Lens Of Social Practice Theory Research Articles

The brand-building process of B2B high-tech startups in an omni-digital environment

Purpose Through the theoretical lens of social practice theory, the aim of this research is to investigate how business-to-business (B2B) high-tech startups build their brands in an omni-digital environment, particularly by focusing on the most important digital touchpoints implemented to interact with stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative analysis was performed by conducting 36 semi-structured interviews with key informants operating in B2B high-tech startups, including founders, CEOs, managing directors, marketing managers and other actors from this sector. Findings The results reveal the enablers, inhibitors and specific objectives of startups in their brand-building processes across digital touchpoints in an omni-digital environment. Originality/value This study offers new theoretical insights into new ventures’ brand management strategies through the development of a theoretical framework in which the enablers, inhibitors and specific objectives of the brand-building process of startups are identified. Although the recent literature has addressed the topic of startup brand building, this is the first study, to the authors’ knowledge, focused on the brand-building process of B2B high-tech startups in an omni-digital environment.

Consumer Engagement in Fashion Circularity in China: Exploring Consumer Online Fashion Resale through the Lens of Social Practice Theory

Fashion resale has emerged as a notable strategy for the fashion industry to reduce its environmental footprint by promoting fashion circularity. Despite extensive research on consumer awareness of resale and the purchase of pre-owned items, there remains a gap in understanding the factors that influence consumers’ participation in resale markets, encompassing both selling and buying practices. Drawing on social practice theory (SPT), this qualitative study examines the nuanced factors influencing consumers’ online resale practices and investigates how online fashion resale practices (OFRPs) have become integrated into their daily consumption patterns. In-depth interviews were conducted with thirty experienced Chinese consumers engaged in both the selling and buying practices of secondhand fashion. Initially, the study identified eight nuanced motivations and seven challenges influencing consumers’ OFRPs. Subsequently, the research uncovered two types of materials and seven core skills necessary for successful OFRP transactions, along with six associated meanings of OFRPs. Specifically, we found that participants seamlessly integrated OFRP into their daily routines through nurtured sociality, and OFRP only fostered sustainable consumption behaviors in one-third of participants, suggesting significant room for improvement. This study provides empirical insights into the existing literature and offers actionable recommendations to key stakeholders for advancing fashion circularity—a critical objective for the sustainability of the fashion industry.

Children's descriptions of their involvement within everyday food practices

BackgroundThe way in which children interact with food has a profound impact on their health and wellbeing. However, most research, strategy and policy where food is the focus are derived from adult perspectives. There is limited understanding of children's perspectives of the nature of their everyday food practices, and their level of involvement and influence. This work garnered children's (8–12 years old) descriptions of, and involvement in, their everyday food practices. MethodsForty-two children from 28 families from across Brisbane (Australia) participated in qualitative creative draw-and-tell interviews and 20 of these children (from 15 families) also completed Photovoice data collection. Data were abductively analysed through a social practice theory lens. ResultsChildren reported engaging in food planning, acquisition, preparation, consumption and tidy-up practices, to varying degrees of ‘less involved’, ‘in partnership with adults or other children’ or ‘independently’. This was influenced largely by the willingness of adults to relinquish control and children's desire to participate, as well as other contextual factors. Children were more independent in consumption practices, as well as packing lunchboxes and preparing food spaces (as preparation practices). Partnerships were established more so within food acquisition and preparation practices, with less involvement described within planning and tidy-up practices. ConclusionsThe findings add new knowledge and depth and breadth to that already obtained from parents, teachers and adult researchers, highlighting the importance of privileging children's voices when investigating their food experiences. This work may be used to guide adults to invite and support children to be involved in food practices that they report being less involved in, as well as inform how best to work with and include children in future research and food and nutrition strategies and policies.

A qualitative meta-synthesis of carers' perceptions of factors influencing preschool children's oral hygiene practices-A social practices perspective.

