Consuming the Wound
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: This paper investigates the expanding cultural phenomenon of consuming the wound, where trauma, death and suffering are transformed into commodified experiences across both physical and digital landscapes. Drawing on dark tourism scholarship, Seltzer’s wound culture theory and contemporary cases of digital voyeurism, the article examines how consumers engage with sites, images and narratives of violenc from historical murder locations to algorithmically amplified online content. The paper highlights how influencer practices, social media speculation and death-related participation accelerate the circulation, reproduction and normalisation of the wound as entertainment. By connecting historical spectacles of violence with modern digital behaviours, the authors argue that this shift demands renewed theoretical, ethical and regulatory attention. The article concludes by calling for deeper enquiry into algorithmic amplification, consumer motivations and the moral implications of dark leisure, advocating for critical media literacy, mindful tourism and responsible communication practices across sectors.
Source: Journal of Customer Behaviour
Authors: Neil Robinson, Nicholas Catahan, Crispin Dale
Institutions: Edge Hill University, University of Wolverhampton
Language: English
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7119580071
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