and like real estate, the return on the race continues to be rewarding (Salisbury, 2013).

Many questions remain. Further research is required to study the contours of the emergent forms of masochistic myth making, such as live kidnappings and burials offered by Experience the Experience. We must go further in developing our understandings of consumer behavior to include the physical potential of consumption, and to what extent marketing activity can naturalize masochistic behavior. In order to allow for direct comparisons between contexts with different dimensions of masochism, we developed cases for two experiences: adventure racing and offshore yacht racing. These myth-makers have delved into the consumer’s conflicted psyches and have managed to turn electrocution and natural misfortunes into multi-million dollar businesses.

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Chapter 4

Five Senses, Four Earth Elements: One Typology for Investigating Multisensory Experiences

4.1 Abstract1

Purpose – In today’s experience economy there is tremendous interest in multisensory experiences. Nature is proving to be an ideal stage for such encounters. Sensory stimulation is a key part of experiential consumption. However, there are lingering questions regarding how consumer researchers can understand the holistic sensation of experiencing the natural earth elements.

Research Design – Ethnographic investigation is undertaken of yacht racing and adventure racing to provide dramatic assemblages of sensory experiences in nature. The raw centrality of the earth elements in these contexts combines different types of sensory data to develop experiential understanding. The contexts provide a rich and diverse tableau that gives explanatory power to other modes of sensory knowing.

Findings – This chapter engages with the corporeal realm to help consumer researchers uncover the fine-grained details of human experience in nature. The study advances our comprehension of how man’s sensory body interfaces with the natural earth elements.

Research Implications – The work helps researchers to see and think about how to order multisensory realities, to construct meaning by providing a unique mode of sense-making and sense-giving. It is challenging to obtain sensory information holistically. Sensory orders are not fixed, like cultures they change and develop over time.

Practical Implications – The typology presented here identifies how embodied experiences change according to the privileging and suppression of sensory stimulants. The natural elements are conducive to the notion that breaking a sensory network into its component parts for the sake of analysis is to misunderstand the nature of experience. A holistic approach helps consumer researchers to understand the relations between the senses, including the contradictions and dilemmas, and how this shapes embodied knowledge.

Originality/Value – Provided first is a conceptual typology that integrates the five senses (sight, sound, smell, touch and taste) with the four earth elements (earth, air, fire and water). The aim is to reduce the ambiguity of comprehending multisensory

1 This paper is written in the style of a sociocultural consumer research journal, broadly following the conventions of Consumption, Markets and Culture.

158 experiential research. Second, by looking at consumers whose goals are to become embodied and re-imagine their bodies, it is possible to complement prior work that has focused on the practices of consumers who are assaulting their senses in nature.

Keywords – experiential consumption, holistic, the senses, multisensory, embodiment, the body, nature, natural earth elements.

4.2 Introduction People are consumers of experiences. Typically these experiences are seen as fun, amusing, and arousing; they also may be thrilling, scary and painful. Consumers in the developed world may purposefully collect unique and memorable experiences to build their Experiential CVs (Keinan & Kivetz, 2011). Promoters of activities, events and destinations may deliberately appeal to these consumers by highlighting aspects of their offer that will arouse and thrill (Joy & Sherry, 2003). This ‘experience economy’ is booming – it is evident in the popularity of everything from amusement parks, tourist destinations and mountaineering, to yacht and adventure racing. Multisensory experiences in particular, are seeing rapid growth in today's experience economy.

Experiences are the new luxury good (Widdicombe, 2014). They provide physical stimuli that give rise to a combination of physiological responses and perceptions, which collectively make the person aware of the experience. Exposure to earth, fire, water and air, for instance, stimulates seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, temperature, self-movement, touching and more. This is central to consumption experiences (Joy and Sherry, 2003; Bromiley and Curley 1992). During this process, embodiment occurs to shape the experiences and reasoning of individual consumers (Joy & Sherry, 2003). This leads to the interfacing of the senses with the earth elements in a co- created multi-sensory experience.

Experiential researchers are increasingly theorizing nature as an ideal stage for memorable and unique sensory experiences (Canniford & Shankar, 2013). Yet consumer researchers do not currently have a theoretical framework for understanding how the body – and in particular the five senses – holistically interface with the natural world. No one has yet offered a comprehensive corporeal view of the experiential fusion of man and nature. Beginning with this relationship, an integrative typology is constructed to help explain and explore the form and dynamic of this

159 multi-sensory interface. For example, writers on material culture have elucidated the importance of cultural landscapes and human artifacts as sources of meaning, but the natural elements have received little attention (Strang, 2005).

The present chapter provides a typology to understanding how the natural earth elements are sensed in experiential consumption. The intent of the exercise is to develop a conceptual foundation from which consumer researchers can better understand the role of nature in experiential consumption. It is shown how the sensory utility in the natural earth elements holistically enlivens lived experiences.

Specific goals are to: (1) Develop a substantive typology using the four earth elements and the five senses as a unique tool for decomposing, conceptualizing and deconstructing multisensory consumer experiences. By interlacing the senses with the earth elements it is possible to pull together embodied knowledge that would ordinarily be missed in an isolated treatment. (2) The embodied nature of consumer experience has largely remained in the background of consumer culture theorizing and wider Western culture. Therefore, medical anthropology is applied to develop the corporeal dimension of consumption activities that shape consumer culture. In everyday life, our experience is characterized by a disappearance of the body from awareness; the body not only projects out in an experience, but also falls inwards to hard-to-experience depths (Merleau-Ponty 1953). Therefore, using the bodily humors to unite the senses with the earth elements helps the body to resurface as a site for experiential discourse, and aids consumer researchers by providing a new way of seeing and thinking about experiences in nature.

The experiential aspect of Consumer Culture Theory research has significantly developed our understanding of the corporeal aspects of consumption, yet more can be done. A select set of articles has addressed issues regarding the co-creation of sensory experience through the interface of man (senses) and nature (earth elements). This has been addressed through the lens of surfing (Canniford & Shankar, 2013), skydiving (Celsi et al., 1993), climbing Mount Everest (Tumbat & Belk, 2011),

160 fishing (Valtonen et al., 2010) and white water rafting (Arnould & Price, 1993). These studies provide a foundation to explore unconventional visceral experiences, yet the interrelatedness, interdependency and interactions between man’s senses, and the natural elements remain unexplored. The interface between man and nature needs a better frame for understanding and deconstructing sensory encounters.

Nature is a novel marketplace for economic exchange in the experience economy. It offers deep human ecology by taking a central role in the interacting elements (Grint & Woolgar, 1992). We believe the earth elements provide an organizing framework in which to draw meaning from holistic sensory experiences in nature. Earth elements, like the senses, are complex and changing, materially heterogeneous and collectively made up of both humans and non-humans (Vinnari, 2013). The elements enliven sensory forms of beauty in nature (Charters, 2006) and have been conceptualized as experientially sacred, sublime, wild, breathtaking and boundless (Bond et al., 1965). Earth elements are conducive to the notion that breaking a network, such as the senses, into its component parts for the sake of analysis is to misunderstand the nature of experience as a holistic process (Grint & Woolgar, 1992).

This study’s contributions are two-fold. First, the study extends prior work that has identified some enablers of, and barriers to, sensory experiences in nature. Canniford and Shankar (2013) identified that during surfing, a multisensory relationship is formed between man and nature, building pleasurable connections between body and material geography. This bond fuels knowledge and serves to facilitate a desire to experience nature. This work is complemented by providing a granular typology that integrates the five senses with the four earth elements. The same typology allows meanings, interpretations and embodied idiosyncrasies to be captured across multiple dimensions concurrently. The consumer’s ability to appropriate their bodies through consumption practices reveals how the earth elements fuel their mobilization in a growing sphere of the experience economy.

Second by investigating consumers whose goals are to become embodied or even to re-imagine their bodies, prior work that has focused on the practices of consumers who are assaulting their senses in nature is complemented (Arnould & Price, 1993;

161 Canniford & Shankar, 2013; Tumbat & Belk, 2011). Prior research that has explored sensory consumer experiences in nature has focused primarily on a practice-based approach (Valtonen et al., 2010) and how sublime nature creates a rich playground for heroic play (Arnould & Price, 1993; Belk & Costa, 1998).

Ideas on the senses, elements, contexts and embodiments will be discussed. The chapter is organized as follows. First, the theoretical background is presented by explaining the significance of the earth elements as an appropriate means to understand embodied sensations in nature. Prior literature, however, has primarily conceptualized the senses in isolation. A critical review of our decorporealized Western society concludes this section. Described next are the contexts, adventure and offshore yacht racing, and the ethnographic methods are explained. This is followed by findings which provide consumer researchers with a practical tool, the Distribution of Sensory Experience Typology. This allows us to depict and understand multisensory experiences in nature. In the conclusion, substantive implications for Consumer Culture Theory are presented.

4.3 Theoretical Background There is a tendency amongst consumer researchers to view nature and people as consisting of complete sets of ‘parts’ and ‘wholes’. This has led to two alternative forms of philosophical and scientific enquiry into human nature: ‘one’ or ‘many’ (Rayner, 2010). What has come to be called ‘reductionism’ seeks to differentiate ‘one’ into ‘many’ elementary constituent parts, based on the supposition that once the latter are fully understood as independent ‘building blocks’, they can be re-assembled into a complete picture. This is where the literature on the senses is currently situated.

The Discrete Senses The traditional five senses have been dealt with as discrete entities not only in marketing, but also in the disciplines of medicine and psychology. Discrete studies offer parsimony: they are pragmatic solutions when faced with complex realities. This has led to the development and widespread use of measurement techniques. For example, the physiological testing of heart rate (Wasserman et al., 1999), blood pressure (Parati et al., 1989), thermal imagery (Uematsu et al., 1988), and eye- tracking (Duchowski, 2007) provide precise insights into specific physiologies and

162 senses. The separation of the mind from the body, also known as Cartesian dualism, has been of great advantage to the clinical and natural sciences (Scheper-Hughes & Lock, 1987). However, the Cartesian legacy has tended to create a mechanistic conception of the body and its functions. This has led to a struggle for an integrated perspective. For example, we lack a vocabulary with which to deal with mind/body interactions. We are suspended in disconnections of thought.

Prior marketing research has identified how touch influences people’s attitudes, behavior (Peck & Childers, 2003) and processing (Yazdanparast & Spears, 2012), as well as different strategies to market, or de-market, services (Mowen et al., 2009). Marketing studies have also considered how taste is analyzed (Trijp & Schifferstein, 1995) and how people match a positive evaluation of taste to an outcome (Troye & Supphellen, 2012). With the exception of Krishna’s (2006; 2009) progressive work in sensory marketing, traditional marketing scholarship generally considers the senses in isolation. This is clearly useful in understanding independent sensory phenomena, yet does not help us look at the senses beyond the singular dimension. A holistic approach would help marketers to understand the relations between the senses and how this shapes embodied knowledge and experience in our wider culture.

A similar pattern is observed in the consumer research literature. The senses have been studied in isolation in a number of studies, from how music affects consumers brand preference (Argo et al., 2010; Lowrey & Shrum, 2007) to how smell drives consumer choice (Lee & Schwarz, 2012; Milotic, 2003; Mitchell et al., 1995; Spangenberg et al., 1996). We are also starting to see studies on combinations of sensory cues, including smell, taste and sound (Biswas et al., 2014). However, few studies have considered the senses holistically (Joy & Sherry, 2003) and even fewer have explored multi-sensory experiences in nature (Canniford & Shankar, 2013; Valtonen et al., 2010). To take this work one step further, a conceptual typology is provided that integrates the human senses with nature using the earth elements to gain a more holistic perspective on bodily experiences in nature.

The Holistic Senses In contrast, the number of studies in consumer research that consider the activation of combinations of senses is extremely limited (Valtonen et al., 2010; Pink, 2009; Joy

163 and Sherry, 2003; Krishna, 2006). This is despite Joy and Sherry (2003) contending that the ultimate goal of experiential marketing is to provide encounters that integrate individual experiences into a holistic gestalt. Ingold (2000, p. 261) extracts Gibson’s (1994) understanding of the relationship between different modalities of sensory experience to note how perceptual systems not only overlap in terms of functionality, but also with regard to their role in the total system of bodily orientation. Therefore, the senses are not separate entities, but different facets of the same activity – the whole organism in its environment.

Conventional Western views of the five senses can offer useful analytical categories. However, these are not universal across all cultures and all peoples. For example, some blind people represent the colors they cannot see by means of sounds (Maurice, 1964). When scrutinizing the human body, it becomes apparent there are as many as 12 senses (Soesman & Cornelis, 1998). Presence may also be considered as a selection mechanism that organizes the stream of sensory data into a perception about the current environment (Slater et al., 2003). Research indicates that physiological measures indicating breaks in presence are worthy of study. Presence is also the study of what maintains an environmental gestalt – people scan-sense the world according to the present gestalt.

The natural sciences have also discussed the existence of a sixth sense (Overmire, 1961). From neuroscience, the sixth sense has been described as a faculty of perception that does not depend upon any outward sense. Instead it describes heightened sensitivity: akin to a gut feeling or psychic ability (Zagon, 2001). In addition the senses have been conceptualized as a collective communicative medium, yet they cannot be reduced to a language (Seremetakis, 1994). Anthroposophy has explored and translated the 12 senses into physical, soul and spiritual groups. This provides a rich tapestry with which to enrich human experience (Soesman & Cornelis, 1998).

Anthropology (Ingold, 2000; Nichter, 2008), sociology (Simmel et al., 1997) and philosophy (Maurice, 1964) have more commonly studied the senses as inter-related and inter-connected. Holistic thinking is emphasized in this chapter. Experiential consumption is understood as moving back and forth between its dynamic sensory

164 forces: dry, moist, flushed and chilled. Marketing, medicine and psychology offer rich sources of data-orientated views of the discrete senses, yet we need to look more to sensory anthropology to invoke the social and cultural meanings of human experience.

The Relationship Between the Body and the Natural Earth Elements Medical anthropologists (Nichter, 2008) have cited the four bodily humours (black bile, yellow bile, phlegm and blood) as being necessary for the maintenance of good health. Traditional Thai medicine matches the humors to each earth element (Ember & Ember, 2003; Gill, 2014): • Earth: black bile • Air: blood • Fire: yellow bile • Water: phlegm

In medical anthropology, the senses have been integrated with humoral reasoning as a way to understand the physiological, symbolic, intellectual, cosmological and emotional dimensions of Malaysians (Csordas, 1994). Reflective embodiment was a central technique used to do this. The Malayan logic fits neatly with the anthropologist approach of using the body and mind as tools for the investigation of cultures (Csordas, 1994).

The Malayan humors provide an organizing structure between the four elements, the cosmos, the body politic and the individual (Csordas, 1994, p. 184). The research here translates the integration of the earth elements and the senses to extrapolate consumers’ symbolic, intellectual, cultural and social selves. This allows us to understand the sensory experiences of consumers in nature. The elements are presented as physical stimuli of the senses. A new lens for markers to investigate bodily experiences in nature is provided. Embodiment, as the central concept employed within medical anthropology and sensory anthropology, is the focus (Bourdieu, 1977; Csordas, 1990; Maurice, 1964). This is an important research technique when gathering, understanding and writing up experiential research, particularly as most of our participants lead disembodied lifestyles.

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Decorporealised Society Western lifestyles typically force the individual out of the body and into the mind (Leder, 1990). Homes protect the consumer from corporeal engagement with the elements. Machines take over the work that our muscles once performed. Transport, communication and medical technology enable us to transcend the natural limits of the body, be this via airplanes, e-mails or carbon fiber prosthetics. In many ways modernity is rupturing people’s embodied experience (Frisby & Featherstone, 1899; Simmel et al., 1997). We live in a society that makes the body more absent and simultaneously more present. For instance, the internet plays an important role in the way multisensory experiences are portrayed in social media with the use of isolated body parts such as a scratched nose. Simmel claims there is an intensification of nervous stimulation as our senses are besieged by the information overload inherent in the modern world. He suggests metropolitan life constrains or enslaves the individual. Mental and physical exertion has been superseded by passivity. Simmel suggests a dumbing-down of the senses – hands are being stripped of their use. For instance, children are socialized not to touch with their hands and instead to ‘touch with their eyes’. For Elias (2000) the increasingly visual orientation towards the world instills the desire for more passive pleasures. This instills a disconnect between our embodied senses in the contemporary West. For Merleau-Ponty (1962) the disembodied trajectory of modernity has led to an increased objectification of the world.

Disembodiment is one of many reasons why sensory scholarship and consumer research both share a strong interest in human experience (Pink, 2009). Sensory deprivation over prolonged periods is used as a form of torture (e.g. abuses of prisoners of war) yet over shorter periods it is a tool for relaxation and renewal (e.g. meditation and isolation tanks). In contrast, sensory endowment or a carefully-crafted combination of sensory stimuli could lead to the most exhilarating and euphoric forms of experiential consumption. A central premise of this paper is that people are their bodies and therefore everything they do takes an embodied form (Crossley, 2001). Although no one expressly disagrees, most consumer research still takes a Cartesian

166 view of the world which separates mind from body, the mental and the material (Csordas, 1994).

In summary, research in this chapter considers sensory experiences as a whole, rather than in isolation. Marketing scholars seldom do this. Instead they deal with these concepts in isolation. It is suggested the parts need to be treated as a whole, to reveal idiosyncratic interactions and interconnections.

4.4 Research Contexts The adventurous worlds of ocean yacht- and military-style adventure racing present us with tableaux – assemblages of dramatic activities – where sensory stimulation occurs. Both involve extreme contact with the elements of earth, fire, water and air. These act upon the bodily humors (Csordas, 1994), creating integrated and authentic experiences that are tough on all senses. In this, there are similarities with mountaineering (Tumbat & Belk, 2011), sky diving (Celsi et al., 1993), drug taking (Goulding et al., 2009), festival participation (Kozinets, 2002) and white water rafting (Arnould & Price, 1993). They are very different in the sense that offshore sailing has no human design while Tough Mudder is completely designed. This offers rich and diverse insights when exploring the interface between man’s senses and nature’s elements.

Yacht racing provides a unique variety of sensory encounters: seasickness, electrical storms, the force of wind and waves and sleep deprivation. The sea is an unforgiving natural environment that promises physical risk and mental challenges. Yachting is one of few activities where participants are forced to interact in an extremely confined environment over lengthy time periods with no escape. Levels of sensory stimulation on board are often unfamiliar and extreme. Data were gathered from some of the most iconic brand names in sailing: The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, The Pittwater to Coffs Harbor Regatta and The Sydney to Hobart Regatta. These races are popular due to the unpredictable and sometimes grueling conditions. High winds and difficult seas have sadly led to tragedies.

Leading adventure race, Tough Mudder, comprises a 20km assault course with 25 ’military’ obstacles. It started in 2010 when fifty thousand people took part in these

167 challenging races. By 2013 the number was 3.5 million (Widdicombe, 2014). Participants are forced to overcome their sensory fears: leaping through fire pits, slithering through tightly-enclosed spaces, plunging from intimidating heights (Widdicombe, 2014). The Arctic Enema obstacle is one of the biggest tests Mudders face: two metal dumpsters, each eight feet wide and thirty feet long are filled with nine thousand gallons of melting ice, mixed with mud, to create a near-freezing slush. Ladders are propped against the sides and Mudders line up to jump in. Tough Mudder can be seen as a substitute for experiential rituals in nature: outward-bound camps, cow tipping, fraternity initiations and TV shows such as Survivor. It is an opportunity for disembodied office workers to go into the woods to bang drums, bond, and get in touch with their corporeal selves.

4.5 Methodology An ethnographic study of yacht and adventure racing facilitates an embodied investigation of how consumer researchers can comprehend multisensory experiences in nature. During a sensory experience the body is a site for risk, management, discipline and satisfaction. This means embodiment becomes a site for description and analysis (Coffey, 1999). Ingestion and absorption means participants literally take on the essence of the mud in Tough Mudder and the ocean in yacht racing. An embodied approach uses all the senses to gather information about the environment. This internalization and embodiment of place was essential for sensory understanding, akin to a plant learning to adapt to a new soil. Attention to bodily sensations allows participants to read the signs of the senses as a route to knowledge. Reflective and corporeally conscious use of the senses was particularly important (Geurts, 2003).

In yacht racing, data collection was begun in 2011 by volunteering in disabled yacht racing and as a crew member in twilight sailing at two Sydney Harbor clubs. During participant observation, a diary was kept and informal interviews were conducted with members of the yachting community (Spradley, 1979). In January 2012, I took part in the Pittwater to Coffs Harbor Regatta. In the four weeks leading up to the three-day race, informal interviews were conducted during training, as well as 14 pre- and post event semi-structured interviews (including photo-elicitation) with recreational and professional sailors. Interviews also involved skippers, sailors and race recruiters from The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race and The Sydney to

168 Hobart Race. During the Pittwater to Coffs Harbor Regatta, approximately 300 pictures were taken, and two hours of GoPro video footage was recorded. Following the race, chronological field notes were taken, as well as a researcher diary. To enable immersion between events, I lived with two male sailors for seven months. This was essential to maintain the emic perspective (an internal viewpoint) which is important when investigating peoples’ embodied sensory experiences in nature.

Similarly, to sustain immersion between Tough Mudder events, I also lived with two female Tough Mudders for five months. This facilitated a sympathetic understanding of the sensory behaviors, experiences and beliefs that are meaningful to the actors within their environment (Schatzman & Strauss, 1973) and includes, for example, the management of injuries and food choices during training.

I initially set out to understand the broader context of adventure racing. To do so, I engaged in the Tough Mudder online community in 2011. This then intensified to participant observation in three distinct roles: Tough Mudder crowd member in Scotland 2012, Tough Mudder participant in Sydney 2012 and Tough Mudder staff volunteer in Sydney 2013. As a crowd member in Scotland, 132 pictures were taken, two hours of GoPro footage was taken, as well as a researcher diary and field notes. Unstructured interviews were conducted with fellow spectators, Mudders, volunteers and course marshals. As a Tough Mudder team member, 28 pre- and post-event interviews were conducted with Mudders and the wider community. In support, 111 pictures were taken, two hours of Go Pro video recorded as well as researcher diary and field notes. Finally, as a volunteer in Sydney, 18 pre- and post-event interviews were conducted with Mudders and members of the Tough Mudder community, 117 pictures and two hours of GoPro footage was taken. Again, field notes and a researcher diary were central to recording embodied experiences.

