Il confine mobile tra "empowered e working consumer" spunti di riflessione dal caso Winner Taco

Journal title MERCATI E COMPETITIVITÀ
Author/s Nicoletta Buratti, Francesco Derchi, Giorgia Profumo
Publishing Year 2015 Issue 2015/4
Language English Pages 24 P. 133-156 File size 170 KB
DOI 10.3280/MC2015-004007
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

How can unsatisfied consumers mobilize to gain attention and obtain the "right offer" from a firm? How the questioned firm may react to these demanding consumers? The present study attempts to answer to these questions drawing on a qualitative analysis of "Ridateci il Winner Taco" web based fans’ community. Our analysis, specifically focused on convenience markets, is based on the following key concepts: consumer power, institutional legitimacy, co-optation, working consumer. We address, in particular, the role of web-based brand communities in empowering consumers to take a greater stake in companies’ strategic choices, such as product portfolio selection and the strategies that enable consumers to achieve the desired product. We then conclude by discussing how firms, forced to deal with this new countervailing power, try to benefit from the engagement of empowered consumers, either by interacting on actual co-creation projects or by co-opting them and exploiting their creative force in order to regain control over the market.

Keywords: Consumer empowerment, institutional legitimacy, web based communities, convenience markets, co-optation, working consumer

  1. Abercrombie N. (1994). Authority and Consumer Society. In Keat R., Whiteley N. and Abercrombie N., editor, The Authority of the Consumer. London: Routledge.
  2. Anderson B. (1983). Imagined Community. London: Verso.
  3. Bagozzi R.P. and Dholakia U.M. (2006). Antecedents and purchase consequences of customer participation in small group brand communities. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 23(1): 45-61, DOI: 10.1016/j.ijresmar.2006.01.005
  4. Bhalla G. (2011). Collaboration and Co Creation. New Platforms for Marketing and Innovation. New York: Springer.
  5. Bourdieu P. and Thompson J.B. (1991). Language and Symbolic Power. Harvard University Press.
  6. Brown S. (2004). O Customer, Where Art Thou? Business Horizons. 47(4): 61-70, DOI: 10.1016/S0007-6813(04)00049-7
  7. Buratti N. (2005). La valorizzazione del potenziale tecnologico secondo una prospettiva market oriented: c’è qualcosa di nuovo nella cassetta degli attrezzi del marketing high tech? Mercati e Competitività. 4.
  8. Clark D. (2003). The Death and Life of Punk: The Last Sub-culture. In Muggleton D. and Weinzierl R., editor, The Post-Subcultures Reader. Oxford: Berg.
  9. Cova B. (1997). Community and consumption: Towards a definition of the ‘Linking Value’ of product or services. European Journal of Marketing. 31(3–4): 297–316, DOI: 10.1108/0309056971016238
  10. Cova B. and Cova V. (2002). Tribal marketing: The tribalisation of society and its impact on the conduct of marketing. European Journal of Marketing. 36(5/6): 595-620, DOI: 10.1108/03090560210423023
  11. Cova B. and Pace S. (2006). Brand community of convenience products: New forms of customer empowerment - The case “My Nutella the Community”. European Journal of Marketing. 40 (9/10): 1087-1105, DOI: 10.1108/03090560610681023
  12. Cova B., Giordano A. and Pallera M. (2007). Marketing non-convenzionale. Milano: Il Sole 24 Ore.
  13. Cova B. and Dalli D. (2009). Working consumers: the next step in marketing theory?. Marketing Theory, 9(3): 315-339.
  14. Cucco R. and Dalli D. (2008). 500 wants you. Un caso di convergenza tra retro marketing, cooperative innovation e community management. Economia e Management. 2.
  15. Dahl, R. (1957). The concept of power. Behavioural Scientist. 2: 201-205, DOI: 10.1002/bs.3830020303
  16. Davies A. and Elliott R. (2006). The evolution of the empowered consumer. European Journal of Marketing. 40(9/10): 1106-1121, DOI: 10.1108/03090560610681032
  17. Denegri-Knott J., Zwick D. and Schroeder J. E. (2006). Mapping consumer power: an integrative framework for marketing and consumer research. European Journal of Marketing. 40 (9/10): 950-971, DOI: 10.1108/03090560610680952
  18. Denegri-Knott J. (2004). Sinking the online music pirates: Foucault, power and deviance on the web. Journal of Computer Mediated Communication. 9(4): 00-00, DOI: 10.1111/j.1083-6101.2004.tb00293.x
  19. DiMaggio P.J. (1988). Interest and Agency in Institutional Theory. In Zucker L.G., editor. Institutional Patterns an Organizations: Culture and Environment. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger.
