(Dis)ordering atmospheres: A sensory ethnography of a seaside pier

Steadman, Chloe ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1132-3502 and Millington, Steven ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5143-3074 (2025) (Dis)ordering atmospheres: A sensory ethnography of a seaside pier. Marketing Theory. ISSN 1470-5931 (In Press)

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Abstract

Atmospheres have long been considered a controllable marketing tool, arising through the deployment of multisensory design tactics in consumption spaces. Whilst atmospheres are increasingly recognised as unstable and vulnerable to unpredictable events, the tensions which might arise between atmospheric order and disorder is less understood. We therefore explore fluctuations between ordering and disordering atmospheres by drawing on Sennett’s theories on designing disorder and a sensory ethnography of a British seaside pier. Based on sensory participation, soundwalks and videowalks along Blackpool’s North Pier, we reveal the open and closed qualities of the space and how that shapes how the pier feels, drawing on Sennett’s open forms: porosity, synchronous forms, punctuated moments, and incomplete forms. In doing so, we contribute insights into the challenging balancing act between ordering and disordering atmospheres in consumption spaces. We also call for greater consideration of how some disorder might generate richer and more diverse atmospheric experiences.