The irrepressible and uncontrollable urge: sex, experience, and consumption

Abstract

In the face of innumerable marketing articles that provide safe, sanitized, and staid interpretations of sex, this research attempts, in the words of one notorious rock band, to put the X back in sex by exploring its naughty role in consumption. While the extant marketing literature has focused primarily on how sex influences both consumer acquisition and identity construction, less research has addressed the consumption of sex as an erotic practice, especially in non-sexual consumption contexts. Given the immersive nature of sex, we explore the relationship between sex and consumption via experiential offerings, and more specifically, through consumer participation in the spectacular themed attraction of Splash Mountain at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Utilizing the lens and style of the archetypal trickster, we tease out the symbolic and physical aspects of this attraction to reveal that sex potentially underlies both the narrative interpretation and bodily enjoyment of this ride.