Sensing the Elements in Experiential Consumption One way of understanding the multisensory experience of the body and its relationship to the earth elements is with the use of a typology. Medical anthropology has cited how Thai medicine links the bodily humors to the earth elements to understand the Malay physiology and psyche (Csordas, 1994). Similarly, we apply the same reasoning to the study of multisensory consumption experiences in nature by

169 overlaying and integrating the earth elements and bodily senses in a substantive typology (Figure 1). The concentric circles depicting the senses interact with all the elements. Although the position of the senses within the circle is not significant, we draw attention to the overlapping, interacting and interconnected dynamic between the body and nature. By using this typology as a tool for depicting sensory experience, we can understand a holistic picture of the body in the natural environment.

Figure 1. Substantive Typology of the Sensory Body Interfacing with the Natural Earth Elements

4.6 The Sensory Body Interfacing with the Natural Earth Elements in the field

4.6.1 Muddy Earth in Adventure Racing Mud is a medium with a multitude of forms and associations: day spa (mud mask, well-being and anti-aging therapies), art (sculpture and ceramics), childhood play, the organic movement and gardening. It represents earth and nature, mud-wrestling and mud baths. It is simultaneously wholesome yet dirty. During Tough Mudder, mud stimulates many of the senses:

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Touch: engulfing, slimy, rough, smooth, heavy, gritty, blobby, putty, glue, sloppy, soupy. Self-movement: suck, slip, suspend, hold, restrict, support. Balance: suspension, restriction. Temperature: hot, warm, cool, cold. Taste: earthy, minerals, iron, salt, bitter, saline, grassy, healthy. Smell: rain, sweat, sulfur, earth, damp, musty, clay, suffocate. Sight: glossy, matt, sludgy, rocky, chocolate, clay, slime, gloppy, runny, concealing. Sound: slurp, slop, splat, glop, squelch, squish, slap, plop.

Indeed, mud is central to the Tough Mudder event as Image 1 illustrates. Participants and obstacles are named after mud: Mudders, Mud Mile and Kiss of Mud. A diary extract and post-event interview from the September event in Sydney reflects the multi-sensory experience mud delivers:

They were mud experts. When you thought you had done every variety of mud obstacle they hit you with even more: a different consistency, smell and surprise. The pleasing aroma of upturned earth and people as mud monsters created the scene of a medieval battlefield (Researcher Diary, Tough Mudder Participant, Sept 2012).

You have a lot of shocks like the electricity, the ice, some of the mud was cold as well, it also strips you out of your pride, because you’re not looking great. You’re absolutely dirty filthy and looking horrible, and then you still have to push yourself and then finish, it was tough, god it was tough (Monica, F, 39, International Communications Manager, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

The experience of the mud was a joyful surprise. The diary entry illustrates how through an investigation of metaphors (a less advanced civilization and monsters), we can glean important embodiment processes that shaped reasoning. Lakoff and Johnson (1999) propose that metaphors hold the key to unlocking the deeper processes of embodiment at the unconscious level. In this case, thoughts of monsters are body-biased deep metaphors that help to decipher meaning (Coulter et al., 2001). For example, the metaphor invokes the transformation from human to mud monster. Culturally this might mean that people want a break from being a human to explore something not of this time and place. Further, mud hides the civilized modern body. Reference to ‘Medieval’ shows the appeal of going back to a simpler time and ‘battlefield’ evokes chaos, change and destruction. One encompasses the physical characteristics of a monster: grotesque, frightening and not from this world. The

171 implication is that mud transforms the body and senses. Metaphors support people to make sense of embodied experiences and help to structure, interpret and express non- conscious embodied knowledge (von Wallpach & Kreuzer, 2012). Similarly, the vignette from Monica shows how Mudders push themselves to find harmony with their contrived natural environment. In this “fluid present” the social formats of Mudder teams are continually morphing, and this leads people to become scared and insecure in the struggle to “avoid losing” and finish the course. They mingle with the earth elements to reconquer a notion of meaning as an instrument for personal self- enhancement.

Image 1. A Gamut of Multisensory Mud

Kate has a different opinion. She uses the words “hippie” and “spiritually” to conceptualize her immersion in mud. Dove also conceptualized her multisensory experience of mud as delivering something hexing beyond the five senses:

It gives everyone the opportunity to challenge themselves, physically, mentally and spiritually too I guess. I think adventure races are different because they give you the opportunity to get outside and experience the elements and feel part, it sounds really hippie like, but feel part of nature (Kate, F, 32, Social Media Strategist, Tough Mudder, April 2013).

Tough Mudders kind of spiced me, not spiced me, poisoned me in a good way, it’s all I’m dreaming about at the moment, I can’t get it out of my head. I couldn’t sleep on the Saturday night. I kept seeing the same things about it. I kept having dreams about it. It was insane actually that it had that effect over you. (Dove, F, 37, Executive Assistant, Tough Mudder, April 2013).

Spirituality involves extrasensory perception, a subtle perceptive ability, also known as a sixth sense (Maya, 2013). She refers to an unseen, or subtle world, the experience of the subtle world is also known as a spiritual experience. Kate’s experience with mud triggers private memories, or associations with the senses beyond the traditional five. It is also important to point out the way Kate uses sensory metaphors, in this instance hippie. Similarly, Dove uses the metaphor of poison, a substance that is

172 tasted, smelt, touched and ingested. This shows a reflective embodiment of the experience on the physical and spiritual realm. Poison is also associated with sorcery, crime, cults and death (Douglas, 1999), yet Dove suggests that it takes over her body “in a good way”.

Interviews with Tough Mudder participants reveal mud’s multi-dimensional and multi-sensory qualities. Mudders describe it as sticky, quick sand, zombie-like, sensual and ingested. To Niall sight, temperature, self-movement/weight and touch matter most, yet he does not mention sound and taste. The displaced expectation of comfort, instead of toughness, excites his senses as his body braces for exertion, but in reality he receives soothing relief. The multisensory experience of mud is also orchestrated into the design of the Tough Mudder obstacles, as explained by Founder Will Dean in the second quote:

About half way through there was like a swimming pool of mud where people queued to jump into it to get into the ditch, and this mud was much lighter. It wasn’t like concrete, it was warm and comforting that mud and I imagine that’s what a mud spa would be like. I’ve never been to one, so we were all making jokes about how nice and enjoyable it was, we were like, “I thought this was going to be tough, but this is gorgeous!” Like a comforting blanket (Niall, M, 38, Associate Director, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

The dirt is thin and silty, producing a pebble-filled gruel when mixed with water. The ideal mud, you want to have a part where it's like tromping through sticky gloop…and also parts where you're wading in it and really can't move (Will Dean, M, 34, Tough Mudder Founder, 2013) (Widdicombe, 2014).

The act of seeing the mud recedes into the background, whilst the act of touching the mud enters into the foreground as individuals become wrapped in the earth like a protective blanket. Even though Niall may know little, if anything, about mud spas, he blends the notion of a mud spa with the experience of a person jumping off a bank and plummeting into a comforting mud pool. This is known as the conceptual blending process (Joy & Sherry, 2003). Niall is overwhelmed not so much by the dirt or discomfort of the mud, but by the sensation of immersion, a form of introspection, or touching. Tough Mudder orchestrates these opportunities for participants to experience the multi-sensuality of space, place and landscape (Thrift, 2006).

Monica and Niall also describe the sensual, spatial and challenging nature of mud:

It was just so different from anything you’d normally do, even just getting covered in nice warm mud is a really nice feeling and just swimming across rivers is cool too. That was much

173 more exciting than a regular Sunday (Monica, F, 39, International Communications Manager, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

A lot of people walked past the mile of mud, but we elected to go through it, and it really is energy sapping how it suspends you (laughs). It’s quite incredible. I enjoyed doing that for the challenge. Pulling yourself each time and trying to get the technique right for the next pit (Niall, M, 38, Associate Director, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

The Tough Mudder experience signifies a pleasurable shift from Monica’s normal Sunday activity. She has taken her body out of its normal space and placed herself in a receptive mode leading to multisensory excitement. Her embodiment is implied in her account of a really nice feeling which shows a bodily thrill, as opposed to a cognitive thrill. Niall describes how the mud facilitated suspension, a mechanism for bracketing the unknowable therefore requiring a leap of trust (Möllering, 2001). Risk-taking, co-operation and social capital are blended as Mudders help one another through the mud pits.

Next, Tough Mudder Paul talks about the need for a mud experience in adulthood. He reveals the need adults have to play in nature and embody earth and water, the novelty of playing in mud is alluded to. This is reinforced in the second quote by Will Dean founder of Tough Mudder:

You’re obviously through mud, water, and that sort of thing, so it’s good that. Like a big kid playground. You don’t get to play in mud that much when you’re adults, it’s pretty cool (Paul, M, 36, Medical Services Advisor, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

It's a kind of muddy baptism…people love mud. You see this regression back into childhood (Will Dean, M, 34, Tough Mudder Founder, 2013) (Widdicombe, 2014).

Sensory play and exploration divide childhood and adult interactions with mud. An identity shift from “adult” to “child” is evident in Tough Mudder. Playing in mud has always been a popular pastime for children, and is actively encouraged by many schools and community centers (Jensen and Bullard 2012). However, in developed societies, until the emergence of mud races, adults have only been able to enjoy its sensory experience through mud baths, facials, gardening, and barefoot walks. It is a socially-accepted norm for children to play in mud, yet for adults it is often frowned upon as it carries childish or sexual connotations (e.g. mud wrestling). Tough Mudder has pioneered a socially acceptable way in which adults can interact with and enjoy mud. This means it can evoke senses which may have been unexplored since childhood.

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4.6.2 Muddy Earth in Offshore Yacht Racing

Similar embodied principles apply to our second context - offshore yacht racing. During their circumnavigation of the globe, Clipper Yacht Race competitors have very limited contact with the earth. The 11-month marathon involves sailing in warm trade winds, through winter storms and the tropical heat of the Doldrums. Thirteen countries are visited during the 15 races. In the interviews below, Martin and Russell vividly tell stories about the magic of transitioning the elements:

In Salvador in Brazil, the first thing we saw coming in was a Dow, a traditional fishing boat, the sail was made of bits of materials, the contrast between the wooden boat and the race boat was huge. Also when we came into China it felt like the Olympics welcome party, there must have been about 10,000 people there entertaining us, fireworks, a drumming band and costumes (Martin, M, 45, Yacht Skipper, Jan 2011).

Adventure, possibility, travel, challenge, beauty, wildlife, raw elements, a learning curve that goes on forever, humility, inspiration, stripping away of the bullshit of life, and the engagement with the fundamentals (Russell, M, 51, Operations Director of Flying Fish Australia, Feb 2012).

Fireworks and drums are akin to a tribal ritual signaling the reunion with the earth after weeks on the water. Drum rhythms are traditionally used in ceremonies socializing children from a young age to embody rhythms and melody - integrating a collective musical consciousness in African village life. Drumming also plays a central role in personal and communal well being. This is linked to a communal history and “knowing who we are” (Cairo, 2013). It links to Russell’s reference to sailing “stripping away the bullshit”. Bursts of fireworks illuminating the night sky with bright colors hues is akin to a sensory carnival where the raw elements, fire, water, earth and air deliver a multisensory experience.

4.6.3 Shocking Fire in Adventure Racing

Fire is used for warmth, light, cooking, entertainment, combustion, ritual, death and renewal. Fire plays a central role in many high-arousal rituals that often appear to be stressful, unpleasant, or even dangerous (Image 2). Conversely, fire can be used for safety, for instance flares are essential in offshore yacht racing.

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Image 2. Fire for Safety (flare), Function (electricity) and Danger (burns)

Below are extracts from Tough Mudder Master of Ceremonies, Simon, and researcher fieldnotes. Simon addresses the bull-pen of 600 Mudders (waves of racers are released from the pen every 20mins). Simon helps Mudders physically prepare and manage the sensation of electricity. The orange smoke is released minutes before the Mudders set off, comparable to a visual starting gun thus the Mudders begin by running through a channel of smoke. Simon describes the obstacle as a holistic experience where the elements combined to create a unique sensation. Researcher fieldnotes from spectating at the Scotland event complement Simon’s vignette. The purposeful and sequential interlacing of the extremities being burnt by fire followed by immersal in water is very salient. Hence, the sum is greater than the parts (Bastien, 1985):

Now we have the electric eel, it’s a beautiful combination of water and electricity. Little tip Mudders, if you cry the electric will not switch off. If you just lie there, the electricity will not stop zapping you. Every three seconds you will get zapped and it will hurt. Your muscles will cramp up, you will crease up. Do not go through the electricity if you have a heart condition, a pacemaker or epilepsy…it’s time Mudders, the smoke has called (Simon, M, 35, Tough Mudder Master of Ceremonies, April 2013).

There was a lot of noise surrounding the Phoenix fire obstacle. Teams of Mudders crawled through smoke to then jump over a meter high wall of flames singeing their legs. Finally, they landed in a pit of water. It’s interesting how fire was immediately followed by water (Researcher Spectator Fieldnotes, Scotland, July 2012).

Simon’s quote and the researcher fieldnotes denote how Tough Mudder uses nature as a sounding board to ignite sensory mayhem in the bodies of participants. We start to recognize the unequivocal power that the earth elements have on the body. In an extreme case, it is the natural, rather than manmade, disasters that have the greatest impact on humans.

176 Tough Mudder MC Simon watches participants like Matt and Kelly take on the Electroshock Therapy. From an observer’s perspective, Simon recalls the Mudders’ whirlwind experience, as though wonderment and confusion were designed into the final sensory climax. Electricity manifests itself in the heart of embodied perception. It makes the heart race and so energizes the life sense that infiltrates the other senses:

I’ve seen big men knocked out face down in the mud and then question why they’re on their butt. I think it’s a fantastic one to finish on because it gets your heart racing, you get zapped it gets your heart racing like electricity does. You are then getting your orange headband and you’re in a state of wonderment, or a state of daze, going “ah what just happened to me?” So I think it’s a beautiful one to finish on (Simon, M, 35, Tough Mudder Master of Ceremonies, April 2013).

The unique sensory encounter of electrocution is reinforced by Kelly and Matthew’s experience:

One leg convulsed, my legs feel all tingly now. It’s the cracking noise, it’s a good hurt, it’s all creased up…legs not working the way you wanted it too (Kelly, F, 31, Emergency Clinical Nurse Consultant, Tough Mudder, 2013).

In the Electroshock Therapy obstacle, this guy got this wire (electric wire) wrapped around his neck, which lifted him off the ground, he had a burn mark around his neck (Matthew, M, 30, Investment Banker, Tough Mudder, 2013).

Simon reflects on his observations when delivering motivational speeches to Mudders – mainly stories of elevation and failure that take place at the start and finish line. The headband makes “finishers” immediately distinguishable from the spectators, volunteers and pre-event Mudders. This is an excellent illustration of man interfacing with nature. On the one hand, the bright orange headband is a savvy response to the new kind of consumer culture shaped by social media that exists through photo- sharing websites such as Instagram and Facebook (Widdicombe, 2014). On the other hand, the headband is placed on the Mudder’s body once it’s reached a sensory precipice. At this point, the body has endured the extremes of all the elements, from different consistencies of water to fire and electricity. Participants are still wet, muddy, exhausted and elated when they are labeled with a manmade signifier of “finisher”. Much like christening a baby with holy water on the forehead, Mudders are cleansed in artificial nature before being christened as “tough” with their orange headbands. This is a new religion for those willing to turn on their senses and reconnect to their bodies. In contrast, Matthew and Kelly’s observations of

177 convulsions and a man being lifted off the ground by the shocks is indicative of a more grueling interfacing with nature and shows the multisensory assault on the body.

4.6.4 Shocking Fire in Offshore Yacht Racing

Fire at sea takes a different form. It comes as an abstract encounter with the sun breaking through storm clouds:

One moment for me was when the storm started to approach, I felt so tiny in this huge ocean, it was very humbling, and it felt like I was in a movie with incredible special effects, the scale of this colossal cloud approaching, both menacing and yet majestic, and the form of the cloud, there was something perfect about it. It was like a huge bumper, or cigar stretching as far as the eye could see, from horizon to horizon. It looked as if it stretched miles into the air, and it looked like there was a gap between it and ocean sea level, so I had this strange sensation as we got nearer and nearer. It felt like we were going under one of these huge motorway bridges. All the time this thing was approaching we could still see the horizon, vaguely see a horizon where the sun was setting and it looked like a little devil’s cauldron, both beautiful and terrifying at same time. I really felt like I was looking at something, mystical and mischievous, it felt like I was looking at the devil’s cauldron, and the devil was saying “come on” (laughs). That’s what it felt like, and I didn’t wanna go in there! But there was no going back and this little fire was just there under this cloud. It was an amazing sight and then as we went under this huge cloud the sunset disappeared and this cloud passed over and then we truly entered this dark hell. Couldn’t see anything, everything was feel. It was just so dark, and we had waves coming over the boat. I got knocked off my feet a few times. I was trying to steer as best I could but I couldn’t see anything. I couldn’t see the waves it was quite tough (Russell, M, 51, Operations Director of Flying Fish Australia, 2012).

Russell uses fire and the devil’s cauldron to metaphorically describe his sensory and emotional encounter with a mystical and mischievous storm. Visually and symbolically, fire depicts beauty and terror to Russell. Although he has over 30 years sailing experience, the speed at which the storm descends takes precedence over Russell and his crew. Here, the elements control his senses, yet rather than a dehumanizing experience of loss of control (as often occurs in the manmade world), it is an amazing and fun encounter as nature challenges man (e.g. “come on!”). We also see the compensatory role of the senses interacting to manage the earth elements of air, water and fire. The removal of sight as he entered a dark hell meant Russell had to rely on his remaining senses of touch and feel.

Next, Russell and an extract from the researcher diary uncover the impact of lightening (fire) interacting with the senses and the elements (air and water):

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People have a perception of storms, lightening and everyone going “oh my gosh it’s so dangerous”, but you’ve gotta appreciate the danger to understand where you are in life to appreciate where you are as a person, because if you don’t appreciate it, it’s gonna tear you down basically. You look at the Coffs race, we were bashing into that, but when we went to Hobart this year, we were bashing into thirty, forty knots of winds with washing machine swell. If you didn’t appreciate where you where, you knew you weren’t going to get through the ocean. You would be scared, you would be going ‘no I don’t wanna come back’. But, once you appreciate what Mother Nature can do, that she can easily feed you, then take it away, it is something very beautiful (Russell, M, 51, Operations Director of Flying Fish Australia, 2012).

I was in charge of prepping, cooking and serving our food. Infinity was an old boat, with a few loose screws securing the swinging metholated stove to the hull. During one tack in rough weather, whilst I was heating up lunch, all crew were needed on deck. The boat was heeled over at 45 degrees, meaning to stand and cook, I had to brace my legs against the walls of the hull to keep my balance. Whilst banging through waves we landed awkwardly, shattering the yacht, causing the stove (brimming with pots of pasta bolognaise) to come unscrewed from the wall into my hands. My heart pounded with fright as metholated spirits bled into the flames. The kitchen was alight with scorching flames (Researcher Diary, Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Race, Jan 2011).

Russell uses the analogy of Mother Nature feeding man. Understanding the semiotic significance of the elements feeding the senses provides a key to understanding how we can deconstruct multisensory experiences in nature. This gives a contrasting perspective to the dominance of the elements over the senses. Feeding operates as a semiotic code constituting the meaning of the nurturing relationship between man and nature. Russell is describing the syncing of the elements with the senses that are nourished, satisfied and filled with wind, water and lightening. The role of the mother to keep a child alive is illuminated. In contrast, when man is in disharmony with nature we see a loss of balance, the lack of other crew members, as heat, pulse, water and fire all intertwine.

4.6.5 Inescapable Water in Adventure Racing

In a similar vein to rafting on the Colorado river (Arnould & Price, 1993), offshore yacht racing offers an inescapable experience with water (Image 3). This is laden with rich sensory implications: from ice to stream, from vapor to rain, from fluid to steam. Water is one of the most omni-present, and vitally important aspects of the link between the natural environment and the human body.

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Tough Mudder follows a similar embodied regime. And bodies are very much in evidence. As most of the human body is water (Cunningham, 1991), in some ways the body itself is an element interacting with other elements (e.g., earth). Mudders are generally quick to attend to one another’s bodies if they are in danger or in pain. For example, participants pledge “I put teamwork and camaraderie before my course time.” Here the body is viewed as a vehicle of survival and challenge that is shared amongst all participants. Bridgid and Monica personify the other senses as Mudders help each other back into self-movement:

There’s loads of you jumping from mound to mound and he jumped across a mound then he just rolled over and screamed out in pain and his leg was shaking…I was behind him and jumped down onto it, I put my body weight on him, bending his toes back just to stretch it out (Bridgid, F, 30, Nurse, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

You basically had to stand on each other’s shoulders to get there, and once you get up you have to get one of their legs to get across. I just couldn’t do the second one, so I came back and my friend said “no you’re going to do it, and everyone’s going to help you out”. So after five minutes of struggling, I finally got to the other side, and when I got there I ran about 100 meters then I had an overwhelming sense of emotion in my chest that I couldn’t contain and I broke down crying. Because it was the hardest thing I had ever done in my life…so it was all this emotion. And I just stopped and I started crying and I couldn’t stop. It was such an overwhelming emotion of something, I just started shaking hard (Monica, F, 39, International Communications Manager, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

In both extracts there is a significant link between the body and emotions. The physical response to the emotions is small quick movements, which are out of control. Shaking is also used to wake someone up. She is describing a sensory reawakening prompted by an extraordinarily strong emotion. These corporeal experiences test the barriers between mind, body and material environments (Canniford & Shankar, 2013). Managing fear, or shaking off a problem, are also related to shaking. They potentially enable people to redevelop emotional virtues and confidence using their bodies and hence transcend the social barriers of contemporary urban life (Arnould & Price, 1993). In this respect, the body represents the root to all thinking, not simply thinking bodily, but it informs the logic of thinking, a higher order of knowledge (Joy & Sherry, 2003). This occurs on an individual level and is also facilitated at a group level between Mudders. These intense interactions with mud and water show how the world is primarily accessed through the body.

4.6.6 Inescapable Water in Offshore Yacht Racing

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Water can also be one of the most dangerous social spaces, as sailing skippers Craig and Martin explain. They describe their visceral reaction to the weather at sea, including how its intensity produces powerful responses as their senses are pounded:

I got hit by that really bad storm, we were sitting for six to eight hours throughout the night, just up by the Gold Coast, near Byron Bay way, where the waves were breaking over the back of the boat, and you had to hold your breath for 10 to 20 seconds because you’re under water… The waves are over the back of the boat and it’s over two meters high of water. You hold your breath and you’re still going. Running with the waves is quite bad because it’s uncontrollable. When the waves are coming from behind you’re not racing, you’re just surviving (Craig, M, 42, Sales and Marketing Manager for Electra Lift, Jan 2012).

