James Cronin - 快播视频

Professor James Cronin

Professor in Marketing and Consumer Culture Studies

Research Interests

James Cronin (PhD, FAcSS) is a Professor in Consumer Culture Studies with the Department of Marketing at 快播视频 Management School and Director of the LUMS Centre for Consumption Insights. His principal research focuses on the social and cultural aspects of consumer behaviour, including collective and symbolic forms of consumption, marketplace ideologies, consumer escapism, voluntary risk-taking, and the cultural politics of marketing. Much of his current research activities focus on how social structures, socio-ideological fantasies, and interactions between people shape and ground their consumption experiences. To explore these areas, James has used a variety of qualitative research methods and theoretical formulations from philosophy, sociology, and cultural theory.

James's work has appeared in international peer-reviewed journals including Sociology, Annals of Tourism Research, Marketing Theory, European Journal of Marketing, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Marketing Management, Consumption, Markets & Culture, and Sociology of Health & Illness.James is an Associate Editor for Consumption, Markets & Culture and co-edited a Special Issue for the Journal of Marketing Management entitled '' (2022, Vol. 38 Iss 1-2). In 2026, James was conferred as a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. Election to the distinguished fellowship is through an independent peer review which recognises research excellence and impact.

James was a co-chair and organiser for the , an interdisciplinary event hosted by the Centre for Consumption Insights and funded by RISCS. Surrounding this workshop, James is involved in research that explores digitalisation and its relationships with political economy, consumer culture, crime, radicalisation, and new mechanisms of exclusion.

Previously, James was involved as a co-investigator on the UKRI NERC-funded 'Plastic Packaging in People's Lives' (PPiPL) interdisciplinary project (2020-2024). The PPiPL project set out to produce a critical, nuanced, and comprehensive overview of the ideological, socio-cultural, historical, and industrial conditions, circular supply chain logistics, and post-consumer pathways that contribute to the perceived legitimacy of plastic packaging materials in the UK. James has drawn from philosophy and cultural theory to approach plastic as a that furtively accompanies consumers on their various experiential journeys. James is the lead author of .

James has written recently about the and aspects of society's relationships with consumption, markets, and marketing.

Research Grants

1. 'Plastic Packaging in Peoples’ Lives (PPiPL): Understanding attitudes and behaviour around plastic food packaging' (Nov 2020-Oct 2023). Awarded by Natural Environment Research Council, UKRI. Amount awarded: ?760,257

Awarded to: Professor Maria Piacentini (Co PI), Dr Alison Stowell (Co PI), Professor James Cronin (CI), Dr Alex Skandalis (CI), Professor Linda Hendry (CI), Dr John Hardy (CI)

2. Public experiences of service change in primary care: Focusing on the spaces and places of service delivery (Oct 2023- Oct 2026). Competitive PhD CASE Studentship awarded by NWSSDTP Economic and Social Research Council, UKRI.

Awarded to: co-supervisors Professor Maria Piacentini & Professor James Cronin

3. How life course perceptions shape climate discourses and practices (Oct 2024 - November 2027). Competitive PhD CASE Studentship awarded by NWSSDTP Economic and Social Research Council, UKRI.

Awarded to: Dr Rachel Wood (Keele University) and Professor James Cronin (Cross-institutional North West doctoral partnership)

4. Operationalising & Branding Compassion: Consumer Experiences and 'Spaces of Compassion’ in UK Healthcare (Jan 2026- Oct 2029). Competitive PhD CASE Studentship awarded by NWSSDTP Economic and Social Research Council, UKRI.

Awarded to: supervisor Professor James Cronin

Additional Information

Select Media Publications

Cronin, J., Skandalis, A. & Hadley, C. (2025), "", The Conversation, 30th October.
James, S. & Cronin, J. (2025), , 54 Degrees, Issue 22
Hadley, C., Skandalis, A., & Cronin, J. (2024), , 54 Degrees, Issue 21
Hadley, C., Cronin, J., & Skandalis, A. (2023), , 54 Degrees, Issue 14
Cronin, J. (2018), The Conversation, 12^th April.
Cronin, J. (2017), The Conversation, 22^nd December.
Cronin, J. "We want tripe", 54 Degrees, 26^th September
Cronin, J. (2017), The Grocer, 23^rd February.
Cronin, J. (2016), The Conversation, 27^th June.
Cronin, J. (2016), The Conversation, 15^th June.
Cronin, J. (2016), , 11^th May.
Cronin, J. (2016), , 19^th April.

Current Teaching

James is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Authority. He has expertise in research-led teaching at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, specialising in consumer behaviour, brand strategy, and issues pertaining to consumer culture. James's teaching takes a critical and cultural approach to the brand-related activities of organisations and seeks to encourage a more mindful, socially-aware understanding of the role of brands in contemporary consumer culture.

