TheroleoftheProduc'veConsumerforGlobalDigitalEnterprise

withDrMariannHardeyTwi9er:@mazphd

#online09

ThebasictruthSocietyisinfluencedbyourcommunicaEontradiEonswhich

isalsocloselyrelatedtoourtechnologycapabiliEes.

ThesetwoconcepEonsconEnuetoliveon,notonlybecauseofcommercialinterest,butalsobecauseofindividualdesiretostay‘intouch’.Andnowtobealwaysconnected.Increasingly,thisisalsoinresponsetoafearoftheunknownmanifestastheriskofmissingout.

Myresearchrevealsthesignificanceofthesocial.ThehowandwhysocialacEon/senhancenewwaysofbeingintouch,andofconsumerismasweseektocreate,publishanddisseminateinformaEon.

Fromaninformedacademicstandpoint,IconsidertheconsequencesoftheinfluenceofsocialmediaforconnecEonsandthetotalityoftheconsumersphereformakingpurchasingdecisionsetc.

Produc'veConsumers

Areself‐reflecEveLedbyco‐producedknowledgeWanttomaketherightchoice/sLookforconsumerinfluenceTrustiscri'cal

Createdata,i.topurposelysharewithothersii.unintenEonallyasinformaEon‘data’ trailswhichareleUacrosstheweb

SocialdecisionmakingTheproducEveconsumerismoreinformed,moreintouch,moreengagedandwillingto

parEcipate,record,searchforandstorecontentthaneverbefore.Inthefaceofnewwavesofpublishing,markeEngandadverEsingtherearealreadyemerging,withnewdistribuEonandconsumpEonpa9ernsfromthesharingofinformaEononFacebook,touploadingexperiencestoYoutube,toTwi9eringaboutasuccessfulpurchaseetc.

AlreadyFacebookisreplacingemailforawholegeneraEon.

WithChristmas(fast)approaching,onlineretailerssuchasAmazon.comhavealreadypreparedforwhathasbecomeknownas‘cyberMonday’‐thebusiestinternetshoppingdayoftheyearthattypicallyfallsonthefirstMondayofDecember.Lastyear,Amazonclaimsthat1.4mitemswereorderedfromitsUKsite,over16‐itemspersecondandthemostithaseverreceivedinasingle24‐hourperiod.

Thisyear,AmazonisforecasEngthatsaleswillbe21%to36%higher(Teather,2009).

Whatnext?TheDigital&Beyond…Intermsofwhatthefutureholds,thisisbasedonhowquickly

individualsmakedecisionsandhowtheyarecombiningsocialaspectsofeverydaylifebywayofincreasinglymobileconsumeracEons.

Now,therearenewwavesofopportuniEesandgrowthinthecycleofproducEon.AndtodaythismeansthattheindividualisinaconstantcycleofcreaEon,publicaEonanddistribuEon.

WeleavebehindtheWeb1.0staEcandtopdownrelaEonshipbetweentheindividualandinformaEon.Contenthasbeenturned‐on‐itshead.Theuseris‘incharge’of‘where’theygo,‘what’theypurchaseand(atEmes)whethertheypay.

WecanpredicttherewillbenewconsumpEvepa9erns.ThesewillhaveglobalimpactonsocietywherestreamsofdataandinformaEonaresharedbetweenindividuals;canbemonitoredandheldbycompanies;andwillbemeasuredoverEmebypolicymakers.

UlEmatelywewillallhavetorespondtoamorebo9om‐up,‘wisdomofcrowds’leandalwaysonsocialorder.

KeyDiscussionPoints  HowdoesproducEvecontentcontributetothedigitaleconomyandinfluenceconsumer

behaviour?  Howcloselydoindividualexperiencesinfluence?Inotherwords,issuchinformaEon

seenas‘unreliable’or‘marginal’contentcreatedby‘amateurs’?ORaresuchstreamsclosertootherformsofcontentetc.thathasbeentradiEonallyonlycreatedbythosewithclaimstobe‘experts’‐e.g.riseofCiEzenJournalismetc.?

  DoessuchsocialbehaviourconsEtutenewformsof‘community’dialogue?Howcanthisbecapturedandmarketedbybusiness?