You can’t control the weather and sea. Once you’re a certain distance away, you have to deal with every situation. You have to look after the boat, and it will look after you. If you don’t you’re dead, same as on the mountain. I like the forced motivation you get from it (Martin, M, 45, Clipper Skipper, Jan 2012).

Image 3. Craig and his Crew in The Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Regatta

Water lends itself to an analysis of the relationship between human experience and the construction of meaning. In this case, the value and meaning of life is defined by the determination to survive. There is a dynamic interaction between cultural beliefs, physical practices and external natural stimuli.

The interaction is illustrated by skipper Craig as he describes imagining his Dad coming to save him. He expresses the high value he places on the radio, power and engine and losing the helmsman (man). At the same time he endures the sensory encounter of a near-death experience (nature). James supports this in his description of the unbeatable nature of the ocean:

We were caught in a big storm and we had people washed overboard…It was one of those nights where you’re fighting for your life and you think your Dad will send a helicopter soon to come and save you because you want to get off the boat. Yeah we had to pull people back on board the boat, the stress is huge with something like that. Surfing down a wave because the waves are actually breaking over the boat, the helmsman was gone. But it came back

181 upright again, it was a night of hell, we lost the radios and had no engine, had no power (Craig, M, 42, Sales and Marketing Manager for Electra Lift, Jan 2012).

The sea is so unpredictable. We treat the sea like the current global economic environment. It’s so unpredictable, you can’t walk down and jump onto a boat, or jump into the sea and say, “hey I’m here, I’m going to beat you”. The sea is unbeatable, nature is unbeatable. But what we say is we put you in an environment that is so unique and different to everything else. And the sea is that, ah, it will bite you if you don’t listen to it and appreciate it and don’t adhere to what nature is actually saying (James, M, 31, Owner of Merit Sailing, Jan 2012).

The life sense is very salient here. Craig’s narrative reflects the absence of modern decorporealizing technology (e.g. engine and radio) and the force of the water. A frenzied interaction between man and nature would deter many people from sailing. The fact that Craig was not demonstrates his commitment to multisensory nature. The embodied knowledge he gleans from the storm fuels his need to experience nature and his determination to conquer the ocean. This weaves into Consumer Culture Theory by highlighting the symbolic capital which is accrued from mastering nature (Tumbat & Belk, 2011). As the owner of a sailing business, James explains how man must attune his senses and listen to the rules and language of nature – being at sea requires a certain type of sensory vigilance.

Dane has his own ideas about the multidimensional nature of the sea: limitless, humbling, calming and changing:

There’s some real euphoric moments when you’re there. It’s not land: sometimes it can be your home port. It’s limitless, there’s something about sailing into the blue and not being able to see where you are heading. I’ve always been by the sea and when I was living in Leeds, I missed it for a while. I don’t know what it is: its calming nature or its changing nature, but there’s definitely something about the ocean and the wind and the waves that keeps you coming back…When you’re out there in a big storm in big seas, it can humble you, I think. It made me think about things in a different way (Dane, M, 24, Sailing Instructor, Feb 2012).

Russell supports Dane’s account, yet embodies the ocean in a more ethereal sense:

There’s all sorts of things that can happen suddenly on the sea, anything from an abrupt change in weather, to someone falling overboard. It’s almost like you need to be in a mindset where you are prepared instantly if any of those things are going to happen. It’s almost like the Buddhist thing of being in the moment 100% all the time and I firmly believe when that lapses, you are at great risk on the water (Russell, M, 51, Operations Director of Flying Fish Australia, Jan 2012).

182 Dane recalls euphoric moments at sea, akin to the sensations of love-making, drug- taking or the triumph of an athlete. Euphoria can be experienced as an exaggerated or abnormal physical and psychological state that is stimulated by endorphins released during exercise. Euphoria is not typically achieved during the normal course of human experience. It is often described as the unlocking of the senses causing ecstasy, bliss, rapture and harmony in the mind and body. Here, euphoria is experienced through an interlacing of the elements. It interacts with his mind by making him think and engages with his body to keep him coming back. Hence the senses take on a dynamic, fluid and holistic state. Russell draws attention to the spiritual dimension of multi-sensory experiences in nature and the extra experiences that come from nature interacting with the senses and the body as a whole.

Researcher fieldnotes and an interview from the Pittwater to Coffs Harbor Regatta present water as a matter of life and death: a potent degenerative force on the senses:

My sensory openness was short-lived. I soon lost scent of the nose-crinkling stench of the urine in the boat. My ear soon deafened to the moans of the creaking yacht and the exhausted crew. I had become an experience-hardened crew-member. Over-immersion and sleep deprivation had taken me out of the realm of sensory sentiment. Injury, painkillers, ice-packs, tears in a soup of metholated spirits, urine and bilge water distanced me (Researcher Diary Entry, Pittwater to Coffs Harbor Regatta, 02/01/2012).

The guys feel like getting drowned, feeling uncomfortable, it’s the finishing the race that’s important to them. It’s not winning it, it’s just finishing. I think they enjoy fighting the elements and then coming out the other side. Although I sometimes wonder, I think about those poor guys sat on the rail getting pounded around and they don’t complain. They’ll sit there all night if they have to. I’m surprised (Craig, M, 42, Sales and Marketing Manager for Electra Lift, Skipper, Jan 2012).

Rough seas cause chaos on the senses when living aboard a yacht. Sleep deprivation means that senses which would ordinarily be manageable, become almost unbearable, such as the sting of metholated spirits being absorbed into the skin over several days.. The next vignette represents a localized embodiment of the yacht and the substances it holds. The absorption, tasting, smelling and ingestion of metholated spirits and sea water are central to the multisensory encounter. These sensations are exacerbated by the sense of balance being constantly under strain as the boat is continually bashing into waves at a forty-five degree angle – as described by Craig in the second quote above.

183 4.6.7 Suffocating Air in Adventure Racing

Although Western societies probably value sight most highly, many participants found themselves in situations where not seeing allowed them to engage in other sensations. Generally we are unconscious of seeing or breathing, until it becomes restricted as the following vignettes show:

The idea of crawling through a dark tunnel underground was not too compelling. I didn’t feel comfortable with the weight of the earth above my head and hundreds of people running over it. At the end of the suffocating, tight, clay mud tunnel, you’re greeted by water up to your neck. Struggling through the tunnels of mud was like being in The Shawshank Redemption (Researcher Diary, Tough Mudder Team Member, Sept 2012).

Above the water was boards and barbed wire, so there was only enough room to stick your head out of the water. Already, this is suffocating. Then to get out of the water, you had to go back up a black tube. The scary part? You were forced to go under water to get out of the tube. In other words, the bottom part of the tube was completely submerged…It was intense to say the least (Niki, F, 29, Tough Mudder Diary Blog, Sept 2012) (Green, 2012).

The surprise was the inability to breathe (Fieldnotes, Tough Mudder Spectator, July 2012).

The narratives above delineate how fear and discomfort increase when there is sensory impairment/re-alignment. Sight - which was already impaired by the loss of contact lenses - completely disappears in the tunnel. The sense of smell is removed when exiting the tunnel through the water (Image 4). When entering the water, sound is compromised, leaving taste and touch heightened.

Image 4. Removal of Sight, Sound and Smell in the Boa Constrictor Obstacle

Bridgid discusses the Fire Walker obstacle that involves running between blazing pits with flames well over a meter high. At the end Mudders must leap over a final fire pit, landing in a pit of ice cold water. This instantly saps any of the warmth they may have gained from the flames:

Fire scares me because that can be a permanent scar, you can be disfigured. The fire part is a bit of a worry. The smoky part worries me because I don’t know about breathing. I had asthma as a kid. Even just people in our group that I know have asthma or friends that are

184 doing it. Pretty scary. So you just hope they’ll look after themselves (Bridgid, F, 30, Nurse Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

What Tough Mudder does well is things that shouldn't be: I'm running in fire! I'm in a dumpster full of ice! I'm getting zapped with ten thousand volts of electricity! (Will Dean, M, 34, Tough Mudder Founder, 2013) (Widdicombe, 2014).

After being scratched, suffocated and burnt I realized how “burning” is so important in Tough Mudder. The training and the course burns fat on a cellular level, you run through burning firewood, depending on the course location you will get sun burnt and finally the event is pitted as “Iron Man meets Burning Man” (Researcher Diary, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

This photo elicitation description shows the fear participants have if the scent of smoke becomes so strong it restricts their breathing, which further relates to the fear of death. Mudders experience the sensory reversal of air becoming fire and smoke – the transition from satisfying inhalation, to induced choking. During Tough Mudder, fire and smoke pollutes the air, yet participants willingly endure these elements (e.g. burns and asthma). Bridgid expresses her fear of sensory destruction: the sense of smell (breathing in smoke), the touch of fire on the skin (causing burning), permanent scaring (visually impairing her body). Running through fire is a unique sensory encounter and one that transcends the “normal” limits of the body.

4.6.8 Suffocating Air in Offshore Yacht Racing

At sea we observe how immersion in nature causes the senses to work differently. Strong winds in a storm, or close proximity to crewmembers, can send a sailor’s senses into disarray:

One of the only times I was scared on the race, we were in the middle of a really big storm, we had a problem with the sail and the skipper said you need to climb to the top of the mast and slide down the forestay (rigging which keeps the mast from falling backwards). You’re eight foot in the air, it’s pitch black, straight into the rain, the boat’s getting thrown around, so you’re swinging round all the time. He said, “you’ve got to try and unwrap the sail from the top”. He said, “put on loads of clothes because you’re going to get really hurt.” And I sat there for about 40 minutes before it actually happened. So at that point I was really nervous (David, M, 48, Recruitment Manager for Clipper Ventures, Feb 2012).

The proximity that you’re going to share with people together on a sailing yacht is different from what people would normally experience in life, and other team based activities. The inescapable nature, especially when it’s a yacht offshore for several days of the activity. That is an exceptional side to off shore sailing (Ed, M, 51, IT Consultant, Sydney to Hobart Crew, Dec 2011).

185 Water, air and the threat of fire from lightening intensify David’s experience of risk, challenge and nerves. Sight is minimal at night leaving touch, taste and sound heightened. David’s body has to develop equilibrium with the hostile environment (a balance of the senses with the elements) to achieve an ideal experience. He illustrates how the elements threaten him through the expectation of getting “really hurt” – an excessive form of touch. Ed echoes David’s sentiment of the collective challenge of the crew interfacing with the elements. The isolation, the uncontrolled and the collective element generates unique forms of sensory resistance and performance.

Conversely, the sea breeze can deliver gentle scents and trigger cognitive experiences. Roger and Mike indicate the stimulating and enlivening nature of the changeability of the elements:

In the night, when a Westerly starts to blow, you can smell it off the land. The wind may die a bit, then change direction. That first little puff, you can smell the land and you can really smell it, especially when they’re burning off the banana plantations (Roger, M, 58, Stock Broker, Jan 2012).

Most sailors’ agree, one learns to sail with hands-on experiences. Reading, learning new vocabulary and studying navigation skills are important, but for sailing to be meaningful, nothing compares to being in a boat on the water…Sailing is a multi-sensory experience. The sights, sounds, smells and scenery are all part of the sailing experience. Aides in memory retention come exam time…when new students are out to sea sailing and “feeling” the vocabulary, well, it becomes more meaningful to them. There’s drama in diction (Mike, M, 38, Auxiliary with the U.S. Coastguard in Anchorage, Aug 2013) (Dunn, 2013).

Roger contrasts land and sea. Using smell, sight and touch he is sensitive enough to his environment to embody the interfacing of earth, air and water. He is able to sense a changing weather front by feeling the air temperature change – an embodied skill. He embodies the strength of the wind, and the space and place of the specific smell. Roger’s body filters information provided to him by nature to inform his embodied practice of sailing.

4.7 Discussion

Our research has focused on how the natural earth elements are sensed in nature. To address this research question, sensory anthropology is identified as a tool to reveal the interrelatedness, contradictions, interdependency and interactions between the senses and the natural earth elements. We have:

186 (1) Developed a comprehensive typology for conceptualizing and deconstructing multisensory experience (2) Shown how embodied experiences change according to the privileging and suppression of certain senses in contemporary Western society. This is in response to a disembodied consumer society fuelling multisensory experiences.

The Distribution of Sensory Experience Typology as an organizing structure helps to manage the serendipitous and complex task of understanding multisensory experiences in nature. The typology is informed by vivid ethnographic data, and prior research from a variety of disciplines including sociology, anthropology, and consumer behavior. This conceptualization offers several theoretical advantages over traditional views. Previous consumer behavior theories, particularly in experiential consumption, reveal nature as a novel marketplace for economic exchange (Canniford & Shankar, 2013). It offers deep human ecology by taking a central role in the interacting earth elements (Grint & Woolgar, 1992). By integrating the senses with the natural earth elements in a typology, we have depicted the relationship between humans and their natural, social and built environments. We complement prior work by Canniford and Shankar (2013) that identified how a multisensory relationship is formed between man and nature during surfing, building pleasurable connections between the body and material geography. We have extended this enquiry by explicitly focusing on how all the senses can be understood and unpacked with all of the natural earth elements, including how the positive and even negative interface between man and nature fuels knowledge and serves to facilitate a desire to experience nature. Our approach forces a more scrupulous look at how sensory modalities collectively shape experiences in nature. This creates an important link between embodied experiences and nature.

By investigating consumers whose goals are to become embodied, and even re- imagine their bodies, we complement prior work that has focused on the practices of consumers who are assaulting their senses in nature (Arnould & Price, 1993; Canniford & Shankar, 2013; Tumbat & Belk, 2011). An holistic lens is used to understand how people sense the elements in experiential consumption. By drawing out the salient senses that are absent or present in an experience, we add a layer of

187 comprehension to the hows, whys and contradictions of multisensory experiences in nature. For example, in Tough Mudder, the absence of sight and altered sense of space and place in the Boa Constructor obstacle (Image 4), leads to a heightening of touch, sound and taste. This creates a unique experience which requires participants to draw upon new corporeal facilities that are not ordinarily called upon. This practice is as thrilling as it is daunting.

The tableaux of yacht and adventure racing demonstrate how the unity between the body, the outer world, and the elements is experienced through a combination of senses. If we do not look at these, we would not see contributions in the interrelatedness – the increase/decrease or absence/presence – of how one sense directly impacts upon the others. This comes about through the vicissitudes of the natural environment, particularly in yacht racing where the moods of the oceans are unpredictable. In Tough Mudder, there is a more explicit orchestration of sensory modalities to produce different sensations. This can be likened to a movie or play, where abrupt shifts of mood and tempo produce emotional changes in the audience (e.g. interlacing a torture scene with tranquility). Table 1 shows a sample of how Tough Mudder weaves a fabric of multi-sensory experience. The experience is orchestrated by interlacing intense obstacles with contrasting challenges.

Table 1. Sensory Variance in Tough Mudder Obstacles

Obstacle Sight Sound Touch Taste Smell Boa Constrictor: crawl through Low Medium High Variable High pipes that force participants into freezing muddy water. Arctic Enema: jump into a cold Low Low High Variable Low icy bath. Fire Walker: run through blazing High Medium High Low High kerosene soaked straw. Flames are one meter high. Electroshock Therapy: sprint Variable Medium High Variable Low through a field of live wires (10,000-volt shock).

Table 2 demonstrates the orchestration of the senses on a racing yacht. Unlike Tough Mudder, the encounters are in the hands of nature, they are not designed. Thus, the senses are less controlled, predictable or easily fixed if overloaded. For example, a

188 clear air front is invisible and can change the sea state from calm to chaos in less than five minutes. In this scenario, the embodiment of the elements through the senses may take place over minutes but also extends to days/weeks/months at sea. In contrast Tough Mudders face their challenges over just a few hours. This alters the way the senses operate holistically and hence changes peoples’ embodied construction of reality.

Table 2. Sensory Variance in an Ocean Yacht Race Encounter Sight Sound Touch Taste Smell Weather change at dusk; from a Variable Low High Low Low warm to a cold front before a storm. Surviving a storm at night: rough Low High High High High seas, gale force winds and high swell. Sailing in daylight in high winds High Medium High High Variable and flat water.

Tables 1 and 2 help researchers to depict and reconstruct people’s multisensory experiences in nature. The Distribution of Sensory Experience Typology develops the sensory variances shown above using the rich description from field data and insights from medical anthropology. The new typology blends the human senses with the natural earth elements to provide consumer researchers with a conceptual tool – Figure 2. Using a grey scale (black = low and pale grey = high), sensory experiences are mapped onto the typology to provide explanatory power to help organize the complex and ambiguous senses into identifiable fields. For example, we can take an interview extract from Niall and shade in the quadrants of the concentric circles to visually investigate the holistic sensory encounter. Niall emphasizes the sensory significance of mud (depicted as the lightest grey) whereas fire plays a less central role in his experience.

About half way through there was like a swimming pool of mud where people queued to jump into it to get into the ditch and this mud was much lighter. It wasn’t like concrete, it was warm and comforting that mud, and I imagine that’s what a mud spa would be like…like a comforting blanket (Niall, M, 38, Associate Director, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

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Figure 2. Distribution of Sensory Experience Typology: The Body (5 senses) Interfacing with Nature (4 earth elements)

The typology helps researchers to understand Niall’s holistic sensory experience by recording every sense he has against every earth element he encounters. For example, when describing the engulfing experience of mud, he scores highly on all of his senses (shown in pale grey). In contrast, fire is not involved in his vignette, yet warmth is. He scores low on the fire quadrant, however, because he describes warmth, he scores consistently highly on the touch (temperature) circle.

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By using this typology, another layer of detail is added to multisensory data that helps us to see, think about, construct and deconstruct aspects of experiential consumption. This typology reveals the merit in using Malayan humoral reasoning - the link between the four elements, the outer world, and the body - as a typology for those interested in studying how the natural earth elements are experienced holistically. By syncing the senses with a vast array of natural stimuli, the elements, a different lens from that previously used by embodiment theorists is provided. Consumer researchers are equipped with powerful granular and multidimensional knowledge. Rich ethnographic data populates the typology, which serves as a tool for conceptualizing and evaluating sensory data in nature.

A second contribution is that when certain senses are emphasized in a culture (e.g. sight in the Western world) other senses are repressed (e.g. touch). What does this mean? And to what ends? It is common to find that when a particular sense is emphasized by a culture, another sense emerges, as its opposite and becomes the target of repression. The data reported here adds to the growing body of evidence on the active role of all the senses in meaningful experiences (Joy & Sherry, 2003). We suggest that the repression inherent in disembodied Western lifestyles privileges sight as it is required to engage in technology and suppresses senses used in more corporeally engaged scenarios such as touch. In contrast, in Islamic society, sight is repressed due to the fear of being accused of casting an “evil eye”. Instead hearing is emphasized as it enables people to obey the word of God (Howes, 1991).

In medical anthropology the senses have been integrated with humoral reasoning as a way to uncover the physiological, symbolic, intellectual, cosmological and emotional dimensions of the Malay self (Csordas, 1994). This theory has been applied to Western physiology (i.e. disembodied lifestyles), intellectual development (i.e. mental and physical challenge and growth) and emotional response (i.e. fear and wonderment). These dimensions have taught us much about how the senses interface with nature in modern societies. The earth elements have broad cultural applicability in consumer behavior, particularly as those in the West live increasingly disembodied lifestyles.

191 In industry, the sensual content of promotional messages in advertising can be used by tourism organizations (Crouch & Desforges, 2003; Pan & Ryan, 2009), fitness services (Dworkin & Wachs, 2009), retail spaces (Fulberg, 2003), products (e.g. automakers and publishers) (Pine et al., 1999), experiences (Joy & Sherry, 2003) and brands (Hulten, 2011). Sensory marketing is used by the Finnish tourist board using “Come to your senses feel Helsinki”, and by the San Francisco Ballet “Black cake, white is for virgins” (Krishna, 2010). Or, a brand of chewing gum, which on first inspection delivers one sense (taste) is named “5” to represent all five senses (Krishna, 2010). Market researchers for private health institutions can also benefit from the applied potential of sensory research, such as the sensory nature of service interactions, and the visual environment (Edvardsson & Street, 2007). The everyday reality of people’s bodily practice and experience provides insights about how to make these practices more meaningful. The relevance for marketers is as diverse as making food tastier, products and brands more exciting, and health care more comfortable.

4.8 Future Research

The Distribution of Sensory Experience Typology has shown the different insights to be gained into consumer experience by treating the body and the natural environment holistically. An important philosophy to carry forward into future research is the premise that the collective creates something greater than the sum of the discrete parts (Rayner, 2010). The typology can be applied to a wider range of consumer research issues than presented here, from the mundane to the spectacular. Shops, hotels, restaurants, adventure playgrounds around the world interface the senses with the natural earth elements. For example, the senses and the elements interface when chilled towels and misters are encountered at a luxury pool in the Nevada desert, or when a firework display at Disneyworld merges color, water, music and fire. Integrating the senses with the earth elements helps consumer researchers understand people better by providing a more complete and comprehensive picture of multisensory experiences. Social media is an additional place where firms may go to reconsider the portrayal of multisensory experiences in nature and remobilize the senses. For example, social media portraying images of body parts is one outlet

192 whereby the body can talk and hence have agency (e.g. a bleeding leg). Tough Mudder in particular, pushes the boundaries of what is acceptable to show online of the body and of injury. Social media provides a unique outlet where sensory laboratories can be showcased.

In this study, one sensory order in the Western world has been explored, yet sensory orders are not fixed, like cultures they change and develop over time. There may be different sensory orders and modes for different groups within a culture: women and men, children and adults and different professions. Some societies gravitate toward an equality of the senses; most cultures manifest some bias, such as privileging a particular sense, or a cluster of senses (Howes, 1991). An investigation of a holistic study of the senses in a culture where sight is suppressed would be a worthy direction for future research.

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4.9 References

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Chapter 5

Exploring Embodied Experiential Consumption with Sensory Anthropology

5.1 Abstract1

Purpose – Multisensory stimulation is integral to experiential consumption. While the senses can be studied one at a time, to reflect lived experience they are best understood and studied as interrelated and interconnected. With a significant gap between the consumption of multi-sensory experiences in the marketplace, and the research tools used to study such experiences, the conduct of sensory ethnography is re-examined in this chapter.