  20. Douglas M. and Gross J. (1981). Food and culture: measuring the intricacy of rule systems. Social Science Information. 20 (1): 1-35, DOI: 10.1177/053901848102000101.
  21. Fabris G. and Rullani, E. (2007). Il consumatore creativo. Cento e un modi di fare il mondo a propria immagine e somiglianza. Economia e politica industriale. 4.
  22. Firat A. and Dholakia N. (1998). Consuming People: from Political Economy to Theatres of Consumption. London: Routledge.
  23. Firat F.A., Dholakia N. and Venkatesh A. (1995). Marketing in a postmodern world. European Journal of Marketing. 29 (1): 40-56, DOI: 10.1108/03090569510075334
  24. Firat F.A. and Venkatesh A. (1995). Liberatory postmodernism and the reenchantement of consumption. Journal of Consumer Research, 22 (3): 239-267, DOI: 10.1086/209448
  25. Fiske J. (1989). Understanding Popular Culture. London: Routledge.
  26. Foucault M., Burchell G., Gordon C. and Miller P. (1991). The Foucault Effect: Studies in governmentality. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
  27. Frank T. (1997). The Conquest of Cool: Business Culture, Counterculture, and Hip Consumerism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
  28. Friedman M. (1991). Consumer boycotts: a conceptual framework and research agenda. Journal of Social Issues. 47(1): 149-168, DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1991.tb01817.x
  29. Friedman M. (1996). A positive approach to organized consumer action: the buycott as an alternative to the boycott. Journal of Consumer Policy. 19 (4): 439-451, DOI: 10.1007/BF00411502
  30. Fuchs C. and Schreier M. (2011). Customer empowerment in new product development. Journal of Product Innovation Management. 28: 17-32, DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-5885.2010.00778.x
  31. Fuller J., Mühlbacher H., Matzler K. and Jawecki G. (2010). Consumer empowerment through Internet-based co-creation. Journal of Management Information Systems. 26 (3): 71-102, DOI: 10.2753/MIS0742-1222260303
  32. Gambetti R.C. and Graffigna G. (2011). Si fa presto a dire brand community: un’analisi nel comparto delle bibite gasate. Finanza Marketing e Produzione. Marzo: 82-123.
  33. Grunert K.G., Sørensen E., Johansen L. B. and Nielsen, N. A. (1995). Analysing Food Choice from a Means-End Perspective. In Hansen F., editor. European Advances in Consumer Research. Provo, UT: Association for Consumer Research.
  34. Heath J. and Potter A. (2004). Nation of Rebels: Why Counterculture Became Consumer Culture. New York: HarperBusiness.
  35. Hebdige D. (1979). Subculture: The Meaning of Style. New York: Methuen.
  36. Hodgson D.M. (2000). Discourse, Discipline and the Subject, a Foucauldian Analysis of the UK Financial Services Industry. Hampshire: Ashgate.
  37. Holt D.B. (2002). Why do brands cause trouble? a dialectical theory of consumer culture and branding. Journal of Consumer Research. 29 (1): 70-90, DOI: 10.1086/339922
  38. Holt D.B. (2006). Toward a sociology of branding. Journal of Consumer Culture. 6(3): 299-302, DOI: 10.1177/1469540506068680
  39. Jarrett N. (2003). Labour of love: an archaeology of affect as power in e-commerce. Journal of Sociology. 39: 335-351, DOI: 10.1177/0004869003394002
  40. Kozinets R. V. (2001). Utopian enterprise: Articulating the meanings of Star Trek’s culture of consumption. Journal of Consumer Research. 28(1): 67-88, DOI: 10.1086/321948
  41. Lawrence T.B. and Phillips N. (2004). From Moby Dick to Free Willy: Macro-cultural discourse and institutional entrepreneurship in emerging institutional fields. Organization. 11(5): 689-711, DOI: 10.1177/1350508404046457.
  42. Lusch R.F. and Vargo S.L. (2006). Service-dominant logic: reactions, reflections and refinements. Marketing theory. 6(3): 281-288, DOI: 10.1177/1470593106066781
  43. Maffesoli M. (1996). The Time of the Tribes: the Decline of Individualism in Mass Society. Thousands Oaks, CA: Sage.
  44. Marcuse H. (1969). Repressive Tolerance. In Wolff R. P., Moore B. and Marcuse H., editor, Critique of Pure Tolerance. Boston: Beacon.
  45. Muniz A.M. and O’ Guinn T.C. (2001). Brand community. Journal of Consumer Research. 27 (March): 412-432, DOI: 10.1086/319618
  46. Musso P. (2005). I nuovi territori della marca. Percorsi di senso, discorsi, azioni. Milano: Franco Angeli.
  47. Nicoulaud B.M.M. (1987). Consumerism and marketing management’s responsibility.
  48. European Journal of Marketing. 21 (3): 7-15, DOI: 10.1108/EUM0000000004682
