How Mess Becomes Pollution: Spatiotemporal and Relational Dynamics of Domestic Disorder
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Authors
Abarashi, Jamal
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Item type
Journal Article
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Volume Title
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Abstract
This study theorises how consumers interpret and respond to material disorder in domestic spaces, reconceptualising why some forms of mess are tolerated, while others become symbolic pollution that prompts tidying action. Drawing on symbolic pollution theory, the study demonstrates that pollution is constituted through spatiotemporal and relational processes rather than fixed spatial violations. It identifies three interrelated mechanisms shaping this transformation: perceived control, the symbolic elasticity of space across time and use, and family dynamics through which disorder is collectively negotiated. The study extends symbolic pollution theory by shifting its ontology from spatial to spatiotemporal and conceptualising disorder as moving between liquid and solid states. It reframes ordering as the ongoing management of time, relationships and material arrangements through which disorder is rendered acceptable or polluting.Description
Keywords
35 Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services, 3504 Commercial Services, 3506 Marketing, 3507 Strategy, Management and Organisational Behaviour, 1503 Business and Management, 1504 Commercial Services, 1505 Marketing, Symbolic pollution, material disorder, tolerance, domestic spaces, photo elicitation
Source
Journal of Marketing Management, ISSN: 0267-257X (Print); 1472-1376 (Online), Informa UK Limited, ahead-of-print(ahead-of-print), 1-27. doi: 10.1080/0267257x.2026.2674073
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Rights statement
© 2026 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.