  InwhatwaysdocompaniesperceiveproducEvecontent?Tofear?Toembrace?  Whatcouldbethenewbusinessmodelofcompanies,publishingservices,digitalmedia

etc.thatproducecontent?WhatpressuresdriverevenueforadverEsingor‘pushmarkeEng’?HowwillthisinfluencedistribuEon?

  Whoowns/isresponsibleforcontent?(e.g.criEcalcommentsoruploadedcontentisprotectedunderUSAlegalparameters(e.g.SecEon230oftheCommunicaEonsDecencyAct),butnotbyothersinEurope,e.g.France)

  HowshouldproducEvecontentbeusedbymarkeEngorpublicrelaEonsdivisions?  WhatshouldbetherelaEonshipbetweenproducEvecontentandothersourcesfrom

tradiEonalmedia?

.

IarguethatproducEvecontentisrelatedtotheemergenceofpersistentsocialpresence,bythisImeanevermediatedlifestyles.

TheseintegratetheimmediacyofsocialacEon,decisionmakingandconsumerpurchasing‐whetherthroughwebsites–Amazon;SocialNetworks‐Facebook,Twi9eretc.andevenmobiletelecommunicaEons.

End…

e.mariann@mariannhardey.net

YoucandownloadsomeofmypublicaEonswhichincludedocumentinformaEon,academic&commercialcollaboraEonsfrommywebsite,h9p://mariannhardey.googlepages.com/aboutme&slideshare.com

ReferencesThesediscussionpointshavebeeninformedbymyresearch,consulEngworkand

referencetonumerousotherssocialcommentaries–someofwhichareincludedhere…

Bauman,Z.(2001)ConsumingLife,JournalofConsumerCulture,9(1):9–29.

Beer,D.andBurrow,R.(2007)Sociologyand,ofandinWeb2.0:SomeIni'alConsidera'ons,SociologicalResearchOnline,12(5)h9p://www.socresonline.org.uk/12/5/17.html

Giddens,A.(1991),ModernityandSelf‐Iden'ty:SelfandSocietyintheLateModernAge,Cambridge:PolityPress.

Hardey,M.(2009)‘TheSocialContextofOnlineMarketResearch:AnIntroducEontotheSociabilityofSocialMedia’,Interna'onalJournalofMarketResearch,Julyissue51/4[online]h9p://www.ijmr.com/

Hardey,M.(2009)SeriouslySocial:MakingConnec'onintheInforma'onAge,Ph.D.York:UniversityofYork.

Hardey,M.(2009)Web2.0andthe(re)genera'onofreputa'on,trustandmedicalprac'ce,PresentaEontotheYorkSociologySeries,UniversityofYork

Hardey,M.(2008)PublichealthandWeb2.0,TheJournaloftheRoyalSocietyforthePromo'onofHealth,128(4):181‐189.

Hardey,M.andBurrows,R.(2008)NewcartographiesofknowingcapitalismandthechangingjurisdicEonofempiricalsociology,InFielding,N.,Lee,R.L.andBlank,G.(eds)(2007)HandbookofInternetandOnlineResearchMethods,London:Sage

Keen,A(2007)Thecultoftheamateur:howtoday'sinternetiskillingourculture,London:RandomHouse.

Leadbe9er,C.(2009)Presenta'ontotheIMDEClusterevent,CommonwealthClub.

Resnick,P.,R.Zeckhauser,etal.(2000).ReputaEonSystems:FacilitaEngTrustinInternetInteracEons,Communica'onsoftheACM,43(12).

Toffler,A.(1990)PowershiX:Knowledge,wealth,andviolenceattheedgeofthetwenty‐firstcentury,London:BantamBooks.

Teather,D.(2009)‘AmazongetssetforcyberMondayasChristmasshoppingonlineclicks’,TheGuardian,Monday23November2009

SmithD.,Menon,S.andSivakumar,A.(2005)‘OnlinepeerandeditorialrecommendaEons,trust,andchoiceinvirtualmarkets’,JournalofInterac'veMarke'ng,19(3):15–37.

Surowiecki,J.(2004)TheWisdomofCrowds:WhytheManyAreSmarterThantheFewandHowCollec'veWisdomShapesBusiness,Economies,Socie'esandNa'ons,NewYork:Li9leBrown.

WhitePaper(2009)WorkingTogether,PublicServicesonYourSide,London:StaEonaryOffice.

…