Andy Warhol: Consumer Researcher

Jonathan E. Schroeder (1997) ,"Andy Warhol: Consumer Researcher", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 24, eds. Merrie Brucks and Deborah J. MacInnis, Provo, UT : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 476-482 Jonathan Schroeder 

Jonathan Schroeder

This paper "breaks out of the box" by discussing the work of the artist Andy Warhol as a form of consumer research. The paper asserts that Warhol’s career- successful artist, experimental filmmaker, prolific writer and diarist, celebrity-offers insights into consumer culture that reinforces, expands, and illuminates aspects of traditional consumer research. Through illustrations, criticism, and interpretation, five specific areas of consumer research that Warhol’s work might contribute to are introduced: brand equity; clothing, fashion and beauty; imagery; packaging; and self-concept. This project joins recent efforts by consumer researchers to include humanities based methods such as literary criticism and semiotics into the consumer researcher’s toolbox.

Andy Warhol, Campbell’s Soup Can and Dollar Bills, 1962