Consumer Identities

Description

This edited collection explores the notion of agency by tracing the role and activities of consumers from the pre-Internet age into the possible future. Using an overview of the historical creation of consumer identity, Consumer Identities demonstrates that active consumption is not merely a product of the digital age; it has always been a means by which a person can develop identity. Grounded in the acknowledgement that identity is a constructed and contested space, the authors analyse emerging dynamics in contemporary consumerism, ongoing tensions of structure and agency in consumer identities and the ways in which identity construction could be influenced in the future. By exploring consumer identity through examples in popular culture, the authors have created a scholarly work that will appeal to industry professionals as well as academics.

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Section I

Branding desire: Strategies of consumer affectation in early Classical Hollywood film

The PushmiPullu of fandom

MySpace music’s pivotal role in the digitalisation of music culture 

Section II: Emerging dynamics in contemporary consumerism

A qualitative comparison of Mad Men fans in New Zealand and Italy

‘This is so bad, we have to watch it’: Acquiring subcultural capital through oppositional viewing strategies

The cannibals: Consuming celebrity through digital mourning

Brick by brick: De/reconstructing the children’s animated film genre

Section III: Ongoing tensions of structure and agency in consumer identities

I protest! A postcolonial critique of media fan activism in a globalised world

Big data and Twitter: Finding the stepping stones in consumer communications

Ethical consumerism in the emerging EU digital contract legislation

About the contributors

About the editors

Sujets

• Digital Media
• Media Studies
• Social Science
• Sociologie, société et politique
• Consumerism
• General officer
• Cultural studies
• Television
• General
• Internet

Informations

• Publié par: Intellect Books Ltd
• Date de parution: 15 juillet 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781789380460
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

First published in the UK in 2019 by
Intellect, The Mill, Parnall Road, Fishponds, Bristol, BS16 3JG, UK
First published in the USA in 2019 by
Intellect, The University of Chicago Press, 1427 E. 60th Street,
Chicago, IL 60637, USA
Copyright © 2019 Intellect Ltd
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Copy-editor: MPS Technologies
Cover designer: Aleksandra Szumlas
Production manager: Naomi Curston
Typesetting: Contentra Technologies
Print ISBN: 978-1-78320-981-1
ePDF ISBN: 978-1-78938-046-0
ePub ISBN: 978-1-78938-045-3
Printed and bound by Short Run Press, UK.
Contents

Acknowledgments
Section I: Introduction
Myles Ethan Lascity
Chapter 1: Branding Desire: Strategies of Consumer Affectation in Early Classical Hollywood Film
 David Blanke
Chapter 2: The PushmiPullu of Fandom
 Paul Booth
Chapter 3: MySpace Music’s Pivotal Role in the Digitalization of Music Culture
 Mary Beth Ray
Section II: Emerging Dynamics in Contemporary Consumerism
 Candice D. Roberts
Chapter 4: A Qualitative Comparison of Mad Men Fans in New Zealand and Italy
 Carmen Spanò
Chapter 5: “This Is so Bad, We Have to Watch It”: Acquiring Subcultural Capital through Oppositional Viewing Strategies
 John Donegan
Chapter 6: The Cannibals: Consuming Celebrity through Digital Mourning
 Ashley Pattwell
Chapter 7: Brick by Brick: De/Reconstructing the Children’s Animated Film Genre
 Joseph V. Giunta
Section III: Ongoing Tensions of Structure and Agency in Consumer Identities
 Candice D. Roberts
Chapter 8: I Protest! A Postcolonial Critique of Media Fan Activism in a Globalized World
 Rukmini Pande
Chapter 9: Big Data and Twitter: Finding the Stepping Stones in Consumer Communications
 Laura A. Seroka
Chapter 10: Ethical Consumerism in the Emerging EU Digital Contract Legislation
 Sanne Jansen
Notes on Contributors
Notes on Editors
Index
Acknowledgments

This book is truly the culmination of one idea, shared by two friends and colleagues, supported by numerous individuals. The Consumer Identities and Digital Culture Symposium , held at St. John’s University, New York, on March 28, 2017, was the impetus for the project. This book would not have been possible without the assistance of all symposium participants and attendees, as well as those who have offered continued encouragement. The symposium was generously sponsored by the Institute for International Communication at St. John’s University and facilitated by the Institute’s director, Basilio Monteiro, as well as Katia Passerini, dean of the College of Professional Studies at St John’s.
First and foremost, we must thank the authors — David, Paul, Mary Beth, Carmen, John, Joseph, Ashley, Sanne, Laura, and Rukmini. Truly, this book exists because of your innovative ideas and strong contributions. We would be remiss if we did not also extend appreciation to Kimon Keramidas, Dara Persis Murray, Chris Odinet, Nicole NeSmith, and Emily West, whose presentations and discussion helped make the original symposium a success. Special recognition goes to St. John’s International Communication graduate students Julia Theilen, John Anthony DiMaria, and Hallelujah Lewis; your help in conference organizing and excellent panel moderation was invaluable.
We are also indebted to everyone at Intellect, especially our editor, Naomi Curston, for her guidance and support through this process, to Tim Mitchell, and to James Campbell who guided us in the proposal process.
Finally, we’d like to thank our fellow faculty members in the Division of Mass Communication at St John’s University and the Department of English and Communication at Chestnut Hill College, respectively, whose ongoing collegiality helped ensure the fulfillment of this project.
Section I: Introduction

