In this paper, I conceptualise ethical consumption applications (ECAs) as market innovations infl... more In this paper, I conceptualise ethical consumption applications (ECAs) as market innovations inflected in processes of configuring market actors and market (re)framings. The introduction of ECAs through the work of civil society is not only about changing frames of market exchange, but also work in the register of making 'good consumers' and consumers as 'agents of change' and moralising markets. Thus, a more accurate concept for these devices is suggested: 'quasi' market devices. The main aim of this paper is to analyse how consumers attached to and resisted use of ECAs designed to assist in product choices and shape responsible everyday practices. Based on qualitative fieldwork in Sweden, the article applies a methodology grounded in Science and Technology-inspired market studies in combination with Consumer Culture Theory's (CCT) interest in identity work and sense-making associated with technology consumption. Although available at the time of the empirical data collection period of the study, all three apps were off the market during the analytic work of this paper; a major argument for focusing on barriers to acceptance of the apps and trying to conceptualise how such non-acceptance can be understood.
The role of access-based apparel in processes of consumer identity construction
Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal, 2022
PurposeThe aim of the study is to analyse negotiations about ownership and style in access-based ... more PurposeThe aim of the study is to analyse negotiations about ownership and style in access-based apparel related to processes of identity construction.Design/methodology/approachThe study applies a qualitative and interpretative method and relies on semi-structured depth interviews and focus group interviews with clothing library users as the main data source. The conceptual context of this paper is that of consumer culture theory approaches to consumer identity construction and the role of object ownership in consumer identity projects.FindingsThe empirical analysis highlights how processes of consumer identity construction related to symbolic values of clothing and self-possession mechanisms related to ownership are negotiated in encounters with access-based types of fashion consumption with effects on potential consumer adoption of access-based forms of consumption. The findings are structured in six analytical themes.Social implicationsThere are several aspects of this research ...
Materialiserad moral: smartphones, applikationer och etisk konsumtion
Ethical consumption, that is, to make certain consumption choices due to personal moral beliefs a... more Ethical consumption, that is, to make certain consumption choices due to personal moral beliefs and values is a growing trend and market. In this article we analyze three ethical smartphone apps developed and marketed in order to help consumers to make ethical product choices: for example, where to find the nearest cafe selling Fair Trade coffee, whether the salmon in the store is red-listed or if there are any cleaning products that are certified as environmentally friendly. In this text we argue that such digital consumer technologies have some potential to influence consumer actions. The article critically discusses whether and how technologies may shape ethical consumer culture. We conceptualize the smartphone apps and their suggested consumer actions in the form of four "consumer models”: the selecting consumer; the status seeking consumer; the information seeking consumer; and the social and productive consumer. The purpose of this article is to analyze the waysthat smart...
This special issue of the Journal of Cultural Economy focuses on the digitalization of consumptio... more This special issue of the Journal of Cultural Economy focuses on the digitalization of consumption and its social, cultural, ethical, political, and gendered implications. It thus answers the call for more research on how digital devices spread from the purely personal domain to multiple sociocultural domains. Through their use, new cultural practices have emerged between consumers and these devices, and devices and markets, that lead to change, in terms of consumer demand, consumption norms, and issues of ethics, culture, and power. Closely examining the role that devices play in consumption behavior enables us to address the supposed manipulative power of hi-tech companies, infrastructures, and systems at the global level, and the view ordinary market actors hold of digital appliances as empowering tools at the local level. The papers in this volume bridge 'actor network theory' and 'consumer culture theory' from the perspective of market 'agencements.' Ruckenstein-Granroth and Beauvisage-Mellet, and Arriagada-Concha focus on the device-mediated relationship between large digital market infrastructures and consumer behavior; Petersson McIntyre and Licoppe unveil the societal and cultural underpinnings of digitalized markets. Last but not least, Sörum and Soujtis address the political dimensions and implications of our new digital consumer equipment and society.
The aim of this paper is to describe and explain how smartphone apps, designed to assist consumer... more The aim of this paper is to describe and explain how smartphone apps, designed to assist consumers in making informed ethical choices and greening their everyday practices, enable and shape ethical consumption. Taking a socio-material approach and drawing on an ethnographic study of three ethical consumption appsthe Green guide, the Fair trade app and Shopgunthe paper shows that these digital devices are scripted to hybridize with consumers and facilitate key ethical consumer actions. When consumers follow the scripts of these apps, using them in everyday practices, the apps put pressure on consumers to act "ethically" by problematizing consumption in various ways while also, and simultaneously, endowing them with the agential capacities required to solve these problems. Consequently, these devices both motivate consumers and enable ethical consumption, producing, under the right conditions, capable and self-reflexive ethical consumer hybrids.
