Consumer Culture Researcher and Marketing Academic
I am an Assistant Professor of Marketing at Radboud University, the Netherlands. I received my PhD in Marketing from The University of Melbourne, Australia in 2020.
Most of my research focuses on how technology products like smartphones, laptops, Wi-Fi routers, smart-assistants, and wearables shape our everyday activities and experiences. In particular, I am trying to better understand: how we can put our tech-products to meaningful uses for longer; how tech-products can shape our relationships with our families; and how tech-products impact upon the lived experiences and wellbeing of older people. My research has been published in the Journal of Marketing, Marketing Theory, Journal of Marketing Management, European Journal of Marketing, and Academy of Marketing Science Review, among other outlets.
Theory-wise, I draw from consumer culture perspectives to understand technology adoption and consumption. I often work with theories of assemblage, Actor-Network Theory, and Object-Oriented Ontology – lenses that help us see the influences of nonhuman entities like technologies, everyday objects, and spaces on consumers, consumption, and markets.
In my current projects, I harness consumer culture lenses to investigate unique behaviours, practices, and social interactions in consumption contexts as diverse as professional wrestling branding, sneaker collecting, and videogaming.
Assistant Professor
of Marketing
Radboud University
🇳🇱 The Netherlands
PhD in Marketing
The University of
Melbourne
🇦🇺 Australia
Social Links
If you are unable to access any of the publications below and would like a copy, please email me!
I note which have been published open access.
These are free to download without a university or library account.
Upcoming
Focused Forum Panel
“Charting the Past, Present, and Futures of Epistemic (In)Justice in CCT”
Chairs: Ai Ming Chow, Paolo Franco, and Bareerah Hafeez Hoorani
Discussants: Roua Alhanouti, Samuelson Appau, Tonya Williams Bradford, Angela Cruz, Yannick Gibson, Andrew Lindridge, Marian Makkar, Yuko Minowa, Ateeq Abdul Rauf, Pilar Rojas Gaviria
Consumer Culture Theory Conference
🇯🇵 Kyoto, Japan, July 2026
Selected Recent
Paolo Franco, Adam Slobodzian, Amber Epp, and Tandy Thomas
“Shhhh!-arenting Practices: How Parents Manage Online Sharing Tensions”
Special Session: Reimagining Family Practices: Navigating Tensions, Expectations, and Market Chaos
Consumer Culture Theory Conference
🇬🇧 London, United Kingdom, June 2025
Marcus Phipps and Paolo Franco
“Same but Different: The Legitimacy Paradox of Affordable Housing”
Special Session: Navigating the Precarious Access and Stability of Affordable Housing
Consumer Culture Theory Conference
🇬🇧 London, United Kingdom, June 2025
Tom van Laer and Paolo Franco
“Generational Story Wars: A Cultural Discourse Analysis of Narrative Identity Work in Participatory Culture”
Working Paper
Consumer Culture Theory Conference
🇬🇧 London, United Kingdom, June 2025
Paolo Franco, Paul Driessen, Marleen Hermans, and Csilla Horváth
“The (De)Romanticized Multiplicity of Local Food”
Competitive Paper
Consumer Culture Theory Conference
🇺🇸 San Diego, United States, July 2024
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