This study comprises a synthesis of published qualitative studies from developed countries on the perspectives of carers regarding the oral hygiene toothbrushing practices of preschool children, through the lens of social practice theory. A search of the following electronic databases was conducted for all available years: MEDLINE, EMBASE and Global Health using the Ovid platform; Dentistry & Oral Sciences Source (DOSS), Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) and Scopus. Included qualitative studies reported primary caregivers' perceptions of oral hygiene practices (focusing on toothbrushing) in preschool children (0-5 years old) in developed countries. A thematic synthesis of the qualitative findings was undertaken for the results of each study. Eleven articles were included in this meta-synthesis. The focus of this paper was toothbrushing practices. A conceptual map of toothbrushing as a social practice was developed. Key findings included practice elements (meanings, competences, and materials), spatial and temporal aspects, and barriers and facilitators to performance. The application of a social practice lens to published qualitative research on the oral hygiene of preschool children provided insights into the meanings and competences related to toothbrushing, as perceived by primary caregivers. However, it also revealed limited information on material, spatial and temporal aspects of toothbrushing practices, indicating the importance of considering social practice theory as a framework in future research to address this gap. Furthermore, exploring toothbrushing in connection with related social practices has the potential to increase understanding of factors influencing oral health in preschool children.

A critical exploration of the diets of UK disadvantaged communities to inform food systems transformation: a scoping review of qualitative literature using a social practice theory lens

The UK food system affects social, economic and natural environments and features escalating risk of food insecurity. Yet it should provide access to safe, nutritious, affordable food for all citizens. Disadvantaged UK communities [individuals and families at risk of food and housing insecurity, often culturally diverse] have often been conceptualised in terms of individual behaviour which may lead to findings and conclusions based on the need for individual change. Such communities face public health challenges and are often treated as powerless recipients of dietary and health initiatives or as ‘choiceless’ consumers within food supply chains. As transforming the UK food system has become a national priority, it is important a diverse range of evidence is used to support understanding of the diets of disadvantaged communities to inform food systems transformation research.A scoping review of UK peer reviewed qualitative literature published in MEDLINE, CINAHL Plus with Full Text, EMBASE, PsycINFO and Web of Science between January 2010 and May 2021 in English. Eligibility criteria were applied, a data extraction table summarised data from included studies, and synthesis using social practice theory was undertaken.Forty-five qualitative studies were reviewed, which included the views of 2,434 community members aged between 5 and 83. Studies used different measures to define disadvantage. Synthesis using social practice theory identified themes of food and dietary practices shaped by interactions between ‘material factors’ (e.g. transport, housing and money), ‘meanings’ (e.g. autonomy and independence), and ‘competencies’ (e.g. strategies to maximise food intake). These concepts are analysed and critiqued in the context of the wider literature to inform food systems transformation research.This review suggests to date, qualitative research into diets of UK disadvantaged communities provides diverse findings that mainly conceptualise disadvantage at an individual level. Whilst several studies provide excellent characterisations of individual experience, links to ‘macro’ processes such as supply chains are largely missing. Recommendations are made for future research to embrace transdisciplinary perspectives and utilise new tools (e.g., creative methods and good practice guides), and theories (e.g., assemblage) to better facilitate food systems transformation for disadvantaged communities.

Beyond whole-school approaches to sustainability: Social practices and practice architectures at secondary schools in England

The education sector is an important component of the UK's net zero strategy, in terms of both the carbon footprint of school buildings and operations, and the opportunities to teach about environmental issues and empower climate action. However, school sustainability is often narrowly defined around individual choices and behaviours by different school stakeholders, rather than the broader patterns of social practices. This qualitative study of secondary schools in England involved stakeholder interviews and student focus groups at twelve schools in Greater London and the Thames Valley Region (Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire) where 142 people participated in this research, including teachers, students, parents, governors and school staff (leadership, facilities, finance). School sustainability was explored through the lens of social practice theory, and three bundles of practices and arrangements were identified: teaching/learning, catering/eating, movement/travel. Whole-school approaches to sustainability were reframed through the semantic, material and social spaces identified in the theory of practice architectures. School sustainability requires a substantial investment into retrofitting school buildings, but it also needs to be woven in the culture of a school – firmly on the agenda of the governors and leadership team, parallel to an issue like safeguarding – and supported by clearly identified roles and relationships in each institution. This research is aimed at environmental educators and researchers wishing to apply insights from social theory to develop more effective whole-school approaches to sustainability. This research also reveals a potential divide between state and private schools when it comes to environmental education, empowerment and action.