Methodology – Sensory anthropology holds the promise of helping us better understand multisensory experience and uncover the meaning of experiences. Fieldwork from ocean yacht racing in the world’s most treacherous seas and military- style adventure racing show the how sensations are experienced phenomenologically, understood culturally and reenacted socially.

Findings - Sociologists and anthropologists have given considerable attention to studying the senses. Consumer researchers can use techniques from sensory anthropology to explore the senses and derive novel insights into consumer experience. Provided is a concrete set of methodological guidelines around five concepts: embodiment, mimesis, the mindful body, local biology and the work of culture.

Research Implications – Consumer researchers can study experiences in the field to gain additional depth and richness in their understanding of multisensory experiences. The fieldwork, interpretation, analysis and writing of experiential, bodily and sensorial dimensions of ethnography may be intuitive, complex and serendipitous.

Practical Implications – The practical value of attending to the sensations and the body is the additional information about what is happening at a granular and multidimensional level that would not ordinarily be evident. In a marketplace where psychological, social and cultural marketing techniques are dominant, this approach

1 This paper is written in the style of a general marketing journal, broadly following the conventions of the European Journal of Marketing.

198 allows organizations through means of sensors, sensations, and sensory expressions to position and differentiate their offerings.

Originality/Value – The chapter provides a methodological framework for studying the senses from a corporeal perspective in marketing research.

Keywords – senses, multisensory, sensory anthropology, sensory stimulation, experiential consumption, qualitative methods, embodiment, mimesis, the mindful body, local biology, the work of culture.

5.2 Introduction The Guinness Storehouse in Dublin is working with flavor scientists to create a multisensory brand experience. Flavor perception is enhanced using fountains that emit vapors of malt, beer, hops and roasted barley to enable visitors to taste the essence of Guinness with their sense of smell (Cooper, 2013). Over the past few decades consumer spending on experiences like the Guinness Storehouse has boomed (Andrade & Cohen, 2007; Krishna, 2012; Methanada, 2011) and sensory stimulation is central to these experiences (Bromiley & Curley, 1992; Joy & Sherry, 2003). Multisensory experience is an indelible feature of contemporary marketing, with a major impact on the preferences and purchases of consumers. The Playstation 4 Virtual Reality Headset allows players to see, feel and hear their gaming experience. Body temperatures, pulse rates, brain waves and blood flows are recorded for heightened sensory feedback (Langley, 2013). The headset is integrated with move motion sensors and stereoscopic sound, allowing for deep immersion in each game. The smell of Unilever’s Dove soap reportedly contributes $63m (£39m) of the brand’s annual US revenues, whilst touch accounts for $34m and sight $14m (Cooper, 2013). Examples such as Playstation and Dove show how the creation and commercialization of multisensory experiences is evident across industries as diverse as food and drink, beauty and healthcare, entertainment and travel, sport and leisure. This is true for both offline and online experiences (e.g. adrenaline.com and redbaloon.com). Whereas marketers and consumer researchers cannot avoid thinking about multisensory experiential consumption, it is questionable whether marketing research concepts and toolkits have kept pace. There is evidence of a significant gap between the consumption of multisensory experiences in the marketplace, and the research tools ordinarily used to study such experiences (Hultén, 2011). More commercial attention is given to ways of sensing (through sensory modalities such as the visual,

199 auditory, tactile, olfactory, gustatory, kinesthetic and so forth) but consumer research and analysis in marketing is deficient (Hultén, 2011). With these observations in mind, three closely related questions are addressed in this chapter:

1. Where should consumer researchers look to conceptualize multisensory experiential consumption? 2. How should such consumption be studied? 3. What practical considerations are there in undertaking these studies?

Research Questions Recommended Approach 1. Where should consumer researchers look to Sensory anthropology, specifically medical conceptualize multisensory experiential anthropology. consumption?

2. How should such consumption be studied? Application of core sensory anthropological concepts: embodiment, mimesis, the mindful body, local biology and the work of culture.

3. What practical considerations are there in Cases from yacht racing and adventure racing to undertaking these studies? highlight the methodological, analytical and interpretative challenges involved in a sensory anthropological approach to the study of multisensory experiential consumption.

Arguably, people are becoming increasingly disembodied because of technology and other modern comforts of the industrialized West. This leads to a disembodied self, a selfless body (Scheper-Hughes & Lock, 1987), or even a divided self (Laing, 1960). For many people the loss of the sense of bodily integrity, continuity and wholeness now means high multisensory stimulation experiences are increasingly valued. In response, sensory marketers are starting to capitalize on disembodied individuals as primed candidates to sell high-sensory experiences. Required are methodological tools suited to capturing the interrelations, interconnections, contradictions and wholeness of these sensory experiences – most marketers lack such a methodological toolkit. By contrast, anthropological inquiry has used embodiment to understand multisensory bodily experiences (Scheper-Hughes & Lock, 1987). As multisensory consumption experiences occur at the site of the body,

200 medical anthropology, which focuses on the body, provides a legitimate means to deconstruct our sensory domain. The premise underlying sensory anthropology is that such perceptions are cultural as well as physical (Classen, 1997). Therefore, the goals in this chapter are to:

(1) Provide consumer researchers with insights from medical anthropology as a conceptual basis for studying multisensory experiences, doing so in a way that provides distinctive insights. (2) Specifically outline how consumer researchers can use embodiment, mimesis, the mindful body, local biology and the work of culture as concepts to uncover and study embodied social practices in experiential consumption. (3) Illustrate how the techniques are applied in practice and highlight methodological challenges and solutions.

These goals are based on the premise that the senses are experienced phenomenologically, understood culturally and reenacted socially (Nichter, 2008). Sensory ethnographies from ocean yacht racing in the world’s most treacherous seas and military-style adventure racing show the enhanced evaluative standards achieved from using methodological tools from medical anthropology in consumer research. A few consumer researchers have drawn upon sensory methods, particularly to explore issues of embodiment (Canniford & Shankar, 2013; Dion et al., 2011; Joy & Sherry, 2003; Valtonen et al., 2010). However, these works do not provide precise methods for studying multisensory experience. By contract, a platform is provided here for studying multisensory experiences, based on Merleau-Ponty’s (1964) concept of the senses and more recent studies in anthropology (Classen, 1997; Nichter, 2008; Obeyesekere, 1985b; Scheper & Lock, 1987) and sociology (Simmel et al., 1997). This chapter calls for a focus on the interactions that occur to excite the senses, which collectively form and shape experiential consumption. Valtonen et al. (2010) applies sensory ethnography to consumer research using a practice-based culturalist approach to explore the senses as a whole - a dialectic between structure and human action working back and forth in a dynamic relationship. But practices don’t just occur at the individual level. The enquiry by

201 Valtonen et al. (2010) is subtly developed to ask to what extent we can understand the social in multisensory practices? This research is complemented by studying a constellation of sensory practices to show a different kind of ethnography is required to develop practice theory. In addition, there is limited research on the social basis by which sensory experience is shared: for example, in group feelings and perceptions. Identified is the need for more methodological attention regarding the extent to which these sensory experiences are social and shared (e.g. as metaphors). Introduced first is sensory anthropology and its relevance for addressing ethnographic issues in consumer research. Then five conceptual approaches are reviewed and it is explained what these mean for research in order to gain an appreciation for the practical considerations. Discussed next is how to study problematic multisensory experiences (e.g. gustatory sharing). Examples and analyses are presented, including the mix of methods used to tease out important insights which might not normally be apparent (e.g. one way of understanding local biology is living with people). The chapter concludes with methodological implications for fieldwork and future research.

5.3 Conceptual Background

5.3.1 Sensory Anthropology

Sensory anthropology investigates phenomenological experiences and how these are understood culturally and reenacted socially. The focus is on sociocultural responses to five senses: sight, sound, taste, touch and smell. This involves exploring which senses are treated as central/peripheral in certain sociocultural contexts by both the individual directly experiencing them and significant others. It also examines those sensations deemed to be culturally valued (e.g. fitness markers), and those that are not (e.g. pollution). This requires an examination of the social relations of sensory experiences acknowledging that the sensorial is not simply experienced individually, but “dividually”, meaning that a person’s sensory experience is often dynamic and transactional. Ethnography is capable of dealing with multiple simultaneous stimuli: for example sensory ethnography is proficient at grasping profound, but unspoken, knowledge and therefore establishes new forms of sensory representation (Pink,

202 2009). Ethnographic techniques reveal a hierarchy of meaningful structures where twitches, winks and parodies are produced, perceived and interpreted (Lorant et al., 2007). The approach helps to transform a ‘thin’ description (wink) to a ‘thick’ description (a friend faking a wink to deceive an innocent person into thinking a conspiracy is in motion) (Geertz, 1973). Thick description is important when studying the senses due to the multiple ways in which these are stimulated and hence experienced, leading to a multi-layered structure of inference and implication. More specifically, in medical anthropology Nichter (2008) focuses on the merits of sensory anthropology to reveal multisensory bodily ways of knowing. The sense modalities include shortness of breath, chest and heart pain, dizziness, shifts in energy, and states of hot and cold (Hinton & Hinton, 2002). Medical anthropologists assume people share a sense of an intuitive self (Carrithers et al., 1985). The parts of the body (e.g. the self, matter, soul) and the relations between the parts, such as the way the body is felt in health and sickness, is very important in determining human experience (Scheper-Hughes & Lock, 1987). Douglas (1966) observes the body is a natural symbol supplying some of our richest sources of metaphor. Bastien (1985b) and Lakoff (1988) conclude the concept of the body is holistic, rather than dualistic, suggesting the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Five inter-related concepts are of central importance to medical sensory anthropology and they provide an alternative logic to dualistic approaches. This study focuses on these five concepts because they illuminate how sensations are experienced phenomenologically, understood culturally and reenacted socially. All five concepts illustrate how bodily health, illness, cultural values, work demands, drugs and foods and the local environment inform sensations. As properties of body language, the concepts mutually support each other to show sensory experience is articulated at the site of the body, which indexes bodily ways of knowing (Ziemke et al., 2007). Further, as a person’s experiences of the senses is rarely solitary, the five concepts help identify issues of bodily feedback and ways to handle sensory experience in socially and culturally appropriate ways (e.g. handling a traumatic event).

Embodiment Much of human life is lived in the non-cognitive world (Bourdieu, 1984). Embodiment refers to the lived experience of a person’s body, as well as experience

203 of life mediated through the body (Appadurai, 1996). This includes researchers learning and knowing through their own bodily experience (Pink, 2009). An important implication of the embodiment literature is that it deconstructs the mind/body divide to understand the body as a source of knowledge and consequently agency (Shilling, 2003). Kirmayer (2003) notes the essential insight of embodiment is that to give the body a life of its own. Social worlds become inscribed upon the bodily physiology and experience (Bourdieu, 1985). Approximately 95% of embodiment is non-cognitive, yet the vast majority of academic research has focused on the cognitive dimension (Thrift, 2000). Without diminishing cognition in any way, this research conceives the use of the biologically and socially-wired in embodied discourses. Merleau-Ponty (1962) elaborates embodiment in the realm of perception and Bourdieu (1977, 1984) sites embodiment in the discourse of practice. In phenomenology, Merleau-Ponty (1962), Casey (1998) and Leder (1990) use embodiment as a powerful means of coming to terms with bodily experiences. Merleau-Ponty’s (1962) notion of ‘knowing without knowing’ challenges the Cartesian worldview by showing how our relationship to our body transcends both subject and object. For example, one can move around in a shop without conscious thought. Incorporated bodily know-how is referred to as corporeal schema (Merleau- Ponty, 1962) or, in the words of Nike, Just Do It.

Mimesis A productive way of linking embodiment to language is through bodily mimesis (Ziemke et al., 2007), referred to as the use of the body for representational means (Donald, 1991). Mimesis is a layer of embodiment which refers to the mirroring of social and visceral correspondences – to become and behave like something else (Taussig, 1993). The process of mimesis is associated with favoring familiar sensorial states (Lyon, 2002), including the bodily memory of traumatic events (Bourdieu, 1977). Mimesis involves the bodily memory that is associated with the lifestyle, values and dispositions of everyday activities. The use of modern communication technology has transformed our cultural resources and one such transformation has been the abandonment of mimesis: specifically the pattern of organized actions which serve to remobilize the practice of music, rhythm and words (Bourdieu, 1977). The way in which mimesis entails the processes by which social and visceral correspondences come to mirror one another

204 (Nichter, 2008) is vital to this study. This uses mimesis as a platform to deconstruct drugs and foods in as much as they alter multisensory steps and states. Further, it uses mimesis as a means through which ethnographers can organize experiences across domains. Through iconic relations and perceptions of common processes elaborated in physical and social activities, it treats mimesis in terms of the resonance between the mind, the emotions and the body – the interlinking of the cognitive, affective and bodily experience (Kirmayer, 1992). Put another way, ethnographers can harness mimesis by drawing upon the phenomena of ‘string resonance’ (sympathetic vibration) found in music and apply it to the body–mind continuum of sensory experiential consumption.

The Mindful Body The movement programs whereby consumers mimic one another in social contexts can be experienced by the mindful body. Described as a ‘sixth sense’, Scheper, Hughes and Lock (1987) believe people are endowed with an integrated mind and body: an awareness beyond the individual and social conception. It is sometimes during the experience of sickness, as in moments of deep trance or sexual transport, that mind and body, self and other, become one – the mindful body. Clinical practitioners point out mind and body are also inseparable in health, suffering and healing (Scheper-Hughes & Lock, 1987). They are therefore connected through sensory modalities. Yet we are faced with the challenge of being without the symbols, vocabulary, tools and concepts to probe this mindful body (Lock & Dunk, 1987). A development of this language offers a key to understanding the mindful body, as well as the self, the social body, and the body politic (Scheper‚Hughes & Lock, 1987). The mindful body is also a natural symbol supplying some of our richest sources of metaphor (Douglas, 1966). For example, the human organism and its composition of milk, blood, tears and excreta can be used as a cognitive map to represent natural, social and spatial relations (Scheper-Hughes & Lock, 1987). In this respect, culture is a banal or vulgar solution to the human condition as it rests on the ground of guts, sex and energy (Harris, 1989). Mind collapses into body in these formulations.

Local Biology In their theorizations of the mindful body, Scheper-Hughes and Lock (1987) contend that medical anthropology has failed to problematize the body and may fall

205 prey to biological fallacy. Local biology addresses this concern by theorizing biology and culture as part of a continuous feedback loop. It can be conceptualized as the importance of the body as an active agent in the relationship between culture and biology: for example, how biological interpretations can influence cultural interpretations (Lock, 1993). Lock (1998) compares women’s sensory experience of menopause in Japan to the USA. She found Japanese women born at the end of the war (around 50 years of age) had encountered the most nutritional deprivation compared to other generations. Yet virtually none of them had smoked, consumed alcohol, nor drank coffee. The impact of genetics, diet and lived sensory experiences are central to local biology. Local biologies do not determine subjective experience, but instead work with the patterns created by culturally infused knowledge (Lock, 1998). Many domains of health-related consumer experience are worth exploring in terms of local biologies, such as the impact of different staple diets on bodies and the lived sensorial experience of different populations throughout life, including at times of illness and distress. Local biologies need to be examined in relation to ‘local phenomenologies,’ (Nichter, 2008). This study uses the biology and culture of the participants as a continuous feedback relationship of ongoing exchange (Lock & Kaufert, 2001). It suggests it is important to think in terms of local biologies to reflect very different social and physical conditions of people’s lives from one society to another (Lock, 1993).

The Work of Culture Local biology shares many traits with the work of culture, which refers to the process by which perceived risk, distressful states, affects and sensations are transformed into publicly accepted meanings and symbols that can be manipulated, or managed in a culturally salient manner (Obeyesekere, 1985a, 1990). Importantly, subjective experiences are often articulated through the medium of cultural symbols, yet these are only imbued with significance when they are internalized and integrated into the context of a person’s emotional and motivational concerns (Throop, 2003, p. 112). For example, Obeyesekere (1985a) shows how one of the works of culture in Sri Lanka is to transform dysphoria into Buddhist transcendence through mourning. The work of culture also assumes an influence over dream behavior, yet it develops dream works in a more complex direction as it helps to explain how unconscious

206 motives are transformed into cultural symbols that help people make sense of their waking lives (Obeyesekere, 1990). When research problems are insolvable in surface dimensions, the work of culture facilitates a deeper search for meaning by interrogating cognition and culture in both the dreaming and the waking world (Hollan, 1994). Risk and unpleasant multisensory states are central to the bodily experiences of participants in the empirical study reported here. Therefore, the work of culture is used to match personal experience and ‘tough symbols’ (e.g. injuries) to sensory modalities that resonate in visceral as well as cognitive ways. The overall message is that marketers need to rethink their methods for studying multisensory experiences. Five concepts from medical anthropology have been presented that mutually support the agenda of understanding how sensations are experienced phenomenologically, understood culturally, and re-enacted socially. Next, illustrations are provided of how these concepts can be used to understand multisensory experiential consumption in the field.

5.3.2 How concepts from medical anthropology can be used in consumer research

This section discusses how concepts from medical anthropology can be used practically to solve the problem of studying multisensory experiences. It uses examples and techniques to show how embodiment, mimesis, the mindful body, local biology and the work of culture help ethnographers arrive at deeper insights.

How to use Embodiment in the Field Embodiment is a mode of analysis that uses the body as a field of perception and practice (Maurice, 1964). There are many ways in which the concept of embodiment can collapse the dualities between mind and body, subject and object in practice (Csordas, 1990). The non-dualistic treatment of experience can be seen in Nichter’s (2008) fieldwork in medical anthropology with Ishwara, a practitioner of Ayurvedic medicine in Southern India. Ishwara emphasized that it was essential for Nichter to learn to trust his body and to read sensations as signs of interaction between the properties of substances and the state of his body. Ishwara stated that if you want to understand Ayurveda as a participant observer, the place to begin is your stomach (Nichter, 2008, p. 169). Ishwara often used analogies; in this case he likened Nichter’s

207 adapting to the staple diet of South Kanara to that of a plant learning to adapt to new soil. Ishwara encouraged Nichter to take in the essence of the land through the consumption of locally grown rice, vegetables, fruits, even the water from local wells and milk from local cows. He regarded this internalization and embodiment of place as essential for Nichter’s transformation, or even transplantation (Nichter, 2008). By engaging in immersive bodily practices, or learning through experience, ethnographers can embody multisensory experiences in the field. Ethnographers can reposition their conscious awareness by scrutinizing and focusing on actions that occur in the context under study (Thrift, 2000). This can be done by remaining vigilant to different sensory registers achieved by paying attention to the variation of sensory receptors, the muscular, articular and vestibular modalities. Also, attention to flesh, emotions, embodied metaphors, diet, bodily transactions, body language, the embodiment of symbols and the acculturations of the ethnographer can serve to enhance embodiment in practice. Further, by actively engaging in the same practices as participants there occurs a heightened sense of sensory involvement, empathy and embodied knowledge. This can be implemented through the power of postures, repetitive movement and spatial juxtapositions (Thrift, 2000). For example, when an ethnographer walks with a participant, the experience of walking is validated by its effects on the body (e.g. sweat, heart rate and muscles stretching), through these articulations and movement, the micro-articulations of the body-in-encounter fixes affect, mood, emotions and feelings. Other examples might include the ethnographer sharing the embodied practices of eating, sleeping, travelling, working and becoming subject to physical constrictions and freedoms such as health and illness.

How to use Mimesis in the Field Bodily mimesis refers to the movements that lead consumers to mimic one another in social contexts, from adolescent online gaming communities, to queue formation in a busy supermarket. This technique becomes useful when studying people that occupy similar social and physical niches across places and spaces, entangling bodies, polities, and ecologies. The concept of mimesis has been used to unpack the shared social mimicry of thousands of supporters in English football culture. As ethnographers investigating the multisensory experience of a live football match, participant observation is used to immerse researchers physically within the context. Once inside the stadium, as participants, researchers embody, share and

208 mirror the supporters’ sensory modalities: appearing in club colors singing “Chelsea, Chelsea – Chelsea, Chelsea”, or joining the chanting and abuse shared between fans (Back et al., 1999). There is a unique mimic vibration, or ‘string resonance’ (sympathetic vibration) formed by the collapsing of mind, body and emotions. This is further apparent in the shared physical excitement of fans as the chants vibrate across the pitch. The mirrored bodily dispositions of supporters is influenced by sharing visual representations (e.g. standing and cheering when the team scores a goal), a social pride for the players, the feeling of sitting on cold hard plastic seats, the cold air and sense of vastness, yet confinement, in an atmosphere which is positively palpable. By embodying and staying alert to one’s own sensory experiences, as well as observing those of others, a researcher can capture social (e.g. singing) and visceral (e.g. rising for a goal) correspondences that resonate through the event or activity. It is evident how familiar sensorial states, such as the mimicry of drinking and violence, are favored at the football match, compared to the placid and independent sensorial state of commuters on a bus. All of these bodily sensations resonate with the mimic interlinking of the cognitive, affective and bodily experience (Kirmayer, 1992). This linking builds on lay interpretations of bodily sensations to inform a sensorially engaged anthropological study of a football match.