  49. O’Guinn T.C. and Muniz Jr. A. M. (2005). 13 Communal Consumption and the Brand. Inside Consumption: Consumer Motives, Goals, and Desires, 252.
  50. Pires G.D., Stanton J., and Rita P. (2006). The Internet, consumer empowerment and marketing strategies. European Journal of Marketing. 40 (9/10): 936–949, DOI: 10.1108/03090560610680943
  51. Poggiani A. and Pratesi C.A. (2014). Marketing digitale. Come usare i nuovi media per il customer engagement. Milano: McGraw-Hill.
  52. Prahalad C.K. and Ramaswamy V. (2000). Co-opting customer competence. Harvard Business Review. 78(1): 79-90.
  53. Prahalad C.K. and Ramaswamy V. (2004a). Co-creating unique value with customers. Strategy and Leadership. 32 (3): 4-9, DOI: 10.1108/10878570410699249
  54. Prahalad C.K. and Ramaswamy V. (2004b). Co-creation experiences: The next practice in value creation. Journal of Interactive Marketing. 18 (3): 5-14, DOI: 10.1002/dir.20015
  55. Ramaswamy V. (2008). Co-creating value through customers’ experiences. Strategy and Leadership. 36 (5): 9-14, DOI: 10.1108/10878570810902068
  56. Rha J.Y. and Widdows R. (2002). The internet and the consumer: countervailing power revisited. Prometheus: Critical Studies in Innovation. 20 (2): 107-118, DOI: 10.1080/08109020210137493
  57. Ritzer G. and Jurgenson N. (2010). Production, Consumption, Prosunmption: the Nature of Capitalism in the Age of the Digital Prosumer. Journal of Consumer Culture. 10(1): 13-36, DOI: 10.1177/1469540509354673
  58. Rose N. (1999). Powers of Freedom: Reframing Political Thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  59. Scaraboto D. and Fischer E. (2013). Frustrated fatshionistas: An institutional theory perspective on consumer quests for greater choice in mainstream markets. Journal of Consumer Research. 39 (6): 1234-1257, DOI: 10.1086/668298
  60. Sirgy J.M. and Su C. (2000). The ethics of consumer sovereignty in an age of High Tech. Journal of Business Ethics. 28 (1): 1-14, DOI: 10.1023/A:1006285701103
  61. Smith N.G. (1987). Consumer boycotts and consumer sovereignty. European Journal of Marketing. 5: 7-19, DOI: 10.1108/EUM0000000004694
  62. Spiggle S. (1994). Analysis and interpretation of qualitative data in consumer research. Journal of Consumer Research. 21: 491-503, DOI: 10.1086/209413
  63. Straver W. (1977). The international consumerist movement. European Journal of Marketing. 11 (2): 93-117, DOI: 10.1108/EUM0000000004998
  64. Swagler R. (1994). Evolution and applications of the term consumerism: themes and variations. Journal of Consumer Affairs. 28 (2): 347-361, DOI: 10.1111/j.1745
  65. 6606.1994.tb00856.x. Thomke S. and Von Hippel E. (2002). Customers as innovators: A new way to create value. Harvard Business Review. 80 (4): 74-81.
  66. Thompson C.J. and Coskuner-Balli G. (2007). Countervailing market responses to corporate co-optation and the ideological recruitment of consumption communities. Journal of Consumer Research. 34 (2): 135-152, DOI: 10.1086/519143
  67. Urban G.L. (2002). Consumer Power & the Internet. Sloan School of Management, Project Report. Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
  68. Vargo S.L. and Lusch R.F. (2004). Evolving to a new dominant logic for marketing. Journal of Marketing. 68 (1): 1-17, DOI: 10.1509/jmkg.68.1.1.24036
  69. Von Hippel E. A. (2005). Democratizing Innovation. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
  70. Yin R.K. (1994). Case Study Research. Design and Methods. London: Sage Publications.
  71. Wathieu L., Brenner L., Carmon Z., Chattopadhyay A., Wertenbroch K., Drolet A., Gourville J., Muthukrishnan A., Novemsky N., Rather R. and Wu G. (2002).
  72. Consumer control and empowerment: a primer. Marketing Letters. 13 (3): 297-305, DOI: 10.1023/A:1020311914022
  73. Zwick D., Bonsu S. K. and Darmody A. (2008). Putting consumers to workco-creation and new marketing govern-mentality. Journal of Consumer Culture. 8(2): 163-196, DOI: 10.1177/1469540508090089

  • Technological innovation and marketing. a multi-perspective analysis Nicoletta Buratti, Riccardo Lanzara, Michele Simoni, in MERCATI E COMPETITIVITÀ 1/2016 pp.19
    DOI: 10.3280/MC2016-001003
  • Brand negotiation and brand management. An actor-network theory perspective Agostino Vollero, Daniele Dalli, Alfonso Siano, in MERCATI & COMPETITIVITÀ 4/2016 pp.23
    DOI: 10.3280/MC2016-004003

Nicoletta Buratti, Francesco Derchi, Giorgia Profumo, The blurred boundary between empowered and working consumers: insights from the winner taco case in "MERCATI E COMPETITIVITÀ" 4/2015, pp 133-156, DOI: 10.3280/MC2015-004007