| Large supermarket chains in the United States during the corporate-environmental food regime form powerful nexuses between the consumer, the producer, the processor, and the state in the era of flexible capital accumulation. It is in this context that the present thesis provides a US-based empirical case study of Kroger supermarkets in order to explore how intense competition and the logic of retail capital shape supermarket attempts to both regulate and capitalize on consumer demands. Using critical discourse analysis, this paper introduces a unique analytical scheme to identify three different forms of rationality in retail marketing framing of discourse: individualized reason, cosmopolitan risk, and enchantment, contextualized by retail capital and business strategies. Individualized rationality, often framed in terms of personal responsibility, appears throughout the Kroger experience. Kroger's competitive need to ensure convenience and consistent supply of an expanding number of product options is inconsistent with its cosmopolitan risk framing. Increasing utilization of enchanted rationality appears as an emergent trend to boost sales and brand loyalty, a practice borrowed from high-end supermarkets. |