How to use the Mindful Body in the Field Researchers can harness the union of mind, body, self and other. Two examples are presented, first, the idea that buying more cleaning products leads to fewer germs, the second concerning the Qollahuaya-Andean Indians’ individual and social body concepts. Medical anthropologists frequently encounter symbolic equations between the healthy body and a healthy society, as well as the diseased body and a malfunctioning society (Scheper-Hughes & Lock, 1987). The idea can be applied to a vast array of consumer research ranging from health to retail, as well as people’s use of work/leisure time. For instance, the symbolic equation between the epidemic of depression is a social construct for mental health workers in the Western world. This concept can help sociocultural researchers examine the links between consumption practices surrounding the health or illness of the individual body and the social body. For example, when studying a medical student’s sensory experience of exam preparation, a correlation might be evident between the consumption of high

209 performance drugs (e.g. Ritalin) that enhance reasoning, organizing, planning and memory, and the student’s desire to succeed in a hyper-performing society. An ethnography of multisensory experience can be applied to the cleaning of a family home. Packaged goods companies have been able to sell the idea that buying more cleaning products leads to fewer germs. Yet, the overuse of antibiotics and chemical cleaning agents may result in some bacteria developing resistance. And, while households buy antibacterial cleaning products to protect their bodies from illness, as a society we hear of more people suffering from allergies. Such symbolic equations can link individual and social bodily practices. For example, dietary supplements are increasingly used to prevent dietary deficiency diseases resulting from broader societal and cultural issues. Society in sickness and in health helps us to arrive at deeper conceptual interpretations of multisensory experiences, such as the intuitive sense of the embodied self. The second mindful body technique originates from the Qollahuaya-Andean Indians’ individual and social body concepts (Bastien, 1985a, p. 598). The Qollahuayas live at the base of Mt. Kaata in Bolivia. Having practiced sophisticated herbal medicine and surgery since A.D. 700, Qollahuayas understand their own bodies in terms of the mountain and conversely they consider the mountain in terms of their own anatomy (Bastien, 1985a, p. 598). Both are seen as interrelated parts: head, chest, heart, stomach and breast. The mountain, like the body, must be nourished to stay strong and healthy. Sickness is understood as a disintegration of the body akin to an earthquake or a landslide. Consumer researchers might adopt this analogy when considering how people understand their own bodies in consumption contexts. For instance, when a customer is recalling the sensory experience of test driving a new Mercedes, he may describe the car as agile, quiet and thirsty. This reflects his own sensory perceptions whilst driving the car. The descriptors of the other can be applied to the human body; the ethnographer can then extrapolate these metaphors to understand the wider mindful body. This can be done during an interview, informal conversations, participant observation or during analysis. Here understanding is reached not through analytic methods, but through an intuitive synthesis, which is beyond speech, language, and the written word.

How to use Local Biology in the Field

210 Local biology acknowledges the centrality of the physical body to the interrelationship between culture and biology. Consider again the work of Nichter (2008) and Ishwara, the practitioner of Ayurvedic medicine. Ishwara admired the British who colonized India as esteemed collectors and organizers of information (e.g. detailed maps, language dialects and census data). They ruled India through detailed knowledge and a bureaucracy that administered many areas of Indian life. But the British never truly settled. They were great explorers and administrators, yet they integrated with neither the land nor the Indian diet. And while they collected information on virtually every subject, there are virtually no cookbooks. Likewise, the British never seriously studied Indian medicine because adopting native diets or attitudes to health would render them less British. If an ethnographer alters their diet to adapt to the local biology (Lock, 1993), the experience provides the opportunity for profound personal transformation and may give deep insight. Embodying, not just studying, Ayurvedic principles, is vital (Nichter, 2008). Local biology can also be used to strengthen modes of embodiment, mimesis and the mindful body. If the ethnographer’s body is synchronized with those of the study group, then an empathetic understanding can stimulate a complete analysis to uncover all possible meanings. This leads to a rigorous comprehension of multi-sensory meanings, akin to cracking a code. Despite the fact that the primary goal of ethnography is immersion in life worlds, the researcher often remains an outsider (Emerson et al., 2011), but local biology can help to minimize the separation, marginality and distance between ethnographers and these sensory worlds.

How to use the Work of Culture in the Field The ‘work of culture’ involves a symbolic transformation of painful affects through narrative, into culturally-accepted meanings. The transformation can be enacted in both the dreaming and the waking world (Obeyesekere, 1990). It also involves bodily feedback on appropriate ways to deal with sensorial states (Nichter, 2008). An example might be the corporeal as well as verbal feedback a woman receives from other women about the effects of childbirth (e.g. the way a woman observes how her own body, and the bodies of other women, take on a new posture and shape after childbirth). Or, the advice one receives on how to handle sensations associated with performing a traumatic event or occupational task (Nichter, 2008).

211 The work of culture also can be used in the field of multisensory consumer research as a conceptual framework for examining changing or paradoxical consumer behavior: be this the sensory depths of boxing and mountain climbing, or the mundane practice of using a mobile phone in a restaurant. Examples of how this technique can be applied to research might include how people make sense of their sensory experience of plastic surgery within the broader context of life experience and demonstrate that it condenses and expresses personal and cultural meanings. On the one hand, surgery originates from a painful internal motive, yet over time it has been transformed into a culturally accepted consumption phenomenon. This is the work of culture. At the granular level, the work of culture is valuable during interviews or conversations in the field, particularly when participants find it difficult to communicate their story. People commonly find it challenging to describe their multisensory experiences. In this instance, the researcher can ask participants to expand on their subjective perceptions, accidental occurrences and symbolic forms of reality. For example: “How did you feel about that?...what did you do?...why?...what did you feel like doing then?” This produces rich material on sensory feelings and perceptions; on pleasure, learning, anxiety, moral perceptions and emotions; on self- concept and other personally centered aspects of experience. The work of culture enlarges our vision, and allows the ethnographer to see cultural and sensory patterns not readily apparent with a literal perspective.

Table 1 provides a summary of how an ethnographer can apply the aforementioned concepts:

Table 1: Summary of how to use five concepts from medical anthropology in the field of sensory experiences

Concept Definition How to use the concept in the field Embodiment Presence and Engage in immersive bodily practices through (Bourdieu, engagement in the participant observation. 1977; world. Through Csordas, embodied Focus on and scrutinize human actions. 1990; experience we can Remain vigilant to different sensory registers. Maurice, analyze human 1964; participation in a Draw attention to flesh, emotions, embodied

212 Nichter, cultural world metaphors, gustatory patterns, bodily 2008). (Csordas, 1993). transactions, body language and symbols. Be aware of embodied practices: postures, repetitive movement and spatial juxtapositions. Mimesis The mirroring of Researcher immerses their physicality in the (Bourdieu, social and visceral context. 1977; Lyon, correspondences – 2002; to become and Embody, observe and record shared social and Nichter, behave like visceral correspondences, which are mirrored 2008). something else through bodily dispositions. (Taussig, 1993). The interlinking of the cognitive, affective and bodily experience. The Mindful The mind, body, Embody the unison of mind, body, self and Body self and other other becoming one – the surrendering of (Lock, 1993; become one to duality and division. Nichter, reach an integrated 2008; awareness Observe, record and analyze the symbolic Scheper- (Scheper-Hughes equations between the body and society. Hughes & & Lock, 1987). Participant’s descriptors of the other can be Lock, 1987). applied to their body. The researcher can then extrapolate these metaphors to extract higher order meanings. Local Biology and The consumer researcher’s body syncs with the Biology culture as a field under study and the bodies of its (Lock & continuous inhabitants. Kaufert, feedback loop 2001; (Lock, 1993). Embody, not just learn the principles of the Nichter, culture under study. Therefore the researcher’s 2008; body becomes acculturated at the biological Saillant & level. Genest, 2006). The Work of The process in During interviews and conversations in the Culture which distressful field, encourage participants to expand on their (Hollan, states are perceptions, accidental occurrences and 1994, 2004; transformed into symbolic forms of reality. Nichter, publicly accepted 2008; meanings that can Remain attentive to corporeal and verbal Obeyesekere, be manipulated, or feedback regarding appropriate ways to deal 1985a, managed with sensorial states in culturally acceptable 1985b). (Obeyesekere, ways. 1985a, 1990). Make use of participants dream narratives as a way of understanding how dreams influence cultural meanings and vice-versa.

213 5.4 Research Contexts

The worlds of ocean yacht racing and military-style adventure racing present us with a bountiful reservoir of multisensory assemblages. These contexts assault and enliven the senses by enabling us to translate the utility of our five concepts from medical anthropology to consumer research. Ocean yacht racing provides an intense variety of multisensory interactions: motion sickness, oceanic storms, the force of wind, tide and swell, and sleep deprivation. Few activities completely remove participants from their usual sensory environment, i.e. from land to sea. Subsequently, a high level of sensory vigilance is required of sailors. This can cause participants to encounter a foreign and challenging array of embodied sensations. Adventure racing involves a combination of two or more endurance disciplines, such as swimming and climbing. Pioneering adventure race Tough Mudder comprises a 20-kilometre assault course and 25 army-style obstacles, which immerse participants in fire, icy-water, mud and electricity. The physical increase in blood pressure, heart rate, and/or sensory alertness, typically caused by fear or pain provides a rich sensory arena for multisensory exploration.

5.5 Research Design

Ethnography at the site of the body (e.g. embodiment through participant observation) allowed meanings associated with the senses as a whole to be unearthed (Peter & Ryan, 1976). Fieldwork is informed by Nichter (2008) and his study of Ayurvedic medicine in Madras. Here, knowledge of one’s own body is fundamental to studying the senses. The Ayurvedic practitioner explains how the body must be our first teacher. We must learn to use our senses and not just our mind (Nichter, 2008, p. 6). This approach was used during participant observation to explore the formative experience of all the senses. Embodying, not just learning, was critical to validate the research objectives. For example, attention was paid to observing bodily processes before, during and after events that enliven the senses. The ability to walk, sit and run with people creates affinity, empathy and a sense of belonging. This social interaction is a full bodied experience (Turnbull, 2012). Geertz (1973) illustrates how running away from a Police raid on a cockfight changed

214 his relationship with the villagers (the work of culture). In the present study, walking, running, swimming, climbing and crawling in Tough Mudder, and balancing, twisting, pushing, pulling, rocking and planning whilst sailing, helped to share and embody the step, style and rhythm of others (mimesis). This social sharing of living and moving helps to understand the multi-sensorality of these experiences (embodiment). An additional strength of participant observation is the group acceptance gained from acquiring agile and combative bodies (Crossley, 2001). I remained conscious of multisensorality during the interviews. Speech, body language and gestures are important for sensory meaning making (Kress & Van Leeuwen, 2001). I then moved beyond observable forms of human interaction into how interviewer and interviewee might create a shared place – both parties could communicate as embodied and emplaced persona often using media technologies (Pink, 2009). Talk is not simply performed and embodied, it engages with the performing and sensing bodies in relation to the total environment. Participants were invited to bring everything they needed to communicate their experience in interviews. Sharing food, drink and often walking with participants afterwards meant we could draw together shared experiences emotions, material objects and more. For instance, the sound of a piano, fluctuations in weather temperature, or the texture of a couch contributed to the shared experience. Here, researcher and interviewee are emplaced in relation to other elements as they move together through a shared narrative. Visual and digital methods were also highly supportive of a sensory ethnographic focus. Although audiovisual methods do not provide a complete record of the senses, they can evoke memories of the multisensory (Pink, 2009). For instance, the filming experience relies on a parallel sensory experience with others (MacDougall, 1998). By combining different media for multi-sensory ethnographic representation we could juxtapose different types of knowledge, subjectivity, epistemology and voice to complement one another. I immersed myself in the Sydney sailing community: from volunteering at Sailability at Rose Bay, to participating in weekly twilight sails at Middle Harbour. This led to participant observation in ocean yacht racing. The yachting data consists of 14 pre- and post-event interviews (including photo-elicitation), 12 unstructured interviews, 290 pictures and four hours of video footage (Weber et al., 2002). A researcher diary and field notes were also recorded. I allowed inferences and themes

215 to develop from participant observation which centered around four weeks of training for the Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Regatta, followed by three days of racing. I also lived with two sailors for seven months in Sydney. The compounded immersion in these communities allowed for spontaneity and multi-layered interpretations (Arnould & Wallendorf, 1994). Living with Neil and Russell, two occupational and recreational sailors, meant research assumptions could be challenged, and a more grounded approach to the five concepts could be actualized. Neil and Russell collectively offered over 60 years of international sailing experience encompassing the metaphors and meanings of history, politics, and barriers to entry, which an outside researcher would be likely to overlook. For example, after a day of teaching a sea survival course, Neil would recall stories, which he might not remember in the more sterile atmosphere of an interview. In the adventure racing community, participant observation was conducted at three different Tough Mudder events, in three distinct roles. The first was as a crowd member (Scotland, 2012), next it was as a Tough Mudder participant (Sydney, 2012) and the final research was as a Tough Mudder staff volunteer (Sydney, 2013). Differences between the Scottish and the Australian contexts were evident across gender, course design, hostility of environment and volunteer roles. For example, the gender balance between men and women was more equal in Australia than Scotland, which was male dominated. Due to the richness of data gathered from sailors, I also lived with two Tough Mudder women in Sydney for five months. Unlike an unstructured interview, there is no set response category when living with informants. Data is in a continual and pure-flowing form. Hence, a more expansive documentation of conversational episodes could be recorded. As with the sailors, ideas and images were attained that would never ordinarily be accessible without total immersion in participants’ lives. For example, important insights about outside perceptions of Tough Mudder would be revealed during a Mudder’s conversation with family members over Skype. Collectively, data consisted of 46 Tough Mudder interviews with participants (including photo elicitation), 38 informal interviews with members of the Tough Mudder community (e.g. volunteers and vendors), six hours of video footage, 360 pictures, 22 artifacts, field notes, a researcher diary and two participant diaries. Data collection and analysis was guided by emergent design and iterative procedures. Following participant observation and informant responses, I continually

216 analyzed data as it was being collected for emerging themes. I then used the analysis to guide subsequent data collection. For example, interview transcripts were coded into specific, then broader categories, then used it as a guide in the field.

5.6 Findings: Sensing Experiential Consumption Sensory anthropology investigates how sensations are experienced phenomenologically, understood culturally, and re-enacted socially. This premise underlines how data are gathered. A mix of methods has been used to source data that are structured around the five concepts of embodiment, mimesis, mindful body, local biology, and work of culture. The concepts are not mutually exclusive and the paradigm of embodiment transcends the five concepts. Each section begins with examples from adventure racing data (Tough Mudder) followed by offshore yacht racing (the Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Regatta, the Clipper Race and the Sydney to Hobart Race). By illustrating the application of the five concepts with ethnographic data, it is intended to give consumer researchers in marketing an insight into how the toolkit may be used in these and related contexts.

5.6.1 Embodiment Participants use embodiment as a mode of learning, knowing and experiencing their senses through their bodies. Eliot’s multisensory perceptions shape his comprehension of Tough Mudder:

It’s gonna be pretty cool and hard work, and cold, probably smelly and wet and I’m gonna get electrocuted...muddy, gritty, dirty, smelly, hard, cold, it’s probably reasonably dangerous (Eliot, M, 29, Senior Fire Engineer, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

Emphasis is placed on self-movement, life, touch, smell and taste. Eliot is using cognitive and embodied schemata to come to terms with what he is about to experience – there is a sensuous biological interrelationship of body-mind- environment (Howes, 2005). He is embodying the experience before it happens in order to prepare for the inscription upon his bodily physiology and experience. This form of embodiment can be challenging for people who have not yet experienced

217 Tough Mudder. When analyzing this embodied knowledge from Tough Mudder 2012 these insights fed into subsequent interpretations when next in the field in 2013. Jarnah confesses how the portrayal of electrocution over the radio deterred her from participating in Tough Mudder. The radio triggered her to embody the sensations experienced by the radio host who vividly recalled his experience:

I heard it advertised on the radio last year. They’ve had a guy from the radio station go and test it out before the actual race day, and he tested out the electrocution part, and they had it like all on radio. Sound effects and everything, and I remember thinking “oh shit I’d never do that” (Jarnah, F, 31, Registered Nurse, Tough Mudder, April 2013).

Despite her unease, Jarnah did complete Tough Mudder. The viscosity from the radio host’s bodily sensations, to Jarnah’s bodily sensations proved to be a powerful force in influencing her propensity to participate. There is an embodied narrative from the sounds of the radio to Jarnah’s body. The account predisposes perceptions of sensation associated with feelings of fear and vulnerability, well-being and protection. By examining her body language and voice fluctuations during the interview, it was possible to tease out her embodied sensations beyond what her words were telling us. In contrast, Matthew describes the positive influence that sound effects can have on the body: such as causing the release of adrenaline to assist him in the event:

The videos come across, they’re quite hard, and the music they put on it. It’s not like it’s your happy family music - come along and have some fun. It’s your heavy rock music to get the adrenaline racing…and all the videos of physical endurance and people using their bodies in extreme ways to do these activities (Matthew, M, 30, Investment Banker, Tough Mudder, April 2013).

To assist Matthew in his embodiment of the event, a video clip from the start line of the event was played so that he could more easily return to his lived multisensory experience. Here the music prepares the body for what lies ahead, much like the singing of nationalistic songs as a prelude to war or performance of the ritualistic Haka on arrival in New Zealand. The video emailed from Tough Mudder to Mudders the day before the event is a route to embodied knowing – a way for Matthew to connect to non-verbalized ways of experiencing and knowing and arrive at a new level of awareness (Pink, 2009). The beat of the music influences the beat of the heart and breaths in the life sense. Jarnah also notes the multisensory role of music:

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When I run, I’ve taken to listening to David Guetta’s music, seems to distract me from my burning limbs. Today I’ve realized that running downhill, to me, is like swimming in a calm ocean, it requires no energy, no burning in the chest and gasping for air, just a nice relaxed pace that’s effortless and free (Jarnah, F, 31, Registered Nurse, Tough Mudder Diary, April 2013).

Jarnah’s diary is an excellent example of how, body part by body part, all her senses create her embodied experience. Her diary was instrumental in making salient her reflections and perceptions of different sensations happening in unison. This quote shows Jarnah has turned her attention inwards: her body has become a mode of self- enquiry and self-encounter. By paying attention to the variation of sensory receptors, from muscular burning, to articular relaxation, she has become aware of different sensory registers. Also, attention to pain, emotions, embodied metaphors and bodily transactions: all serve to enhance her understanding of her multisensory experience. In a Tough Mudder interview, Matt reveals how his senses were confused by the multiple mediums the course had to offer. He expresses how the sensation of electricity (through touch) caused a new way of managing life, space and direction. This in turn impacted on his other senses, particularly sight. This grueling extract communicates the perils of embodiment, and how many consumption experiences design-in miss-management of the body. For example, it is no accident that 10,000 volts of electricity is used:

The electric, that just destroyed me. I went to charge through and I got struck. I don’t remember what happened, I got knocked out; I fell like a dead body to the ground…It was a big deal. I got knocked out again. Then I woke again by another shock. I tried to get up but I couldn’t, so I kept crawling. Then I hit another big patch of wires, a clump, but then I got knocked out again, my face went straight in the mud. Then I woke up again by another shock and I just crawled as fast as I could to get out of there…It was pretty brutal. Then I kept crawling until my legs were clear of the wires, and I couldn’t stand for about 20 seconds. I was a bit dazed, I’ve never been knocked out before, so it was all new to me…the commentator was saying the day before three people didn’t wake up from the shocks, they had to get the ambulance. That was a lot more harsh than what I was expecting. I guess I can actually say I’ve experienced the toughest of Tough Mudder now. There’s something wrong there. People shouldn’t not wake-up. Then I came out and the guy (volunteer) put the orange head band on me, and I was a bit dazed. He said, “are you alright man” and I said “yes”, but I wasn’t, I really wasn’t (Matt, M, 24, Mechanical Engineer Student, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

Matt’s experience of electricity makes visceral his understanding and appreciation of electrocution. He incorporates electricity into his body in a way that alters both his consciousness and his physical body. Further, the transformation of electricity inside his body generates the sensation of shock – he feels motionless and

219 dazed. Such a bodily understanding is possible because of visceral sensations (Joy & Sherry, 2003). The electricity spreads throughout his body to create an association with death: ‘knocked out’, ‘ambulance’, ‘not wake-up’. Being knocked unconscious is a unique experience for many people – it takes the body one step closer to death – akin to a sensory black box. Turning to the end of the quote, Matt said he was alright, but he was not when the orange Tough Mudder head band was placed on his head – a sign of completion and achievement. Matt was an ultra-competitive teammate who started the course earlier to get a faster time. His competitive nature may explain why he said he was fine, when he wasn’t. His cognitive sense of pride was stronger than the sensory messages in his body. The use of sensory ethnography extracted this insight. As a participant observer, I embodied the same experience as Matt, but nausea was my issue, not unconsciousness. Matt doesn’t communicate his true feelings to Tough Mudder volunteers, thus it was only by participating and embodying as a team mate that this level of sensory insight was gained. The implication for sensory ethnographers is to adopt multiple roles as a participant observer. Water also provides a thrilling sensory experience. In the following interview, Tough Mudder Patrick describes his oppositional encounter with ice water as he trains for the Arctic Enema obstacle: a dumpster contraption which tests the fear of being frozen alive:

In the last training session, when we actually did the swimming at 6am in the morning, I just realized that it literally takes your breath away, and no matter how fit you are, it makes you feel like you wanna spew (laughs). Sorry! It’s really bad (Patrick, M, 23, Student, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

Patrick’s experience of temperature leads to nausea which momentarily blocks all other senses. His body is porous and permeable, taking in light, images, smells, sounds and touch. The boundaries of his body are violated causing this traumatic event to become inscribed onto his body like a sensory tattoo. We observe Patrick’s engagement with the world being heightened as the corporeal panic attack turns into a physical memory. During the interview, I (soon to embark on the Arctic Enema with Patrick) began to embody the sensations Patrick described through postures and facial expressions. The feeling of breath being knocked out of the lungs, and the immobilization of limbs seizing up proved to be a powerful embodiment experience

220 shared between participant and researcher. This sensory sharing is also a version of mimesis which implies a unity between participant and ethnographer. Matthew presents a contrasting encounter with the Arctic Enema obstacle: he comments on the longer-term effects of the ice water. He uses a somantic idiom – a verbal phrase to convey an emotional experience about a bodily sensation:

Even the Arctic Enema, it’s nice and refreshing on the day because it was such a hot day. Then two ks later your brain starts to hurt a little bit, so a bit of brain freeze (Matthew, M, 30, Investment Banker, Tough Mudder, April 2013).

A cascade of sensations infiltrates Matthew’s body: he internalizes and embodies the ice water as something essential to transform and harmonize his temperature. Simultaneous painful shocks are sent to his brain. It is worth noting this obstacle involves the embodied presence of others. Hence, Matthew’s individual body is co- extensive with other agents sharing the same social environment. Other Mudders can empathize with Matthew’s biorhythm in the ice water, as well as his desire to regulate his body temperature. Of interest is to see how participants evaluated their experiences in terms of their sensory qualities and what these qualities meant to them. Explored were how participants interpreted the life, smells, movements, sights, textures and sounds at the starting bullpen. The bullpen can be likened to a sensory stage: batches of 600 Mudders enter, they are held for approximately 10 minutes, and then released. When everyone is in the pen, volunteers rotate the audio speakers so that music is blasted at the participants (sound). Mudders are tightly packed and are instructed by the master of ceremonies to shake hands with their fellows and kneel on the ground to make their pledge to help fellow Mudders (touch). High walls and barbed wire surround the pen leaving only the start line visible (sight). Minutes before the starting gun, volunteers check the wind direction and set off flares to fill the pen with orange smoke (taste/smell/sight). Playing the music, managing the crowd and volunteer photographers, as well as being a Mudder in the pen at a previous event, helped me to embody this sensory medley. Therefore embodiment could occur on various dimensions beyond the participant experience. This led to a well-rounded sensory account of the event: for example, through the embodied encounter of being electrocuted as a Tough Mudder. The complete start line playlist for the Sydney April 2013 event is as follows:

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1. ACDC, Hells Bells: “I’m rolling thunder, pouring rain, I’m coming on like a hurricane. My lightening’s flashing across the sky. You’re only young, but you’re gonna die…I got my bell I’m gonna take you to hell”. 2. Audioslave, Cochise: “I’ve been watching, while you’ve been coughing, I’ve been drinking life while you’ve been nauseous and so I drink to health while you kill yourself”. 3. The Who, Baba O’Riley: “Out here in the fields, I fight for my meals, I get my back into my living”. 4. Eminem, Lose Yourself: “His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy, there’s vomit on his sweater already, mom’s spaghetti…you better lose yourself in the music”.

