Aslı Özdal

I am a doctoral researcher in Marketing at Aalto University School of Business, and my interests are at the intersection of consumer culture, gender, stigma, polarized contexts, market inclusion and innovation. 

My research examines how markets shape and are shaped by cultural meanings, social norms, and experiences of inclusion and exclusion. I am particularly interested in culturally stigmatized, politically polarized and/or masculinized consumption contexts and in how innovations in those settings impact the consumers. My doctoral research, Market Innovation in Culturally Stigmatized Product Categories, investigates these themes across contexts including menstrual products and women’s sports. I draw primarily on ethnographic and qualitative methods, to examine consumers’ everyday practices, identities, and experiences of inclusion, exclusion, and stigma. More broadly, my work seeks to connect consumer and market-level perspectives by exploring how cultural and social transformations influence markets and how market practices can affect the broader processes of social change.