The public is invited to a public talk by Dr. Russell Beck who will discuss how streaming services and sharing platforms are changing the idea of ownership.
Who: Russell W. Belk, York University Distinguished Research Professor and Kraft Foods Canada Chair in Marketing at the Schulich School of Business
What: Psychological Possessions: what does it mean to own something in a digital world?
When: Friday, January 23, from 5:30 to 6:30 pm
Where: Mary Irwin Theatre, Rotary Centre for the Arts, 421 Cawston Ave., Kelowna
In these days of streaming, digital collections and subscription economies, does it make sense to actually own anything anymore?
That is the question up for discussion at an event Friday hosted by UBC Okanagan’s Faculty of Management.
As part of its IdeaFest series, the faculty presents Dr. Russell Belk, York University Distinguished Research Professor and Kraft Foods Canada Chair in Marketing at the Schulich School of Business. Dr. Belk will talk about changing consumerism in our digital society.
“The focus of this event is on new forms of access that have evolved in recent years,” explains Dr. Annamma Joy, Associate Dean of Research in the Faculty of Management. “Rather than ownership, we’re looking not only at traditional forms such as renting and leasing, but forms that involve the sharing, streaming and expanded subscription economies.”
Dr. Joy notes that traditional ideas of ownership and possession are changing in today’s virtual society.
“If we can share consumer goods such as clothing, cars and homes as well as services such as rides, home food preparation and home medical care, we gain value without ownership and sometimes without possession,” she adds. “These new methods of consumerism create new ways of easy access and minimalism that are changing our lives in ways that may surprise us all.”
While at UBCO, Dr. Belk will also host a talk specifically for the Faculty of Management’s students, faculty and staff before the public event later that day. He is a respected scholar whose research explores the extended self, meanings of possessions, collecting, gift-giving, sharing, digital consumption and materialism.
This event is open to the public and is free of charge. It takes place Friday, January 23, at 5:30 pm at the Rotary Centre for the Arts in Kelowna. For more information or to register, visit: events.ok.ubc.ca/event/psychological-possessions