Green roles at home: exploring the impact of household social dynamic processes on consumption at the food-energy-water (FEW) nexus.

Capturing the social dynamic processes among household members that work to shape consumption patterns presents a complex problem for household resource conservation studies. To bridge the gap between the individual and household, we propose and test a series of quantitative measures that explore the underlying structure of household social dynamic processes through the lens of social practice theory. Based on previous qualitative research, we develop measures to test five distinct social dynamic processes that either encourage or deter pro-environmental action: enhancing, norming, preferring, constraining, and allocating. In a sample of households (n = 120) from suburban Midwestern USA, we find that positively framed social dynamic processes (enhancing and positive norming) positively predict variance in frequency of food-, energy-, and water-conserving pro-environmental actions. Pro-environmental orientation of the individual respondent, in turn, is positively associated with perception of positively framed dynamics. These findings suggest that social dynamic processes influence individual decision-making about household consumption, supporting previous research that illustrates consumption as embedded within the relationships that form residential life. We suggest ways forward for quantitative social science researchers to explore consumption through a practice-based approach that considers the influence of social institutions on emission-intensive lifestyles.

Evolution of interpreting as a social practice in China during the past four decades. An analysis of Chinese discourse on interpreting through the lens of social practice theory

This article examines how interpreting has evolved as a social practice in China and how it has been shaped by the changing social environment during the past four decades. Viewing interpreting as a social practice, the study employs an adapted three-element model from the social practice theory as the analytic framework. Through a qualitative thematic and content analysis of about 50 relevant articles representing the three sets of elements, which are selected from a database of Chinese articles on interpreting, and published in quality journals of Chinese Social Sciences Citation Index/Core Journals of China in the past four decades, the “competences,” “meanings,” and “materials” of the social practice of interpreting are identified and their evolution in different periods are analysed. Through an examination of the economic, socio-political, and technological developments in China during the past four decades, the evolution of interpreting in three periods (late 1970s to early 1990s, the mid-1990s to early 2000s, and 2007 to present) are identified, and the role of the changing environment in shaping the social practice of interpreting is revealed.

The impact of business sufficiency strategies on consumer practices: The case of bicycle subscription

To stay within planetary boundaries, we need to move into sustainable levels of resource consumption, or sufficiency. Businesses can play a key role in driving sufficiency as they satisfy and also create demand. This article investigates how a bicycle subscription company can promote sufficiency among its users, with a focus on modal shift and product care. It aims to fill the research gap on how business sufficiency strategies impact actual consumption, while also providing insights into the less studied business model of bicycle subscription. User mobility patterns and care behaviour are analysed through the lens of social practice theory. Using the subscription, many users experience a modal shift towards cycling, mostly replacing public transport, walking and car journeys. Around half of the respondents also cycle longer distances and more frequently than before the subscription. Yet, users might stop cycling after the subscription, often due to moving to areas with a poor cycling infrastructure. Concerning product longevity, subscribers differ, with some taking good care of the vehicle and others being less careful. The research shows some advances towards sufficiency but also highlights the limits of one company's actions and the importance of structural changes to promote sufficient consumption.

Community wellbeing in the built environment: towards a relational building assessment

ABSTRACT Community Wellbeing (CW) in the built environment is acknowledged as being ‘greater than the sum of its parts’, a process that emerges when residents negotiate understandings of community within shared spaces. However, methods of evaluation have not caught up. In practice, evaluation methods and frameworks measure CW as an aggregate of individual wellbeing, and operate as a ‘pick and mix’ of dimensions and indicators. Such an approach fails to capture the resident experience as it emerges from (and is shaped by) the local community context. To bridge the gap between theory and practice, we advance participatory mixed methods to integrate CW theory with current building performance assessment methods in support of the development of a novel, evidence-based tool. The first section covers the shift from an aggregate to relational conceptual framework, employing a social practice theory lens to acknowledge how CW emerges from individual and collective interactions. We then situate CW within current building performance assessment methods by reviewing seven CW frameworks. Finally, we recommend improvements to CW assessment based on our own research, including participatory methods, local community engagement, and Photovoice.