The start line music is infused with words of self-movement, consumption, sensation, and life and death. Mudder’s audio sense is inundated with sound and touch (music vibrating through the body) and infused with a masochistic bodily narrative. This forces Mudders to evoke cognitive representations related to the social and moral order of the event and induces visceral states and embodied feelings of sweat, pain, nausea and fear. If I had not been in the team of volunteers at the start line, then I would not have had access to the playlist, the sequencing of music, the rehearsing of the master of ceremonies address, and releasing the orange smoke. Similarly, embodying the sensations that the sailing crew experienced before, during and after eating meals was a good diagnostic indicator of people’s multisensory embodied experiences:

I was sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with my crew on the rail of our boat when my first meal, pasta bolognaise, was handed to me. I thought it was comical that we used dog bowls to eat. It was only when the wind blew my lunch across my teammates coat that I saw the value. Most annoyingly, intermittent waves would cover us, drenching our food in sea water (Lead Researcher Field Notes, Sydney to Coffs Harbour Regatta, Jan 2012).

The eating practices in the yacht environment brought together sharing and specialized skills. I embodied, tasted and ingested the sea. Here, as a sensory ethnographer, I was able to benefit from sharing meals with others and recognize how tastes, textures and eating practices and routines can bring otherwise unspoken meanings to the fore. I learnt to adjust eating practices according to the principles that were being taught by the crew (e.g. eating with one’s face sunk into the bowl) and the environment (e.g. force of wind, tide and swell). This was a necessary first step to becoming accepted by the crew, habituated to place and attentive to bodily sensations. These last function as a learning process to read signs of sensory change, such as the ingestion of hydration salts due to diminished sensory alertness. One of the biggest

222 challenges was to record data on the racing yacht. As electronic and paper based records were water-logged, reliance was placed on memory. In a final embodiment quote, John continues the enquiry into sensory learning by describing how the senses are captured and suspended in time and place on a yacht:

Their blinkers have gone down, it is an interesting point to see people at. It’s how they’re just getting through it. And of course, the thing with sailing obviously, which is rare for any other activity, is in almost every other activity you can press the stop button. You can say, “I’ve had enough, I don’t like it, stop”. Sailing: it’s inescapable. People can be in places of severe discomfort and they can’t make it stop…But generally speaking people have to get through so they do get through and then they realize that actually they could get through. And maybe they’re capable of dealing with levels of discomfort which they didn’t think they were capable of. And certainly the people that I’ve done sailing experiences with, they’re really proud that they got through it. That’s a really common theme in their feedback, and somehow they feel that develops a resilience of some kind, to get through other difficult things (John, M, 32, Freelance Sailor, Jan 2012).

Embodiment is often analyzed in association with body movement (Charters, 2006). However, in John’s vignette, body movement and engagement are restricted. Nonetheless, bodily exploration still takes place through trauma, interlaced with sensory growth, and a layering of sensory resilience. Once the sensation becomes part of a sailor’s embodied knowledge, many people can apply the strength to other sensory modalities in their life. This means in different environments and situations, ethnographers can develop specific patterns of sensory behavior, and apply them in different contexts under study. The technique is similar to the fine-tuning of the body as a research tool. This is part of the process of learning to trust the body and draw upon its embodied knowledge (Nichter, 2008).

5.6.2 Mimesis The mirroring of social and visceral correspondences was a central practice exercised by participants. In interviews we explored the idea of dirt as something that was experienced and evaluated sensorially. I probed participants to say how vision, sound, touch, smell and texture features in their comprehension of mud. Tough Mudder participant Gina further supports the surprising pleasure of mud against the skin:

223 There are all different consistencies of mud depending on where you’re at, like if you were crawling you’d notice all the stones that were scratching you. If you go into a river it was thin mud, if you were running through it was really slippery…I thought I’d be grossed out, but it wasn’t too bad (Gina, F, 25, Gym Manager, Tough Mudder, April 2013).

Gina perceived the mud with her eyes, but made sense of it through her movements. Her kinesthetic and proprioceptive senses worked in tandem with the eye, which touched the stones and mud. The versatility of the last lends itself to a multisensory encounter involving unanticipated smell, tastes, sounds, sights and textures. A central characteristic of mimesis is the favoring of familiar sensory states, in this extract, Gina favors being clean compared to being muddy, despite her growing tolerance for the medium. Throughout fieldwork I aimed to understand how people used sensory categories to give meaning to their mirrored consumption experiences and practices. Jarnah describes the anticipation of vastly fluctuating temperatures in the Arctic Enema obstacle (Image 1):

You had to go under the water, and just looking at people’s faces they were just like “gaaaah”, couldn’t really move (laughs). I remember when I used to go surfing in New Zealand in the winter time, you’d duck dive, and you get underneath the water, and you’d get an instant like ice headache. Just like your eyeballs are just frozen, like they’re going to pop out. It’s like the coldest feeling ever. It feels like the obstacle is going to be worse than that (Jarnah, F, 31, Registered Nurse, Tough Mudder, April 2013).

Image 1: Tough Mudder Arctic Enema Obstacle

Jarnah draws on her prior experience in the ocean in New Zealand to personify her pre-reflexive embodied knowledge of Tough Mudder. The memory resonates through her body and stimulates her senses simultaneously: self-movement, temperature, touch, sight, balance and sound. Mimesis is evident through the bodily memory from New Zealand as a bodily disposition associated with her active outdoor

224 lifestyle. On the surface, being wet and cold, wind-swept and covered in mud adds up to a grueling ordeal. However, many of these assaults on the body have uplifting and re-energizing effects. For example, the cold water that Mudders swim through stimulates the release of mood-boosting endorphins, and activates sensory nerves leading to the brain (Morales 2012). Cold water also prepares a person emotionally to experience new challenges – something that is explicitly factored into the sequence of Tough Mudder obstacles (Morales 2012). When interviewing participants I intuitively used mimesis to mirror their body language. This proved particularly effective at encouraging participants to open up and quickly feel comfortable when telling their stories. Immersion in mud may visually re-calibrate a participant’s identity. Photographs from Tough Mudder record some poignant examples. Image 2 features several men waiting at the start line wearing florescent adornments – something they would not ordinarily wear. These men were not friends before the event, but a shared interest in sensory stimulation re-calibrates their sense of identity. Image 3 depicts the obscuring of identity that all Mudders experience which has a cohesive impact on the social dimension of dealing with unfamiliar mud immersion. Once all participants are muddy, the sameness and shared sense of vulnerability under the weight of the earth creates a mimicking yet unique sensory experience that serves to reduce competitiveness and enhance cooperation. The participant is liberated from typical visual associations, based on how they look in their day to day lives. The work of culture and embodiment are also at play.

Image 2: Re-calibration of identity Image 3: Obscuring of identity by mud

Russell’s account of his ethereal experience of the ocean makes an interesting comparison:

A place to reconnect with the natural world, to realize who we are, that’s what natures about what we really are. We aren’t really rock stars, or high-powered corporate types or drug

225 addicts, we’re children of the universe (laughs) (Russell, M, 51, Operations Director of Flying Fish Australia, Jan 2012).

Mimesis involves a pattern of organized actions which serve to remobilize the practice of rhythm and words. For Russell, the sensation of being at sea reconnects him with a more primitive corporeal identity. Whilst interviewing Russell, I observed how mimesis speaks to the interlocking of bodily, sociocultural, and psychological processes, as well as bodily agency when it comes to understanding why particular spaces associated with different sensational states are favored. In this instance, Russell favors the ocean; others may favor the sensations of a glacier, or a mountain. To capture mimic interpretations as they happened, I made jottings during the interview and later analyzed them with interview transcripts. In the next extract, airflow influences the senses and conjoins the spatial organization of the crew on the Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Regatta:

It looks like the first night, it’s gonna be rough, so we need everybody to sleep on the rail. So we have to work hard together, as soon as the breeze backs off, or we have calm, eight people go and sleep, go and get some energy back and that’s what they look forward to (Craig, M, 42, Sales and Marketing Manager for Electra Lift, Jan 2012).

Strong winds mean the racing crew sleeps on the rail of the boat – a form of physical mirroring. This leads to different tastes, touch, noises and aesthetics compared with sleeping in the berths. Smelling a person’s body odor is the most intimate perception of them since they penetrate our most sensory inner being in a gaseous form (Simmel et al., 1997). Body odor is a common smell inside the yacht, yet outside on the rail it is dissipated by the sea breeze. Personal smells are soon associated with the crew’s sense of shared community – part of sensory mirroring and social sharing. The enduring nature of being at sea drained the sensory facilities of the crew and the ethnographer. Working under extreme sleep deprivation for three consecutive nights was the most challenging aspect of the fieldwork.

5.6.3 The Mindful Body In the state of the mindful body: mind, body, self and other become one (Scheper-Hughes & Lock, 1987). Matt’s description of the festival atmosphere, smoke and music at the Tough Mudder start line evokes the merging of his facilities:

226 I thought it was cool the way they has music pumping, and the way they had orange smoke from the start line, I thought it was a really cool environment. I had the idea it was like a music festival and I really like that everyone was dressed up and getting into the spirit of it (Matt, M, 24, Mechanical Engineer Student, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

The social experience of festival culture shares many multisensory similarities with Tough Mudder. The pleasurable merging of senses, situated within a social framework is one mindful body trait. This shows awareness beyond the individual conception. Matt’s “getting into the spirit” shows awareness beyond the social conception. I was able to empathize with Matt’s account of “the spirit” and share his sense of the festival metaphor. This meant he could talk using authentic language without having to translate his words for an outsider. Analyzing Matt’s sensory material of the start line provided knowledge of multisensory hotspots at Tough Mudder. This gave a deeper insight into the obstacles and scenes to research as a volunteer the following year. The Arctic Enema obstacle was a rich discussion point amongst participants. This obstacle is constructed around mental grit. After bravely jumping into the abyss of floating ice, Mudders’ muscles go frigid, yet they must still find the mental and physical strength to swim through the ice, under a wooden plank and to pull themselves out before they become hypothermic:

I’ve never felt so cold in my life. It’s weird, I’ve never had the physical experience when my mind has been so alert, but my body just cramps up and it’s quite surprising when my body reacts in such a useless fashion to such adverse conditions. I don’t know, you hear about people whose bodies turn into supermen and I’ve discovered mine was a piece of shit. It really did cramp and it made it really difficult to get out the water. Then you can warm up when you get in the mud again…it doesn’t hurt as much as a half marathon, but you certainly experience a lot of different situations (Kate, F, 32, Social Media Strategist, Tough Mudder, April 2013).

Kate has participated in a plethora of painful events, particularly mud runs and half marathons. She recalls how her body let her down when exposed to adverse sensory stimulation (temperature). Hence, a disconnect between mind and body occurred – a breakdown of the mindful body. Kate would have only gained this knowledge through her own body, not by observation, which shows the merit of using the body as an information tool. In this event, contact with warm mud was used as tactile relief after immersion in ice water. Matthew further discusses the value of multisensory awareness for reaching a mindful body:

227 The tunnel was a good one ‘cos you didn’t know how long it was, it was pitch black in there so the sensation of the unknown I suppose is exciting. Being in the water it was good, just getting covered in mud. Just good fun actually, they give you a smile just to go through it…At the end it was real just team happiness, big hugs, happy and elated to have crossed the line. Then you have the endorphins kick in. It was funny, I was physically drained, but mentally really alert (Matthew, M, 30, Investment Banker, Tough Mudder, April 2013).

Matthew brings us back to a mental (not physical) focus. Rather than courting a Cartesian duality that separates mind and body, he highlights a reality, which is far removed from the clutches of the Cartesian dichotomy of the mind/body divide. He illustrates the inseparability of the mind, body and self in pain, pleasure, darkness and mud. I had also embodied this experience, which facilitates a normalization of conflicting sensations, such as being physically drained and mentally alert. The sample interview extracts below show the empirical insight gained from specifically using medical/sensory anthropology compared to traditional anthropology. Interview 1 shows the traditional approach to ethnographic interviewing techniques, and the responses that come from this type of questioning. Interview 2 shows the implications of asking a sensorially-oriented question:

Interview 1

I: Looking back on the experience, how would you describe Tough Mudder?

J: I’m glad we did it. We could have prepared better as a team to make us more team-like, because we hadn’t trained as a team we hadn’t built up a team bond, other than what exists naturally in our place, you know, specific to this event. Now having done the event together a few of us have that event specific bond…(Niall, M, 38, Associate Director, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

Interview 2

I: Looking back on the experience, if your body could talk, how would it describe the sensory aspect of Tough Mudder?

J: When its came to the obstacles my brain kind of shut out the pain and what was going on when I was going through the obstacle, so I was just determined to finished the obstacle. So I was in that mode of just doing it. It wasn’t until afterwards I thought I was like, oh I’ve got sore knees ‘cos I went on rocks, or I scraped my arm…(Niall, M, 38, Associate Director, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

In Interview 2 the interest is not so much in asking people to reflect on how they experienced Tough Mudder, but in the way they discussed the merging of mind, body, self and other. I was concerned with the categories people used when evaluating and reflecting. If I had not asked the same anthropological question with a sensory focus, I

228 would have not ascertained how people experience and manage consumption experiences which are painful. Sailor Craig describes the sensuous experience of the sea breeze on his face, and how it affects his hearing and sense of smell:

I’m very sensitive to the breeze on my face and when I steer, I can almost steer blindfolded and feel the breeze on my face. You are sensitive to sounds. If something breaks or you hear a big bang, you want to know what it is. You’re very alert to the sounds of crashing or banging, a lot of feel and hearing. Smells are not the best (Craig, M, 42, Sales and Marketing Manager for Electra Lift, Jan 2012).

Craig’s mind and body is integrated with his environment as his visceral interpretations inform his perceptions. His words show how all his senses are attuned to the task at hand; there is a sensory alertness that is required. His vignette refers to the sensuous relationship between body-mind-environment, which is foundational to an embodied experience. The interlacing of all the senses is so powerful that Craig can afford to close his eyes and opt out of the sense of sight. Mind and body merge to become a whole greater than the sum of the parts. I also observed this level of mindfulness in other highly experienced sailors, similar to multisensory self- actualization that is reached after years of sensory vigilance. The ability to converse with sailors about this level of integrated awareness was made possible through participant observation. Russell also stretches the use of his remaining senses to anticipate the sensorial challenges of a gale at sea:

I felt like my senses were working overtime, tying to anticipate waves, trying to keep the boat moving slowly, but it was very hard because we couldn’t see very much, trying to be as sensitive to what was going on around me as I could, but it was like being a blind person, maybe just about make out the odd light patch of breaking water. For so little light, it’s amazing what the human eye could discern. I mean it was thick clouds, we were in a gale (Russell, M, 51, Operations Director of Flying Fish Australia, Jan 2012).

Russell uses the metaphor of “being like a blind person” to discuss his sailing encounter during the Sydney to Hobart Regatta. Research shows some blind people mentally replace colors with sounds (Maurice, 1964). Therefore, through a metaphor we can observe a mindful self that stands apart from the body. The implication here is the importance of the multisensory to manage changing sensory experiences.

5.6.4 Local Biology

229 Local biology depicts the feedback between human biology and culture (Lock, 1993). My diary makes it evident that in the absence of sight touch, self-movement, life, sound and smell came to the fore:

I lost my contact lenses at the second obstacle. With limited long distance vision I faced the reality that all Mudders looked the same. This compelled me to tune my remaining senses to find my teammate. As I couldn’t see him, I had to rely on him hearing me (by calling his name) as we got through obstacles with hundreds of other Mudders. Not being able to see was frightening…I had to touch my environment more because I couldn’t rely on my vision to problem-solve. I would pull at the roots of trees to get me through rivers and ditches (Lead Researcher Diary Entry, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

The diary shows that when sight is privileged, only a fraction of the somatic embodied experience is acquired. Local biology and a sense of space and place altered my perception of the race, despite the impairment of sight through participation. I was able to understand and participate in the cultural pre-requisites of being a Mudder (e.g. helping fellow Mudders and not whining). On the obstacle course, bodily sensations were shared in a visceral way. For example, it was challenging for the local biology of a Westernized body to manage the local culture of mud in the eyes, while Indian and African cultures would be more familiar with mud as part of their biological heritage. As a sensory ethnographer, this insight can be achieved by becoming vulnerable to the ebbs and flows of the world under study. The vulnerability and susceptibility let in more sensations than if I had kept in control of the situation. Mostly people are unaware of respiration or vision until it becomes restricted. This diary entry shows that the body is an active agent in the dynamic interrelationship between culture and biology:

The idea of crawling through a dark tunnel under ground was not too compelling. I didn’t feel comfortable with the weight of the earth above my head and hundreds of people running over it. At the end of the suffocating, tight, clay mud tunnel, you’re greeted by water up to your neck. Struggling through the tunnels of mud was like being in The Shawshank Redemption (Researcher Diary, Tough Mudder Team Member, Sept 2012).

This delineates the increase of fear and discomfort when there is sensory impairment/re-alignment. Sight - which was already impaired by the loss of contact lenses - completely disappears in the tunnel. In Western culture sight is privileged, its loss sends the Western body into disarray. In addition, the sense of smell is removed when exiting the tunnel through the water (Image 4). When entering the water, sound

230 is compromised, leaving taste and touch heightened. It is worth noting at this point that a mix of methods enabled the gathering of multisensory data: participant observation, a reflective diary entry and artifacts of muddied clothing. This helps to build up a multi-layered understanding of the senses.

Image 4: Removal of sight, sound and smell in the Boa Constrictor obstacle

One of the most compelling sensory experiences of water is that of immersion, which can be either fearful and/or highly pleasurable. There is a rich and varied literature dealing with immersion which includes many poetic depictions of the sensory pleasures of swimming (Sprawson, 2000, p. 101) and recurring ideas about the relationship between immersion and a ‘return to the womb’ (Johnson, 1994). The literature on ﬂotation experiments suggests that immersion, as well as producing measurable physiological effects, also generates consistent sensory and cognitive responses, with subjects reporting heightened imaginative activity and relaxation (Johnson, 1994). The interview with experienced yachtsman Roger exemplifies the link between biology and the local culture at sea:

There was one point where we were changing a sail and there was green wash (dense ocean waves) crashing over the bow, not white, green, I was clipped on with my life-line. The water came over and covered me completely. You really appreciate how forceful the sea is (Roger, M, 58, Stockbroker, Jan 2012).

Aboard a yacht, biology and culture are in a continuous feedback, an ongoing exchange in which both are subject to variation. In Roger’s vignette, the culture of the ocean acts on his biological need to breathe amongst the green wash. His body is an active agent in the violent inter-relationship between material culture and biology. I sailed with him in The Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Regatta which meant we spent

231 weeks together at sea. These shared mimicking and embodied experiences meant Roger spoke to the researcher as one of his own kind. If a sailor is in tune with his environment, he is able to sense a changing weather front by feeling the air temperature change – this is an embodied skill:

You’re charging along, it’s a warm North Easterly and suddenly there’s a waft of cold air. Then the Southerly belts and it’s much colder. This was at night, so we couldn’t see the clouds. It’s spine tingling stuff. That’s the moment the hair stands up on the back of your neck and you know it’s going to go ballistic (Russell, M, 51, Operations Director of Flying Fish Australia, Jan 2012).

According to Russell, the feeling of a Southerly front tingles the spine. The enjoyable association of excitement and fear in a way is akin to a ghostly encounter. Two opposing emotions, fear and joy, can be simultaneously sensorially experienced. The culture of the sea influences his biological experience to the extent that the weather forces his hair to stand on end. Culture and biology are in conversation as the weather informs him of the approaching sensory assault. One factor yacht racing and The World’s Toughest Mudder (24 hours) have in common is that they both occur at night. The sense of sight is diminished/removed. This is conveyed in the researcher diary:

At night it was challenging to cross from one side of a violently sailing yacht to another with no sleep, minimal light and grab rails, in a soup of metholated spirits (which had leaked from the broken metho stove), urine, bilge water and sea water. In one attempt to cross, I fell and winded myself. Unable to breathe for a time, I was placed in a bunk with frozen food on my back and piled with painkillers (Researcher Field Notes, Sydney to Coffs Harbour Regatta, Jan 2012).

Sight impairment places participants in an unusual position because vision tends to drive out the other senses in developed societies (Porteous and Douglas, (1990, p. 15). Vision is seen as the ideal sense for intellectualized, information-crazed Western cultures that have withdrawn from many other areas of direct sensation. The pungent corporeal reality of being on board a yacht forces me, as a Westerner, to deal with the intense configuration of a historically primitive and maddening experience of managing an injury at sea. Prior to conducting fieldwork, I believed yachting

232 resembled the good life. It was only through a traumatic collision of local biology that I was alerted us to the multisensory turmoil inherent in offshore yachting.

