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Authenticity: Attribution, Value, and Meaning

Culture
Culture and Society
Glenn R. Carroll

Glenn R. Carroll

Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA

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First published: 15 May 2015
Citations: 42

Abstract

Consumers and scholars show increasing interest in authenticity in products, services, performances, and places. As typically used, authenticity is an attribution that is socially constructed and appears in many domains of social life. The interest in authenticity presumes that its attribution conveys value and emerging evidence agrees. Authenticity, however, carries some very different meanings, including those about classification, morality, craftsmanship, and idiosyncrasy. Parsing these various interpretations requires attention to cultural and historical context.

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