TheroleoftheProductiveConsumerforGlobalDigitalEnterprise

#online09

Author:DrMariannHardeye.mariann@mariannhardey.net

InassociationwithHCL’s‘DigitalPublishingandMedia2010’event,London1st–3rdDecember2009

DiscussionPaper

1.Whydigitalmediamatters

Thisdiscussionisbasedonthecontentdigitisationofconsumerservicesandbusinessutilisationthathavearisenfromwhathavebeenlabelledas‘Web2.0’technologies(seeO’Reilly,2004).Primeamongstthesearesocialnetworkingsites(SNSs)whichprovidemulti‐platformcontentdistributionandinformationsharingwithamultitudeof‘others’.

Thisyear,socialnetworkingisratedasthemostpopularofnewwebapplications;withhalfoftheInternetusers(49%)reportedhavingupdatedorcreatedasocialnetworkingprofilein2009,upfrom17%in2007(Duttonetal,2009).Asaresult,theweb‐basedmediais‘rapidlybecomingacorepartofhowcitizensmaintaincontactwitheachother’(Hogan,2009).

2.ProductiveConsumer/s

Throughmywork,consultingandresearchon‘socialmedia’Iusethetermproductiveconsumertoindicatethepotentiallyhugelybeneficialrelationshipbetweentheindividualasaparticipatorandmonitorofcontent,goodsandservices.Inthe20thcenturyindustrialisationcreatedaworldinwhichgoodsandserviceswerecreatedforandthendeliveredtothepeople(c.f.Leadbeater,2009).Today,Web2.0hascreateda‘co‐collaborative’ethos.Thisethosextendsasopenness–onethatcanbeputinplacebytheindividualand,mostsignificantly,bythecompaniesandindustriestheindividualselectstoprovidetheirgoodsandservices.Thearchitectureandsoftwarerunninginthebackgroundofthesesiteshastobecarefullydesignedandmaintainedtoprovideanintuitiveuserenvironment.Thetraditional(Web1.0)relationshipbetweenpre‐situatedinformationandusergeneratedcontentisnowturned‐on‐itsheadwheretheuseris‘incharge’of‘where’theygoand‘what’theypurchase.

Acharacteristicoftheproductiveconsumeristheirswayininfluenceintheirpreferenceand/orpurchaseofgoodsandservices–actionsthatarehighlyvisibleonuserreviewsitessuchasTripAdvisorandTrustedPlaces,newsforums,communitybulletinboards,aswellasthe‘informal’andspontaneous‘shares’andtaggingacrossSocialNetworkSites(SNSs)suchasFacebook(seealsoSurwelsoki,2004;BeerandBurrow2007;Keen,2007;Hardey,2008;Hardey,2009;HardeyandBurrows,2008).Asproductiveconsumersweproducetwoformsofinformation.Thefirst,isthatwhichwepurposefullycreateandshare.Thesecond,isinformationthatismoreappropriatelythoughtofasthe‘data’‐orratherthe‘trails’thateachofusleavebehindaswemoveacrosstheweb.Increasinglycompaniestrackthepersonalpreferenceofindividuals,ofdeviantbehaviourandalsousesuchdatato‘profile’consumerstoanticipatethedecisionswehaveyettomake.Intermsofmarketforces,theproductiveconsumerisonewhoisself‐reflective,whostrivestomakethe‘right’choice,whoisinformedbytheactionsofothersandisledbyco‐produced‘knowledge’fromamassmarketisationofusercontent,consumerexperienceandthebrandingofvariouscompaniesandindustries.

3.Whatnext?Thedigital&beyond…

Theproductiveconsumerismoreinformed,moreintouch,moreengagedandwillingtoparticipate,record,searchforandstorecontentthaneverbefore.Inthefaceofnewwavesofpublishing,marketingandadvertisingtherearealreadyemerging,withnewdistributionandconsumptionpatternsfromthesharingofinformationonFacebook,touploadingexperiencestoYoutube,toTwitteringaboutasuccessfulpurchaseetc.AlreadyFacebookisreplacingemailforawholegeneration(Hardey,2009).WithChristmasapproaching,onlineretailerssuchasAmazonhavealreadypreparedforwhathasbecomeknownas‘cyberMonday’‐thebusiestinternetshoppingdayoftheyearthattypicallyfallsonthefirstMondayofDecember.Lastyear,Amazonclaimsthat1.4mitemswereorderedfromitsUKsite,

over16‐itemspersecondandthemostithaseverreceivedinasingle24‐hourperiod.Thisyear,Amazonisforecastingthatsaleswillbe21%to36%higher(Teather,2009).

Intermsofwhatthefutureholds,thisisbasedonhowquicklyindividualsmakedecisionsandarecombiningsocialaspectsofeverydaylifewithincreasinglymobileconsumeractions.Now,thereisanewwaveofopportunitiesandagrowthinthecycleofproductiveconsumers,asmorepeoplebecomeconnectedandliveoutlivesacrossthesocialmedia.Today,theindividualisinaconstantcycleofcreation,productionanddistribution.Wecanpredicttherefore,thattherewillbenewdistributionandnewconsumptionpatterns.Thesewillhaveaglobalimpactonsocietywherestreamsofdataandinformationissharedbetweenindividuals,monitoredandheldbycompaniesandmeasuredoverbypolicymakers.

…end

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