In this paper, I conceptualise ethical consumption applications (ECAs) as market innovations infl... more In this paper, I conceptualise ethical consumption applications (ECAs) as market innovations inflected in processes of configuring market actors and market (re)framings. The introduction of ECAs through the work of civil society is not only about changing frames of market exchange, but also work in the register of making 'good consumers' and consumers as 'agents of change' and moralising markets. Thus, a more accurate concept for these devices is suggested: 'quasi' market devices. The main aim of this paper is to analyse how consumers attached to and resisted use of ECAs designed to assist in product choices and shape responsible everyday practices. Based on qualitative fieldwork in Sweden, the article applies a methodology grounded in Science and Technology-inspired market studies in combination with Consumer Culture Theory's (CCT) interest in identity work and sense-making associated with technology consumption. Although available at the time of the empirical data collection period of the study, all three apps were off the market during the analytic work of this paper; a major argument for focusing on barriers to acceptance of the apps and trying to conceptualise how such non-acceptance can be understood.
The role of access-based apparel in processes of consumer identity construction
Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal, 2022
PurposeThe aim of the study is to analyse negotiations about ownership and style in access-based ... more PurposeThe aim of the study is to analyse negotiations about ownership and style in access-based apparel related to processes of identity construction.Design/methodology/approachThe study applies a qualitative and interpretative method and relies on semi-structured depth interviews and focus group interviews with clothing library users as the main data source. The conceptual context of this paper is that of consumer culture theory approaches to consumer identity construction and the role of object ownership in consumer identity projects.FindingsThe empirical analysis highlights how processes of consumer identity construction related to symbolic values of clothing and self-possession mechanisms related to ownership are negotiated in encounters with access-based types of fashion consumption with effects on potential consumer adoption of access-based forms of consumption. The findings are structured in six analytical themes.Social implicationsThere are several aspects of this research ...
Materialiserad moral: smartphones, applikationer och etisk konsumtion
Ethical consumption, that is, to make certain consumption choices due to personal moral beliefs a... more Ethical consumption, that is, to make certain consumption choices due to personal moral beliefs and values is a growing trend and market. In this article we analyze three ethical smartphone apps developed and marketed in order to help consumers to make ethical product choices: for example, where to find the nearest cafe selling Fair Trade coffee, whether the salmon in the store is red-listed or if there are any cleaning products that are certified as environmentally friendly. In this text we argue that such digital consumer technologies have some potential to influence consumer actions. The article critically discusses whether and how technologies may shape ethical consumer culture. We conceptualize the smartphone apps and their suggested consumer actions in the form of four "consumer models”: the selecting consumer; the status seeking consumer; the information seeking consumer; and the social and productive consumer. The purpose of this article is to analyze the waysthat smart...
This special issue of the Journal of Cultural Economy focuses on the digitalization of consumptio... more This special issue of the Journal of Cultural Economy focuses on the digitalization of consumption and its social, cultural, ethical, political, and gendered implications. It thus answers the call for more research on how digital devices spread from the purely personal domain to multiple sociocultural domains. Through their use, new cultural practices have emerged between consumers and these devices, and devices and markets, that lead to change, in terms of consumer demand, consumption norms, and issues of ethics, culture, and power. Closely examining the role that devices play in consumption behavior enables us to address the supposed manipulative power of hi-tech companies, infrastructures, and systems at the global level, and the view ordinary market actors hold of digital appliances as empowering tools at the local level. The papers in this volume bridge 'actor network theory' and 'consumer culture theory' from the perspective of market 'agencements.' Ruckenstein-Granroth and Beauvisage-Mellet, and Arriagada-Concha focus on the device-mediated relationship between large digital market infrastructures and consumer behavior; Petersson McIntyre and Licoppe unveil the societal and cultural underpinnings of digitalized markets. Last but not least, Sörum and Soujtis address the political dimensions and implications of our new digital consumer equipment and society.
The aim of this paper is to describe and explain how smartphone apps, designed to assist consumer... more The aim of this paper is to describe and explain how smartphone apps, designed to assist consumers in making informed ethical choices and greening their everyday practices, enable and shape ethical consumption. Taking a socio-material approach and drawing on an ethnographic study of three ethical consumption appsthe Green guide, the Fair trade app and Shopgunthe paper shows that these digital devices are scripted to hybridize with consumers and facilitate key ethical consumer actions. When consumers follow the scripts of these apps, using them in everyday practices, the apps put pressure on consumers to act "ethically" by problematizing consumption in various ways while also, and simultaneously, endowing them with the agential capacities required to solve these problems. Consequently, these devices both motivate consumers and enable ethical consumption, producing, under the right conditions, capable and self-reflexive ethical consumer hybrids.
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Papers by Niklas Sörum