Abstract/Summary

Past research shows that successful consumer learning takes place in environments that support cooperative communities of practice, that enable access to refined didactic resources, and that provide a safe, sympathetic backstage for a controllable and able learning body to durably transition from one repertoire to another. This study complements existing research by investigating a group of lactose-intolerant consumers who must learn to transition to a new consumption repertoire because of socially embarrassing symptoms. Consumers must engage in high-risk, unguided, experiential learning pathways in a less than sympathetic frontstage, without the support of a cooperative community or a well-developed vocabulary, and while grappling with an impaired and unruly body in a dynamic marketplace. The findings demonstrate that consumers adapt to this hostile learning environment by surfing between different consumption repertoires in a fluid, impermanent manner.