Dr Alessandro Gerosa

Dr Alessandro Gerosa

Department of Marketing
Lecturer in Marketing

Contact details

Address
University House
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Alessandro Gerosa is a Lecturer in Marketing at the Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham. He received his PhD in Sociology from the University of Milan (2020). In 2019 he was a visiting researcher at the Research Institute for Cultural and Media Economies (CAMEo) at the University of Leicester.

Alessandro's main research interests cut across the disciplines of sociology, consumption studies and marketing, focusing on authenticity as an aesthetic regime of consumption, neo-craft industries in the context of the creative economy, and digital cultures. His research has appeared on ‘Consumption, Markets & Culture’, the ‘International Journal of Cultural Policy’ and ‘Space & Culture’, among the others.

Qualifications

  • PhD in Sociology and Methodology of Social Research, University of Milan, 2020
  • MSc in International Relations, University of Milan, 2016
  • BSc in International Sciences and European Institutions, University of Milan, 2014

Biography

Alessandro Gerosa is a Lecturer in Marketing at Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham. Before joining the Birmingham Business School, he worked as a Research Associate in economic sociology at the Catholic University of Milan (2020) and a Research Associate in cultural sociology at the University of Milan (2021). He has also been an Adjunct Professor of Sociology of Consumption at the Catholic University of Milan (2020). During his PhD, obtained in 2020, he has been a Visiting Researcher at the Research Institute for Cultural and Media Economies (CAMEo) at the University of Leicester.

Over the years, he also conducted research projects as a data analyst for private firms, magazines, and associations. Occasionally, he wrote articles for Italian and international magazines and blogs such as Treccani, The Sociological Review blog, CheFare, Intersezionale, and Vorrei. From 2012 to 2016, he served as a City Councillor for the Italian municipality of Monza.

Teaching

  • Contemporary Issues in Marketing
  • Branding in the Digital Age

Research

Alessandro's current primary research project draws from an interdisciplinary approach to consumption studies to analyse the role of authenticity in contemporary taste and consumption patterns. To reach this aim, his research focuses on the role of small retailers and micro-entrepreneurs in the neo-craft (food and beverage) industries. The broader goal of the project is to better understand the current resurgence of production and consumption of craft products, and the related transformations of contemporary capitalism.

A second relevant stream of research focuses on digital cultures: in particular the use of digital methods for social research, the production and consumption of media in the digital realm and the role algorithms play in this process.

A third research interest concerns the creative and sharing economy and the contemporary developments of the coworking spaces phenomenon.

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Gandini, A, Gerosa, A, Giuffré, L & Keeling, S 2023, 'Subjectivity and algorithmic imaginaries: the algorithmic other', Subjectivity. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41286-023-00171-w

Gandini, A & Gerosa, A 2023, 'What is ‘neo-craft’ work, and why it matters', Organization Studies. https://doi.org/10.1177/01708406231213963

Gerosa, A & Tartari, M 2021, 'The bottom-up place branding of a neighborhood: analyzing a case of selective empowerment', Space and Culture. https://doi.org/10.1177/12063312211032355

Gerosa, A 2021, 'The hidden roots of the creative economy: a critical history of the concept along the twentieth century', International Journal of Cultural Policy. https://doi.org/10.1080/10286632.2021.1933460

Gerosa, A & Giorgi, G 2021, 'The memetic cult of personality of politicians during the pandemic', Comunicazione politica, vol. 2021, no. 3, pp. 357-384. https://doi.org/10.3270/102417

Chapter (peer-reviewed)

Keeling, S & Gerosa, A 2023, 'Tracce' di opinione pubblica algoritmica: il caso dell'infodemia. in A Gandini & E Risi (eds), Tracce digitali e ricerca sociologica. 1st edn, MediaCultura, Franco Angeli, pp. 25-48. <https://www.francoangeli.it/Libro/Tracce-digitali-e-ricerca-sociologica?Id=28577>

Giorgi, G & Gerosa, A 2022, #BRNBQ: le estetiche della teppa urbana nella «piazza digitale» di instagram. in F Bertoni, A Caroselli & L Sterchele (eds), Le strade della teppa: Etnografia sociale e politica delle culture di strada. Red Star Press, pp. 87-114. <https://www.redstarpress.it/prodotto/le-strade-della-teppa/>

Gerosa, A & Manzini Ceinar, I 2022, New working spaces and COVID-19: analyzing the debate through Twitter. in I Mariotti, M Di Marino & P Bednář (eds), The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Future of Working Spaces. 1st edn, Regions and Cities, Routledge, pp. 11-24. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003181163-3

Gerosa, A 2022, The resurgence of craft retailing: marketing and branding strategies in the food and beverage sector. in J Mulholland, A Ricci & M Massi (eds), The Artisan Brand: Entrepreneurship and Marketing in Contemporary Craft Economies. New Horizons in Marketing series, Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd., pp. 193-208. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781839106132.00024

Chapter

Gerosa, A, Manzo, C & Pais, I 2021, Il lavoro condiviso: la trasformazione degli spazi di coworking durante l’emergenza Covid-19. in R Lodigiani (ed.), MILANO 2021 Rapporto sulla città. Ripartire: il tempo della cura. Franco Angeli. <http://ojs.francoangeli.it/_omp/index.php/oa/catalog/book/684>

Abstract

Gerosa, A & Moraes, C 2023, 'The craft of playful work: A path toward fairer creative economies?', Creativity, Knowledge, Cities (CKC) Conference, Bristol, United Kingdom, 29/03/23 - 30/03/23 pp. 1.

Gerosa, A & Moraes, C 2022, 'From hobby to profession: The new paradigm of playful work among neo-craft consumer-entrepreneurs', 7th World Congress of the International Society of Business Economics and Ethics (ISBEE 2022), Bilbao, Spain, 20/07/22 - 22/07/22 pp. 1.

Gerosa, A & Moraes, C 2022, 'Neo-craft consumer-entrepreneurs and their ethical, playful work', 8th International Symposium on Marketing Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility, Dublin, Ireland, 1/05/22 - 3/05/22 pp. 1.

Paper

Gerosa, A & Moraes, C 2022, 'Metamorphosing from consumer to producer: The playful work of neo-craft consumer-entrepreneurs', Paper presented at 11th EIASM Interpretive Consumer Research Workshop, Liverpool, United Kingdom, 9/06/22 - 10/06/22 pp. 1.

Working paper

Gandini, A, Gerosa, A, Gobbo, B, Keeling, S, Leonini, L, Mosca, L, Orofino, M, Reviglio, U & Splendore, S 2022 'The algorithmic public opinion: a literature review' SocArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/m6zn8

View all publications in research portal