Consumer Identity & Nigerian Wedding Rituals: A Blended Netnography Approach By Ladipo Olakunle Fagbola Ph.D. Thesis 2019 Consumer Identity & Nigerian Wedding Rituals: A Blended Netnography Approach Ladipo Olakunle Fagbola Salford Business School The University of Salford, United Kingdom Submitted in Partial Fulfilment for the Requirements of The award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, January 2020 Page 2 of 273 Declaration I, Ladipo Olakunle Fagbola, at this moment declare that this work presented in this thesis was carried out by me. Any ideas, thoughts or quotations from other work found in the literature, published or otherwise, are fully acknowledged in accordance to the standard reference practices of The University of Salford, Greater Manchester. Sign Date Page 3 of 273 Table of Contents Declaration ...................................................................................................................................... 3 Table of Contents ......................................................................................................................... 4 List of Tables ............................................................................................................................... 10 List of Figures.............................................................................................................................. 10 Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................. 11 Glossary ......................................................................................................................................... 12 Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... 13 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 14 1.1. Background .................................................................................................................................. 14 1.2. Rationale ....................................................................................................................................... 17 1.3. Research Aim, Questions and Contributions ............................................................... 19 1.4. Thesis Overview ........................................................................................................................ 19 1.5. Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 21 2. Literature Review ............................................................................................................................... 22 2.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 22 2.2. Unpacking Identity ................................................................................................................... 23 2.2.1. Identity and The Consumer .......................................................................................... 23 a. Consuming to Resolve Identity Conflicts ........................................................... 26 b. Being in Control ............................................................................................................. 28 c. Consuming to Be Different ....................................................................................... 30 d. Consumption as Transformation .......................................................................... 31 2.2.2. Nigeria and Her National Identity ............................................................................. 32 a. Defining Nigeria ............................................................................................................. 32 Page 4 of 273 b. Nigerian Consumer Culture ..................................................................................... 32 c. Ethno-Religious Nigeria ............................................................................................. 37 2.3. Weddings ...................................................................................................................................... 40 2.3.1. Rituals ..................................................................................................................................... 40 a. Introduction to Rituals ............................................................................................... 40 b. Categorising Rituals ..................................................................................................... 42 c. Rituals and Social (Re)Order ................................................................................... 44 2.3.2. Liminality .............................................................................................................................. 46 a. Contemporary Uses of Liminality ......................................................................... 47 2.3.3. Global White Wedding .................................................................................................... 51 a. Wedding Rituals and their Social Functions .................................................... 51 b. Democratisation and White Wedding Rituals ................................................ 53 c. I Want a ‘Perfect’ Wedding ....................................................................................... 56 d. Managing Identity and Transitions ...................................................................... 63 e. When Consumer Choice Fails to Liberate ......................................................... 67 2.4. Conceptual Framework .......................................................................................................... 69 2.5. Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 71 3. Methodology .......................................................................................................................................... 72 3.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 72 3.2. Philosophy .................................................................................................................................... 73 3.2.1. Ontology – Relativism...................................................................................................... 73 3.2.1. Epistemology – Interpretivist ...................................................................................... 76 3.3. Research Design......................................................................................................................... 80 3.3.1. Netnography ........................................................................................................................ 81 3.3.2. Interviews and Participant Observation ................................................................ 88 Page 5 of 273 3.3.3. Sampling ................................................................................................................................ 90 a. Online Sampling ................................................................................................................. 90 b. Offline Sampling – Snowball Sampling .................................................................... 94 3.4. Pilot .................................................................................................................................................. 96 3.5. Ethical Considerations ............................................................................................................ 98 3.5.1. Ethics in Online Research .............................................................................................. 98 3.5.2. Offline Ethical Considerations .................................................................................. 101 3.5.3. Data Storage and Retrieval ........................................................................................ 102 3.6. Data Analysis ............................................................................................................................ 103 3.6.1. Thematic Analysis .......................................................................................................... 103 3.6.2. Computer Aided Analysis (NVivo 11) .................................................................. 107 3.7. Reflections ................................................................................................................................. 109 3.8. Summary .................................................................................................................................... 111 4. Findings ................................................................................................................................................ 113 4.1. Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 113 4.2. Findings for Online Data ..................................................................................................... 115 4.2.1. Validation and Clarification of Wedding Choices ...........................................