5.6.5. The Work of Culture The ‘work of culture’ transforms painful motives and effects into publicly acceptable meanings and symbols (Obeyesekere, 1985b, p. 147). It also encompasses bodily feedback on culturally appropriate ways to deal with sensorial states. An example might be the visceral and verbal feedback a Tough Mudder receives from fellows about how to handle the pain of electrocution in the Electroshock Therapy obstacle. One way to be privy to these conversations is by living with participants. Tough Mudder offers a medley of multisensory elements and in so doing contradicts our usual sensory experiences. For example, in advanced industrial societies the conventional cultural experience of electricity is heat, light and power. In a Tough Mudder event, fire in the form of electricity, has not yet been turned into a useful source of energy. Instead, it is felt in its raw and violent form of a 10,000 volt- shock. A process whereby painful physical affects are transformed into publicly accepted sets of meanings, i.e. toughness. Participants pay to be electrocuted, maybe because modern life is too easy and “once or twice a year, you need to be an animal: get dirty, sweaty, use your whole body, discover your inner bad-ass” (Wallack 2012, p.1). The assault on the senses to derive new painful culturally meaningful effects is a challenge for Mudders. Participant observation in Tough Mudder demonstrated the severity of the raw experience of electrocution as expressed by Monica:

Do something that wakes up your senses in a way where you don’t get the chance to do that. And that pushes you, not only physically, but mentally and emotionally. And I think it does change your perspective on life…it doesn’t really matter and it’s also the sense of wow, if I can do this what else could I do? You feel a lot braver; it’s really good actually. I loved it (Monica, F, 39, International Communications Manager, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

An inhuman sensation infiltrates Monica’s body. However, the journey from sensory knowing (Wenger, 1998) (e.g. electricity produces light) to sensory unknowing (e.g. electric shocks cause nausea and blackouts) can be adventurous. The quote indicates Tough Mudder participants are paying to have their senses turned on. The term, “wakes up your senses” suggests that our senses, and hence our bodies, are asleep within our decorporealized lifestyles. If contemporary society is encountering

233 an epidemic of deadened bodies, and people can pay to have their senses awakened, it is a very important purchase. In a similar vein, Dove takes the work of culture to the dream dimension:

Tough Mudder’s kind of spiced me, not spiced me, poisoned me in a good way, it’s all I’m dreaming about at the moment, I can’t get it out of my head. I couldn’t sleep on the Saturday night I kept seeing the same things about it, I kept having dreams about it. It was insane actually that it had that effect over you (Dove, F, 37, Executive Assistant, Tough Mudder, Sept 2012).

In the poorly guarded dream time of the night, the work of culture is still at play. In a complex process, symbolic transformation occurs in dreams. However, it is subject to a higher level of cognitive ordering (Obeyesekere, 1990). Tough Mudder infiltrates the basic mechanisms of Dove’s dream in the form of deep thoughts. Her motives are transformed into images or symbols, such as the re-living of the experience, and the need to keep her encounter close to her cognitively, even though physically she is no longer participating. On the cultural realm, this can mean that people want to be moved, affected and enchanted. Here, we have used the work of culture as an analytical tool to link Dove’s dream to wider culture. Dream narratives can be a rich source of subconscious meaning (Hollan, 2004). At the end of an interview with personal trainer John, he began verbal and sensory commentary on pictures of his Mudders getting electrocuted:

This guy copped it (got punished). The first two that have shared a bit of blood, I can understand the events called Tough Mudder, you’re not going in there expecting to be pristine. I haven’t done an event yet where I haven’t come out with some kind of 20 cent scab, or you know. So it doesn’t deter me from doing the event, that’s what the event is its called Tough Mudder. Oh Jees it’s got nasty, he’s cracked his nose on something. It’s got nasty. Yeah it’s one of these things. I’ve got a couple of those photo’s myself a couple of guys who have done the event (John, M, 34, Personal Trainer, Tough Mudder, April 2013).

This is John’s second Tough Mudder and fourth mud run. I flinched and gasped as the embodied and sensory memory of the electricity caused shared reflexive kinesthetic sensations. This is a reminder of the intensity of the sensations of being in the watery mud crawling through an endless electricity field. The pictures helped to bring me back to an embodied, sensorial and emotional understanding – a shared bodily knowing that was crucial for later analysis. This process serves to transform limb buckling affects and motives of accomplishment into culturally important meanings (e.g. facing fears).

234 The sailors’ experience shows they are regularly confronted with inescapable evidence that water is integral to our bodies’ functioning and constitutes a major part of its substance. The influence of the intake and expulsion of water in the body is shown in the interview with David:

I interviewed a guy in 2007 and he dropped out at the end of the first week of training because he couldn’t go to the toilet on a yacht because in his mind all these people were around him, and he thought everybody was listening, and you know, you can hear everything, you’re behind a blue Perspex canvas door that you zip up. But you know, you’ve got little privacy, his big mental challenge was going to the toilet and he couldn’t get over it and it had nothing to do with sailing at all (David, M, 45, Recruitment Manager for Clipper Yacht Race, Dec 2011).

Again, the work of culture is used to interpret David’s vignette. Toilet discretion is integral to Western culture. In this example, the trainee was overwhelmed by the human proximity and the perception of the crew listening or smelling fluids and solids leaving his body. The thought proved too great a barrier for this trainee crew member. In practice this lack of privacy can bond crew members as an embarrassing action assumes a socially accepted meaning onboard a yacht. Finally, I turn to Russell to provide a rich example of the work of culture in transforming a painful and traumatic disaster into acceptable cultural meanings and symbols:

There’s a huge safety component to the race, right from the point where the boats are prepared to do the race, through to management of the race itself. The safety procedures have evolved over the years, driven by the tragic events like the ‘98 Hobart where six people died. A lot of findings and conclusions from the inquest from the ‘98 Hobart and some very common sense decisions where made to improve safety. So prior to ‘98, it was a tactical right of every boat to keep weather information secret. Now, if there’s any significant weather on the course (i.e. strong winds and above, it’s now a duty to convey the information to other boats and to the race committee boat so the information can be disseminated among the other boats (Russell, M, 51, Operations Director of Flying Fish Australia, Jan 2012).

Russell illuminates how perceived risk at sea, distressful affects and sensations on board are transformed into publicly-accepted meanings and symbols that have been managed and used in a culturally-salient manner to improve safety. Since 1998 race safety carries more importance than winning. Sharing weather information

235 between vessels is one example of a symbol, which has been created from the work of culture. This demonstrates it is valuable as an analytical framework for interpreting changes in sensory modalities.

5.7. Discussion

This chapter has focused on: (1) Providing consumer researchers with insights from medical anthropology as a conceptual basis for studying multisensory experiences (2) Outlining how consumer researchers can use embodiment, mimesis, the mindful body, local biology and the work of culture to gain an appreciation of the practical considerations of studying multisensory experience (3) Illustrating the application of techniques to raise methodological challenges and implications to provide novel insights into consumer experience. Results from our research can be integrated with extant studies to produce a schema for understanding multisensory experiences. Table 2 summarizes the five concepts and examples give insight into multisensory experiential consumption. .

Table 2: Towards a Multisensory Toolkit for Consumer Behavior

Concept How to use the What is learnt from Examples from the concept in the our study? data field Embodiment Draw attention to Using photo and video We played Matthew a flesh, emotions, elicitation in interviews video clip from the embodied helps participants re- start line so that he metaphors, embody their could return to his gustatory patterns, experience. multisensory bodily experience. The music transactions, body Daily participant diaries prepares the body for language and of researchers and what lies ahead and symbols. participants are effective the body releases in recalling thick adrenaline in Engage in multisensory description response. immersive bodily

236 practices. of embodied encounters. Paying attention to the variation of sensory Focus on and Embodying experiences receptors, the scrutinize actions. with participants during muscular, articular pre and post event and vestibular Remain vigilant to interviews facilitates modalities. different sensory deep narrative. registers. During interviews, the If the consumer researcher embodies Engaging and researcher can adopt the sensations Patrick observing shared: multiple roles as a described through practices, participant observer, postures, such as the postures, then these extended feeling of breath being repetitive sensory dimensions can knocked from the movement and yield more embodied lungs. spatial knowledge that juxtapositions. ordinarily would not have been accessed. Mimesis The researcher Learning how mimesis In offshore yacht immerses their functions in nature racing: lethargy, physicality within through various kinds of exhaustion and fear, as the context. mirrored bodily well as shared, moods, sensations and cognitive tones of voice and Observe, embody states. This varies from postures were and record shared visual, mimesis, to felt mirrored. social and visceral mimesis, and sound correspondences. mimesis. In adventure racing, These are often once all participants mirrored in Mimesis is a means are muddy, the shared practice through through which people sense of vulnerability people’s bodily organize experiences under the weight of dispositions. across domains through the earth creates a interpersonal relations mimic sensory The interlinking and perceptions of experience that of the cognitive, bodily processes. enhances cooperation. affective and bodily experience. The Mindful The felt unison of Dividuality of the self is Charting patterns and Body mind, body, self a useful paradoxes of and other conceptualization to integrated awareness becoming one – understand the and mindfulness, such the surrendering multisensory. Based on as signs of the whole of duality and the idea of a permeable being greater than the division. self and dynamic sum of the parts. interchange between The symbolic one’s body and ones During a yacht race, interactions environment. Craig’s senses are between the body attuned to the task at and society. Participants frequently hand, his mind and use metaphors to make body is integrated

237 Participant’s sense of their mindful with his environment descriptors of the body experience. as his visceral other through the interpretations inform use of metaphors In the mindful body his perceptions. can be applied to state, people attune their their human body. senses and become more The consumer sensorially vigilant. researcher can then extrapolate Experiencing and these metaphors analyzing a mindful to extract higher body state, informed our order meanings. interpretations of multisensory states when we next entered the field. Local The Consumer researchers Adopt the local diet Biology ethnographer’s must learn to calibrate’ and all of the systems body syncs with their own bodies inherent within the the field under through routine bodily culture, rather than study and the regimes involving diet selected systems, bodies of its and lifestyle. which suit the culture inhabitants. of the researcher. Our Participant observation lead researcher ate the Embody, not just requires researchers to same food at the same learn the adopt (adapt to) the time and place as her principles of the local biology of crew. Whilst eating, culture under informants. We learnt she was also subject study. The how to understand the to the same stressors, ethnographer’s way the senses are being such as the wind, body becomes thought about (and splashing waves and acculturated on diagnosed) by experts the rolling swell. the cellular level. (e.g. nurses), including how sensations are Synced sickness, being responded to by sleeping patterns, the lay population (e.g. activities, diet and first time Mudders). poor hygiene. The Work of During interviews By being forced to During interviews, or Culture and conversations interpret and link conversations in the in the field, different worlds (our field, the researcher encourage world and that of our might ask participants to subjects) we were able to participants: “How expand on their establish how did you feel about subjective multisensory that?...what did you perceptions, experiences are do?...why?...what did accidental configured and you feel like doing occurrences and experienced differently. then?” symbolic forms of reality. Although this is not In the field, observe always possible, we how many cultures Remain attentive were able to gain a are in a state of

238 to corporeal and descriptive account of transition from one verbal feedback the way in which a deep sensation to another. on appropriate motivation gets Such as moving from ways to deal with transformed into public painful sensorial states in culture. This has led to a motives/affects into culturally more rigorous publically accepted acceptable ways. formulation of the rules meanings/symbols. of certain symbolic Make use of forms. Dove becomes participants “spiced” because dream narratives Tough Mudder is all as a way of she’s dreaming about. understanding how dreams influence cultural meanings and vice-versa.

5.8 Implications for Market Research Sociologists and anthropologists pay considerable attention to the embodied practice of studying the senses. We are interested in sensory anthropology, specifically the impact of a mix of qualitative techniques on the analytical and reflective process. The five methodological concepts can be applied in a wide range of contexts to draw from the body to mobilize multisensory mechanisms of interest which would not ordinarily be accessible. Data from adventure racing and yacht racing offer valuable implications and considerations for marketing researchers in academia and in industry. There is a paucity of academic marketing research into consumption as an embodied practice. In contrast there have been many studies into the centrality of the body and embodiment (Featherstone & Turner, 1995). These span the disciplines of psychology, sociology, linguistics, psychoanalysis, anthropology and social philosophy. The body (and hence the senses), have been reframed as legitimate areas of social enquiry and theorizing (Coffey, 1999). The senses have been recast as sites of discourse and action and as representational forms of the self. As fieldwork is an embodied activity (Coffey, 1999), embodiment makes it possible to understand the senses collectively. Specifically, a detailed description and analysis of the participant’s and the researcher’s embodied experience gives a more complete picture of the senses. The parts and the interconnections between the senses are important. By

239 adopting a multisensory approach, we come to see sensory stimulation as a form of embodiment where meaning is taken into, or upon the body (Csordas, 1994). Having gained an insight into what the concepts entail, future researchers can apply these techniques to a range of experiential marketing issues. For example, many people chose to pay to engage in live kidnappings, an experience that is simultaneously thrilling and frightening. An implication of the techniques might be the application of participant dream narratives. Recalling a participant’s dream diaries while researchers question and record dream narratives in interviews, could give a more enriched understanding of the work of culture. This would mean more detailed information could be gathered on the participant’s conscious and unconscious motives and the final effects. This provides another form of abstract and personalized information that would normally have been overlooked. How this process informs interpretations when a consumer researcher next enters the field is also critical: moving towards a multisensory toolkit does not preclude researchers from using other methods of teasing out information. From a commercial standpoint, an appreciation of what the techniques entail can help researchers in a multitude of ways. If we return to the example of immersive 3D gaming, competitors of the Sony Playstation 4 Virtual Reality Headset (e.g. Xbox One), might have a vested interest in understanding the sensory appeals of the headset in order to gauge consumer interest in a future console or game. In this instance, the depth of insights from the immersion of living with gamers and investing time in the local biology of the gamer will be of value to researchers. Local biologies work with culturally-infused knowledge to pattern the feedback loop between biology and culture. For example it might be possible to spot the sensations lacking in a cross- country driving game… or what vibrations would make gunshots more realistic in a desert setting. Were researchers into Xbox One to immerse themselves in sensory gaming worlds, they would gain greater depth of insight into the five concepts. Moving towards a toolkit facilitates the early identification of valued and idiosyncratic sensations in the 3D gaming marketplace and subsequently represents a commercial opportunity. Although my study has focused on physical realities, I leave open the question of what happens when the techniques are applied in virtual fields. Physical fields may appear more sensorially authentic, compared to putting on 3D glasses in a cinema and watching a sensory experience. The question of whether one needs to “be there” to have the sensory experience is brought to bare.

240 The techniques also have significant implications within the travel industry. THAI Airways aims to deliver unforgettable travel experiences. The organization has embodied the concept of ‘Ayatana’, the six senses of sight, taste, smell, hearing, touch and feelings from the heart. The multisensory sentiment is part of THAI’s mission to redefine every traveller’s pre- and post- flight experience. In particular it targets the traveller’s visual, smell, taste, touch, hear or feel throughout their journey (Kim, 2014). As re-invention is a core value of THAI Airlines, a marketing researcher could apply the multisensory approaches to enhance travel experiences. For instance, researchers could use embodiment to cover all sensory touch points travelers encounter from advertising, to website, reservations, ticket offices, check-in areas, airport lounges, cabin decor, in-flight entertainment, food and in-flight service. This means remaining vigilant to all sensory registers and engaging and observing shared practices, postures, repetitive movement and spatial juxtapositions throughout all stages of the travel experience. If a researcher can embody contemporary Thai culture, outside the travel sphere and translate this embodied knowledge back to the airline, this could provide an additional aid to help organizations gather more forms of sensory information. Researchers might spend time photographing Thai fashion and wearing its adornments. This embodied practice could inform the cultural touch, color, style and feel of new crew uniforms. Alternatively it could be the basis for new soft furnishings for the departure lounge. Insights from a toolkit make a difference to data gathered from new multisensory details. Travelers will begin to embody Thai culture and understand the sensory modalities prior to arrival in Thailand. The body is a distinctive site for research and observation in its own right. A dance club (Lewis & Ross, 1995), professional boxing (Wacquant, 1995) and the nude beach (Douglas et al., 1977) hold the body central to the activity. The body is self-evidently present in sensory fieldwork when these are set in natural extremes - such as ocean yachting, climbing a mountain or canyoning. In other settings – school, gym, army – bodies are regulated, managed and disciplined (Shilling, 2012). Therefore an embodied method can allow for the diverse spatial, verbal and presentational dimensions of sensory stimulation. Experiential organizations that have mastered the art of playing, manipulating and confusing peoples’ senses are much like successful music composers - an orchestration of the notes (senses) to create a distinctive sensation (e.g. a meaningful output from the work of culture).

241 Using multi-sensory methods and analysis raises new issues and considerations for consumer research. Sensorial anthropology has taught us to look not only where there is a positive or negative, intense or dull, interconnected or compensatory sensation, but also states where a lack of sensation is marked. These interpretations can enable the researcher to create routes into understanding as to how people make sense of their consumption worlds. Which sensory qualities are required to enliven different consumption domains, such as the materiality of colors and textures in a florist, or the embodied and tactile engagement offered in a toy shop? Hence, consumer researchers are better placed to imagine and design desirable goods, services and experiences. By observing consumers touching their environment, we better understand their relationship with it. For example, our sailing participant’s relationship to the sea is understood through material and corporeal narratives, rather than as someone who experiences the ocean, yet is disembodied from it.

5.9 Future Research Consumer research could do more to explore how we perceive the body, such as how embodiment interfaces with the physical environment. Such a development would mean that consumer researchers are able to identify what types of embodiment are relevant to specific questions and themes, thereby enhancing physiological, social, emotional and corporeal sources of multi-sensory experience. Further, we currently lack the vocabulary, the concepts, and the tools to fully probe multi-sensory experiences, but we could learn much from anthropology. The senses have wide- reaching relevance across anthropological research (Pink, 2010). For those interested in experiential marketing, researchers need to be attentive to prior studies which combine senses (Heath et al., 2006; Ingold, 2000; Krishna, 2006) in order to further the work of scholars that have considered the senses holistically (Joy & Sherry, 2003).

5.10 Conclusion Researchers generally consider the senses in isolation from one another. Should this practice continue, it is unlikely a complete sense of experiential consumption could be obtained. We have seen this for yacht and adventure racing: contexts where the senses are stimulated by natural and man-made extremities. A sensorial approach to ethnography acts as a powerful existential phenomenological tool. It provides valuable insights into the body as a site for experience – rather than a focus on the

242 psychological, cultural, and social explored by prior consumer research. By applying embodiment, mimesis, the mindful body, local biology and the work of culture, future researchers will create thickly-textured studies and hence thickly-textured analysis. The re-packaging of sensory stigmas and the reversal of sensory experiences are examples of how a successful experiential organization manages the senses. There are implications here for how experiential consumption is investigated, how it is orchestrated, managed and how it is bodily experienced.

A final thought:

“My perception is therefore not a sum of visible, audible and tactile givens: I perceive in a total way with my whole being; I grasp a unique structure of the thing, a unique way of being that speaks to all my senses at once” (Merleau-Ponty, 1964, p.50).

243

5.11 References

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245 Krishna, A. (2012). An integrative review of sensory marketing: Engaging the senses to affect perception, judgment and behavior. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 22(3), 332-351. Laing, R. (1960). The divided self. London: Tavistock Publications. Lakoff, G. (1988). Cognitive semantics. Meaning and mental representations, 119, 154. Indiana: Indiana University Press. Langley, H. (2013). PS4 Oculus Rift rival in the works as Sony announces head mounted display: The future, today. Retrieved 31/03/2014, 2014, from http://www.techradar.com/news/portable-devices/ps4-oculus-rift-rival-in-the- works-as-sony-announces-head-mounted-display-1177670 Leder, D. (1990). The absent body: Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Lewis, L. A., & Ross, M. W. (1995). A select body: The gay dance party subculture and the HIV/AIDS pandemic. London: Cassell. Lock, M. (1993). Cultivating the body: anthropology and epistemologies of bodily practice and knowledge. Annual Review of Anthropology, 22, 133-155. Lock, M. (1998). Menopause: lessons from anthropology. Psychosomatic Medicine, 60(4), 410-419. Lock, M., & Dunk, P. (1987). My nerves are broken: the communication of suffering in a Greek-Canadian community. Health and Canadian Society (2nd edn), Fitzhenry and Whiteside, Markham, 295-313. Lock, M., & Kaufert, P. (2001). Menopause, local biologies, and cultures of aging. American Journal of Human Biology, 13(4), 494-504. Lorant, V., Croux, C., Weich, S., Delige, D., Mackenbach, J., & Ansseau, M. (2007). Depression and socio-economic risk factors: 7-year longitudinal population study. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 190(4), 293-298. Lyon, M. L. (2002). Mimesis and medicines in contemporary Indonesia. . Paper presented at the American Anthropological Association meeting. MacDougall, D. (1998). Transcultural cinema: New Jersey: Princeton University Press. Maurice, M.-P. (1964). Sense and non-sense: Illinois: Northwestern University Press. Merleau-Ponty, M. (1962). Phenomenology of perception, trans. C. Smith: London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. Methanada, M. (Producer). (2011, 06/03/2012) Group Buying Sites Experience 1000 Percent Growth in Visits. retrieved from http://www.powerretail.com.au/insights/group-buying-sites-experience-1000- percent-growth-in-visits/ Nichter, M. (2008). Coming to our senses: appreciating the sensorial in medical anthropology. Transcultural Psychiatry, 45(2), 163-197. Obeyesekere, G. (1985a). Depression, Buddhism, and the work of culture in Sri Lanka. Culture and depression, 134-152. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Obeyesekere, G. (1985b). In Culture and Depression: Studies in the Anthropology and Cross-Cultural Psychiatry of Affect and Disorder. A. Kleinman and B. Good, eds. . (pp. Pp. 1 34-152.). Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Obeyesekere, G. (1990). The work of culture: symbolic transformation in psychoanalysis and anthropology (Vol. 1982): Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

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247

Chapter 6 Conclusions, Contributions and Extensions

Four distinct themes are addressed in this thesis:

Chapter 2. How do people in the Western world, when they have discretion, voluntarily participate in sufferable consumption experiences that they know will be difficult, unpleasant and painful?

Chapter 3. How are these experiences commercialized? How is pain articulated as an explicit selling point, and how is the narrative being developed into a cultural commodity?

Chapter 4. How does the body – in particular, the five human senses – holistically interface with the natural world?

Chapter 5. How are consumer researchers to use techniques from sensory anthropology to explore the senses and derive novel insights into consumer experience?

In this concluding chapter, the contributions of the research are summarized. Substantive, conceptual and methodological findings shed new light on sensory experiential consumption. A general discussion highlights the value of this research to academic and commercial researchers. Finally, limitations and extensions for further investigation are considered.

6.1 Contribution of the Research

Chapter 2

248 In Chapter 2 the work of culture is used to investigate how people voluntarily suffer and the meanings they derive from their suffering. In particular, practices concerning the mind/body, social/cultural and production and manifestation of voluntary suffering help to explain three paradoxes of the contemporary Western world. These paradoxes recognize three central voluntary suffering practices (hyper performance, individuality and edgework) and provide new insights into how people voluntarily suffer:

Paradox 1: Suffering is managed out of daily practices on an institutional level, yet some people desire it. • Hyper Performance: Identification and engagement with something in spite of oneself (voluntary suffering). • Individualism: An individualized culture creates a fragmented community - sharing suffering in groups’ diminishes this. • Edgework: When people pursue suffering, there is a threat to their physical and mental wellbeing as they negotiate ‘the edge’.