Wardrobe stories: sustainability and the everyday aesthetics of fashion consumption

ABSTRACT Transitioning fashion towards sustainability will require changes in practices including the design, production, promotion, sale and consumption of clothing. Using data gathered through a qualitative method termed ‘wardrobe examinations’, this article examines fashion consumption through the lens of social practice theory in order to better understand how the practice of fashion consumption can become more sustainable. Through analysis of the wardrobe examinations an everyday aesthetic of dressing comes to light that includes negotiations between practicalities, emotional experiences, and the process of self-fashioning. I argue that the practice of fashion consumption is already layered and treacherous well before sustainability issues are considered, and the sustainable fashion movement – including activists, designers and retailers – must recognize and address this complexity if it hopes to fruitfully engage consumers to support a sustainable transition. I also highlight existing sustainable elements of fashion consumption that can be reinforced to aid the transition towards sustainability in the fashion sector.

Evaluating energy saving behavioral interventions through the lens of social practice theory: A case study in Hong Kong

Foreseeable energy savings can be obtained by guiding curtailment behaviors through behavioral interventions. However, the underlying mechanism behind behavioral interventions remains largely unknown. This study aims to examine how behavioral interventions impact occupant behavior and energy use in buildings from a systematic perspective, especially cooling-related behaviors in subtropical areas. First, a theoretical framework was established using social practice theory to demonstrate the dynamics of occupant behavior from three interconnected phases, namely “material”, “behavior” and “cognition”. Following this, the behavioral change process was simulated under the proposed framework, supported by sub-models of building energy, occupant behavior, and social psychology. The sub-models were verified by survey data from 290 effective participants and in-situ monitoring data in 12 dormitory rooms of a university in Hong Kong. Simulation results show that behavioral interventions can help to reduce the air conditioning electricity use in the case building by 15%–18%. However, many uncertainties exist, and the effectiveness of such interventions is determined by multiple correlated factors, such as the original behavior mode, comfort demand, energy saving beliefs and the intervention time. The findings enable a better understanding of the dynamics of occupant behavior and inspire future studies on behavioral interventions with the novel methodology.

Solar Home Systems in South Asia: Examining Adoption, Energy Consumption, and Social Practices

Renewable electricity generation from solar energy has rapidly increased in South Asia. This paper presents a systematic review of 79 scholarly papers on the topic of solar home system adoption, energy consumption, and social practices in South Asia. Using an intersectionality lens, the paper demonstrates that various categories of difference, such as gender, age, class, and ethnicity, intersect and shape the adoption of this technology in South Asia. Utilizing a social practice theory lens, the paper shows that solar home systems shape the spatial and temporal arrangements and practices of members of households that have adopted the technology, as well as their counterparts who have not. This technology has a practical but also symbolic function; the symbolic function and social meaning are derived from the economic and socio-cultural contexts. As this renewable energy technology is embedded in economic and socio-cultural contexts, people reconfigure it in creative ways to meet their everyday energy needs. The paper identifies research gaps and suggests future research agendas.

Doctoral supervision: sharpening the focus of the practice lens

ABSTRACT The literature on doctoral supervision is heavily informed by a focus on the individual and dyad, together with a self-help ethic of supervisory improvement. On the margins is a disparate literature taking a ‘practice’ perspective on doctoral supervision. But this literature is disconnected and lacking in some important features. This article’s intention is to sharpen the focus and so to enhance the utility of a social practice theory lens. It refutes the idea that the practice perspective is inherently conservative, showing how a sharply focused lens can challenge assimilationism. The article first elaborates on the individualist approach and highlights differences with the practice approaches as already developed. It then sets out a social practice approach which builds on that existing literature. Finally, it applies this to the issue of colonialist assimilationism in doctoral supervision. The article is not directly based on empirical research, but instead uses existing literature to indicate ways in which a social practice approach might more effectively address the enhancement of doctoral supervision.

