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Adele Howes

Adele Howes

Email: a.howes@qmul.ac.uk

Project Title

Understanding the evolution and platformisation of domestic practice

 

Project Description

Domestic practice refers to everyday household activities such as cooking and cleaning, crucial for maintaining family life and shaping gendered identities (Sherry 2000; Pink 2020). Women, especially from low-income groups, perform most unpaid domestic practice globally (UN Women 2003). Once confined to the private sphere, domestic practice has been transformed by media and digital platforms into a public performance space, notably through cleanfluencing (Casey & Littler 2022). This platformization raises new questions about women’s identities as they negotiate domestic work both offline and online, blending mundane chores with opportunities for recognition, influence, and commercial engagement. Considering these changes, we ask: What are the identity implications for women performing domestic practice both as everyday household labour and as content creation on commercial platforms?

This study draws on interviews with cleanfluencers and followers, alongside netnographic analysis of online cleaning content. The research contributes to debates on consumer work, gendered labour, and digital domesticity, while also offering managerial insights into women’s motivations for sharing domestic practice, with implications for branding, product positioning, and consumer segmentation.

 

Supervision

  • 1st Supervisor: Dr Zafeirenia Brokalaki
  • 2nd Supervisor: Dr Zahra Sharifonnasabi
  • 3rd Supervisor: Dr Tana Licsandru

 

Biography

Adele has a keen interest in consumer culture, gender, and digital domesticity, with a particular focus on the rise of “cleanfluencing.” Her PhD project explores how women’s identities are shaped through the performance of domestic practice both online and offline, and how the platformization of cleaning transforms the boundaries between work, leisure, and consumption.

Before beginning her doctoral studies, Adele worked as a marketing manager across small, medium, and large businesses, gaining extensive experience in brand management, consumer engagement, and digital strategy. This professional background informs her academic work, particularly in understanding how marketplace dynamics and platform logics intersect with everyday practices.

Adele holds a BA (Hons), an MSc, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing, and is currently pursuing a PhD in Marketing at Queen Mary University of London, funded by the London Arts & Humanities Partnership (AHRC). She has presented her research at leading conferences including ACR, GENMAC, and the CCT Conference. Adele has published in the Journal of Marketing Management and serves as a reviewer for Arts and the Market (Emerald) and the Journal of Consumer Behaviour. She is also actively engaged in academic communities through teaching and interdisciplinary workshops.

 

Centre and Group Membership

Member of the Marketing Interactions & Consumer Behaviour Group (MICB)

 

Publications

  • Howes, A., Brokalaki, Z.,Sharifonnasabi, Z., & Licsandru, T. C. (2024). Towards an understanding of domestic practice as commodified work. Journal of Marketing Management, 1–41. Https://doi.org/10.1080/0267257X.2024.2406940 

 

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