The article by Ritzer et al (2012) introduced the concept of prosumption, involving a combination of product and consumption, and prosumer, one who is both producer and consumer. Although the concept was practically evolved along with human history, it is receiving new attention from academia and business communities, especially in the age of Internet and social media. As the authors elaborated, value of any brand is no longer solely constructed by company newsletter and press releases. Brand enthusiasts voluntarily become brand ambassadors and talk about their beloved brands. Especially, I might be focused on narrow scope, but a grandeur shift toward experience economy powered by technologies is certainly fueling the role of prosumers. Material specifications of product are no longer the single source of consumer satisfaction. Rather, the source of their satisfaction is their experiences with products of services.

In that sense, the significance of peer products and services reviews cannot be emphasized enough because every piece of information is not functions as part of brand super-structure. Also, as Chia (2012) suggested, bloggers’ motivation to become prosumers is shifting from the expectation of financial gains to the acquisition of street creed. Hence, it may not be an accident that consumers are increasingly relied upon peer reviews of products rather than so-called expert reviews or corporate sponsored ads (Willemsen et al. 2011). My reasoning is that expert reviews are often technical specifications and features oriented rather than usability and experience. Hence, I can posit that peer-reviews supposedly offer the sense of down-to-earth feel, suggesting to viewers that some regular Joes like them wrote this review.

Besides, peer productions are not just about their passionate conversations of certain brands or playing a role of brand ambassadors. Prosumers stake their reputation and trust relationship and play a significant role of formulating norms and expectations of their virtual community (Kozinet et al. 2010). Nevertheless, we cannot shake the feeling that the system is rigged. Any bloggers could have written only positive message about certain products and brands in an exchange of any monetary compensation. As Jensen (2011) described, the issue of blogola, paid blog, can be serious ethical challenges in the era of social network. In my opinion, self-regulations and ethical guidelines of corporate sponsorship must be adopted as blogsphere norms.

In fact, we may be given more power than ever before. We can voice ourselves loud and clear, and we may be surprised to find a lot more people do share similar minds. We already surpassed the point where we are happy about a material product alone. Now, prosumers are one of the most significant pieces of the puzzle for successful business because we are part of companies’ ultimate business goal, successful branding.