The Production of Epistemic Culture and Agency during a First-Grade Engineering Design Unit in an Urban Emergent School

Primary school practices are often bound by traditions that perpetuate compliance and skills-based, decontextualized, rote memorization activities. These histories of practice, prevalent in schools serving mostly Black and Brown children, make it inordinately difficult for students to author themselves as knowledge builders (i.e., with epistemic agency), which is a form of injustice. Engineering is a potentially fertile context to support the creation of epistemic culture, whereby young students’ assets are recognized, named, and leveraged as they create and shape the group’s disciplinary knowledge. The authors investigated this potential. The primary research question was: How do first-grade students in an urban emergent school author themselves as epistemic agents during an engineering design unit? Using a social practice theory lens and ethnographic methods, the authors studied 29 days of a materials engineering unit focusing on the teacher’s epistemic commitments, implicit meanings of knowledge in classroom discourse, and practices that opened space for students’ epistemic agency. Data collection included fieldnotes and video of class activities and teacher and student interviews. Class discussions about the properties and uses of materials yielded a rich context for studying epistemic culture. The teacher’s epistemic commitments included an eschewing of disciplinary silos, recognizing the nonlinear nature of knowledge-building about engineering, and acknowledging children’s thinking as an asset for engineering knowledge production. Examples of students’ discursive moves demonstrating epistemic agency included: reminding others about the relevance of previous lessons to the current topic, mirroring the teacher’s instructional moves, claiming voice, space, time, and material resources for knowledge-building, translating one another’s ideas, and making unsolicited connections to their lives. Young children’s intellectual assets can too easily be overlooked in traditional learning contexts. This study demonstrates the affordances of responsive engineering instruction in recognizing and building on youths’ intellectual curiosity and enthusiasm for substantively contributing to the classroom’s knowledge-generating practices.

Examining student environmental science agency across school science contexts

AbstractTo address the limited time and support for elementary science, science instruction is sometimes distributed among classroom teachers, science specialists, and informal science educators, creating a complex school science culture. We investigate how student agency may be enabled and constrained when school science learning happens simultaneously across multiple school contexts. Using a social practice theory lens, we examine how three third‐grade students with a strong interest in science attempt to pursue their own interest‐driven inquiries across the classroom, school garden, and science lab and how the culture and resources of those contexts may enable or constrain students' understanding and use of environmental science in their lives and communities, or environmental science agency (ESA). Drawing on observations, videos, and interview data, we found that the particular culture of the different science learning settings appeared to enable or constrain students' ESA. The classroom teacher allowed for narrow forms of participation in science practice, and both she and the students reinforced these norms, which seemed to constrain ESA across all three settings. The science teacher allowed for broader forms of student participation, which appeared to support student ESA in the science lab. Students drew on flexible activity structures as well as access to scientific tools, living organisms, and citizen science resources to take actions to pursue their own inquiries. We found ESA for students in the garden was supported by garden resources but narrow forms of participation reinforced by the classroom teacher, garden teacher, and students transferred to the garden context. While this study explored student agency over 2 months, these findings have broader application because students receiving conflicting messages about who one can be in science can have implications for possible futures they might imagine for themselves.

