Eileen Fischer | How do Markets Become Polarized? Insights from the Canadian Market for Nicotine Vapes

Despite the considerable literature on market systems dynamics (Giesler and Fischer 2017; Fischer and Giesler 2024), the factors that drive a market to become “polarized” have yet to be fully investigated.  Our paper addresses this gap, defining market polarization as “a growing tendency toward starkly opposing views among stakeholders about aspects of the market.” Drawing on longitudinal qualitative data from the Canadian nicotine vaping market, the paper identifies mounting bases of contestation that collectively fuel polarization between and among stakeholders including consumers, public health officials, policy makers, and vaping retailers. The paper concludes with a consideration of the transferability of insights and its contributions to the literatures on market systems, systemic mistrust, and consumer polarization.

About the Speaker: Eileen Fischer is a Professor of Marketing, Associate Dean of Research, and the Anne & Max Tanenbaum Chair in Entrepreneurship and Family Enterprise, Schulich School of Business, York University. Dr. Fischer does research on consumers, entrepreneurs, and the markets they interact in. She is interested in how brands, firms and markets emerge and evolve, and in how consumers and entrepreneurs shape them and respond to them. In addition she maintains an active line of inquiry devoted to understanding how research contributions can be constructed using qualitative methodologies.