Myles Ethan Lascity
“I got it,” says attractive cheerleader Catherine to nerdy, “homely” Janey. “It might sound crazy, but you’re just going to have to trust me.”
Then, moving in lasciviously, Catherine removes Janey’s thick-rimmed glasses and tosses them on the bed, before reaching to the back of Janey’s head and undoing her ponytail. As Janey shakes out her hair, the frame pans to a bedroom mirror where Catherine stands behind the freshly transformed teen.
“That’s it,” Catherine states. “I did it. I’m a miracle worker.”
The exchange is a scene from the satirical Not Another Teen Movie (Gallen, 2001), which takes aim at a slew of films in the teen genre. Specifically, the exchange between Janey and Catherine mocks the makeover of clearly attractive actresses, such as the Clueless (Heckerling, 1995) makeover of Brittany Murphy and the transformation of Rachel Leigh Cook in She’s All That (Iscove, 1999). The message from teen movies is clear: a little work and a new wardrobe can change your entire identity.
Tales of identity transformations certainly predate the 1990s, as both Clueless and She’s All That are updates of Emma (1815) and Pygmalion (1913), respectively. Documenting the history of transformation in film, McDonald notes, “[…] Hollywood films have found a variety of ways to suggest that such external changes are necessary, even salutary […] to mitigate the anxieties of the very fluid self seemingly propose by such films” (2010: 199). However, this is hardly contained to works of fiction, as McCracken states, “[t]ransformation used to be what gods did to one another. Now it’s what we do to ourselves” (2008: xxi).
Gabriel (2013) suggests that seeing people primarily as consumers was a specific development over the past century or so. Starting from the philosophical and religious dualism, he makes the case that the importance of individuality and liberalism in U.S. society was able to transform the ways we see ourselves. Most notably, this has led to expression through one’s “craft” to be prioritized (Gabriel 2013: 39), while our “taste” has been positioned as “a representation of the inner self” (2013: 47). Others like Lynes ([1949] 1980), Bourdieu (1984), Twitchell (1992), and Gans (1999) have also interrogated the process of taste, and it largely remains something created through interactions with others. Gabriel’s argument suggests that consumerism does not have to be the default way we understand ourselves, just the one that is currently given priority.
While it may be true that we have placed a priority on consumerism like never before, the processes of negotiating identity remain a critical topic in understanding ourselves and society (Bauman 2007; Butler [1990] 2006; Dunn 2008; Goffman 1959). “Identity is a work in progress” Taylor and Spencer write, “a negotiated space between ourselves and others” (2004: 4). In this way, our identities are never stable, but change with our experiences. Bauman suggests that fluidity in our identity is a product of contemporary times: “In the liquid modern society of consumers no identities are gifts at birth, none is ‘given’, let alone given once and for all and in a secure fashion” (2007: 110).
Today, entire bodies of theory and research focus on how people act as consumers and work within their own identity projects (Arnould and Thompson 2005; Askegaard and Scott 2013), even as Cova, Maclaran, and Bradshaw remind us “that there is no pre-actuality given to being a consumer; that is to say the word ‘consumer’ does not refer to a state of being but rather is a bestows frame” (2013: 220). Practically, whether we like this aspect or not, we and the world around us are influenced by what we consume (Muratovski 2016: 3). In this book, we view consumption as having a broad definition, not only including the purchase and use of goods and services, but also watching entertainment media, interacting with celebrities, and using social media.
Throughout this, we maintain that identity is an ongoing process and one that consumers have an active hand in creating. Consumer culture may have made identity “a more provisional and ambiguous character” (Dunn 2008: 161), but individuals are largely aware of how consumption choices can strategically guide how they see themselves and how others see them (Featherstone 2007: 84). “Consumer goods are seldom if ever identity neutral,” Bauman reminds us, “they tend to come complete with ‘identity supplied’” (2007: 112).
Consumer Identities: Agency, Media, and Digital Culture
This book reflects on consumer culture’s past and current influence on identity in order to suggest some future directions. It begins with the assumption that there are multiple consumer identities individuals are able to take on — from “fan” (Hills 2002; Booth 2010) and “antifan” (Gray 2003) to hate-watchers (Donegan, Chapter 5, this book) and even mourners (Pattwell, Chapter 6, this book). The emergence of social media and digital platforms has made it easier for people to take on and enact various identities (Belk 2013; Hearn 2008, 2012; Marwick 2013; Solomon 2010), even as the roles of consumption and production have merged (Duffy 2017; Luvaas 2012).
The first section of this book explores the foundation of identities formed through media, starting from the films of Cecil B. DeMille. David Blanke shows how both the film-maker and the studio helped construct a reflexive audience and promote mass consumer culture. Despite early success, DeMille bucked the trend by refusing to follow Hollywood’s star system and in doing so demonstrated that consumers could be motivated in different ways.
As film was integral in the development of people seeing themselves as consumers, Paul Booth (Chapter 2) and Mary Beth Ray (Chapter 3) note the ways the culture industries continue to feed off of consumer action. Booth suggests that fans could see themselves in works on screen and did not neces