Journeying Together: Aligning Retailer and Service Provider Roles with Collective Consumer Practices

Consumer journeys offers a powerful metaphor that has inspired diverse strategic frameworks to aid retailers in managing and designing customer experiences. Absent from existing frameworks, however, is a clear understanding of the journeys consumers perform as a collective that is bound by a shared identity and communal goals. Yet, whether taking vacations, going out to dinner, facing a health crisis, or setting up a household, much of consumers’ lives are spent journeying together. With families as our focal collective, we adopt a social practice theory lens and integrate prior consumer research related to collective practice dynamics (identity goal interplay, connectedness, and corporeality) to articulate what retailers should consider when designing collective journeys. Using this theoretical foundation, we build a conceptual framework that identifies three roles retailers play in collective journeys: central, mediated, and dispersed. We differentiate each role by the core value retailers provide to consumer practices as well as the collective dynamic challenges implicated. Our framework highlights the need for retailers to structure their offerings to match the dynamics of families’ collective journeys. To explore this matching process more fully, we introduce the idea of ‘fields of alignment’ as the social spaces where retailers and consumers actively negotiate, improvise, and experiment to align around common frames for action. We use the concept of fields of alignment to generate implications for retailers, propose guidelines for managerial action, and present avenues for future research.

Carrying out Physical Activity as Part of the Active Forests Programme in England: What Encourages, Supports and Sustains Activity?-A Qualitative Study.

The Active Forests programme was developed through a partnership between Forestry England and Sport England. A three-year pilot programme focused on five forest sites ran from 2014. It was mainstreamed in April 2017 and is now running on eighteen forest sites in England in 2019. The aim of the programme is to encourage a physical activity habit, and participants can get involved in a wide range of activities from Nordic walking to mountain biking, Pilates, running, and Bootcamp in different scenic forests. The aim of the research was to identify the motivations, benefits and the overall experience participants had from their forest physical activity. As part of the programme, qualitative data was gathered through in-situ participant observation, and interviews or focus groups. One hundred and twenty people were involved in the research. The findings identify some of the key elements of the programme that encourage, support and in some instances help to sustain or change physical activity. These include participants gaining a wide range of wellbeing benefits; appropriate targeted activities; opportunities for progression; social connections; providing challenge; and a supportive atmosphere. There is evidence of participants sustaining and changing physical activity practices, however attribution of this to the Active Forests programme is not straightforward. The programme is also explored through the lens of social practice theory and its concepts of materials, competence, and meanings. The research highlights how a targeted physical activity programme can reach and involve a broad range of people from the already physically active to those who are less active.

Shedding new light on the (in)compatibility of chronic disease management with everyday life - social practice theory, mobile technologies and the interwoven time-spaces of teenage life.

This article uses a socio-material approach, social practice theory, to provide new insights into the self-management of chronic illness. It demonstrates how this theory can bridge arguments about the respective roles of social and individual influences, and how it can foreground an oft-overlooked aspect of the issue - the demands of self-care technologies and consequences for participation in social life. Drawing on interviews and focus groups with 25 young type-1 diabetes outpatients in London, UK, the study points to the conflicts that occur when disease management technologies compete for time and space with the social practices of everyday life, and when self-care tasks threaten to interrupt the flow of social life and make people feel 'left behind'. The paper concludes that young people are disabled by the contingent position of self-care activities in daily life, which oblige them to compromise either their physical health or their immersion in the social world. This disabling effect would be mitigated if social practices were reorganised to make them more amenable to the time-space requirements of disease management. A social practice theory lens can help throw light onto this issue and make a valuable contribution to the study of the self-management of chronic illness.

Framing equity through a closer examination of critical science agency

Science for all has been touted as the primary path to equity in science education in the USA. We argue that without attention to the power imbalances that both create and sustain dominant views of science education; such an approach is not equity-oriented but rather science colonizing. In this manuscript, we draw upon critical views of justice to argue that a more equity-oriented approach to science education focuses on critical science agency (CSA)—using science knowledge and other forms of distributed expertise to redress instances of injustice. Using critical participatory ethnography methodology with a social practice theory lens, we suggest that youth enact forms of CSA by directly incorporating their developing understandings of intersecting scales of injustices into their scientific knowledge and practice in an iterative and generative way. This process enabled the girls to reshape scientific knowledge and authority hierarchies in their science community. Finally, partly due to the disruption of dominant norms of science teaching and learning, the girls in our study utilized and shared expansive expertise enacting CSA. These findings advance our fields’ understanding of CSA, and its potential for pushing science education to be more justice-oriented.