James was awarded the Management School Teaching Prize at the 2018 Dean’s Awards and was 'Highly Commended' for his teaching at the University-wide 2022 Staff Awards. James's current teaching includes:

Undergraduate Teaching

MKTG317 Brand Strategy (Module Leader)

Postgraduate Teaching

MKTG404 Brand Management (Module Leader)
MKTG561 Brands & Consumer Culture (Module Leader)

External Roles

External Examiner, MSc & BSc Marketing programmes, Cork University Business School, University College Cork, October 2024 – Nov. 2027

External Examiner, MBA programme, Queen’s Business School, Queen's University Belfast, October 2023 – Nov. 2027

External Examiner, MSc Marketing programmes, Leicester University School of Business, January 2018 – April 2022

PhD Supervisions Completed

(completed PhD part-time in 2021), Lecturer at Birmingham University

(completed PhD full-time in 2022), Lecturer at Leicester University

Dr Sophie James (completed PhD full-time in 2024), Lecturer at 快播视频

PhD Supervision Interests

James is willing to supervise and mentor PhD students in the broad areas of interpretive consumer research, the sociology of consumption, and critical marketing studies. He has been successful at securing studentships for doctoral research.Recent and ongoing examples of doctoral theses supervised by James include Rita Oladimeji's ESRC-NWSSDTP funded project on marketised care and the integration of compassionate spaces with healthcare environments; Irina Obeada's ESRC-NWSSDTP funded project on the functioning of voluntary risk in people's life course events; Ziyi Yang's "The Conflictual Core of Fandom"; Sophie James's "The role of Archaisms in Post-Historical Consumer Culture"; Quynh Hoang's "Technoculture and its Lived Consequences"; and Scott Jones's "Re-Contextualising Consumer Escapism:Binge-Watching and the Unexpected Effects of an Escape"

Selected Publications

Obeada, I., Cronin, J., Piacentini, M. 16/07/2025 In: Sociology.
Journal article

Cronin, J., James, S. 15/05/2025 In: Consumption, Markets and Culture.
Journal article

James, S., Cronin, J., Patterson, A. 1/05/2024 In: Annals of Tourism Research. 106
Journal article

Cronin, J., James, S. 30/11/2024 In: Consumption, Markets and Culture. 27, 3, p. 251-268. 18 p.
Journal article

Cronin, J., Fitchett, J., Coffin, J. 1/09/2024 In: Marketing Theory. 24, 3, p. 525-544. 20 p.
Journal article

James, S., Cronin, J., Patterson, A. 1/09/2024 In: Marketing Theory. 24, 3, p. 397-416. 20 p.
Journal article

Hoang Ngoc , Q., Cronin, J., Skandalis, A. 31/12/2023 In: Marketing Theory. 23, 4, p. 585 - 606.
Journal article

Jones, S., Cronin, J., Piacentini, M. 30/06/2022 In: Journal of Business Research. 145, p. 720-731. 12 p.
Journal article

Hoang, Q., Cronin, J., Skandalis, A. 1/03/2022 In: Marketing Theory. 22, 1, p. 85-104. 20 p.
Journal article

Cronin, J., Hadley, C., Skandalis, A. 30/09/2022 In: Consumption, Markets and Culture. 25, 5, p. 485-497. 13 p.
Journal article

Cronin, J., Fitchett, J. 31/01/2022 In: Journal of Marketing Management. 38, 1-2, p. 127-144. 18 p.
Journal article

Fitchett, J., Cronin, J. 31/03/2022 In: Journal of Marketing Management. 38, 1-2, p. 1-16. 16 p.
Editorial

Cronin, J., Fitchett, J. 1/03/2021 In: Marketing Theory. 21, 1, p. 3-24. 22 p.
Journal article

Jones, S., Cronin, J., Piacentini, M. 1/12/2020 In: Marketing Theory. 20, 4, p. 459-480. 22 p.
Journal article

Cronin, J.M., Cocker, H.L. 1/09/2019 In: Marketing Theory. 19, 3, p. 281-299. 19 p.
Journal article

Cronin, J.M., Hopkinson, G.C. 09/2018 In: Marketing Theory. 18, 3, p. 269-286. 17 p.
Journal article

Jones, S., Cronin, J.M., Piacentini, M.G. 2018 In: Journal of Marketing Management. 34, 5-6, p. 497-508. 12 p.
Journal article

Cronin, J.M., Malone, S. 18/07/2018 In: Marketing Theory. 19, 2, p. 129-147. 19 p.
Journal article

Cocker, H.L., Cronin, J.M. 1/12/2017 In: Marketing Theory. 17, 4, p. 455-472. 18 p.
Journal article

Cronin, J., McCarthy, M., Delaney, M. 1/11/2015 In: European Journal of Marketing. 49, 11-12, p. 1902-1922. 21 p.
Journal article

Hopkinson, G., Cronin, J. 10/2015 In: Journal of Marketing Management. 31, 13-14, p. 1383-1402. 19 p.
Journal article

Cronin, J., McCarthy, M., Brennan, M., McCarthy, S. 2014 In: European Journal of Marketing. 48, 9/10, p. 1558-1778. 21 p.
Journal article

Cronin, J., McCarthy, M., Collins, A. 11/2014 In: Sociology of Health and Illness. 36, 8, p. 1125-1140. 16 p.
Journal article

17/03/2025 → 28/11/2025
Research
01/11/2024 → 31/03/2025
Research
01/10/2023 → 01/11/2026
Research
01/10/2023 → 01/11/2026
Research
03/10/2022 → 30/09/2023
Research
01/11/2020 → 31/05/2024
Research
01/11/2020 → 31/10/2023
Research

Participation in conference -Mixed Audience

Oral presentation

Other