Paradox 2: Institutions seek to reduce injury in the workplace, yet at the same time risky, dangerous and sufferable experiences have seen rapid growth. • Hyper Performance: Most white-collar jobs require people to have a hyper- performing mind, not body. In contrast, voluntary suffering requires a hyper- performing body, not mind. This leads young executives to choose to suffer outside of work to advance in the world, as this rarely occurs in tangible form inside of the workplace. • Individualism: People suffer from an absence of visceral reality in their jobs (e.g. key performance indicators). These isolated and self-contained individuals choose to engage in communal experiences (e.g. adventure races which are sold as “not a race, but a challenge”), to fulfill the need for corporeal community. • Edgework: Managing tensions between spontaneity and constraint at work can cause alienation. This leads some people to take risks as a form of escape from institutional routine.

249 Paradox 3: Modern societies are healthier than ever yet consume more painkillers than ever before. People’s tolerance for pain and suffering is diminishing. • Hyper Performance: Drugs aid hyper-performance. Pain killers allow one to continue to perform like an athlete, and manage/manipulate suffering. • Individualism: The prevention of disease and suffering is tailored to suit the individual (e.g. diet, health, drugs, nutrition, exercise, and genetics). To voluntarily pay to pursue suffering is an interesting individual choice worthy of further research. • Edgework: This promotes possibilities of human freedom. It is defined by wellbeing and progress. It is a way for people to reclaim their health and their bodies.

A conclusion is that people seem to be seeking more sensory excitement: to hyper- perform in body as well as mind. Comprehending this means the three paradoxes become less of an enigma.

Chapter 3 The increasing number of masochistic activities suggests outdoor adventure is becoming another form of recreational capitalism. I have paid attention to how difficult and unpleasant experiences have become commercialized by creating myths of toughness. This chapter presents three substantive contributions. In developing these inductive insights, prior literature on mythmaking and experiential consumption is transcended to form connections that reflect the commercialization of toughness:

1. The relationship between masochism and toughness shows the former proves the latter. There is an emerging desire in modern markets for toughness. In turn, masochistic practices (i.e. physical pain and discomfort) are an effective vehicle to ascertain toughness and myths of toughness are valuable sales tools. This bundling of meaning has cultural capital in societies where the need for physical toughness in day-to-day living is sparse. Inviting masochism to prove toughness is unique and it is a new lens into previous work on masochism.

2. People’s inability to read an advert can help to sell pain. Consumers are exposed to marketing materials for masochistic experiences, yet they are

250 unsure how to interpret the narrative. Is it hype or is it warning? People know how to read an advert for butter promising high calcium, yet they do not necessarily know how to read these experiences because these are new to their repertoire. This reinvigorates themes of consumer self-efficacy and empowerment from savviness. In established markets, savvy consumers are empowered by their self-efficacy, yet this research shows that during pre- event marketing, a lack of savviness excites and attracts the consumer.

3. People derive satisfaction and thrill from being sold a masculine myth with a narrative of toughness, pain and risk. Yet, when a feminine narrative delivers camaraderie, unity and the collective overcoming of fears, people gain extraordinary meaning and growth from the experience. It is observed how a myth market is being born out of the contradiction between pleasure and pain.

To summarize, Chapter 3 reveals how masochistic myth-makers have delved into the conflicted psyches of consumers, and have turned electrocution, and natural misfortunes into multi-million dollar businesses.

Chapter 4 Here two contributions are offered. The chapter begins with The Distribution of Sensory Experience Typology as an organizing structure to help manage the serendipitous and complex task of understanding multisensory experiences in nature. Through the tableaux of yacht and adventure racing it is evident that the unity between the body and the outer world is experienced through a combination of senses. If these are not looked at holistically, the inter-relatedness may be overlooked – namely, how the increase/decrease, or absence/presence, of a sense impacts upon the other senses. The typology provides consumer researchers with a conceptual tool. It helps researchers understand holistic sensory experience by recording every sense against every earth element encountered. The typology adds another layer of detail to multisensory data to enable us to see, think about, construct and deconstruct aspects of experiential consumption. This typology shows the merit in using Malayan humoral reasoning to study the senses holistically. By synchronizing the senses with a vast array of natural stimuli, the natural elements provide a different lens from that previously used by embodiment theorists.

251

A second contribution is that when certain senses are emphasized in a culture (e.g. sight in Western societies), other senses (e.g. touch in such societies) are subdued. This carries many cultural meanings and implications. For example, it is common to find that when a particular sense is emphasized, another sense emerges as it’s opposite to become the target of repression. It is suggested that the repression inherent in disembodied Western lifestyles privileges sight. This is because sight is required to engage in technology, and suppresses opposite senses such as touch which are used in more corporeally engaged activities.

Chapter 5 The final core chapter provides consumer researchers with insights from medical anthropology as a conceptual and methodological basis for studying multisensory experiences. The findings outline the practical implications of using embodiment, mimesis, the mindful body, local biology and the work of culture to study multisensory experience. This established suite of methods and approaches is shown to be relevant for marketers wishing to understand multisensory experiences in a bodily manner:

Embodiment • Engagement with photo and video elicitation in interviews serves as an important aid in helping participants re-embody their experience. • Researcher and participant diaries are effective in recalling thick and rich multisensory description of embodied encounters. • Embodying experiences with participants during pre- and post-event interviews facilitates the development of deep narrative. • If the consumer researcher can adopt multiple roles as a participant observer, then these extended sensory dimensions may yield more comprehensive embodied knowledge that ordinarily would not have been accessed.

Mimesis • Mimesis is a means by which people make sense of experiences across domains through interpersonal relations and perceptions of bodily processes.

252 • Consumer researchers must learn how mimesis functions in nature through mirrored bodily sensations and cognitive states. This varies from visual mimesis, to felt mimesis, and sound mimesis.

The Mindful Body • Dividuality of the self is a useful concept to understand the multisensory. Based on the idea of a permeable self, and dynamic interchange between one’s body and one’s environment. • Participants often use metaphors to decipher their mindful body experience. • In the mindful body state, people attune their senses and become more sensorially vigilant. • Experiencing and analyzing a mindful body state can inform and prepare researcher interpretations of multisensory states.

Local Biology • It is important that consumer researchers learn to calibrate their own bodies through routine bodily regimes involving diet and lifestyle whilst in the field. • Participant observation requires the researcher to adopt (adapt to) the local biology of informants. In doing this, it is learnt how to understand the way the senses are being thought about (and diagnosed) by experts (e.g. nurses), and how sensations are interpreted by a lay population (e.g. first time Mudders).

The Work of Culture • Whilst interpreting and linking different worlds (e.g. the worlds of researchers and participants) it is possible to establish how multisensory experiences are configured and experienced differently. • Although this is not always possible, I was able to gain a descriptive account of the way in which a deep motivation gets transformed into public culture. This has led to a more rigorous formulation of the rules of certain symbolic forms.

To summarize the final core chapter, applying embodiment, mimesis, the mindful body, local biology and the work of culture, creates thickly textured studies, and hence

253 thickly textured analysis. The re-packaging of sensory stigmas and the reversal of sensory experiences are examples of how successful experiential organizations are managing the senses. There are implications here for how experiential consumption is investigated, how it is orchestrated and managed, and how it is bodily experienced.

6.2 General Discussion

All four core chapters are linked by three meta-concepts: suffering, multisensory and the body. Three contexts also span the whole thesis: the non-work pursuits of affluent Western consumers, controlled adventure racing with uncontrolled yacht racing, and the commercialization of these painful pursuits. These six themes are used to structure the discussion here.

Intended Audiences The main audience for this thesis is academics in consumer behavior and marketing that have an interest in the social and cultural aspects of consumption, such as consumer culture theorists. Secondary audiences are consumer researchers and marketing practitioners in general. The aforementioned findings are valuable to consumer theorists and practitioners alike.

Specifically, the research extends academic work in experiential consumption. The hedonic assumption has been turned on its head by touching upon a bountiful reservoir of modern sufferable practices. These practices show how suffering is meaningful as it allows reclamation of the body. The visceral approach serves important communicative functions in consumer cultures which are often ignored by consumer researchers. Using this research, consumer theorists can re-conceptualize voluntary suffering as a form of retreat from emotionally boring cultures of psychological drudgery and routine grounded in rational, restrained and socially mannered behavior. Through masochism, suffering enables people to experience reality in the raw and hence make their body ‘re-appear’.

Ecstasy, illicit pleasure, and social production have been key terms defining experiential and hedonic consumption practices (Goulding et al., 2009). Until now,

254 debates regarding experiential consumption have not rigorously examined how consumers are drawn to negative sensations. Tough Mudder operates in heavily individualized societies. Mudders complete the course as a team, yet the embodiment is individual.

The experiential consumption literature has explored why consumers risk their lives for play (Celsi et al., 1993). This enquiry is extended by investigating how consumers suffer for play. This moves scholarship forward in our understanding of contemporary experiential consumption by uncovering how suffering is an important dimension in the experiential marketplace. It is a more paradoxical leisure pursuit compared to risk- taking, as the benefits are less salient. Risk involves danger and fear, yet fun, exhilaration and freedom are also very prominent. Although suffering also shares danger and fear, with voluntary risk-taking the benefits are more ambiguous.

Arnould and Price (1993) talk about the Colorado river as a place for extraordinary hedonic experiences, romantic nature, personal growth and self-renewal. When contrasting Tough Mudder data with River Magic (Arnould & Price, 1993), an alternative way of looking at commercial group experiences in nature is offered. Tough Mudder is most distinctive for its mud, and 10,000-volt electric shocks. These force a more controlled, managed and orchestrated group engagement. Unlike river rafting, there is little magic and harmony with nature. Yet both experiences are born out of people’s deep frustration with their Western culture and both encounters lead people to experience their own mortality, improve their ability to cope with fear, and return to their everyday world ‘transformed’.

Also offered is an alternative perspective on Kozinet’s (2002) exploration of the emancipatory dynamics of the Burning Man project. Burning Man and this study share a critical construct: participants using communities to escape the constraining practices that govern markets and institutions. Burning Man is described as “a new adult theme park”, which “successfully constructs a hyper community” (Kozinets, 2002, p. 20 & 35). Within the temporary Burning Man community, people are separated from the market which has been accused of undermining caring and communal ideals. Similarly, Tough Mudder constructs a liminal community through a discourse of voluntary suffering using the body as the platform for confronting human

255 dissatisfaction and unrest. However, while the Mudder community embraces the market and shares many similarities with Disneyland (i.e. premium ticket prices, sponsorship, charity affiliation, vendors, media fascination and iconic branding), Burning Man is the antithesis of Disneyland (Kozinets, 2002). Insights from Tough Mudder develop perspectives on the Burning Man community by showing another way in which experiential consumption is being used to escape institutional constraints. Burning Man creates distance by suppressing institutional structures (such as monetary exchange), whereas for Tough Mudder institutional structures are not necessarily suppressed but agency is enhanced by the reclamation of the body. This additional viewpoint from Tough Mudder engages with the theme of commercialization, particularly how marketized activities can nevertheless serve to liberate consumers.

Also exposed is an alternative reading of the affluent Western savvy consumer. In established markets, such consumers are empowered by their self-efficacy; however evidence is presented that consumer inexperience is part of the titillation of selling masochistic myths to thrill seekers. From organizational and theoretical perspectives,

this offers scope to design, sell and implement sensory experiences.

Past consumer theorists have put great emphasis on pleasure seeking, whereas in this thesis the emphasis is on exploring people’s attraction to pain. As suffering and masochism in experiential consumption is an emerging phenomenon, new challenges are presented in the field, therefore researchers need new methodological tools. The typology presented in Chapter 4 adds another layer of detail to multisensory data that helps consumer theorists to deconstruct aspects of experiential consumption. This typology links the outer world and the body to offer a typology for those interested in studying the senses holistically. By synchronizing the senses with an elaborate array of natural stimuli, a different lens from that previously used by embodiment theorists is provided.

There is a paucity of academic investigation into consumption as an embodied practice. Having gained exposure to the methodological toolkit used in medical anthropology, consumer researchers can apply these techniques to a range of experiential marketing issues. Chapter 5 illustrates how using these concepts

256 influences the data gathered by introducing and heightening unique multisensory details. It further shows how the body can be a distinctive site for research and observation and a powerful way to understand human experience.

Provided are several guidelines for market researchers looking at multisensory insights. In Chapter 3 it is shown how brands exploit mythology to become icons. For example Dove and Budweiser use stories based on their customers culture industries, customers and intermediaries (Holt, 2004). In the case of offshore yacht racing and adventure racing, the myth authors are exerting a strong influence over the product, making the experience perplexing. The stories have enigmatic plot lines that are exhilarating to decode. Organizations need to appreciate the opportunities this presents for marketing strategies and future advertising approaches. A heightened level of multisensory knowledge gives marketing practitioners access to other worlds, facilitating a process of embodied imagination to offer their target market (Chapter 3 and 5). For example, immersive 3D gaming organizations may have an interest in understanding the sensory appeals of the headset in order to gauge consumer interest in a future console or game. The multisensory toolkit helps researchers to identify the different sensory preferences required from a console: for example which sensations are lacking from a cross-country driving game, or what vibrations would make a desert gunshot more realistic (Chapter 5). Researchers immersing themselves in the sensory worlds of gamers will generate more information about the sensory experience. The insight gained from using the toolkit will facilitate the early identification of valued and idiosyncratic sensations in the 3D gaming marketplace and, subsequently, to realize a profit.

The earth elements have broad cultural applicability for consumer insights departments, particularly as consumers in the West are living increasingly disembodied lifestyles. In advertising, the sensual content of promotional messages is used in travel (Crouch & Desforges, 2003; Pan & Ryan, 2009), fitness (Dworkin & Wachs, 2009), retail (Fulberg, 2003), products (e.g. automakers and publishers) (Pine et al., 1999), experiences (Joy & Sherry, 2003) and brands (Hulten, 2011). Drawing out the everyday reality of people’s bodily practice and experience provides insights to make these practices more meaningful. The relevance for marketing practitioners is as diverse as making fragrance more rounded in composition; products and brands

257 more self-actualizing; and entertainment more enthralling. The body plays an important formative role in consumption, yet it is rarely the lens in consumer insights.

Shops, hotels and restaurants around the world interface the senses with the earth elements. This helps consumer research practitioners understand people better by providing a more complete and comprehensive picture of multisensory experience. The blending of the senses and the earth elements can be used to guide strategic decisions and to serve as a strategizing tool to fine tune the multidimensional aspects of multisensory experience (Chapter 4).

Professionals working in consumer insights and marketing research must remain aware of new and innovative ethnographic methods to provoke, inspire and increase their multisensory offering. Consumer ethnography has the ability to facilitate market learning (Cayla & Arnould, 2013). Presented in this thesis is another example of how using ethnographic narrative to focus on the rich details of human experience means sequences of sensory actions can be understood and considered in specific contexts. This extends organizational insights by reducing the ambiguity, complexity and unpredictability of gathering knowledge on multisensory experiences. In line with research from Cayla and Arnould (2013), the toolkit here provides granular and multifaceted knowledge to equip firms with powerful and strategic tools to get closer to the corporeal dimension (Chapter 5). This suite of methods can help marketing researchers in a multitude of ways. Researchers can apply the toolkit to cover all sensory touch points and remain vigilant to all sensory registers: practices, postures, repetitive movement and spatial juxtapositions. Indeed, sensory marketing is a well- established tool, yet more can be done to leverage this discipline so that goods, services and experience providers can better accommodate the granularity of physical experience through holistic sensory modalities.

6.3 Research Limitations and Extensions

New ways of looking at experiential consumption have been proposed. Necessarily, the social and cultural nature of ethnographic enquiry is value-laden. But, far from being a problem, this presents numerous opportunities for future research. For example, the practices touched upon here reflect a Westernized type of agency –

258 participants are employed, middle-class, well-educated and well-travelled – yet more could be learnt about affluent Western consumers. Therefore, more attention could be paid to the sociocultural context of informants that engage in the “darker side” of experiential consumption. The importance of class, gender, ethnicity, race, occupation, education and subcultures could be further examined, such as how does a Tough Mudder subculture evolve or dissolve over time. In addition, this study could be developed by going beyond individual levels analysis, and towards group and societal analysis. Other contexts can be explored, such as looking at the same group, but asking broader questions. Further studies could investigate Western participants who live in difficult and unpleasant living environments or from participants that have more embodied jobs, such as construction workers or members of the armed forces. For example, practices that are carried out in leisure time could be compared to physically painful and dangerous practices carried out at work. People in physically dangerous jobs in the West may choose to participate in safe and sedate experiences for recreation. An alternative study would be to look at people who have the same practices at work as they do in their leisure time.

In addition, it remains unknown how these suffering practices and actions carry over into non-Western communities, or even to consumers who are not middle-class. Future research could address this limitation by exploring whether voluntary masochistic consumption operates in Second or Third World cultures and, if it exists, the meaning it carries. A future sociocultural study could question whether affluent Indian or Chinese consumers would spend their disposable income on masochistic experiences. They might partake, or not, depending on their sociocultural circumstances.

From a theoretical perspective, further research is required to study the contours of the emerging forms of masochistic consumption and myth-making, such as live kidnappings and burials. An interesting contour would be to explore the role of masochism within the wider ‘experiential mix’, including the intermeshing of pleasure and pain and how these extremes create a memorable and extraordinary experience. A wartime experience of severe trauma interlaced with incomparable camaraderie is an example of the scope of these high and low sensory encounters. There are other ambiguities on the masochistic side of the equation that could be

259 studied more, such as danger and fear. What are the boundaries? Are we on a road to normalizing adventure races, whereby in the future, 30,000 people will spend a weekend swimming with crocodiles? As scholars of consumer culture, we must dig deeper to develop our understanding of consumer behavior to consider the physical potential of consumption and how marketing activities are naturalizing masochistic behavior. This is important because seemingly masochistic experiences can carry great meaning, which enrich a person’s life, often in a way that an overtly pleasurable experience cannot.

Another theoretical concern is that despite the centrality of bodily practices to consumer culture, from the corporeal dimension of consumption activities, to the construction of social identities that draw from and shape consumer culture, the embodied nature of consumer experience has largely remained in the background of consumer culture theorizing.

Stimulating scholarship has recently focused on the nature of embodied experiences, from the somatic dimension of art appreciation (Joy and Sherry 2003), to the emotional, sensual pleasure of clubbing (Goulding et al. 2009). This stream of research on embodiment breaks away from the mind/body dualism that permeates Western philosophical thought, to study how we approach and experience the world bodily. Future research which studies embodiment will recognize and develop the intelligence of the body expressed through a variety of bodily practices, and the socialization of our bodies into ways of sensing.

Further research could carry forward the premise that the collective creates something greater than the sum of the discrete parts (Rayner, 2010). For example, the Distribution of Sensory Experience Typology can be applied to a wider range of consumer research issues than presented here. Festivals, day spas and outdoor activities around the world amalgamate the senses. This level of sensory integration helps consumer researchers understand people better by providing a more complete and comprehensive picture of multisensory experiences in nature: the appeals, the pitfalls, the idiosyncrasies, and the untapped desires.

260 Evident too is the scope for more explicit interdisciplinary approaches in multisensory research. There is tremendous opportunity for teams of researchers in the disciplines of cultural studies, marketing, anthropology and sociology to offer different skill sets and to work together for a greater understanding of multisensory experiences. For example, working with medical anthropologists to gather data in the field and analyze data would add informed and unique corporeal dimensions to consumer research.

Further research could address sensory modalities in different cultures and contexts. Related contexts, from masked wrestling in Mexico City, to deep-sea diving in Goa and ice-climbing in Colorado would present further multisensory contexts for investigating difficult and painful experiences. Less obviously related contexts, such as Taphophilia involving gravestone rubbing, photography and history of famous deaths, or beetle fighting, would also add value to multisensory experiential debates. A potential limitation of sensory studies is the fact that sensory orders are not fixed, like cultures they change and develop over time (Chapters 4 and 5). There can be different sensory orders and modes for different groups within a culture: gender, age, ethnicity, life stage and sexual orientation.

6.4 References

Arnould, E. J., & Price, L. L. (1993). River magic: Extraordinary experience and the extended service encounter. The Journal of Consumer Research, 20(1), 24-45. Cayla, J., & Arnould, E. (2013). Ethnographic Stories for Market Learning. Journal of Marketing, 77(4), 1-16. Celsi, R. L., Rose, R. L., & Leigh, T. W. (1993). An exploration of high-risk leisure consumption through skydiving. The Journal of Consumer Research, 20(1), 1- 23. Crouch, D., & Desforges, L. (2003). The Sensuous in the Tourist Encounter Introduction: The Power of the Body in Tourist Studies. Tourist Studies, 3(1), 5-22. Dworkin, S. L., & Wachs, F. L. (2009). Body panic: Gender, health, and the selling of fitness: New York: NYU Press. Fulberg, P. (2003). Using sonic branding in the retail environment‚Äîan easy and effective way to create consumer brand loyalty while enhancing the in‚Äêstore experience. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 3(2), 193-198.

261 Goulding, C., Shankar, A., Elliott, R., & Canniford, R. (2009). The marketplace management of illicit pleasure. Journal of Consumer Research, 35(5), 759- 771. Holt, D. B. (2004). How brands become icons: The principles of cultural branding: Massachusetts: Harvard Business Press. Hulten, B. (2011). Sensory marketing: the multi-sensory brand-experience concept. European Business Review, 23(3), 256-273. Joy, A., & Sherry, J. F. (2003). Speaking of art as embodied imagination: A multisensory approach to understanding aesthetic experience. Journal of Consumer Research, 30(2), 259-282. Kozinets, R. V. (2002). Can consumers escape the market? Emancipatory illuminations from burning man. Journal of Consumer Research, 29(1), 20-38. Pan, S., & Ryan, C. (2009). Tourism Sense Making: The role fo the senses and travel journalism. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 26(7), 625-639. Pine, B. J., Gilmore, J. H., & Digital, I. (1999). The experience economy. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Rayner, A. D. M. (2010). Inclusionality and sustainability‚attuning with the currency of natural energy flow and how this contrasts with abstract economic rationality. Environmental Economics, 1(1), 98-108.

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