The Construction of the 'Magical World' of Santa (Palo et al., 2020)

Welcome to Revise and Resubmit, where we uncover the stories behind the most fascinating academic research. In today’s episode, we step into a world of wonder and commerce with a deep dive into Performing a Myth to Make a Market: The Construction of the 'Magical World' of Santa. Published in the renowned Organization Studies, an FT50 journal that stands among the world’s top 50 business publications, this paper by Teea Palo, Katy Mason, and Philip Roscoe is as enchanting as it is thought-provoking. What if the magic of Santa wasn’t just a childhood fantasy but a carefully constructed market? This groundbreaking research takes us to the snowy landscapes of Lapland, Finland, where for one month a year, an entire ecosystem collaborates to turn the myth of Santa into a thriving tourism experience. The authors introduce a novel concept—translocutionary acts, a blend of imagination, negotiation, and organisation—that transforms myths into market realities. It’s a delicate dance of aligning storytelling with logistics, misfires with miracles, and imagination with economy. But what does it take to maintain this illusion in a world driven by contracts, calculations, and commercial objectives? And more intriguingly, can such mythical performances teach us something profound about markets, creativity, and human connections? A huge thank you to Teea Palo, Katy Mason, Philip Roscoe, and the team at Organization Studies for bringing this captivating study to life, and to SAGE Publications for publishing this work. If you love the interplay of myth, market, and meaning, make sure to subscribe to Revise and Resubmit on Spotify, and check out our YouTube channel, Weekend Researcher. You can also find us on Amazon Prime Music and Apple Podcasts. Now, let’s unwrap the layers of this magical tale—what will we find beyond the sleigh bells and snowflakes? Reference Palo, T., Mason, K., & Roscoe, P. (2020). Performing a Myth to Make a Market: The construction of the 'magical world' of Santa. Organization Studies, 41(1), 53-75. https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840618789192 Youtube Channel ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@weekendresearcher⁠ Support us on Patreon https://patreon.com/weekendresearcher