Algorithmic consumer culture

This article conceptualizes algorithmic consumer culture, and offers a framework that sheds new light on two previously conflicting theorizations: that (1) digitalization tends to liquefy consumer culture and thus acts primarily as an empowering force, and that (2) digitalized marketing and big data...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inConsumption, markets and culture Vol. 25; no. 5; pp. 411 - 428
Main Authors Airoldi, Massimo, Rokka, Joonas
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Abingdon Routledge 03.09.2022
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
Algorithms
Autonomy
Big Data
Concept formation
consumer culture
consumer resistance
Consumerism
Consumers
Cultural conflict
Culture
digital platforms
Marketing
Neutrality
Resistance
Social processes
Social theories
Surveillance
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Summary:This article conceptualizes algorithmic consumer culture, and offers a framework that sheds new light on two previously conflicting theorizations: that (1) digitalization tends to liquefy consumer culture and thus acts primarily as an empowering force, and that (2) digitalized marketing and big data surveillance practices tend to deprive consumers of all autonomy. By drawing on critical social theories of algorithms and AI, we define and historicize the now ubiquitous algorithmic mediation of consumption, and then illustrate how the opacity, authority, non-neutrality, and recursivity of automated systems affect consumer culture at the individual, collective, and market level. We propose conceptualizing "algorithmic articulation" as a dialectical techno-social process that allows us to enhance our understanding of platform-based marketer control and consumer resistance. Key implications and future avenues for exploring algorithmic consumer culture are discussed.
ISSN:1025-3866
1477-223X
DOI:10.1080/10253866.2022.2084726