401. IJRM. Algorithm Killing Cool?
March 5, 2026
Listen to full episode :
In this episode, we speak with Henri Weijo, associate professor of marketing at Aalto University School of Business in Helsinki, about research examining how algorithmic recommendation systems are changing consumer behavior in cultural markets, and what that means for brands that depend on exclusivity, taste leadership, or niche appeal.
Weijo and his colleague’s fieldwork, grounded in Bourdieu's field theory, found that fashion consumers on Instagram split into two groups with opposing responses to the same algorithm. Mainstream consumers embraced it; indie consumers treated it as a threat to their ability to stay ahead of trends.
Key ideas from the conversation:
Going viral is no longer a default win. For brands in indie or luxury markets, mass algorithmic exposure can accelerate a product's cultural decline, what Weijo calls the burn rate of the brand.
Luxury brands face a structural tension between the participatory logic of social media and the authorial distance that defines luxury positioning.
Weijo points to a counter-trend: curated newsletters, selective online communities, and in-person discovery as spaces where indie consumers are retreating from algorithmic reach.
He raises the possibility of small language models built for selective communities as a future alternative to mainstream AI shopping assistants - gatekept enclaves that function more like curated bulletin boards than open recommendation engines.
Click here for the Research Article
The Up Next podcast’s access to this content is courtesy of the International Journal of Research in Marketing, an international, double-blind peer-reviewed journal for marketing academics and practitioners. IJRM aims to contribute to the marketing discipline by providing high-quality, original research which advances marketing knowledge and techniques. As marketers increasingly draw on diverse and sophisticated methods, IJRM‘s target audience is comprised of marketing scholars, practitioners (e.g., marketing research and consulting professionals) and policymakers.
IJRM aims to be at the forefront of the marketing field with a particular emphasis on bringing timely ideas to market. The journal embraces innovative research with the potential to spur future research and influence practice. Hence, it welcomes contributions in various aspects of marketing. The editors, while accepting a wide array of scholarly contributions from different disciplinary approaches, especially encourage research that is novel, visionary or path breaking.
Interviewee
Henri Weijo
Co-Author
Pelin Geyik
International Journal of Research in Marketing
Henri Weijo
Pelin Geyik