Grant and Handelman study the evolving role of houses. They report that “Traditionally, the home is regarded as a place of singularization that is to be aligned with the homeowner’s unique identity. This traditional meaning has come to be confronted with a contradictory understanding of the home as a marketplace asset. Homeowners come to experience a market-reflected gaze that shuns singularization while driving homeowners to exhibit expertise in aligning their homes with marketplace standards. Professionalization of the home, through marketplace expertise and standardization, discourages personalization, leading to an experience of disorientation with the place of home.”
Annetta Grant and Jay Handelman. “Dysplacement and the Professionalization of the Home.” Journal of Consumer Research, in press, https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucac023