The Ritzer et al. (2012) article discussed the idea of the prosumer. The article stated, “the term prosumption was coined by Alvin Toffler in 1980 and refers to a combination of production and consumption (Ritzer et al., 2012).” The article discusses how production and consumption go hand in hand. This article also cited Lusch and Vargo’s (2006) concept of a “service-dominant logic of marketing.” This idea has been very influential within my academic field. One of the foundational premises of S-D logic is that “the customer is always a co-creator of value (Lusch et al., 2007). That is, the customer plays a role in both the producing and the consuming. This idea meshes nicely with the marketing concept, which basically informs marketers and businesses to be customer focused. It appears that this co-creation is not a new concept; rather, it has been more noticeable with the development of new technologies and platforms.

Although the consumer is providing free labor, he or she does appear to be voluntarily providing it. For instance, I know that I am giving Facebook data about myself, and that I am freely providing content for the site. However, I choose to do this, but I do agree that companies can be and should be more forthright in letting us know that they will be using our data. But what are we getting in return for our labor? As the Chia (2012) article points out, there are plenty of bloggers out there who provide all of this content, but only to a small audience. These bloggers do not have much hope of making a lot of money off their blogs, but they can find reward in the conversations they generate with a handful of others who are willing to take the time to read their blog and interact with them. Money isn’t everything!

Much of this weeks articles also discussed blogs and advertisements.  The Kozinets et al. (2010) article had an interesting analysis of how individuals present WOMM within their own blogs, and how their readers responded to the endorsements. It was interesting to see how the content of a person’s blog impacts the norms that are expected within a certain community. It appears that context may matter in whether or not WOMM will be accepted by potential consumers. Jensen (2011) also discussed blogs and advertisements. However, this book chapter was more concerned with the ethics of sponsored posts. I was most alarmed by the idea of flogging. “Flogging occurs when fake or false accounts of happy imaginary customers and consumers are created (Jensen, 2011). I cannot believe that any company would risk their reputation by participating in such an unethical activity. I think that I agree with the idea of disclosure. If someone is being paid to post about a product, he or she should inform the readers of this happening. I can remember receiving a note from my apartment that offered to put me in a drawing for a cash prize (if I remember correctly) for posting a review about the complex. I do not believe that they said it had to be a positive review, but they gave an example in the note of a shining review. I did not participate. It just felt funny.

Although individuals may rely on WOM from other online users, it appears that the unethical acts by businesses and bloggers may bring into question the legitimacy of much of these claims. Willemsen et al. (2011) also pointed out that “negative arguments along with positive arguments contribute to higher perceived usefulness” when it comes to online consumer reviews. Therefore, it appears that blogs that display unwavering favoritism toward a brand or product, may not be judged as being useful to potential consumers. An individual reading a blog like this may assume some form of flogging, whether or not this has taken place.

References

Chia, A. (2012). Welcome to me-mart. The American Behavioral Scientist, 56, 421-438.

Jensen, R. (2011). Blogola, sponsored posts, and the ethics of blogging. In B. E. Drushel & K. German (Eds.), The ethics of emerging media: Information, social norms, and new media technology (pp. 213-232). New York: Continuum.

Kozinets, R. V., de Valck, K., Wojnicki, A. C., & Wilner, S. J. S. (2010). Networked narratives: Understanding word-of-mouth marketing in online communities. Journal of Marketing, 74(2), 71- 89.

Lusch, R. F., & Vargo, S. L. (2006). Service dominant logic: Reactions, reflections, and refinements. Marketing Theory, 6(3), 281-288.

Lusch, R.P., Vargo, S. L., and O’Brien, M., (2007), “Competing Through Service: Insights from Service-Dominant Logic,” Journal of Retailing, Vol. 83, No. 1, 5-18.

Ritzer, G., Dean, P., & Jurgenson, N. (2012). The coming of age of the prosumer. The American Behavioral Scientist, 56, 379-398.

Willemsen, L. M., Neijens, P. C., Bronner, F., & de Ridder, J. A. (2011). ‘Highly recommended!’ The content characteristics and perceived usefulness of online consumer reviews. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 17(1), 19-38.