Oases of Deceleration: How Firms Shape Experience of Deceleration
(A2020-64043)

AUTHORS

Fabienne Berger-Remy, IAE Paris - Sorbonne Business School; Clément Dubreuil, IPAG Business School; Delphine Dion, ESSEC Business School; Elisabeth Albertini, IAE Paris - Sorbonne Business School

KEYWORDS

Service encounter; Consumer experience; Luxury

ABSTRACT

Slow food, slow fashion, slow tech… Consumers increasingly engage in slow forms of consumption as opportunities to slow-down. Drawing from research on social acceleration and consumer deceleration, we investigate how firms manage experience of deceleration. We study a fine dining restaurant which exemplifies deceleration oasis, i.e. protected spaces where the speed and rhythm of life is temporarily slowed down. We identify elements that craft an experience of deceleration, e.g. simplicity and fluidity. We emphasize the role of backstage and time framing in shaping deceleration. The experience of deceleration draws on hidden complexity and speed, and long-term framing.